Connectivity and its impact on Web 2.0 and unified communications

Unified Communications This newsletter is sponsored by Altiris Six steps to pain-free hardware upgrades Desktop hardware upgrades are traditionally costly, complicated and time-consuming - but now it's time to break with tradition. Discover six steps to a successful hardware refresh. Click here to watch this Webcast Network World's Unified Communications Newsletter, 08/30/07 Connectivity and its impact on Web 2.0 and unified communications By Michael Osterman Dion Hinchcliffe’s Web 2.0 Blog has an older but good list of issues that are facing Web 2.0 today. Among the problems that Dion sees for Web 2.0 is ‘Needing a Permaconnection,’ or the need for always-on connectivity in order for Web 2.0 to work. I’d like to extend that concern not only to Web 2.0, but also to unified communications systems in which e-mail, IP telephony, fax, Web conferencing and other services are integrated and managed more holistically than conventional communication systems. While there are enormous advantages associated with this integration, the vulnerability of this approach goes up, as well. For example, while there is virtually universal connectivity in the workplace, there are times when networks go down, sometimes for days at a time. In the Seattle area last December, a major storm knocked out power and broadband services for hundreds of thousands of people. Some businesses and residences in a heavily populated area just a few miles from Microsoft’s main campus were without these services for nearly two weeks. The result is that when a network fails, e-mail, voice and other services are simultaneously unavailable. Even when things are operating normally, there are times during which connectivity is unavailable, particularly for mobile employees, making the productivity gains associated with unified communications and Web 2.0 more vulnerable to disruption. It's taking the world be storm. And now it's coming to NY/LA/Chicago at an exclusive Network World LIVE IT Spotlight Event Carrier Ethernet for Business: The Birth of the New Global Network. Making the world your '"local area." Linking far-flung offices and remote customer sites. Connecting applications seamlessly and reliably across nations, borders, and continents. It's the future of global networking and you can be one of the first to know about it by attending a once-in a generation event conducted by the Metro Ethernet Forum [MEF], the world's leading authority on carrier-class ethernet. Reserve a complimentary seat: Reserve a complimentary seat Will this vulnerability slow the adoption of unified communications and Web 2.0 technologies? I believe that it will be of increasing concern to IT managers and others who are charged with not only reducing the cost of the infrastructure, but also with improving its reliability.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: For webinars or research on messaging, or to join the Osterman Research market research survey panel, go here. Osterman Research helps organizations understand the markets for messaging and directory related offerings. To e-mail Michael, click here. This newsletter is sponsored by Altiris Six steps to pain-free hardware upgrades Desktop hardware upgrades are traditionally costly, complicated and time-consuming - but now it's time to break with tradition. Discover six steps to a successful hardware refresh. Click here to watch this Webcast ARCHIVE Archive of the Unified Communications Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007