NC Nov-Dec 2023

NETWORKcomputing 

I N F O R M A T I O N A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N S – N E T W O R K E D www.networkcomputing.co.uk 

TO 5G - AND BEYOND! 

Mapping the future of non-terrestrial networks 

THE SASE CHOICE 

Is SD-WAN the right fit 

for hybrid working? 

MOVING MONOLITHS 

Monolithic application 

modernisation 

DDoS DEFENCE 

Spanning security gaps 

at the edge 

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 VOL 32 NO 04

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COMMENT 

COMMENT 

MANAGING THE SKILLS SHORTAGE IN 2024 

Predictions for the new year are as plentiful as Amazon deliveries in December, and 

give us a sense of the challenges but also opportunities that lie ahead in the coming 

months. The ongoing IT skills shortage seems to sit squarely between the two; an 

ongoing challenge but also an opportunity to reinvigorate and reinvest in the workforce. 

For Fred Voccola, CEO at Kaseya, the answer to the talent shortage may well lie in 'growing 

your own' in 2024: "Invest in people early as opposed to relying on headhunting talent 

from other companies and have a very strong internal talent growth and development programme. 

Not only does it offer an alternative to hiring job hoppers who will hop again 

shortly after being hired to their firm, but it creates a loyalty and a mutual reliance between 

the employee and the company, that creates not only a great workforce, but also a great 

company culture - one of reward and meritocracy. This type of strategy focuses more on 

the individual's core skills potential, rather than their experience only." 

However Charles Courquin, Sales Director, Symatrix, believes that we can best bridge the 

skills gap by looking outward to managed IT services. "Businesses must now look externally 

to help address the IT skills shortage and stem the significant financial losses being 

incurred," according to Charles. "Managed services can provide proactive support to 

organisations to understand their changing requirements and help drive value from their 

investments, helping to fill the gaps that persist in-house." 

REVIEWS: 

Dave Mitchell 

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This is in response to a new survey conducted by Symatrix which polled 200 IT decisionmakers 

working for large businesses. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (22%) estimated 

that IT skills shortages are costing their business more than £100,000 a year in recruitment 

fees, temporary staffing, increased salaries and investment in lower-level employees to 

bring them up to speed over time. As the skills shortage worsens, over three-quarters of 

respondents polled (77%) said their organisation’s IT recruitment costs have increased over 

the past three years, and nearly half (45%) say costs have risen by more than 10%. 

Mark Appleton, Chief Customer Officer at ALSO Cloud UK, also believes that managed 

service providers are well positioned to help companies navigate the talent shortage. 

"Utilising this existing relationship for access to talent allows small to large businesses to 

explore new avenues and revenue streams without risking their own operations," he commented. 

"Additionally, trusting in the expertise of service providers who have retained and 

fought for the right skills and quality of talent means that partnered companies can avoid 

falling behind, gaining all of the benefits without fighting the battle against other competitors." 

Whether the answer lies within or without, resolving the talent crisis should be high on 

our list of new year's networking resolutions. NC 

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WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @NCMagAndAwards NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 NETWORKcomputing 03

CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3 

GREENER DATA CENTRES.....20 

Michael McNerney at Supermicro outlines 

the different methods data centre operators 

can take to reduce their power consumption 

SASE OR SD-WAN?...............12 

Jonathan Wright at Global Cloud Xchange 

explains how SASE could supplant SD-WAN 

as the best infrastructure solution for our 

new hybrid working reality 

COMMENT.....................................3 

Managing the skills shortage in 2024 

INDUSTRY NEWS.............................6 

The latest networking news 

ARTICLES 

ENSURING STORAGE SUCCESS FOR 

THE NETWORK...............................10 

By Tony Hollingsbee at Kingston Technology 

MOVING MONOLITHS...................11 

By Jon McElwee at iomart 

NIS 2 COMPLIANCE........................16 

By Steven Kenny at Axis Communications 

IOT AND THE FUTURE OF 

NETWORKING................................18 

By Alan Hayward at SEH Technology 

BOOSTING YOUR CLOUD 

DEFENCE........................................30 

By Anthony Webb at A10 Networks 

THE MAGNIFICENT 7?....................31 

By Kalam Meah at TP-Link 

SPANNING SECURITY GAPS AT 

THE EDGE..................................26 

Roman Lara at NETSCOUT guides us through 

the threat facing organisations that fail to 

adapt ther DDoS protection at the edge 

GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION 

AND ASSET MANAGEMENT......24 

Rentokil Initial enhances security compliance, 

tracking and reporting across 25,000+ IT 

assests worldwide with Lansweeper 

TO 5G - AND BEYOND!......28 

Keysight Technologies' Dylan McGrath gives 

us an insight into the future of nonterrestrial 

networks (NTNs) and the era of 

democratised connectivity 

ENGAGING AI FOR ENTERPRISE 

SERVICE MANAGEMENT.................32 

By Cullen Childress at SolarWinds 

NECESSARY PROVISIONS................34 

By Justin Day at Cloud Gateway 

CASE STUDY 

"MADE IN GERMANY" QUALITY, 

TWO TIMES OVER........................14 

macmon partner NetPlans has secured 

leveling technology specialist ARKU against 

malware attacks with macmon NAC 

COMPANY PROFILE 

NETALLY...........................................8 

For decades, Netally's family of network test 

solutions have helped to deploy, manage, 

maintain and secure our networks 

REVIEWS 

NETALLY AIRCHECK G3 PRO.............9 

MACMON NAC..............................15 

HORNETSECURITY SECURITY 

AWARENESS SERVICE......................19 

ENDACEPROBE CLOUD..................23 

04 NETWORKcomputing NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 @NCMagAndAwards 

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK

INDUSTRY NEWS 

NEWSNEWS 

NEWS NEWS 

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS 

NEWS NEWS 

Organisations set to increase Wi-Fi adoption in 2024 

Wi-Fi 6, 6E and 7 top the list of wireless technologies that 

network operators, ISPs, device and chipset vendors, 

enterprises and other companies plan to deploy by the end of 

2024 - ahead of CBRS, DAS and private 4G/5G. Furthermore, 

confidence in investment across the sector is rising with 58% 

saying they are more confident in investing in Wi-Fi compared to 

a year ago even though the business model remains the most 

pressing challenge for new deployments. 6GHz spectrum 

availability also remains front of mind with two thirds deeming it 

an important issue for 2024. 

Those are two of the keys finding from the latest cross-industry 

report by the Wireless Broadband Alliance, the global industry 

body dedicated to improving Wi-Fi standards and services. Based 

on input from 200 enterprises, governments, fixed and mobile 

operators, vendors and other organisations worldwide, th WBA 

Annual Industry Report 202 showcases how Wi-Fi technology 

continues to evolve in ways that anticipate the needs of 

consumers, businesses, enterprise verticals, smart cities and 

service providers. 

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, 

said: "The WBA Annual Industry Report 2024 is a must-read for 

anyone wanting to know exactly where Wi-Fi is and where it s 

headed. Market momentum is a theme in many of the key 

findings. For example, 58% are more confident in investing in Wi- 

Fi now than a year ago - up from 46% last year. Specifically, 

survey respondents are stepping up investment in WBA 

OpenRoaming, Wi-Fi 7 and city-wide public Wi-Fi. As WBA 

celebrates its 20th anniversary, we look forward to the next 20 

years of pioneering even more Wi-Fi technologies and use cases 

and developing a robust trails programme for W-Fi 7 to take 

innovation into 2024 and beyond." The WBA Annual Industry 

Report 2024 is available now for free at: 

https://wballiance.com/resource/annual-industry-report-2024/ 

Advanced graymail protection from Egress 

Egress has launched its new graymail solution with full enduser 

control, dedicated to improving employee productivity 

and reducing the time administrators spend reviewing 

incorrectly reported phishing emails. The graymail feature is 

architected into Egress' inbound threat detection product, 

Egress Defend, and integrates seamlessly into customers' 

Microsoft 365 enivronments. Graymail is bulk solicited emails 

which are generally low priority and not malicious phishing 

attacks or unsolicited spam. 

To tackle this drain on organisational resources, Egress has 

developed an advanced graymail detection capability to remove 

these unnecessary distractions, tailored to each individual's 

preference. The technology leverages Egress' patented AI-based 

phishing detection functionality, which uses zero trust models and 

neural networks to prevent behavioral-based threats. Applying 

this methodology, Egress surfaces priority messages within the 

inbox, while segmenting graymail into a separate folder. 

The graymail feature is easily customised by both individual 

users and administrators. An interactive banner is added to each 

message that is routed to the graymail folder, which provides a 

simple workflow for employees to re-categorise emails and divert 

them back into their mailbox. Users' preferences are 

automatically learned by Defend, allowing them to customise 

their own experience without any management overhead. 

94% of U.K. CIOs see cybersecurity as a major threat 

Astaggering 94% of U.K.-based CIOs have expressed serious 

concerns about at least one cybersecurity threat, according to 

new research from Opengear. The comprehensive survey 

encompassed responses from 502 CIOs and 510 network 

engineers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Australia. For U.K. 

CIOs the primary cybersecurity concerns highlighted in the research 

included malware (36%), spam and phishing (36%), ransomware 

(36%), and insider threats (27%). Malware also emerged as a 

significant threat for 37% of the surveyed U.K. network engineers. 

While only 15% of U.K. CIOs reported social engineering attacks 

as a threat, 23% of network engineers reported a higher level of 

concern for this specific type of attack. U.K. engineers said that 

insufficient investments are enhancing the risk of cyberattacks and/or 

downtime (38%). This suggests that lack of budget spent on software 

upgrades and network upgrades, for example, leaves organisations 

more vulnerable to attack and has the potential to affect business 

continuity, which is a high priority for 88% of CIOs globally. 



