Today's WANs Don't Keep Pace With Applications

Your organization's demand for network capacity is growing at exponential rates. Why? Because new application trends like Social Computing and Web services, coupled with interactive content like video, drive massive bandwidth need. Your network operations team must be very diligent and properly plan network capacity, especially in the wide area network (WAN). Here, bandwidth is at a premium, and links are often a fraction of the gigabit LAN speeds connecting your servers and desktops. The bottom line: Your WAN has become a critical asset, so you better start allocating adequate budget and bandwidth. In the next two years, you'll have to significantly rethink WAN strategies and consider new architectures that supplement MPLS and Ethernet with widescale usage of the Internet.