'India Inc Should Spend Yesterday's Money Tomorrow'

Network infrastructure varies with different verticals, and network failure could mean dire consequences for some and just another repair job for others. Having said that, there are some basics of Network Infrastructure Management that every CIOs should follow. Biztech2.0, in association with Juniper Networks, recently hosted an event ‘Futureproof Networks’, which discussed the various facets of network infrastructure management. The key note address for the above event was delivered by Dr Deepak Phatak, chair professor, KreSIT, who discussed a few strategies that could be used by CIOs to ‘futureproof their networks’.

Dr Phatak said, “CIOs should ascertain that vendors provide an end-to-end network solution. They should not hesitate to check that even the routers and switches provided are of standard parameters. Essentially, companies should ask for a demonstration of the solution”. He went on to praise the performance of wireless data networks in India emphasising the fact that network users today can remain online in remote areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states; however, well-developed countries like the United States are still struggling to provide this level of connectivity.

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His focus was on the basics – manageability, scalability, flexibility and security – of the enterprise network.

The affordability has also improved after the introduction of the MPLS concept. There were days when the annual cost for a 64 Kbps leaseline between Mumbai and Delhi was 9.2 lacs; however, this has come down after enterprises started using the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) format.

With MPLS, the infrastructure is also more flexible. He further added, “Prioritisation of bandwidth is very important”. Vendors should offer network solutions that allow change in the usage of bandwidth for applications, so for example, if the enterprise network is running on a 124 Kbps line, then the vendor should have the ability to provide 64 kbps bandwidth that is guarded for specific applications.

As companies expand operations, the resultant need for scaling up networks is also felt. Dr Phatak rightly said, “The need for more bandwidth is perpetual; the more you have it, the more you want it”. The network should always be established for future growth. He explained, “Consider a bank, which has 4,000 branches with a 64 Kbps line, this bank should not hesitate to invest in modems that can also process 2 Mbps bandwidth in case if the company decides to switch over to the latter network speed”. So the bank’s strategy should be to prepare the networks of the future rather than saving cost on modems during the network establishment process.

Moving forward to security, he said that while it should top the CIO agenda, one should not overdo it. He explained, “Experience says that enterprises spend more money on security than what it would cost to the company if the security is compromised”. The security aspect should be embedded in such a way that normal operations are done comfortably coupled with the right management and monitoring. The concept of Network Access Monitoring (NAC) provides useful information about network behaviour.

One important point raised about manageability was centred on doing a regular application review. According to Phatak, 85 percent of network problems arise due to issues with the application architecture. So for example, if the network performance of a Web-based front end of an insurance company running on LAN is smooth in a city like Mumbai where data amounting to thousands of Kilobytes is exchanged every second, the same might not be possible in a rural area where it could even take about 20 minutes to process one insurance form.

India Inc has always been using money more effectively than businesses based in the USA or Europe. On a concluding note, Dr Phatak said, “If US companies spend tomorrow’s money today, Indian companies should less grudgingly spend yesterday’s money tomorrow”.