INDUSTRY NEWS 

"The skills shortage and insufficient investment in networks are two 

factors that have combined to encourage cybercriminals to breach 

businesses," said Gary Marks, President at Opengear. "Smart Out 

of Band solutions enable organisations to manage their networks 

at all times from local and remote sites, even during an outage. 

Network engineers can make smarter, real-time decisions to 

achieve consistent network resilience and unparalleled visibility, with 

security and encryption features ensuring that management policies 

remain continually enforced." 

Vertiv collaborates with Intel on Gaudii3 liquide cooling 

Vertiv is collaborating with Intel to provide a liquid cooling 

solution that will support the revolutionary new Intel Gaudi3 

AI accelerator, scheduled to launch in 2024. The Intel Gaudi3 AI 

accelerator will enable both liquid-cooled and air-cooled servers, 

supported by Vertiv pumped two-phase (P2P) cooling 

infrastructure. The liquid-cooled solution has been tested up to 

160kW accelerator power using facility water from 17°C up to 

45°C (62.6°F to 113°F). The air-cooled solution has been tested 

up to 40kW of heat load that can be deployed in warm ambient 

air data centre up to 35°C (95°F). This medium pressure direct 

P2P refrigerant-based cooling solution will help customers 

implement heat reuse, warm water cooling, free air cooling and 

reductions in power usage effectiveness (PUE), water usage 

effectiveness (WUE) and total cost of ownership (TCO). 

Zyxel call on schools to reconsider network their options 

Zyxel Networks is urging the UK's schools and colleges that are 

looking to upgrade their network infrastructure before their 

end of the year and over the holiday period to broaden their 

horizons and consider all the options and possibilities before they 

make their crucial purchasing decisions. Budget pressure on 

schools is growing. In September, the National Foundation for 

Educational Research (NFER) warned that schools are having to 

make substantial cuts due to extra financial pressures. Despite the 

overall budget for schools increasing by £3.5 billion for 2023- 

24, almost half (49 percent) of primaries, and 41 percent of 

secondaries expect to see a deficit for 2022-23. 

A recent study of UK trusts found that almost one fifth (19 

percent) of chief executives lack confidence about their 

financial sustainability in the future - a huge increase on last 

year, when only 4 percent said they were not confident about 

long-term finances. Fewer than half of respondents to the 

National School Trust Survey, organised by the Confederation 

of School Trusts (CST), said they felt very or quite confident in 

their financial sustainability. 

Rachel Rothwell, Senior Regional Director, UK and Ireland at 

Zyxel Networks, said that as a result of all this pressure, schools 

looking to upgrade their infrastructure need to give even more 

consideration to IT investment decisions. "Schools and trusts were 

already under massive pressure to make cutbacks and this year's 

RAAC debacle has added to that. At the same time, they are 

expected to provide the latest technology and ensure the online 

safety of pupils. They are having to think long and hard about 

how they can reduce costs without having an impact on teaching 

and they now have very little room for manoeuvre. 

"One area in which they can still make real savings without 

compromising is in their choice of networking technologies. While 

the official advice might be to purchase products from some of the 

more expensive brand names, solutions from Zyxel and other 

manufacturers can do just as good a job for much less investment." 

Call for input for ScotlandIS state of the nation report 

ScotlandIS, the membership and cluster management 

organisation for Scotland's digital technologies industry, has 

just launched its 16th annual industry survey with a call for 

respondents from across the country. The survey provides an 

annual health check for the industry, setting a benchmark for the 

comparison of sector successes and challenges from year to year. 

It also provides ScotlandIS members and non-members the 

opportunity to highlight future issues they foresee affecting the 

industry. Key findings from the 2023 survey included: 

83% of companies surveyed expected to increase their 

headcounts between 2023-24 

The proportion of businesses recording turnover higher than £1 

million increased from 22% in 2022 to 37% in 2023 

Scotland's tech companies reported seeing the greatest 

opportunities for their business in cyber security (46%), followed 

by data analytics (45%), and artificial intelligence (43%). 

Having first launched in 2008, the report was originally designed 

to fill a gap as there were limited figures available relating to the 

overall health, growth and development of the Scottish tech 

industry. Since then, both the report and the sector have grown 

significantly, with the 2023 version putting the value of the Scottish 

digital sector's economic contribution at £6 billion. 

