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One week to go until the UC event of the year; the Dallas UC Forum, being held on February 28th, at the Omni Dallas Park West hotel on LBJ Freeway at Luna Road!
Check out this video message on why it’s great and why you should make time in your schedule to attend the Forum. We have added more live content to the program to show just how Unified Communications and particularly Mobility can dramatically improve your client satisfaction levels.

If you are frustrated about keeping up with the tsunami of smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, netbooks and other remote devices that show up each day in your team’s hands, this event will help you sort out how to approach what Gartner has determined to be the Number One challenge for technology adopters in 2012.

A special message from Dave Casey, CEO, Westron Communications:
Hear from key Unified Communications thought leaders at the Dallas UC Forum sponsored by BestinUC.com and Westron.

Just 2 weeks until the Dallas UC Forum, so it’s time to deliver some advance notice about our fantastic lineup of keynote speakers. These folks are driving the adoption and acceptance of leading edge UC technologies and best practices within their respective organizations.

Here’s the all-star lineup:

John Harrington is an Emmy Award winning investigative reporter and is the Senior Editor, Networking Technology for OTR Global, headquartered in San Francisco. He leads a team of reporters in Asia, Europe, India, South American and North America in producing extensive research covering the trends that have shaped and are shaping our current and future communications, with a particular contemporary focus on mobility computing and its effects on the workforce, productivity and network security.

Vasili Triant is Worldwide Vice President of Mobility at ShoreTel. He will be discussing how the mobile tsunami of smartphones and tablets has revolutionized the face the of enterprise communications. Employees, partners and customers now expect and demand ubiquitous and brilliantly simple communication; anywhere, anytime and from any device.

Joe Vitalone is Vice President of Sales for the Americas at LifeSize Communications, Inc. He will discuss how the explosion in demand for high-quality, low-cost video communications is changing the communication experience both within and outside the enterprise; especially in those businesses seeking a major competitive advantage in how they deal with their customers, supply chain, and business partners.

Steve Miller is Vice President for Insource Technology. He will discuss how Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables businesses to leverage end-to-end UC technology to increase productivity, lower costs and enhance the employee communication experience.

See first-hand the technology and support practices that companies just like yours are leveraging to realize the benefits from Unified Communications. Numerous UC Breakout sessions plus our Technology Showcase will feature these and other industry leading UC solution providers:

• Microsoft
• ShoreTel
• Ruckus Wireless
• LifeSize
• Adtran
• Juniper
• Avteq
• RevoLabs
• Brightline

So, be sure to register today for this one-of-a-kind event at www.dallasucforum.com.

On February 28^th, the Dallas UC Forum brings together sales executives, services delivery managers and IT executives as we discuss business applications, Unified Communications and the  UC platforms from Microsoft, ShoreTel, and LifeSize Communications. This event is designed to show the interoperability of  the top UC platforms, and how adding mobility to Unified Communications really kick-starts the return on investment in this breakthrough technology.

A panel of your peers will share how they are examining the options, discussing management and security concerns, and responding to the demand for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD); often responding to executive requests for implementing consumer devices on enterprise networks.

This all day event features live demonstration of the top UC platforms and mobility solutions instead of the usual slide-ware. In addition to the user panel, Westron partners will showcase their solutions and breakout sessions dive deeper into the business and technical answers to tough business questions.

The day will wrap up with a sponsored happy hour and networking event featuring a Chivas Scotch tasting.

Registration is now open at www.dallasucforum.com or call at 800-322-2365.

This article first appeared on Best in UC.

Virtualization offers a host of benefits, tempting IT managers to leap before thinking through all of the security ramifications. That’s why understanding – and planning against – the risks inherent in virtualization is growing more important every day.

Through 2012, 60 percent of virtualized servers will be less secure than the physical servers they replace, according to Gartner, Inc. Although Gartner expects this figure to fall to 30 percent by the end of 2015, analysts warned that many virtualization deployment projects are being undertaken without involving the information security team in the initial architecture and planning stages.

“Virtualization is not inherently insecure,” said Neil MacDonald, vice president and Gartner fellow. “However, most virtualized workloads are being deployed insecurely. The latter is a result of the immaturity of tools and processes and the limited training of staff, resellers and consultants.”

Gartner research indicates that at the end of 2009, only 18 percent of enterprise data center workloads that could be virtualized had been virtualized; the number is expected to grow to more than 50 percent by the close of 2012. As more workloads are virtualized, as workloads of different trust levels are combined and as virtualized workloads become more mobile, the security issues associated with virtualization become more critical to address.

