EDITORIAL
	Béatrice Piquer-Durand Marketing Director Ipanema Technologies

Is your network ready for the cloud?

You are under increasing pressure to support the new challenges of your enterprise in the cloud.

Cloud computing simplifies enterprise application delivery with resource flexibility and cost cutting while at the same time dramatically increases the pressure on the network. Desktop virtualization, unified communications, Web applications, video streaming, telepresence, hybrid networks and the evolution to cloud computing… All these IT transformation initiatives drive the need for predictable, real-time, optimized and controlled network performance.

The network is getting more and more complex to both implement and operate to match your Enterprise’s strive for agility. But, is your network ready for the cloud? It’s exactly the question Thierry Grenot, our CTO will address below.

This new challenging environment is also a fantastic opportunity for Service Providers to go beyond basic transport services and provide an autonomic network infrastructure for their enterprise customers, as a strategic asset in the overall IT chain. Like KPN International, more and more Service Providers think “Beyond MPLS” to deliver cloud-ready network services to enterprises. Robert Kersbergen senior Product & Sales Consultant for KPN International shares with us the main challenges faced by Service Providers when supporting large enterprises and the reason why they have to develop new value-added services and deliver application ready networks.

You’re on the way to the cloud and our WAN Governance solutions give you full control of your application performance over your global network, whether it is a private cloud, public cloud or both. With us, take the chance to perform today and take control of tomorrow!

Enjoy reading!

Béatrice

SUCCESS STORY
	Robert Kersbergen Senior Product & Sales Consultant

WOW (WAN Optimization Works) born from new partnership between Ipanema Technologies and KPN International

Béatrice Piquer-Durand for Ipanews: Firstly Robert, thank you for talking to us at Ipanews. Can you briefly describe the scope of your responsibilities at KPN International?
Robert Kersbergen: As a Senior Product and Sales Consultant, my responsibilities vary from working with our sales force, both in the pre- and post-sales phase, by translating customer requirements into feasible and cost effective designs; to actually implementing and sometimes even managing the services that I've helped sell. I have an in-depth knowledge of our entire portfolio covering virtually every networking service available, from access services to managed voice and video services and from security services to WAN optimization services. Finally, I'm also responsible for the development and deployment of our own WAN optimization service called WOW (WAN Optimization Works).

BPD: Can you tell us about KPN International?
RK: KPN International offers a wide range of data and IP services for corporate and wholesale customers in Europe and around the world. Services optimize the complex relationship between applications and a converged global network. The portfolio includes intelligent solutions ranging from access services, network services, transmission services, add-on connectivity, data center services, security services, unified communication, call center solutions, Software as a Service and more, up to professional services including consultancy and project management. KPN International operates a high-capacity, fiber-optic network covering 22 European countries. Worldwide connections to more than 180 countries are ensured via sea-cables and partnerships with BT, SingTel, Sprint and Telefonica. Headquartered in Den Haag, KPN International serves more than 700 customers. With our core values including customer focus, flexibility and reliability we often differentiate from competition. For more information, please visit www.kpn-international.com.

BPD: What do you believe are the main challenges faced by Service Providers such as KPN International when working with large enterprises?
RK: With large enterprises, the challenge is finding the right mix of standardized and customized services whilst maintaining a high level of service with appropriate SLAs at the right price. Larger networks require that you minimize customized solutions in order to keep it manageable but this can be at odds with the business requirements. Having clear and concise procedures that are well-established in all disciplines of the organization is key to ensure that the customizations that are eventually necessary are secured.

BPD: What has brought operators like KPN International to offer an Application Performance Management Service?
RK: We felt that in an environment where MPLS networks have become a commodity, the focus should be on the applications that run over our customer's network and not so much on the network itself. Through our WOW service, we are able to offer unprecedented insight into the application flows over their network which they can then match with their business requirements, enabling them to use their WAN's resources there where their business needs it most. It's all about taking control over your network expenditure, taking control over your user's experience and truly governing your WAN. This is a value add that once experienced, an IT organization can't do without and that's why we believe this is the future of wide area networking.