Responses to the 2024 Technology Industry Survey are now 

being sought from the Scottish tech sector before 25 January at 

the link below. The feedback from the survey will then be used to 

produce the annual benchmarking report for the Scottish tech 

sector, which is due to be published in March 2024. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ScottishTechSurvey2023 

NEWS NEWSNEWS 

NEWS 

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS 

NEWS 


COMPANY PROFILE 

COMPANY PROFILE: NETALLY 

FOR DECADES, NETALLY'S FAMILY OF INNOVATIVE NETWORK 

TEST SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN HELPING ENGINEERS AND 

TECHNICIANS BETTER DEPLOY, MANAGE, MAINTAIN, AND 

SECURE TODAY'S COMPLEX WIRED AND WIRELESS NETWORKS 

For more than 25 years, we have been the 

#1 ally of network and security 

professionals worldwide. We began by 

making the world's first handheld network 

analyzer - the LANMeter® - and have 

continued as industry pacesetters ever since, 

first as a business unit of Fluke Networks Inc. 

then part of NETSCOUT Systems, Inc. Now, as 

an independent company, NetAlly continues to 

set the standard for portable network testing 

and assessment. Our best-in-class tools deliver 

the visibility needed to get the job done, fast. 

WHAT WE DO 

Our leading-edge tools work hard to get the 

job done fast by: 

Simplifying the complexities of network 

testing 

Providing instant visibility for efficient 

problem solving and cyber security 

assessments 

Enabling seamless collaboration between 

site personnel and remote experts 

WHO WE SERVE 

Your organisation relies on you to keep their 

networks running and secure. And just like you, 

we are reliable, practical, no-nonsense experts. 

We are your behind-the-scenes partners. From 

the smallest companies to the Fortune 100 and 

across a range of industries, network 

professionals around the world rely on our 

tools to plan, deploy, validate, secure, and 

troubleshoot wired and wireless access 

networks and the devices that connect to them. 

Whether you are a network or security 

operations manager, engineer, technician or 

admin, or a field service installer/system 

integrator, you can rely on our tools to give you 

the visibility you need to get your job done, fast. 

NetAlly is proud to be represented by a 

worldwide network of respected distributors 

and resellers. If you would like to be a part of 

our channel network, contact us at 

sales@netally.com. 

KEY PRODUCTS 

CyberScope Handheld Cyber Security 

Analyzer 

The world's first handheld cyber security tool for 

comprehensive site access layer cyber security 

risk assessment. CyberScope offers 

comprehensive cyber security risk assessment, 

analysis and reporting for the site access layer 

in a single, powerful, portable tool - including 

endpoint and network discovery, wireless 

security, vulnerability assessment (Nmap), and 

segmentation and provisioning validation. 

EtherScope® Portable Network Expert 

Taking on the complexity of ever-changing 

access networks, EtherScope nXG is a powerful 

network analyzer & Wi-Fi 6 diagnostics tool 

that helps engineers and technicians to quickly 

deploy, maintain, monitor, and analyze Wi-Fi, 

Bluetooth/BLE and Ethernet access networks. 

Speed up your workflows and improve end 

user experience with the industry's first complete 

handheld analyzer for Ethernet network 

troubleshooting and analysis, Wi-Fi 6/6E 

surveying, and security audits. 

AirCheck G3 Pro Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Analyzer 

A cost-effective hardware-enabled wireless 

analysis and site survey solution for Wi-Fi 6/6E 

and Bluetooth/BLE networks. Its intuitive user 

interface provides actionable intelligence, 

simplifying and speeding up wireless security 

audits, network deployment, troubleshooting, 

and validation. With powerful tools suited for 

wireless engineers, but ease of use for 

technicians and remote "smart hands", 

AirCheck G3 Pro makes your entire team 

more productive. 

LinkRunner® AT Network AutoTester 

The LinkRunner AT Network AutoTester offers 

user-configured AutoTests for a wide range of 

important tasks for frontline technicians. This 

network tester's quick cable test and switch 

identification facilitate fast problem isolation. 

Test results can be automatically uploaded to 

the Link-Live results management cloud 

service to improve collaboration between 

network engineers and technicians, creating 

greater job visibility, project control, and fleet 

management. NC 



PRODUCT REVIEW 

NetAlly AirCheck 

G3 Pro 


PRODUCT 

REVIEWPRODUCT RE 

NetAlly has a fine reputation for 

delivering desirable portable network 

testing and diagnostics solutions and its 

AirCheck G3 Pro will appeal hugely to 

technicians and engineers maintaining wireless 

networks. This ruggedised handheld device 

takes many of the features from the secondgeneration 

AirCheck G2 model and makes 

them even better. 

Its native Wi-Fi 6/6E radio brings visibility into 

the 6GHz band where it can connect at its full 

data rate and capture frames, and it provides 

more information including short-term 

monitoring facilities with real-time wireless 

measurements and trend graphs showing 

network changes over time. 

Bluetooth/BLE device support has been added 

and it enhances the standard site surveying, 

analysis and troubleshooting tools with network 

discovery, path analysis and integration with 

NetAlly's Link-Live cloud portal for topology 

mapping and remote control. The G3 Pro can 

diagnose all day as battery life has been more 

than doubled to 10 hours of continuous use 

and charging speed boosted, so it'll reach full 

capacity in no more than 3 hours 

NetAlly chose to do away with the Ethernet test 

port on the G2 for a number of sound reasons. 

Its removal is the main reason battery life has 

been extended and it allows NetAlly to offer a 

more cost-effective solution to technicians 

focused on wireless networks. 

