Online report sponsored by

Network
Modernization
INSIDE
Agencies Strive to Modernize Networks

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Unified Communications Makes Headway via Video and the Post-PC Era

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Managing Mobility on Agency Networks

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Network Modernization Tips and Advice

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Fading Technologies Sway Future Investments

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Mobile &
Snapshot:
Network
Wireless
Modernization

www.GCN.com/NetworkModernization

Agencies Strive to
Modernize Networks
Resiliency, Reliability and Security Key to Highly Available Networks

udgetary constraints, along with the

administrations advocacy of data center
consolidation, cloud computing, telework and
mobile computing are accelerating the pace of network
modernization government-wide.
Agencies and departments are working to invest in cloudbased services, application delivery alternatives, mobile
computing technologies and WAN optimization to aid
ongoing efforts to streamline and optimize network
operations.
To meet the requirements of mandates such as the Federal
Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI), agencies
and departments are working reducing the number of
federal data centers and lowering ongoing IT costs, while
increasing both security and energy efficiency. These
federal IT consolidation projects are expected to help
civilian, military and intelligence organizations shrink the
number of data centers, which had quadrupled between
1998 and 2010. The White House now estimates 962

federal data centers will close by the end of 2015.

To meet FDCCI goals, however, agencies must overcome
challenges related to efficiently consolidating data center
resources without negatively impacting application
performance for workers. Industry observers maintain
data center consolidation can wreak havoc on application
performance and response times across wide area networks
(WANs). As regional data centers and small data centers
in field offices close, users must connect to applications
located farther away. This exposes users to performance
issues caused by distance and latency. And this is not only
frustrating, but can also threaten consolidation efforts.
Enter WAN Optimization
WAN optimization boosts data traffic across geographic
distances. While the primary tools have been around
for a decade, agencies are increasingly turning to WAN
optimization to speed the delivery of applications from
a centralized data center to branch offices, or back up
data to an off-site facility. The dramatic increase in
video traffic, a growing reliance on cloud services, and the

Maintaining a Mix of Wired and Wireless Networks

Info-Tech Research submits that access layer networks are ready
for wireless, but requirements for wired cabling will live on in data
centers, and specialized, high-security situations. When it comes
to networks, agencies must consider the following:
The complexity of cables in the data center remains costly
In terms of maintenance, operations and inefficiency (think
cooling).
Some wireless obstacles have yet to be resolved Potential
wireless data center solutions, such as 60GHz, suffer from low
reliability, range limitations and energy efficiency challenges.
Solutions are emerging, though not widely available yet.
10G Ethernet provides a strong infrastructure technology
for converged data center networks. Even with cables, 10G
Ethernet is the one technology that can serve most data center
network requirements for the foreseeable future.

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Organizations with high security requirements Must deal with

the perception that wireless introduces security risks. Banks,
government agencies, and hospitals will face resistance.
Though wireless networks are quite secure (even the FBI has
gone wireless, Info-Tech reports) the perception that wireless =
unsecured may delay the closing of wired connections.
High interference environments Still tend to run into difficulty
if there is electromagnetic noise blocking wireless signals.
Complex physical environments made of steel and concrete
can also make the transition to wireless networks costprohibitive.
High bandwidth requirements May make wireless less
efficient. Environments in which multi-gigabyte files are
constantly transferred from location to location may require
wired connectivity.

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consumerization of IT are all considered drivers as well,

said Lauren Jones, senior principal analyst for Delteks
Federal Market Analysis program, Herndon, Va.
By leveraging WAN optimization techniques such as
de-duplication, data compression, traffic prioritization
and protocol optimization, agencies can avoid degrading
network performance, and migrate more applications to
centralized data centers without impacting performance
for users, she explained.
The advent of mobility, converging communications
technologies and cloud computing, are all driving
requirements for higher levels of availability, convenience
and efficiency from government networks. Info-Tech
Research Group maintains wireless access networks,
especially those leveraging 4G cellular technologies, should
top agency lists for mobile/remote access. Its important
for agencies to be prepared to rely more on wireless
networks, according to James McCloskey, a Senior
Research Analyst with Info-Tech Research Group, London
Ontario, Canada.