BPD: What is the value proposition/main benefits of the service and how does it compliment the existing services?
RK: The value proposition is simple, get the most out of your WAN by assigning its resources to those applications that support your business. Doing this in an intelligent and flexible way, meaning applications are treated differently based on their type and priority and that network resources: a) can be used fully for every application given the right circumstances (i.e. no higher priority traffic available) and b) can be changed quickly without needing your Service Provider. Combine this with dedicated support for real-time applications such as voice and video, compression and acceleration technologies to reduce the amount of traffic sent over the WAN (and thereby delaying access line and port upgrades) and the ability to use multiple WAN connections simultaneously for backup and offloading purposes, and you have a killer service in my opinion. In theory we can combine the service with any IP network, but in reality we often bundle it with our own MPLS offerings as they are a natural match.

BPD: How have you structured your WOW offering?
RK: There are four basic elements: 1) the management solution, known as the Network Application Control Center, 2) customer premise equipment, the so-called ip|engines, 3) feature packs that enable certain features of the service and 4) the required service level. We realize that customers need to grow into the service and that is why we allow them to start small and only enable those features that they require. Part of the service is also an initial network assessment whereby we analyze the existing network and profile their applications. As a provider we can bring a lot of knowledge with regards to application behavior and how to interpret the feedback from the service. This brings me to a 5th optional element which is Service Management, something that all of our WOW customers subscribe to because they value having a service manager that collates and interprets the reporting from the WOW service.

BPD: You have chosen the Ipanema System as the main technology behind this service. What were the reasons for your choice?
RK: The main reason was manageability; the single dashboard that allows us and our customers to control all functionality that the Ipanema System has to offer. Manageability is key, especially in the area of WAN optimization which is still fairly new to most IT organizations, so you want to keep the threshold to use the service as low as possible. We looked at other solutions in the market, but in reality they did not compare to the integrated solution that Ipanema Technologies has to offer. We were also impressed by the quick response times with regards to implementing customized solutions for some of our customers and the way the Ipanema organization values us as a partner.

BPD: When and where will this service be available?
RK: The service is already available and we can deliver the service virtually everywhere in the world.

SOLUTIONS & SERVICES
	Thierry Grenot CTO Ipanema Technologies

WAN Governance in the cloud Béatrice for Ipanews: What is cloud computing? Thierry Grenot: Gartner defines cloud computing as "a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities are provided 'as a service' to customers using Internet Technologies". In other words, “IT as a service” accessible throughout the Internet and also across MPLS if your Telco offers such services. Theoretically, it should be as simple as tap water. Note that it is not new for the consumer market: you can see yellow pages, Yahoo! Finance or Facebook as a cloud service (SaaS mode). BPD: What’s driving the need for cloud computing? TG: Cloud computing simplifies application delivery and provides resource flexibility. It is an investment-less opex model, with no need for specialized support resources in the enterprise.

BPD: What are the limitations/challenges of cloud architectures?
TG: Cloud is great because it simplifies IT architecture and processes; however it creates an additional pressure on already shared infrastructure: the WAN (the actual "cloud"). The traffic matrix becomes much more complicated; business critical and recreational flows are interleaved; Internet and MPLS have to jointly deliver applications to the users. In order to realize the presumed benefits, it is essential that the network itself be cloud-ready.

BPD: Why do enterprises need specific solutions to manage their WAN in a cloud environment?
TG: I trust global CONTROL is the key word of this story. Enterprises need to understand, decide, manage, optimize and report… what’s happening between their users and (private and public) cloud based data centers. End user quality of experience is a must for a good acceptance of cloud computing and IT managers must guarantee performance while proving cost savings.

BPD: How does Ipanema help enterprises on their way to the cloud?
TG: WAN Governance from Ipanema, dynamically aligns the network to the enterprise’s IT goals. Ipanema provides the only all-in-one solution able to control the global network and deliver WAN Governance in a fully automated way: we call it the Autonomic Networking System or ANS™.

BPD: How does Ipanema's ANS™ work?
TG: ANS™ automatically understands the application traffic and performance over the network. It controls each user’s application flow according needs (as set by the IT department), optimizes response times and, for hybrid network architecture, dynamically selects the best network based on the applications performance objectives. Certified by the world’s largest Service Providers, ANS™ scales up to the largest enterprise network. Multi-tenant by design, it fits with the largest Managed Service Provider’s customer portfolio.

BPD: What are the benefits of WAN Governance in a cloud environment?
TG: Powered by ANS™, WAN Governance enables enterprises to gain full control and optimization of their applications over the global network, including the evolution to private and public cloud computing. With their application delivery “autonomically” managed and optimized according to ongoing infrastructure transformations, enterprises' IT is ready to perform today while taking control of tomorrow.