White PapersNetwork infrastructures are evolving at a rapid rate. This evolution is driven by the need for cost-effective deployment and management of new and existing services. Companies today need to evaluate and manage a growing menu of advanced communication services, including voice over IP (VoIP) and IP communication technologies (IP telephony, unified messaging, video, audio and web conferencing, presence and mobility), along with services that enable data and application integration, rich media and MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS). Each of these offerings brings its own set of requirements, including installation of infrastructure, integration of applications, deployment of services and management of ongoing operations.
Faced with such business and technical challenges, companies are struggling to find cost-effective ways to deliver new services alongside more conventional service offerings. Historically, enterprises have invested in multiple communication infrastructures and workflows to support separate voice, video and data networks. Today, these companies are seeking ways to simplify and streamline their operations by bringing together their disparate communications networks to capitalize on asset consolidation and management synergy.
Managing the complexity of network convergence throughoutsourcingWhite paperTable of contentsExecutive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2The network convergence opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Meeting business needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Overcoming complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4How outsourcing can help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Putting best practices to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6HP can help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7To learn more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Untitled Document2Executive summaryThe convergence of voice, video and data networks, alongwith wired and wireless environments, brings unprecedentedopportunities for a business that can capitalize on change.When managed correctly, network convergence can enablecompanies to operate more efficiently, increase returns ontechnology investments and realize other business benefits.Yet despite these potential gains, network convergenceremains a complex undertaking that creates new technical,operational and managerial challenges.Faced with these challenges, enterprises are increasinglyturning to outsourcing service providers. The extensive infra-structure, expertise and services of an outsourcing serviceprovider can help an organization overcome the complexityof bringing together diverse networks. This allows compa-nies to capitalize more fully on the unique opportunitiesbrought by convergence.The network convergence opportunityNetwork infrastructures are evolving at a rapid rate. Thisevolution is driven by the need for cost-effective deploymentand management of new and existing services. Companiestoday need to evaluate and manage a growing menu ofadvanced communication services, including voice over IP(VoIP) and IP communication technologies (IP telephony,unified messaging, video, audio and web conferencing,presence and mobility), along with services that enabledata and application integration, rich media and MultiProto-col Label Switching (MPLS). Each of these offerings brings its own set of requirements, including installation of infrastructure, integration of applications, deployment of services and management of ongoing operations.Faced with such business and technical challenges, companies are struggling to find cost-effective ways todeliver new services alongside more conventional serviceofferings. Historically, enterprises have invested in multiplecommunication infrastructures and workflows to supportseparate voice, video and data networks. Today, thesecompanies are seeking ways to simplify and streamlinetheir operations by bringing together their disparate com-munications networks to capitalize on asset consolidationand management synergy.The need for network convergence is also fueled bychanging technology and shifts in the way people andbusinesses work. In particular, these fundamental shiftsare now under way:"All processes and all content are being transformedfrom physical and static to digital, mobile and virtual."Wireless environments are growing rapidly, and must be linked back with the traditional wired network. "There s a demand for simpler, more manageable andadaptable technology. This is changing the way peoplework and interact, as well as how they buy and usetechnology. User expectations for network services arerising in a time when levels of service are measured by end-user perceptions."It s becoming a horizontal, heterogeneous, networkedworld. Companies have a variety of vendor equipmentand solutions within their own enterprises. They needinfrastructure improvements to support new value-addedcommunication services, and they need to work cooper-atively with service partners who manage diversenetwork environments. Untitled Document3These trends are accelerating the convergence of previouslyseparate network infrastructures. A sweeping transformationis under way. In enterprises around the world, stand-alonevoice, video data and wireless networks are transitioningtoward a single network for unified communications withinan Adaptive Enterprise. This converged network supportsthe