The G3 Pro also runs the same Androidbased 

OS found in NetAlly's latest EtherScope 

products. This will appeal to novices as well as 

technicians and engineers - if they can use a 

mobile, they can use the G3 Pro. 

The 5in. colour touchscreen presents a 

selection of icons for all tasks and you can 

install other third-party Android apps. The 

screen's FAB (floating access button) opens 

floating action menus offering instant access to 

further analysis tools related to the selected 

task. 

The G3 Pro is easy to use and we tapped on 

its AutoTest icon to analyse the lab's Wi-Fi 6/6E 

networks. This uses profiles with a default one 

for fast air quality analysis, and you can add 

Wi-Fi profiles with predefined tests covering 

areas such as SSIDs, channels, AP details and 

target connectivity. 

After connecting the G3 Pro to our Netgear 

WAX630E tri-band AP over its 6GHz radio, we 

created a new Wi-Fi profile. We started it with 

one tap and could set the G3 Pro to run its 

AutoTests regularly as often as every minute. 

The test only took 20 seconds and presented 

a wealth of wireless information as 'cards' with 

each one colour coded to indicate warnings or 

errors. The SSID card revealed graphs and 

tables for signal quality, channel utilisation plus 

retries while a rolling PHY graph confirmed 

speedy close-range transmission rates of 

around 2Gbits/sec. 

The Wi-Fi test shows discovered internal and 

external wireless networks with the Channels 

map screen offering an extra Map 6E tab. One 

tap brings up masses of detail on all channels, 

their active SSIDs and associated APs, 

encryption schemes, all connected clients and 

detected Bluetooth/BLE devices. 

The AirMapper app runs Wi-Fi site surveys 

and creates signal heatmaps which can be 

uploaded to the Link-Live portal for further 

analysis and sharing with colleagues. The base 

kit includes a soft case, charger and one-year 

AllyCare support, the Kit option adds an 

external directional antenna and NXT-1000 

USB spectrum analyser for even deeper insights 

into wireless networks, while the TA kit includes 

NetAlly's Test Accessory Pocket iPerf Server for 

iPerf performance testing. 

The AirCheck G3 Pro takes wireless network 

analysis to the next level as it teams up support 

for Wi-Fi 6/6E networks with a superb range of 

diagnostics and site survey features. It's 

extremely easy to use, integrates seamlessly with 

NetAlly's Link-Live cloud portal and is very 

affordable. NC 

Product: AirCheck G3 Pro 

Supplier: NetAlly 

Web site: www.netally.com 

Telephone: +44 (0)115 865 5676 

Price: From £2,999 exc VAT 

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 09 


@NCMagAndAwards

OPINION: STORAGE 

ENSURING STORAGE SUCCESS FOR THE NETWORK 

TONY HOLLINGSBEE, SSD BUSINESS MANAGER, EMEA AT 

KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY, LOOKS AT THE VITAL ROLE OF 

STORAGE IN MAINTAINING NETWORK PERFORMANCE 

and hardware encryption means that data is 

secure at every stage of the transfer process. 

5. These drives are tested on server platforms 

with third-party and OEM RAID controllers to 

guarantee their compatibility with hardware. 

For organisations to maximise full value 

from their data today they need to deploy 

a range of technologies that give them 

rapid access, reliable performance, control 

and visibility. At the very core of this is storage. 

With the volumes of data that are being 

created, storage solutions have become an 

essential foundation in the technology stack 

and deserving of a needs-oriented strategic 

approach during specification. 

Network and infrastructure managers 

understand that by upgrading data storage, 

they are not only improving efficiency now, but 

reducing costs and ensuring data utilisation for 

the future. The deeper into digital 

transformation that their companies move, the 

more demand there will be to process high 

quantities of data at low latency, delivering 

optimum application performance and 

enhanced user experiences. 

Modernising data storage makes sense. The 

continued use of legacy technologies can lead 

to a loss of performance and reliability, 

however, at a time when budgets are stretched 

many organisations are looking for the best 

ways to stagger their storage upgrades. 

SWAPPING OUT DRIVES 

One approach is to remove mechanical HDDs 

and replace them with SATA SSDs, which are 

now at their most competitive price. The instant 

effect will be improved performance with rapid 

system booting and application loading times. 

If budgets allow a transition to the latest 

generation of SSDs (PCIe NVMe) will 

guarantee even better performance. 

When planning for change, many 

organisations are deploying a combination of 

HDDs and SSDs configured within their 

infrastructure to manage different workloads or 

based on the type and size of the data being 

stored. Frequently accessed files and data 

could be stored on SSDs while archived files 

are kept on HDDs. 

By taking this staggered approach to 

updating storage capacity, organisations are 

benefiting from an improved Total Cost of 

Ownership and reaping environmental benefits 

without compromising on the network 

performance that modern SSDs can deliver. 