Snapshot:Mobile
Network &
Modernization
Wireless

centers, are likely to remain in place for years to come,

McCloskey said wireless technologies have matured for
mobile access networks. One reason: wireless devices
connecting to networks will increase from 31 percent to 76
percent in the next three years, he said.
As government network backbones are upgraded and
agencies prepare more applications for migration to cloudbased services, Info-Tech advises organizations to focus on
uptime and coverage.
Also, as with the advent of mobility, cloud services
also require agencies to pay strict attention to security.
Undoubtedly, information transmitted via a cloud service
must be protected. Industry observers, such as Delteks
Jones maintain the governments focus on enhancing
mobility by expanding the use of wireless technologies
and cloud services is a good idea. And Info-Tech
Researchs McCloskey agreed. Access to government
networks, from anywhere, with any device, leads to
increased productivity when cloud access is required for
functionality, he said. s

While cabled networks, especially for backbone data

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Snapshot: Network Modernization

www.GCN.com/NetworkModernization

Unified Communications Makes

Headway via the Advent of Video and
the Post-PC Era

he ramp up to unified communications (UC)

has taken a decade and is still only starting to
emerge in many public sector organizations.

Evidence indicates, however, that government

organizations are starting to realize the challenges that
have slowed UCs adoption are largely people and
process-based, rather than technological in nature.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has led the way, by
investing in Voice over IP (VoIP) and building Defense
Connect Online to enable access to DoD resources
online. Other government agencies and departments
such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of
Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Holocaust Museum,
among others, have invested in UC to streamline
collaboration, improve constituent services and reduce
costs.
Meanwhile, a recent Gartner study shows by 2016 at
least 50% of email users will drop traditional PCs in
favor of tablets or other mobile devices.
And, according to industry estimates, 80 percent of U.S.
adults are online and nearly 60 percent engage in social
networking, which further underscores the shift away
from traditional, to increasingly digital, collaborative
communications methods.
Unified communications (UC) is considered excellent
for government organizations looking to tie voice, video
and other communications services together to make it
easier for employees to communicate with each other
as well as contractors, partners, constituents and other
stakeholders.
Driven largely by potential savings in travel costs, along
with the capability to deliver greater flexibility for
workers, UC is being implemented in federal, state and
local government environments also due to the advent

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Key UC Drivers
The advent of UC is driven by agency requirements to:
Improve employee collaboration;
Improve employee efficiency;
Retire legacy PBXes and upgrade technologies to streamline
operational efficiency;
Enable greater mobility for workers;
Improve constituent communications;
Reduce expenses, both CapEx and OpEx;
Reduce travel expenses; and
Improve communications with partners and other stakeholders.

of video over networks and the post-PC mobile device

era. Our customers are working hard to manage
change and develop strategies for the incremental
adoption of UC to avoid security breaches as well as
any potential network capacity problems, said Russell
Plain, UC Solutions Architect for CDW Government
LLC (CDW-G), in Vernon Hills, Ill.
Security is of paramount importance, and must be
baked in from the back end server to the end-user
devices used, whether handheld or fixed, Plain added.
This is why CDW-G advises government organizations
to invest in client computing options with zero disk and
zero memory. That way, any changes, in classification
levels or users, can be administered without problems.
All devices with onboard memory, disk storage are at a
higher risk of being compromised, he added.
Benefits of UC
For government audiences, UC, combined with mobility
solutions can dramatically improve productivity for
field workers such as social workers, census takers, the
police and border patrols. According to Lauren Jones,
senior principal analyst for Delteks Federal Market
Analysis program, Herndon, Va., These offsite workers

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gain not simply a single app, but the ability to check

email, respond to the home office, and even citizen
requests. UC makes workers more productive, and helps
them stay more connected to the organizations office
infrastructure.
In the currently tight budgetary climate, UC is
compelling because it allows for videoconferencing and
all forms of collaboration, tying workers, contractors and
other partners together for meetings and telework, Jones
continued. Via UC collaboration tools, she explained,
agencies can keep tabs on the status of employees via
presence apps that track an employees availability status
throughout each day.

