The research, which examined the habits of 300 organizations, found that while many companies are upgrading the wireless technologies at the edge of the network, fewer of them are looking downstream to ensure that the backbone of their networks can support all that extra traffic.

Dimension Data’s report, the 2012 Network Barometer, found that one-third of the wireless access points installed in 2011 were 802.11n-capable. That has implications for speed, traffic and network prioritization.

In addition, the solution provider found that about two-thirds of the devices that it assessed during its study had at least one known security vulnerability. Generally speaking, these vulnerabilities were new (that is, they indicated that the companies weren’t keeping their network operating systems up-to-date.

Dimension Data’s overall suggestion is that companies need to spend more time examining the switches and routing equipment supporting an influx of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

“Without adequate planning, organizations can expect traffic jams and performance bottlenecks,” said Raoul Tecala, Dimension Data’s business development director for network integration, commenting on the findings. “It’s like building a number of new on-ramps onto a motorway, and not adding new lanes to carry the additional traffic.”

The takeaway for other technology solution providers is that they need to more carefully assess the network infrastructure supporting their customers’ mobile solutions rollouts — with an eye to accommodating the extra traffic and ensuring that security breaches aren’t introduced for the sake of productivity.

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There are several forces shaping these technologies, and the deployments of same. They include the push to “green” IT infrastructure or to be more specific, the push to cut the amount of power that things like data centers and networks suck up to do their job. No brainer, right?

It is until you start thinking about the fact that IT managers often don’t have directly responsible for managing the electricity budgets in their companies. That means the facilities managers are a key set of influencers in solutions focused on managing power usage across both what we would consider information technology (servers, storage, networking gear and such) and cooling technology (power distribution units, racks, chillers and so forth).

It is this fact of life that causing what I am coming to view as the next wave of convergence: the intersection of IT networks that connect servers, PCs, storage and other pieces of infrastructure and the building networks that typically are used to manage things such as security systems, lighting and climate systems such as air-conditioning units.

If you are a network integrator, the race is on among technology vendors hoping to capitalize on this convergence. There are two vivid examples from just this week, both announced during the Cisco Live conference:

• APC by Schneider Electric has introduced a product designed to help improve the energy efficiency of the Cisco Nexus data center networking switch, the APC NetShelter Side Airflow Solution kit. The company also worked with Cisco to create design and configuration guides for other Cisco products.
• In addition, APC’s parent company Schneider Electric has created an energy management system in collaboration with Cisco that it calls EcoStruxure. The technology supports management of power needs, data centers, process and machine technologies, building controls, and physical security systems.

Said Chris Curtis, president and CEO of the Buildings Business for Schneider Electric:

“Looking for innovative ways to increase energy efficiency and enable business performance within buildings is what Schneider Electric does every day with thousands of customers worldwide. Combining Schneider Electric’s EcoStuxure architecture and Cisco EnergyWise provides organizations with the capability to go one step further and manage the energy consumption of IT/IP devices and PCs in the building management system domain for the first time.”

The need for skills in energy management across entire facilities is becoming more pronounced every day. Network solution providers are in an ideal position to benefit from this power play.

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