THE TOP ADVANTAGES OF 

ENTERPRISE-LEVEL SSDS 

There is a huge difference between SSDs 

designed for use by enterprises, and those 

for consumers: 

1. Enterprise SSDs are able to manage a 

higher volume of read/write operations over 

their lifespans. They are designed to 

withstand enterprise environments with 

demanding workloads and constant data 

access requirements. 

2. The components in enterprise SSDs are 

robustly built and can operate 24/7/365. They 

incorporate power loss protection and data 

path protection to prevent data loss. 

3. High performance is derived from IOPs 

consistency and predictable low latency 

while servicing an intensive read/write 

workload. As a result, they handle more I/O 

operations per second, making them 

appropriate for applications requiring 

high-speed data access. 

4. End-to-end data protection 

For organisations who have already moved 

away from HDDs, the next step is to switch 

from SATA- based SSDs to NVMe-based 

SSDs which are better suited for missioncritical 

applications. The price of these 

models have also come down, making them 

highly cost-effective. 

CONCLUSION 

Storage decisions must be based on the 

workloads and data access demands that the 

organisation is managing. These might change 

in time, so network managers will have to 

consider balancing future needs against 

current cost constraints. Consideration should 

also be given to how upgrading or replacing 

storage assets can help the company to meet 

its broader goals and expand. Storage must be 

seen as an integral part of the broader digital 

transformation strategy if it is to be a success in 

the future. NC 



OPINION: CLOUD TECHNOLOGY 

MOVING MONOLITHS 

JON MCELWEE, CLOUD SPECIALIST AT IOMART, OFFERS A GUIDE TO TAKING THE COMPLEXITY OUT 

OF MONOLITHIC APPLICATION MODERNISATION 

Cloud technology has evolved at pace 

over the last decade. From its origins in 

the early 2000's when AWS created 

one of the first public clouds, to today where 

almost nine in 10 (89%) business are using the 

cloud in some way. During that evolution, 

cloud's capabilities have hugely expanded, 

opening businesses up to new ways of 

capturing data and using it to their 

organisation's advantages, integrating 

technologies such as machine learning and AI. 

For many companies, however, the ability to 

access these technologies and advantages is 

being hindered by legacy systems - in 

particular, monolithic technology stacks that 

hinder agility and innovation. 

MODERNISING MONOLITHIC 

ARCHITECTURE 

The shift from isolated working methods to a 

microservices environment provides 

organisations with a range of benefits, but the 

transition itself can be daunting. Large 

businesses with decades old technology stacks 

may feel overwhelmed at the thought of 

transitioning to microservices, and the time 

investment required to do so. But with the 

correct planning and support, it doesn't have 

to be an arduous task. So, how can businesses 

make the shift? 

The first necessary step is to break down an 

organisation's existing monoliths into 

manageable components. This modular 

transition reduces the risk of disruption to 

essential services while allowing the gradual 

adoption of microservices. 

To achieve smoother transitions and align 

changes with business objectives, development 

and operations teams need to collaborate 

effectively. This is what DevOps principles 

enable. However, moving to microservices also 

involves a thorough evaluation of the existing 

technology assets, to determine what needs to 

be migrated and what can be 

decommissioned, as well as a realistic 

assessment of the organisation's capabilities, 

for a successful migration. 

Data migration, security and compliance are 

essential aspects of this. Legacy systems may 

contain years of valuable data, so ensuring its 

smooth migration while preserving data quality 

is crucial. 

DEALING WITH OLD DATA 

It's tempting for businesses that are 

considering modernising their monolithic 

architecture, to do so once they're in the 

cloud. As a result, they'll conduct the lift and 

shift and then start on the optimisation 

process. This can work for many businesses - 

particularly larger ones with a considerable 

number of workloads - but for most it's a costly 

process which involves paying for unnecessary 

storage. As such, one of the most important 

aspects of modernisation is conducting the 

due diligence before the lift and shift, to 

understand what legacy data needs to be 

migrated and, crucially, what doesn't. 

In these cases, conducting Microsoft's Cloud 

Adoption Framework (CAF) before the lift and 

shift can be very beneficial. This is where 

businesses create a cloud blueprint before 

making the transition, to figure out whether 

certain workloads need refactoring, 

rearchitecting, resizing or rehosting. This 

ensures any transition to the cloud is done in 

the most optimised way. 

It's also possible to adopt a hybrid approach, 

which combines both a CAF as well as the lift 

and shift. This allows IT teams to break down 

applications in a manageable way, while still 

enjoying the benefits that having data stored in 

the cloud can offer. Microservices architecture 

is not a universal solution. Businesses with a 

strong need for agility, scalability, and rapid 

innovation will gain the most from it. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Businesses undergoing digital transformation 

by modernising monolithic architecture are on 

the right path towards leveraging the true 

benefits of cloud technology, but the process of 

getting there doesn't need to be complex. 

Working alongside trusted consultants who 

understand and have experience of the unique 

challenges posed by legacy systems, ensures 

any transition to a microservices environment is 

effective and efficient - both from a time and 

cost perspective. 