Snapshot: Network Modernization

difficulties inherent in current TDM networks, said

CDW-Gs Plain.
Despite any challenges, the potential for cost savings has
made UC more attractive, government-wide Typically,
for the price of annual maintenance, agencies can
implement a VoIP system that will continue to save
agencies money each year after deployment, said Plain.
Aside from cost savings, government organizations
must realize the dramatic potential UC has to improve
productivity, mobility and leverage the power of social
media an ongoing challenge for many agencies to date,
said Delteks Jones.

Ongoing concerns about security, cultural resistance

and the need to properly train workers to use UC tools
such as messaging and collaboration, so they learn to
do things in a new way, requires additional investment.
This may also take extra effort to overcome resistance.
Organizations must take into account a commitment to
training, along with overcoming network security hurdles
and IT support issues that can drive up the cost of
deployment and maintenance, said Delteks Jones.

Looking ahead, industry observers maintain UC will

likely take hold in agencies that want to leverage social
media, and in environments that will better serve
the needs of millennial generation employees and
constituents. No matter what the goals, however, agencies
must assess their risks, primarily including the impact
on productivity, security and network performance, and
develop plans to deal with each of these crucial elements,
along the way, Jones added.

CDW-Gs experts maintain that security and network

reliability are not UC problems, agencies must work
to overcome. Those problems tend to arrive due to

And CDW-Gs Plain insists agency mangers must take

a cue from teenagers. Agency leaders must understand
Skype and Facebook. While neither is secure enough for

Understanding UC as a Service
Cloud-based unified communications (UC) solutions are structured to make deployment easier, shift upfront capital expenses
to operational expenses and provide a streamlined path for
agencies to migrate to new applications and features, as they
are rolled out. Unlike other cloud services, most cloud-based
UC services wont entirely eliminate on-premise equipment,
such as desk phones, videoconferencing equipment, routers and
gateways for analog phones and fax machines. UC cloud providers typically host the telephony and application servers in a UC
package, including presence, chat, messaging and other features. Also, most cloud services assume customers have already
adopted a VoIP infrastructure, although some organizations may
choose to work with a cloud provider to implement VoIP as well
as UC.
Typical cloud-based UC services include IP-based voice and
video, presence and instant messaging, and unified messaging,
in which voicemail is saved to a users email inbox and users

can call or send an instant message to a coworker by clicking

on an email address. Other UC options may include web-based
conferencing and contact center applications. Cloud-based UC
offerings are growing rapidly, and include:
Hosted UC solutions which deliver cost predictability and
reduce reliance on internal support staff, but may also limit
flexibility based on service provider technology decisions.
Hybrid solutions in which on-premise equipment and
cloud-based services coexist, can extend basic UC implementations and enable small or remote offices to benefit from UC.
No matter what type of cloud-based UC service is chosen
its important to ensure wide area networks can handle the
increased traffic (including voice, data and video). When high
availability is important, network redundancy and performance
management costs must not be overlooked, said James
McCloskey, a Senior Research Analyst with Info-Tech Research
Group, London Ontario, Canada.