Gartner has identified the six most common virtualization security risks together with advice on how each issue might be addressed:

1. Information security isn’t initially involved in virtualization projects. Survey data from Gartner conferences in late 2009 indicated that about 40 percent of virtualization deployment projects were undertaken without involving the information security team in the initial architecture and planning stages. Typically, the operations teams will argue that nothing has really changed — they already have skills and processes to secure workloads, operating systems (OSs) and the hardware underneath. This argument ignores the new layer of software in the form of a hypervisor and virtual machine monitor (VMM) that is introduced when workloads are virtualized.
2. A compromise of the virtualization layer could result in the compromise of all hosted workloads. The virtualization layer represents another important IT platform in the infrastructure, and like any software written by human beings, this layer will inevitably contain embedded and yet-to-be-discovered vulnerabilities that may be exploitable.
3. The lack of visibility and controls on internal virtual networks vreated for VM-to-VM communications blinds existing security policy enforcement mechanisms. For efficiency in communications between virtual machines (VMs), most virtualization platforms include the ability to create software-based virtual networks and switches inside of the physical host to enable VMs to communicate directly. This traffic will not be visible to network-based security protection devices, such as network-based intrusion prevention systems.
4. Workloads of different trust levels are consolidated onto a single physical server without sufficient separation. As organizations move beyond the “low-hanging fruit” of workloads to be virtualized, more critical systems and sensitive workloads are being targeted for virtualization. This is not necessarily an issue, but it can become an issue when these workloads are combined with other workloads from different trust zones on the same physical server without adequate separation.
5. Adequate controls on administrative access to the hypervisor/VMM layer and to administrative tools are lacking. Because of the critical support the hypervisor/VMM layer provides, administrative access to this layer must be tightly controlled, but this is complicated by the fact that most virtualization platforms provide multiple paths of administration for this layer.
6. There is a potential loss of separation of duties for network and security controls. When physical servers are collapsed into a single machine, it increases the risk that both system administrators and users will inadvertently gain access to data that exceeds their normal privilege levels. Another area of concern is which group configures and supports the internal virtual switch.

For our clients, we rely on solutions from Juniper Networks to protect virtual servers and the networkst they support. For example, the Juniper vGW Virtual Gateway is a comprehensive security solution for virtualized data centers and clouds that is capable of monitoring and protecting virtualized environments while maintaining the highest levels of VM host capacity and performance. vGW includes a high-performance hypervisor-based stateful firewall, integrated intrusion detection, and virtualization-specific antivirus protection.

vGW provides complete virtual network protection. Its VMsafe-certified virtualization security approach, in combination with “x-ray” level knowledge of each virtual machine through virtual machine introspection, gives vGW a unique vantage point in the virtualized environment. vGW can monitor each VM and apply protections adaptively as changes to the VM configuration and security posture make enforcement and alerts necessary.

This article first appeared on Best in UC.

Cybercriminals are setting their sites on new targets in 2012.

The upcoming New Year will see cycbercriminals act with more persistency and sophistication, focusing on mobile and cloud computing, according to Trend Micro and its 12 Threat Predictions for 2012.

The report points out that:

• The real challenge for data center owners will be the increasing complexities of security physical, virtual and cloud-based systems.
• Security vulnerabilities will be found in legitimate mobile apps, making data extraction easier for criminals.
• More hacker groups will pose a bigger threat to organizations that protect highly sensitive data.

First and foremost for most organizations, however, is the prediction that security and data breach incidents will force companies to face bring-your-own-device (BYOD) challenges. Why? Most of the mobile devices consumers choose do not have the kinds of intensive security and management controls that IT pros need to protect a business.

So if your employees want to use their mobile phones, tablets and other mobile devices, what should your business do? Consider these strategies for locking down the network – and the mobile devices that contain critical corporate information.