centralized operation and management of network services while enabling easier mobility, data transactionsand collaboration for end users. Convergence allows alevel of pervasive connectivity that was previously impossibleto achieve.While the network convergence creates new technical andoperational challenges, it also brings unprecedented oppor-tunities for business that can capitalize on change. In onepotential outcome, the convergence of voice, leased lineand packet networks could result in lower total operatingcosts stemming from reduced network management burdens,lower overall equipment requirements and increased utiliza-tion of network assets. In essence, convergence creates theopportunity for companies to operate more efficiently whilegaining a return on their technology investments. In addition,convergence creates the opportunity to deploy new businessmodels that require converged network services. Viewedfrom this business-oriented perspective, convergence is notjust about doing current things better, but about enablingentirely new things or new ways to capitalize on marketopportunities.But reaching to seize opportunity is not without its own risks and its own set of management challenges. Given thisreality, growing numbers of enterprises recognize the oppor-tunity to leverage the inherent capabilities, experience andefficiencies of an outsourcing services provider to capitalizeon network convergence. For a larger enterprise, an outsourcing service provider with a global reach can holdthe keys to improving service levels and enhancing the scalability, reliability and security of a converged network.Meeting business needsCompetition has led to increased client churn, driving upcosts and lowering overall profitability. But this churn alsopresents unprecedented opportunities for organizations that can build effective service delivery networks that spannetwork and access types.In an age when people connect to networks via mobile,fixed, home and business locations, there is tremendousvalue in delivering a service that enables a business to connect to the person, not the device. This level of simplicityencourages client loyalty in an increasingly competitivemarketplace. Network convergence can make this happen.In addition, the outsourcing of converged network opera-tions can be one of the keys to enabling IT to meet businessneeds. Faced with a rapid pace of change, CIOs know thatIT organizations need to be agile, and that agile organiza-tions are better able to respond to changes by adapting thevalue-delivery system quickly, reducing cost and meetingclients needs.In these efforts, today s CIOs try to balance an unbalancedequation: reduce costs + mitigate risk + improve quality +increase agility = better return on IT.How do these four categories apply to the network andtheir related IT operations? "Maximizing return on investment A company can maximize its return on investment by handling moreusers and demands on a current network. The goal is to optimize use of the network, maintain peak performance, and leverage current infrastructure."Increasing agility Agility allows the network staff todeploy and manage new services faster and more efficiently, and introduce these with minimum disruptionto the network and business users. Agility is a particularlyToday s CIOs try to balance anunbalanced equation: reduce costs + mitigate risk +improve quality +increase agility =better return on IT.Untitled Document4important goal for enterprises that are experiencingmergers and acquisitions. Many such companiesdiscover that the integration of two disparate networkenvironments can be overwhelming. "Mitigating risks More users, more remote locationsand higher service level expectations can increase risk.An inability to meet service levels, for instance, canhave high associated costs. The same holds true for net-work intrusions, attacks and viruses, all of which are onthe rise. Security of the network is crucial to maintainingcontinuous business operations. Networks have becomea key component of the IT and business infrastructure.And if networks are down, so, potentially are applica-tions, telecommunications and the business operationsthey support. In today s network-driven world, downnetworks are simply unacceptable."Improving operations Today s business transactionsrequire peak performance to avoid latency in completingtransactions. This includes both the performance of thenetwork and the performance of the staff managing it.The outsourcing of network services can help companiesmeet these all-important goals. When a company outsourcesfunctions to a global services provider who specializes inrunning converged networks, it stands to reduce the capitaland assets that it has tied up in IT and business processes,increase financial flexibility and streamline operations. Thisincreased agility positions an organization to turn dramaticchanges, such as network convergence, into a competitiveadvantage, and allows for greater focus on strategic, notoperational, management.Overcoming complexityWhile the network convergence is bringing new opportuni-ties, it comes with its own set of challenges. Assessing theexisting telecom environment from both a financial and technical perspective is a complicated task for enterprises,but essential to derive return on investment (ROI). Forexample, here s one piece of the ROI puzzle: An enterprisemust analyze asset values or leasing contracts for legacytelecom equipment, their support