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Snapshot: Network Modernization

government use, similar video and social media tools are

available that can help government audiences visualize
the value of greater collaboration through UC, said
Plain.
Industry observers advise government audiences to
monitor UC traffic to avoid performance issues and
respond quickly to unexpected and/or inappropriate

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usage patterns on networks. Ultimately, according to

James McCloskey, a Senior Research Analyst with
Info-Tech Research Group, London Ontario, Canada,
UC technology isnt one-size-fits-all. Understanding
the agencys individual operational/mission goals and
developing a strategy for UC are key to selecting the right
technological solutions, and making the most of any UC
investment, said McCloskey. s

Snapshot: Network Modernization

www.GCN.com/NetworkModernization

Managing Mobility
on Agency Networks
Resiliency, Reliability and Security Key to Highly Available Networks

n one corner, government executives, who want

more flexible, mobile computing options that allow
access to data and applications needed to perform
their jobs and deliver government services.
In the other corner, government IT administrators,
who are focused on meeting mission objectives, while
complying with multiple requirements, including
mandates for improved security, protection of
personally-identifiable information (PII), expanded
teleworking, data center consolidation and Cloud-First,
among other initiatives.
Consumerism is driving users to bring personal mobile
devices to work, which raises requirements for better
security protections, along with upgrades to agency
networks to adapt and securely embrace mobility. The
pressure is on for both users and IT administrators
to come to some sort of agreement, said James
McCloskey, a Senior Research Analyst with Info-Tech
Research Group, London Ontario, Canada.
The Federal Mobility Strategy launched early in 2012
was structured to help accelerate the governments
adoption of mobile technologies and services by:
Improving delivery of government information,
products and services;
Engaging citizens more fully and meaningfully with
government;
Reducing the cost of government operations through
technology-enabled efficiencies; and
Increasing productivity by freeing government
employees and contractors from outdated work
practices.
Greater acceptance of mobile technologies is needed.
Current industry estimates indicate the number of the
smartphone users will reach one billion by 2016.
While agencies await further guidance for how to
securely implement greater mobility for workers, some

innovative use cases have emerged. The Veterans

Administration (VA), in an effort to stay current with
private sector healthcare settings has provided tablets
for VA physicians to use in tracking patient encounters.
Meanwhile, the Air Force purchased a large number of
iPads for training, maintenance and operations staff
to use on flight decks. And the U.S. Census mobilized
more than 140,000 devices in its latest census effort. At
this early stage, the primary government trend has been
to focus primarily on field workers, not a government
organizations entire workforce, said Lauren Jones,
senior principal analyst for Delteks Federal Market
Analysis program.
By 2013, Info-Tech Research Group estimates nearly
every user in public and private sector organizations will
be bringing a personal mobile device into the workplace.
Ignoring the use of mobile devices can add up to a
costly mistake, as up to 24 percent of an agencys
operational budget is at risk in lost time and increased
risk by ignoring the influx of mobile devices on
government networks, according to Info-Techs research.
Instead, government organizations should consider
infrastructural changes to cover the cost of mobile
device management and enable greater operational
flexibility and efficiency, McCloskey said. Most
government organizations already restrict the use of
mobile devices. A variety of security technologies can
be used to address different bring-your-own device
(BYOD)-related security challenges.
Some primary tools to consider include:
Mobile device management (MDM) for greater
control over smartphones and tablets, reducing risk
and support costs.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPN provides browserbased secure access to organizational resources, and may
offer an application virtualization portal, along with
improved enforcement of mobile security policies.
Network access control (NAC) generates tight

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Snapshot: Network Modernization

control over which users can

use personal mobile devices to
access specific systems, beyond
simply providing separate guest
wireless access.
Data leak prevention (DLP)
allows IT control over the
movement of sensitive data
from critical systems.
Security Information and Event
Management (SIEM) increases
the visibility of potential
security disruptions with
centralized logging for audit and
incident management.
CDW-G security experts
recommend agencies strive
to minimize the sensitivedata footprint on all mobile
devices. High-risk users and
highly-regulated environments
benefit from the adoption
of virtualization (of both
applications and/or desktops) to
reduce risks associated with data
leakage.