1. Create an acceptable use policy. Employees need to know what is expected of them. If they request access to the corporate network using their personal devices, require employees to sign an Acceptable Use Agreement. This will lay out IT requirements and shared responsibilities.
2. Allow only role-based access. Role-based solutions enable the IT department to give mobile users access based upon their job requirements. This keeps critical data secure, while enabling higher levels of productivity.
3. Install software that enables remote wipe and lock. If a device is lost or stolen, your business needs its information deleted. Install a remote wiping software, or require employees to install the software, on BYOD devices. If a device disappears, business data can be deleted by IT.
4. Leverage location tracking. With the right mobile device management software, your IT department can send an alarm to a device, or even determine where the device can be found. If it’s not in possession of the rightful owner, the wipe and lock technology can protect corporate data.
5. Help your help desk. With the right solutions, your company’s IT help desk can provide the support users need across a wide number of mobile devices. Make sure your IT experts know how to secure, access and support mobile devices, so that your enterprise’s information will remain safe while workers increase their productivity.

Want to take a video conference from interesting to effective?

Few things can drive home the important points brought up in a meeting than a whiteboard. But how can the whiteboard experience of the conference room be expanded to the virtual meeting?

Until now, creating a whiteboard in a video conferencing setting required an investment of more than $10,000. But now, Polycom has unveiled the first effective, affordable whiteboard solution for video conference collaboration.

The Polycom UC Board costs under $2,000. It allows meeting participants to leverage their existing video display screens and mobile devices as interactive whiteboards for video collaboration.

When traditional whiteboards are used in a video conference, it’s a common problem that remote participants have trouble seeing the whiteboard content, which undermines teamwork and participation.

The first integrated video collaboration whiteboard technology of its kind, the Polycom UC Board is a simple, elegant and cost-effective solution combining a plug-and-play receiver and stylus for ease-of-use, and a compact design for portability. The solution transforms LCD monitors and display surfaces into a video whiteboard space so every participant can stay fully engaged. Users participating in a video meeting can also share content such as a presentation, and use the Polycom UC Board to write, annotate or highlight key points, right on top of the presentation for everyone to see in real-time.

“The Polycom UC Board is the first integrated video collaboration solution to make sharing whiteboard content as easy as picking up a pen,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, executive vice president and general manager of UC solutions and chief development officer for Polycom. “That’s great news for organizations of all kinds looking to bring remote employees and customers in a sales presentation, brainstorm, planning meeting, or training class with clear access to all the visual content being presented and discussed.”

The Polycom UC Board solution can improve communication and collaboration for a wide range of users across various professions and industries. Examples include:

• an architect sketching the next concept for green construction
• a doctor explaining a diagnosis or procedure to a patient
• a student solving a problem with remote classmates
• an advertising executive brainstorming creative storyboards and design layouts

The Polycom UC Board solution combines a compact infrared sensor that attaches to a whiteboard or LCD screen, and a wireless stylus that meeting hosts can use to sketch, write, and annotate just as they would use any pen or marker.

Unlike competing whiteboard solutions, the Polycom UC Board works the moment the stylus touches the writing surface, requiring absolutely no technical skill or training to operate.

ShoreTel (NASDAQ:SHOR) and Ruckus Wireless have recently announced they are working together to provide a “Mobile Unified Communications Starter Kit.” This new product will be aimed at pilot deployments in large organizations and turnkey deployments for small and mid-sized companies.

Why is this significant? Well, with the blast of marketing info, complex jargon, and cool-looking apps from the large industry players in unified communications (UC), what is often overlooked is the fact that the success or failure of a UC deployment is largely dependent on the quality and performance of the entity’s Wi-Fi network.  Many times, the end-user IT department is literally at a loss of where to start and which dragon to slay first.

Should we upgrade all the remote desktops, notebooks, and mobile devices first? How about our bandwidth, both wired and wireless? Which of the many carriers should we use, and will our choice limit us on what UC platform we can support? How does adoption of UC impact our installed base of applications, and who will train our far-flung users on the technology? How can we possibly calculate the payback for spending the company’s time and treasure to make this move?

We have been deploying UC solutions for many years; in fact, since back before the term was coined. The evolution of the capabilities of UC, and the movement of the capability from the desktop to the notebook to the handheld device, has gained great velocity in just the last couple of quarters. The traditional vendors that have been important in corporate voice and data communications have adopted the UC label, but often have not provided the end-user with an open, comprehensive and cohesive solution. Or for that matter, one that the great majority of users can easily adopt and use immediately.

This announcement from ShoreTel and Ruckus circumvents many of the roadblocks associated with adoption of this latest technology. ShoreTel’s Mobility solution is a wide-open platform, dovetailing seamlessly with all the major IP PBX platforms (Cisco, Avaya, ShoreTel, Microsoft, Mitel, etc.). In addition, it is largely device-independent, allowing users to use an iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry, Nokia device interchangeably. Ask any user what they want to carry in their pocket and the answer will change month to month, depending on who has purchased the most advertising or has the cutest spokesmodel! And with companies the size and breadth of IBM adopting Bring Your Own Device, change is inevitable.

