How the network team can show business value to the company

Wide Area Networking This newsletter is sponsored by Meru Networks New Executive Guide: Stay on Top of Wireless Tech Wireless network technology developments move lighting fast in the enterprise. Get up to speed on the latest WLAN developments in technology, management and more with Network World's latest Executive Guide, "Keeping Up With the Wireless Whirlwind." Click here to download! Network World's Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 08/23/07 How the network team can show business value to the company By Steve Taylor and Jim Metzler In the July 31 newsletter, we stated our belief that it is often difficult for a networking organization to be seen as providing direct business benefit. Certainly senior managers know that their business could not function without the network, just as it couldn’t function without electricity or water. That does not mean that senior business managers think that electricity and water provide direct business value. There are no easy answers as to how to get senior managers to see the business value of networking. There are, however, some techniques that we can use to help managers recognize the business value of networking. Jim will discuss some of these techniques at the forthcoming IT Roadmap (ITR) conference that Network World is producing at the Adams’s Mark hotel in Dallas on Sept. 6. At the ITR conference, Jim will moderate two tracks – one on network management and the other on network and application acceleration. During his network management keynote, Jim will discuss his belief that in order for IT professionals to demonstrate business value, they must relate what they do to what the company’s senior business managers care about. The basic idea being that IT does not have value unto itself - its value is that it allows an organization to achieve business success. Get Up to Speed on the Latest in WLANs Easily stay on top of the latest developments and issues in WLAN technology, standards, security, telephony, management and more with Network World's latest Executive Guide, "Keeping Up With the Wireless Whirlwind." Click here to download! Jim will discuss issues that are of interest to specific industry segments such as healthcare and government, as well as talk about a number of generic issues that would be of interest to business managers of organizations of all sizes and in all industries. One such generic issue is the need for organizations to become more agile. Business agility is a phrase that gets used often and in a variety of different contexts. Jim will define business agility as the ability to respond, in real-time-enough fashion, to situations that impact the health and well-being of the organization and its stakeholders. Jim will give examples of specific organization and what real-time enough fashion means to them. Jim will also discuss the link between business agility and the supporting technologies. We’ll discuss more about the Dallas IT Roadmap conference in the next newsletter. In the meantime, you are all invited to attend this free conference and continue the dialogue around some of the topics that we have been discussing in recent newsletters.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: 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, the premier site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and market research. Taylor can be reached at 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 via e-mail. This newsletter is sponsored by Meru Networks New Executive Guide: Stay on Top of Wireless Tech Wireless network technology developments move lighting fast in the enterprise. Get up to speed on the latest WLAN developments in technology, management and more with Network World's latest Executive Guide, "Keeping Up With the Wireless Whirlwind." Click here to download! ARCHIVE Archive of the Wide Area Networking 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