www.GCN.com/NetworkModernization

Evaluating the Impact of

Mobility on Government Nets
In sizing up the impact of mobility on government networks, agencies should examine the following elements:
Stability Identify the key infrastructure
elements that will be critical to balancing organizational policies against user
requirements. Invest time and budget in
maximizing these specific elements.
Scalability Identify the key applications that will drive the organizations
operational goals. Ensure the enabling
infrastructure solutions can be scaled
to meet future demand from those key
applications.
Budget Based on risk management
and current IT priorities, agencies must
determine if the costs associated with
ensuring stability and scalability outweigh
the potential cost savings to be gained.
Source: Info-Tech Research Group

By dealing with mobility issues, organizations can turn

the headache of securing mobile devices, into a clear
case for network transformation, according to InfoTechs McCloskey. Understanding and articulating the
mission-focused value of mobile devices can help shape
agency budget requests for capital expenses, such as
security and virtualization, and aid agencies in realizing
important opportunities to maximize IT value while
transforming network infrastructures, said McCloskey.
The success of mobile computing security requires

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a networking environment that

optimizes user connectivity.
Agencies must also develop a unified
strategy for embracing mobility.
The highest level of success can
only be achieved when connectivity
is combined with unified
communications (UC) collaboration
solutions, and implemented with
client/desktop or application
virtualization solutions that allow
for consistent, device-independent
access to the applications users need
to complete their daily tasks, said
Delteks Jones.
In an era of greater transparency
and accountability -- along with
tight budgets widespread use of
mobility solutions makes good
sense. Increased federal reporting
requirements will encourage agencies
to think more strategically, keep
track of devices for mobile expense
management, and for required
reporting on energy use/compliance,
Jones said.

Government organizations should look for new

guidance on mobile device security from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) this
summer, with the fourth revision of NISTs Security
and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems
and Organizations, (Special Publication 800-53). NIST
currently recommends cryptography validated to meet
Federal Information Processing Standards FIPS 140-2,
to protect the confidentiality, availability or integrity of
information on mobile devices s

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Snapshot: Network Modernization

Network Modernization
Tips and Advice

s government organizations upgrade their networks

to consolidate data centers and enhance mobility
to achieve compliance with mandates such as the
Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative and OMBs 25point plan, there are a number of tips they should keep in mind.
According to CDW-Gs UC experts, government
organizations that have successfully implemented UC are
also often doing at least one of the following:
Establishing a new call center or expanding an old one;
Integrating/consolidating two or more existing networks;
Expanding or deploying a telework program for a
significant portion of the organizations workforce;
Replacing obsolete or inadequate existing networks;
Implementing a continuity of operations plan and
supporting capabilities;
Integrating branches of distributed operations (such as
field offices).
CDW-G UC experts recommend IT managers discuss
with agency management how to couple telework and
consolidation improvements with improvements in
communications that can further enhance the organizations
effectiveness and cost efficiency.
Agencies must also develop a plan for the future that
includes wireless networks, according to James McCloskey,
a Senior Research Analyst with Info-Tech Research Group,
London Ontario, Canada.
Implementing and operating a wireless network is much
easier than just five years ago. As agencies learn to embrace
cloud computing, for example, the need for constant internet
access is fast-becoming a requirement, leading Info-Tech
Research Group to recommend agencies strive to learn where
to cut the cords, and rely more on wireless technologies,
McCloskey maintained.
When it comes to network security, government
organizations considering wireless technologies may select
added security protections, including:
Multi-factor authentication using one-time password fobs
or text messaging.