A key feature is ShoreTel’s use of the native dialer on each of these platforms. Users do not have to learn a new app, and there is no branding by ShoreTel on the app, as many of the legacy PBX vendors are imposing.

How about carriers? AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, or any of the overseas equivalents work equally well with ShoreTel Mobility. No re-jiggering of contracts or forced migration to adopt the technology.

The Ruckus piece is the topper. A key desired characteristic of a well-implemented UC/mobility solution is the ability to seamlessly transition between cellular (3G and 4G) networks and the Wi-Fi infrastructure. Ruckus, with their established carrier and enterprise ties, has mastered the interface between these two worlds better than any competitor. Added to the top-notch performance figures is the ease of installation and management that is key in a pilot deployment.

We fully expect to deploy dozens of these Mobility UC Starter Kits in our existing and prospective user base as the demand for advanced technology that really works gains momentum. Lucky for us, Westron is a long-time business partner with both these quality manufacturers.

This article first appeared on Best in UC.

In less than a decade, the workplace could look completely different. And unified communications (UC) may be the key to ensuring smooth, consistent communication in companies that embrace the new workplace model.

Consider the initial findings of CoreNet Global’s comprehensive look at the workplace, Corporate Real Estate 2020.

The study shows that technology is radically changing the nature of work. In addition to collaboration and unified communications, the study points to advances such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, biometric security, sensor-driven smart buildings and more.

The survey of 200 executives predicted that “bring your own technology” (BYOT), also known as “bring your own device” or BYOD, will impact the size and design of the corporate office. Fewer square feet will be needed per employee, and workplaces such as cubicles and personal offices will be replaced by open, collaborative spaces.

“BYOT is happening now,” according to Corporate Real Estate 2020 Technology Team member Keith Perske of E-Business Strategies. “Corporations cannot keep up with personal technology, so the next step is already happening.”

The shift implies a change for corporate information technology (IT) departments, whose long-standing role of providing computing power for companies will migrate to the cloud. This is already resulting in a new emphasis on enabling mobility and other forms of flexible work, as well as increasing the IT interface with corporate real estate executives who often manage alternative workplace strategies.

“Cloud computing is about to be replaced by ‘always-networked’ personal devices with near-infinite memory,” Perske said.

While Corporate Real Estate 2020 participants consider the BYOT concept to be predictable, they regard cloud replacement as a revolutionary change to come.

Another revolutionary concept, unified communications, will enable cloud replacement and BYOT. It’s all about the integration of voice, data, graphic and video for the first time in a single device.

“It’s fast becoming collaboration in the pocket,” Perske said. “One day soon, it will take the form of wearable technology.”

Industry experts also identified several “game changing” workplace and technology forces that will pronounce themselves by 2020 and that go beyond being revolutionary.

One of them is biometric-based security. “Technology security will become biometric,” Perske said. “Security poses real issues in the distributed work environments which many companies have adopted to increase productivity, collaboration and innovation.”

These and other outcomes, such as the use of predictive technologies to more effectively forecast future demand for office space, are also linked to intelligent infrastructure and smart buildings. They will tend to be smaller in scale yet provide a competitive advantage in terms of virtual teams and collaboration with multiple stakeholders. “Smarter and smaller” are the terms defining these changes. They are framing the concept of “globally networked enterprises.”

“In tomorrow’s world, work will go to people; people won’t necessarily go to work,” says Corporate Real Estate 2020 Workplace Team member Steve Hargis of HOK. “But that won’t diminish the importance of place, because people, and companies, need human interaction to thrive.”

ShoreTel has expanded the ability to run its products in a virtualized environment by completing VMware certification for the company’s Enterprise Contact Center solution.

This extends the company’s virtualization strategy, which enables customer to create cost savings, easier administration and increased system availability by deploying ShoreTel in a virtualized environment.

ShoreTel Contact Center is an all-in-one contact center solution that provides complete multimedia and outbound capabilities. By leveraging ShoreTel’s unified communications solutions, contact center agents can work anywhere—in one location, across multiple sites, or at home. The routing engine routes calls to the right agent based on specific criteria, such as need, status, service level, location, and wait-time. An integrated powerful graphical scripting engine provides a customized call experience and self-service automation.