agreements and the IT staff needed to operate them, balanced against the businessservices they deliver. By any measure, the process of unifying diverse communication services and operating aconverged network takes a great deal of management focus, technical expertise, and dedicated and fractionalphysical resources. Network convergence is a complex proposition that candrive up operations costs. While some companies are successful at using convergence to reduce the unit costs of network services, they may struggle with the change. The growth in overall network traffic and the costs of operat-ing new services can lead to increases in total costs anddecreases in network performance. For example, managinggrowth properly with new technologies and workflows will temper the need to merely expand bandwidth andserve to contain wide area network (WAN) costs.In another challenge, converged networks must support anever-growing range of devices and an expanding universeof users with different interests and needs. This trend, whichis expected to continue, should bring more seamless man-agement of users and tighter integration of information and processes. Yet at the same time, this trend introducesanother level of management complexity. This complexityputs a premium on effective network operations and management.Untitled Document5Converged networking truly links the infrastructure withcommunications services and applications. This creates theneed for advanced hardware modules in components andenhanced quality of service (QoS) capabilities and securityfeatures in both local and wide areas networks (LANs andWANs). While in the past, a straightforward technologyrefresh might have been required to keep products undersupport and to gain a performance increase, today a technology refresh also requires the addition of support for advanced services. In addition, convergence requireshighly reliable and available and redundant componentlinks into most all locations. This is different from earliermodels, where only one high-speed link was required toremote sites.The onset of business and network challenges can be aside effect of the widespread acceptance and global use ofIP communications, self-service applications, multicastingofferings and other new-generation services. The networkthat supports these services can t keep up with the demand.In a sense, the converged network becomes a hindrance toits own success.Faced with these challenges, large enterprises are increas-ingly focusing on outsourcing their network services tocompanies that have special expertise in deploying andoperating converged networks. The extensive infrastructure,expertise and services of an outsourcing service providercan help an organization overcome the challenges andcapitalize more fully on the opportunities presented by network convergence.How outsourcing can helpThere are several ways in which outsourcing can help anorganization work through the complexities of network con-vergence. An organization that is considering outsourcingnetwork convergence services should look for a providerwho can achieve all of the following results:Manage the broad scope of network servicesNetwork architectures and technologies must be robust and flexible enough to support delivery models linking thedigital and physical business processes. When services areoutsourced, the need to provision and support new servicesand improve the management of existing services needn tinterfere with efforts to execute against business priorities.Enable global expansionAn outsourcing model gives an enterprise the ability toscale up its network services to support the globalizationof business. A large-scale service provider should give anorganization the flexibility it needs to support increasesin global users and worldwide locations. An outsourcer sestablished global delivery models should provide anenterprise with ready access to flexible pools of IT profes-sionals worldwide.Increase cost predictabilityWhile a global outsourcing provider might help anenterprise reduce its overall network costs, it can defi-nitely make costs more predictable. Many organizationshave found that outsourcing is a key to better financialmanagement for complex services. Consideration shouldalso be given to an outsourced integrated model in theinterest of gaining access to new technologies in anaffordable manner.Untitled Document6Maintain network security and performanceWith new devices, complexity and processes all runningon one network, the importance of security becomeshigher than ever before. Organizations have to managewho has access to what resources on the network, guardagainst malicious code (such as viruses and worms), andwork proactively to prevent attacks. Many organizationswould not consider the management of their network serv-ices a core competency or a strategic focus. The increasein threats and attacks from viruses, other malware andhackers requires skills specialization and a technologysuite that is rapidly changing and expanding. For an out-sourcer, network performance management and securityare core competencies. The outsourcer s expertise can bea key to enhancing security, maintaining reliable networkperformance and improving the network experience.Facilitate regulatory complianceIncreased governmental requirements for security, auditingand records retention are encumbering IT organizationswithin enterprises in new ways. Outsourcers have deepexperience in this area and have grown capabilities to deal