CDW-Gs technical experts also offer

additional advice to secure wireless
access, including:
Beware of spoofing assaults. Network administrators
must remain wary of spoofing, which hackers hijack the
communications of users who believe theyre sending
sensitive information on a secure pipeline.
Encryption and authentication features, a required standard
on switches and access points, must protect wireless
transmissions as well.
Intrusion prevention systems for wireless environments can
assist network administrators to quickly identify unauthorized
devices trying to break through security defenses.
Wireless-savvy IPS devices can beat back denial-of-service
attacks designed to crash networks. Geofencing, a virtual
perimeter around a geographic site, and other related
techniques can be used to help IT managers grant access
only to devices running at known and trusted physical
locations.
A virtual LAN (VLAN) is another wireless security tool which
can help regulate traffic using access control lists (ACLs)
to guard against vulnerabilities that arise when guest users
must find a way to connect to the Internet over a wireless
link. IT managers may instead choose to dedicate a wireless
LAN controller to divert guest user traffic to a secure location
outside the organizations firewall.
Source: CDW-G

Wireless Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems

(WIPS) to identify, alert and automatically prevent
attempts to hack the wireless network.
Endpoint inspection and remediation, a component of
Network Access Control (NAC), identifies insecure devices
to avoid missing or outdated anti-malware and missing
Windows patches. Network access isnt allowed until
patches are remediated.
Network segmentation and stateful firewalls allow
administrators to direct/restrict traffic from certain users or
devices. Such tools can even direct guest users to an Internet
connection with no access to the internal network. s

Source: Info-Tech Research Group

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Snapshot: Network Modernization

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Fading Technologies
Sway Future Investments

hen it comes to crystal ball gazing, knowing

what NOT to buy in large quantities, can
be almost as important as what to choose,
instead. The following list of technologies to avoid
isnt meant to scare buyers current buyers away from
purchasing plans. For example, in the short term,
hardware appliances are considered highly useful tools
for a range of endpoint and network security protections.
Its just that the widespread use of virtualization and
the ability to deliver security features and functions as a
service will replace hardware appliances in the not too
distant future, according to James McCloskey, a Senior
Research Analyst with Info-Tech Research Group,
London Ontario, Canada.
The list below is important, because government
organizations must strive to think strategically about
current requirements. Agencies must take into account
whether they want to increase capabilities, or simply
lower costs. UC, for example is a proven cost saver
over traditional TDM networks, said Russell Plain, UC
Solutions aArchitect for CDW Government LLC
(CDW-G) in Vernon Hills, Ill.
If agencies analyze TCO and ROI and examine contract
vehicles that will deliver greater productivity, Plain
continued, most will find that UC will allow agencies to
work more efficiently and cost-effectively do more with
less, he added.
According to Info-Techs research, the following
technologies and standards are so cold theyre on their
way out, in the next decade, including:
WiMax a potential 4G wireless technology, WiMax
is being replaced by LTE. Only one major network
(Sprint) currently uses WiMax, but is now also moving to
LTE. WiMax phones will stop production by 2013, then
WiMax networks will start to fade.

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Hardware appliances such as hardware firewalls and

hardware WAN optimization will be replaced by virtual
appliances running on existing utility infrastructure
by 2013. This is part of the growing trends toward
virtualization and managed services. The features and
functions of hardware appliances will be provided by
virtual machines, and increasingly industry suppliers are
planning to deliver these virtual features as managed
services, rather than hardware or software solutions,
McCloskey said.
Non-IP telephony TDM and PBX technology will
be nearly extinct by 2015. Its important for government
organizations to hang up on traditional telephony, ASAP,
McCloskey explained. The future is all IP, all of the time.
Feature phones are also fading fast. By 2016,
nearly all phones sold worldwide will be smart phones.
Workers will always have a computer on hand, and to be
productive will need constant network connectivity.
PCs (as currently recognized) will also be dead by
2020. Phones, tablets, and yet-to-be-revealed PC-like
form factors will make the clunky desktop PC a dinosaur.
By 2020, even laptops will be rare, reserved for very
specific use cases. In the future, the idea of having to
work in a specific place at tied-down devices will seem
quaint.
All cables will eventually curl up and die. While this
is hard to imagine in most government IT environments
today, by 2021, improving wireless standards will make
physical connections rare, even in most data centers.
Info-Tech asserts that if wireless power limitations can be
cracked, an entirely cable-free organization will be within
view by then. s
Source: Info-Tech Research

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