When agents receive a new contact, they also receive key information about the caller that helps them to deliver the best customer experience. If expert advice is required, the agent’s desktop application indicates exactly who is available at that moment for consultation. Finally, supervisors have all the tools they need to view the center’s historic and real-time performance, so they can manage with maximum efficiency.

“ShoreTel support for VMware extends beyond the core IP PBX UC and now includes the Contact Center as well, so customers can leverage their VMware environment even more broadly,” said Kevin Gavin, chief marketing officer at ShoreTel. “The inherent brilliant simplicity within the ShoreTel solution is further enhanced by the additional reliability and scalability benefits of a VMware platform.”

More than 1,000 customers in 26 countries have already deployed ShoreTel software in a virtual environment.

“We have seen more than half of our new deployments utilizing virtualization since ShoreTel began supporting it over a year and a half ago – especially in larger deployments where virtualization infrastructures are already built out,” said Kurt Wright, director of technical services at IPC Technologies, Inc. “Because ShoreTel does not limit supported hardware to select vendors, customers are able to leverage their existing server infrastructure, thus reducing the total cost of deployment and maintenance.”

The additional certification of ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center as VMware Ready means resellers and customers can be confident that the mission-critical contact center has been fully tested to run on VMware. This assures stability and reliability.

“Virtualization is important to contact center management as corporate IT departments increasingly embrace data center deployments and virtualization of both infrastructure and applications,” said Sheila MCGee-Smith, president and principal analyst of McGee-Smith Analytics. “Few, if any, competitors can match the simplicity of ShoreTel’s single image contact center virtualization; most involve complex management of multiple virtualized images.”

The ability to virtualize key applications complements ShoreTel’s distributed architecture and allows customers to take advantage of virtualization benefits, such as better server utilization, centralized deployment for more efficient applications management, and improved business continuity. 

“Virtualization gives IT departments the ability to increase their visibility and control of their resources, all while driving a richer and expanded role for automation and management,” said Parag Patel, vice president, alliances, for VMware. “Empowering customers to minimize their IT operational expenses by reducing both planned and unplanned downtime is a vision we are proud to share with ShoreTel.”

This article first appeared on Best in UC.

The desk phone’s days could be numbered.

That’s the opinion of respondents to the BroadSoft 2011 Mobile Enterprise of the Future Survey. This study found that global enterprises are shifting to mobile-only communications more rapidly than expected, as well as adopting unified communications (UC) more broadly. Perhaps most surprisingly in the survey:

• 25 percent of enterprise IT decision-makers believe desk phones will be replaced by mobile phones within two years
• 82 percent of enterprises have employees currently using mobile applications for communications and collaboration

The survey, which was conducted by Cohen Research Group, gathered opinions from 200 U.S. and 200 U.K. IT decision-makers at enterprises of all sizes. The results indicate that enterprises are increasingly supporting a diverse mobile workforce and a challenging range of mobile platforms. In addition, they are rapidly prioritizing the expansion of their unified communications capabilities.

The survey determined that:

• 44 percent of enterprises have at least one-quarter of their workforce operating solely using a mobile phone
• 30 percent of enterprises support tablets, while 51 percent support BlackBerry devices, 40 percent support iPhones, and 31 percent support Android phones

“Enterprise end-users are demanding their IT department support a consumer-grade communications experience that includes access to advanced communications services and applications across their preferred mobile communication device,” said Leslie Ferry, vice president, marketing, BroadSoft. “More telling, the survey revealed mobile network operators have a compelling, but closing window of opportunity to be the preferred provider of choice when it comes to delivering unified communications services that keep mobile employees connected via video, instant messaging, web conferencing and presence management, indicating MNOs need to act now, before competitors erode their customer base.”

Additional findings of the survey showed that:

• 62 percent of IT leaders are expanding their enterprise’s UC capabilities
• Over the next three years, the top UC services to support on mobile devices are instant messaging, web collaboration and video conferencing
• 72 percent of U.S. decision-makers are looking to deploy video conferencing across their organization in the next year, compared to 56 percent in the U.K.

So what does this mean for your organization? As mobile technologies become the most common and preferred method of communication, employees will demand more freedom and flexibility. Rather than being tied to a desk phone, they will wish to carry their phone, instant messaging, email and other apps wherever they go.

Now is the time to investigate a unified communications platform, or to more fully implement the UC tools you already have available. With UC, your office can be truly mobile, without giving up the valuable collaboration that makes your business effective.