with the impact of compliance. For the typical ITorganization, these capabilities are simply not scalable.Integrate infrastructure and applicationsIn a converged network, a company has to not only supportdiverse devices on a common network, but it must allowthose devices to work together. The expertise of anoutsourcer can be a key to success in these integrationefforts. An outsourcing service provider should be able toassume the role of an integrator who links infrastructure and business applications to improve productivity and bottom-line results.Create a flexible, adaptive network architectureThe architecture of a converged network should be flexibleand agile, so it can adapt quickly to changing businessneeds and new market opportunities. An outsourcing serv-ice provider offers expertise in designing and buildingadaptive network architectures, as well as structuredmethodologies for matching network and security solutionswith business needs. Enable a smooth migrationThe transition to a converged network is a major undertak-ing. If not managed effectively, this transition can drain staffresources and cause service disruptions. The experiencesand expertise of a managed services provider can easethis process. Putting best practices to workAn outsourcing service provider can help an enterprise putbest practices to work to improve processes and drive oper-ational efficiencies. In the course of its own internal andexternal outsourcing experiences with network convergence,HP has identified the following key best practices."Leverage existing infrastructure To move to anoutsourced solution, a company shouldn t have to scrapits current networks. In the case of HP, the outsourcedsolution can make use of a company s current onsiteinfrastructure, leverage HP s vast network infrastructure,or use a combination of the two."Design for convergence Re-evaluate existing supportmodels, organizations and solutions and design them tosupport converged network operations."Streamline operations Enable seamless monitoring,support and administration across all IT operations andprocesses."Bring resources together Break down the barriers thatexist between IT and networking. Eliminate the silo-likearchitectures and operational teams that separate voice,data, video and applications. View network requirementsin holistic terms."Invest in the future Use the savings derived fromnetwork convergence to build a network for the future.Devote more resources to innovation.Untitled Document7"Enhance service delivery Leverage the converged network to create the pipelines through which globalservice delivery of outsourcing can truly occur. Enableservices to be delivered from anywhere to anyone oranything across multiple delivery channels.HP can helpWith its global reach and proven successes, HP is wellpositioned to help enterprises capitalize on networkconvergence. HP has the human and technical resourcesneeded to assess a company s needs, design a conver-gence solution, and then migrate diverse services to aconverged network.Here are some other advantages that HP offers toenterprises seeking to capitalize on network convergence:"While many providers can manage voice services, HP can also add data network and voice convergencesupport across the entire enterprise. "Working closely with its alliance partners, HP can provide an end-to-end view of the converged network to enable higher levels of service quality."HP, together with alliance partners, offers unique capabilities for E911 services. HP can provide an E911database to keep track of location information and IP addresses. "HP offers special expertise in compliance issues andsolutions, including those associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (To learn more, see the HP white paper titled Working through SOX compliance and outsourcing ITservices, HP publication 4AA0-3762ENA.)"HP offers expert services and workshops to help assessconvergence issues and needs. HP has the breadth anddepth of expertise to evaluate infrastructure readiness,develop convergence strategies, and unravel complexsecurity and mobility issues. In a recent Forrester Research report, HP was ranked as a leader in global delivery infrastructure management. Forrester noted HP s global delivery infrastructure centers,offshore/nearshore staff and network bandwidth as specificareas of strength.*HP s leadership in networking services, server, storage andoutsourcing can help enterprises find their way through thecomplexities and management of network convergence.Drawing on its vast resources, HP can help companies drivebetter business results with less risk, improve productivityand IT performance, and respond faster to dynamicbusiness conditions.To learn moreTo learn more about outsourcing and how it can help anorganization capitalize on network convergence, visitwww.hp.com/go/outsourcing.For information on how HP can help address your specificnetwork convergence challenges, contact your HP represen-tative or outsourcing@hp.com. * Forrester Research, Q4 2005 Forrester Wave Report, Global Delivery Infrastructure Management, Dec. 12, 2005.Untitled DocumentTo learn more about HP s offering, visitwww.hp.com/go/outsourcing. Copyright 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject tochange without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warrantystatements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting anadditional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.4AA0-5755ENA, May 2006
