A viable user group: ACUTA

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: STEVE TAYLOR AND JIM METZLER ON WIDE
AREA NETWORKING
07/28/05
Today's focus: A viable user group: ACUTA

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Reader responses concerning the future of user groups
* Links related to Wide Area Networking
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: A viable user group: ACUTA

By Steve Taylor and Jim Metzler

In our continuing discussion of user groups, last time Michael
Finneran mentioned the Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA)
as one of the relatively few surviving advocacy organizations.
We also heard from ACUTA, the Association for Communications
Technology Professionals in Higher Education
<http://www.acuta.org/>.

Jeri A. Semer, ACUTA's executive director, wrote, "There is
definitely still a place for user associations, and the fact
that ACUTA is thriving is proof of that. We have a clear focus
serving communications technology professionals at colleges and
universities (the only such organization with this specific
focus) and we offer our members the opportunity to share
information and to network.

"The great old organizations you mentioned, such as ICA, TCA,
and CMA, are no longer around partly because their need for an
advocacy role faded, but also because, in my opinion, they
didn't evolve. Like those groups, ACUTA's focus at one time was
on voice technologies and the people who led telecom
departments. But unlike them, we saw the trend of a converged
voice-data function, and successfully transformed our
organization to mirror the changes taking place at our members'
institutions.

"As far as the question you posed, whether organizations like
ours are still needed, we answer with an enthusiastic yes. While
we do serve a regulatory advisory capacity on behalf of higher
education interests, our larger role is to afford our members
the opportunity to network with and learn from each other.
That's why most of the speakers at next week's annual conference
are ACUTA members, sharing with other members the ways they have
implemented and managed technologies on their campuses.

"There's a comfort level in a community like ACUTA, with members
knowing they can contact each other, or post requests for
information about technologies, vendors, applications, and other
issues, and get helpful, cooperative responses.

"We would like to see more organizations like ours out there,
going strong and helping their own communities deal with the
dizzying pace of technological advancement."

Many thanks to Jeri for sharing these thoughts. Indeed, one of
the major challenges over the past few years has been for these
organizations to converge the scope of their focus, just as
users have had to implement organizational convergence within
their own communities.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. 2005 Salary Survey
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwan4011>

2. Cisco nixes conference session on hacking IOS router code
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwan4012>

3. Verizon joins managed security game
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwan3745>

4. Schools battle personal data hacks
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwan4013>

5. VoIP security threats: Fact or fiction?
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwan3747>

Today's most forwarded story:

The ROI of VoIP
<http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/071105-voip.html>
______________________________________________________________
To contact: Steve Taylor and Jim Metzler

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates
and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed
information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter,
connect to Webtorials <http://www.webtorials.com/>, the premier
site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and
market research. Taylor can be reached at
<mailto:taylor@webtorials.com>

Jim Metzler is the Vice President of Ashton, Metzler &
Associates, a consulting organization that focuses on leveraging
technology for business success. Jim assists vendors to refine
product strategies, service providers to deploy technologies and
services, and enterprises evolve their network infrastructure.
He can be reached at <mailto:jim@ashtonmetzler.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Ciena

Today VPNs and VLANs can satisfy web, Email and file transfer
requirements. Is it reasonable to expect them to handle
storage, XML and/or VoIP traffic, too? Download Ciena's white
paper on 'WAN Optimization for Enterprise Applications" to learn
how new traffic can affect your network and how you can
proactively meet these diverse demands efficiently today and for
tomorrow.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=108974
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the WAN newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/frame/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
SIX TIPS FOR GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE

Before you go in for your next annual review or promotion
interview, you would be wise to consider these tips for ensuring
you've got the right stuff to move ahead. Network executives
offer advice to help you gun for that next promotion and fatten
up your paycheck. Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/you/2005/072505-salary-side2.html>
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