The cloud technology we have available to us 

today has never been better. It's time for 

businesses to benefit from that. NC 




OPINION: SASE 

IS SD-WAN THE RIGHT FIT FOR A HYBRID WORKPLACE? 

JONATHAN WRIGHT, 

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTS 

AND OPERATIONS AT GLOBAL 

CLOUD XCHANGE (GCX), 

EXPLAINS HOW SASE COULD 

SUPPLANT SD-WAN AS THE 

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE 

SOLUTION FOR OUR NEW 

HYBRID WORKING REALITY 

We have seen increased adoption of 

SD-WAN technologies over the last 

few years as a means of 

strengthening connectivity, reducing costs, 

and gaining greater control and visibility of 

networks. In fact, one recent study 

highlighted how 95 percent of enterprises 

have either already deployed SD-WAN or will 

do so over the next 18 months. 

But SD-WAN was designed for pre- 

COVID working conditions that were mostly 

office-based whereas, post-COVID, hybrid 

working has become the norm. What most 

IT directors don't realise is that the benefits 

of SD-WAN in a fixed workplace - 

increased network visibility, flexibility and 

security enforcement - don't translate for 

remote working. 

Given the levels of investment that have 

already been made in SD-WAN, many 

organisations are looking into SASE (Secure 

Access Service Edge) frameworks to add to 

their existing deployments - although some 

are still making a full transition. 



OPINION: SASE 

THE DRIVERS FOR SD-WAN 

With the growing migration of applications 

to the cloud, we have seen increased levels 

of SD-WAN adoption. SD-WAN deals with 

centralisation and automation, as it 

effectively optimises application traffic and 

supports reliable access to applications in 

the cloud. SD-WAN also reduces vendor 

lock-in, as organisations can mix and 

match software and hardware from different 

providers with centralised control at the 

software level. Which, in turn, enabled 

companies to do more in the cloud. 

But instead of being built around users, 

SD-WAN architecture is tailored around 

how a particular facility or site accesses 

applications and services located on the 

corporate network, in the cloud, or in a 

data centre. When designed, most users 

were expected to work on-site with traffic 

routed through a dedicated WAN or LAN 

port. Remote working was generally 

supported by a handful of gateways across 

the world with associated VPNs. The 

experience was slower and less flexible than 

in the office, but at that time remote 

working wasn't as widespread and, 

importantly, this approach still supported a 

secure connection to their office. 

LOSING SIGHT OF THE SECURITY 

RISKS 

Hybrid working models are now the norm, 

and the experience of working in the office 

must be replicated whether users are at 

home or on the move. This means giving 

users the flexibility and freedom to work 

securely on any device, in any location. 

This model requires scalable networks and 

security policies - not just to support a 

working anywhere culture, but so corporate 

policy and configurations can be applied 

for remote workers as they are on-premise. 

This is important because any data sent 

from a remote device could be unprotected 

while in transit to the cloud, which 

effectively turns SD-WAN into a security risk 

in a hybrid work environment. 

Visibility also presents an issue. For an 

office, the analytics and reporting process 

are simple because all traffic flows through 

a single network device. However, with 

remote working, people use their own 

broadband, and sometimes their own 

device, leading to a loss in visibility. 

The outdated, decentralised model means 

it's impossible to collect data for every 

packet centrally and report on statistics such 

as bandwidth consumption, security 

compliance, or traffic flows to applications 

in the cloud. This lack of visibility presents 

significant security concerns as without the 

ability to track which resources users are 

accessing, organisations are increasing the 

shadow IT landscape and unnecessarily 

inviting new risks to their networks. 

SPEED AND EASE OF PERFORMANCE 

Over the years there has been significant 

investment in SD-WAN, which is perhaps 

why most companies seem reluctant to 

move away from the technology 

completely. Instead, they want to find a 

way to make the existing infrastructure 

work for hybrid working. And as a result, I 

predict that in just five years we'll see SD- 

WAN used as an access technology with 

most of its current functionalities shifting to 

a SASE overlay framework. 

The potential performance and security 

benefits are huge. With data routing 

through a centralised SASE framework, 

users can become truly device and 

location-agnostic without compromising the 

security and compliance of the data for the 

packet's entire journey. With some providers 

offering hundreds of SASE gateways across 

the world, it also supports more localised 

access to reduce latency. And, it even 

improves the connection between public 

and private network services, as the 

centralised design negates the need for the 

installation of a transitory SD-WAN hub. 

SASE also enables network 

administrators to monitor and analyse 

traffic flows and application performance 

in real-time, at a regional, brand or even 

user level. Simplifying data visibility with 

one centralised framework enables 

administrators to reduce the number of 

tools they need to monitor performance; 

they can now view network performance 

and how it connects with specific 

applications, as well as whether the data 

is secured and compliant on one single 

platform. This improves the speed at 

which issues can be discovered, assessed, 

and resolved. 

