Dimension Data, a specialist IT solutions company, has developed a new service which can help organisations simplify their communication networks, and achieve greater automation and accuracy when carrying out network asset planning.

Dimension Data’s new service, called Technology Lifecycle Management Assessment (TLM Assessment), was launched earlier in October across five continents, said a statement.

“Ineffective network planning and budgeting means organisations are environmentally impotent and at financial risk,” said Mechelle Buys du Plessis, strategic account manager, Dimension Data.

“Many organisations in the Middle East are not using their networks optimally with nearly 73 per cent of their networking devices running with some vulnerability,” Buys du Plessis added.

“Our new, robust TLM Assessment service will offer organisations a cost effective means to improve their environmental status by helping them understand their networks better. With green being the focus of many organisations today, we are confident this service will hugely benefit our clients in the Middle East who are looking to build and maintain green networks."

Rich Schofield, global business development manager, network integration at Dimension Data pointed out that IT infrastructure can be an enormous consumer of energy, space, and skills.

“Most organisations know that network technology vendors are constantly making improvements to equipment to ensure better energy efficiency,” Schofield said.

“Some are even building solutions that also help regulate other IT systems and utilities to save power - such as IP phones, wireless access points and even lighting and air conditioning.  These devices can be shut off after hours or during periods of inactivity.

“But, because organisations don’t have a holistic view of their technology assets, they don’t know which equipment to replace, or what technologies, processes, and practices to rationalise in order to improve their environmental impact without incurring the cost of new hardware or software.”

The TLM Assessment automates both the identification of assets and the evaluation of asset status, the statement said.

Automation speeds up these processes and improves the accuracy of the information gathered for what are, in most cases, complex technology environments. It also allows for the comparison of asset status against best practice.

“By identifying and classifying assets running on your network, we are able to present you with a report that maps and describes your current network status in detail,” Schofield said.

“It identifies weak spots and vulnerabilities, and updates you on the lifecycle status of your network components. With such a high level of visibility, you have the time, knowledge, and insight to plan for upgrades, make informed decisions on prolonging the use of certain assets and budgeting for those that need upgrades or spares.

“An accurate inventory of the network empowers organisations to make the right decisions at the right time and at the right price – and with the unprecedented luxury of making all those decisions in a green context.”

Dimension Data’s TLM Assessment evolved out of the company’s original network assessment service because of what it learned about processes during the more than 300 executed globally during 2008 and 2009.

“We built that learning back into the service, making it even easier and more cost effective for customers to remove risk, waste, and uncertainty from their network infrastructure management,” Schofield explained.

“The 300 assessments provided us with proof that most organisations are at financial, operational, and reputational risk because of lack of knowledge of their network and other technology assets.”

Schofield continued: “There is an average of 30 configuration issues per network device. The most frequently misconfigured category is authentication. Almost half of all network devices are at a point in the obsolescence cycle where spares, support, and fixes are no longer available.

“Because of the rapid and haphazard way in which technology has evolved, there’s been no time to develop technology lifecycle management best practice – and there’ve been no truly automated tools to impose it,” he said.

“Now, those tools are not only available, but are continuously evolving to become increasingly strategically – and environmentally – valuable,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service