And of course, that's without considering 

the quality and cost. Undoubtedly, the 

ability to deliver high-quality networking 

over cheaper internet circuits was a key 

driver for SD-WAN adoption. Yet, it still 

required relatively expensive licenses and 

hardware. So even with though the total 

cost of ownership (TCO) came down, the 

reliance on specialist hardware and 

licence fees persists. 

Many Internet telco circuits have fallen 

considerably in price, and sometimes now 

offer a more affordable solution overall with 

better performance than SD-WAN on a 

cheaper circuit. But with SASE there are 

more cost optimisation opportunities as it 

only needs a secure connection to a device 

which supports SSL or IPsec. 

PERFORMANCE AND PEACE OF 

MIND 

Whether using a public, private or hybrid 

network, and no matter what the location 

or device, SASE augments the visibility and 

security of data as it moves across their 

global network. This not only improves 

performance, but it critically offers 

organisations true peace of mind. NC 


CASE STUDY 

"MADE IN GERMANY" QUALITY, TWO TIMES OVER 

MACMON PARTNER NETPLANS HAS SECURED LEVELLING TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST ARKU AGAINST 

MALWARE ATTACKS WITH MACMON NAC 

Founded in 1928, the family-owned 

company ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH 

has become the world market leader in 

levelling technology, with over 50 years of 

experience to call on. ARKU offers the 

largest selection of high-performance and 

high-precision leveling machines as well as 

deburring and rounding machines. 

In the last few years ARKU has faced an 

increasing number of malware attacks. 

However, by working closely with the 

Freiburg branch of the IT systems house 

NetPlans, it has introduced extensive 

measures to defend itself. It its search for 

reliable and scalable network protection, it 

quickly became clear that macmon NAC 

was the right option. 

NetPlans is a Platinum macmon partner with 

certified and continuously trained macmon 

experts who have provided first-class support 

for their customers - especially from the SME 

sector - with the implementation of a huge 

number of projects. 

RADIUS AUTHENTICATION PROVIDES 

EVEN MORE SECURITY 

To authenticate endpoints, ARKU uses 

macmon's integrated RADIUS server to make 

the decisions on granting access. As the ID or 

means of authentication, a number of 

different properties can generally be used, 

such as the MAC address, user 

name/password or certificate. Since the 

network is not accessed by the system until 

the RADIUS server has confirmed it, there are 

no unused or insecure ports, which increases 

security significantly. While granting access, 

the IT team can define and specify additional 

rules for the switch to implement. If the switch 

is technically capable of doing so (layer 3), a 

specific VLAN, defined ACLs or almost any 

other attributes can be assigned in this way. 

An access control list (ACL) limits access to 

data and functions. The ACL determines the 

extent to which individual users and system 

processes have access to certain objects such 

as services, files or registry entries. "We use a 

variety of security solutions in our company," 

said Felix Pflüger, IT & Digitisation Team 

Leader at ARKU. "Thanks to macmon NAC, 

we always have oversight over our extensive 

IT infrastructure. Our switches are 

administered via SNMP and 

RADIUS, meaning macmon sets 

the appropriate VLAN on the 

switch port, or the port is 

blocked if there are unknown 

devices. That prevents 

unauthorised devices from 

gaining access via network 

outlets, for example." 

VISITOR MANAGEMENT 

MADE EASY 

Frequent visits by customers 

and suppliers present 

companies with the challenge of preventing 

these users' end devices from accessing the 

company's internal network. The functions of 

the "Guest Service" module provide an 

intelligent and flexible management system 

for any external device with a granular guest 

ticket system for controlling temporary LAN 

and WLAN access. 

Since the number of external visitors was 

manageable during the Coronavirus period, 

the IT department was responsible for deciding 

whether or not visitors were granted access. In 

the future, however, this task will be delegated 

to authorised employees with the macmon 

guest portal. Without having to deal with the 

macmon NAC administration, they can 

generate access data directly in the portal or 

confirm visitors who have registered themselves. 

The resources shared and the duration of 

access can be defined while creating the access 

data, ensuring each visitor can access only the 

specific resources approved for them. For 

instance, a service technician who has to 

maintain machine equipment has different 

access rights than a customer who is visiting the 

company for a meeting. 

CONCLUSION 

"Using macmon NAC and the macmon guest 

portal has allowed us to significantly improve 

our network security and endpoint 

management," said Felix Pflüger. "In our region, 

the macmon Platinum partner NetPlans is our 

expert implementation and support partner for 

issues related to IT infrastructure and security, 

which have been improved over the years and 

maintained at the highest standard. Only by 

continuously optimising existing solutions can 

intelligent attacks be successfully repelled in the 

long term. The rollout of macmon NAC in the 

US was a success; further projects are in the 

pipeline." NC 




macmon NAC 


PRODUCT 


Despite the undeniable security benefits 

many businesses find implementing a 

network access control solution 

challenging, as all too many are complex 

and time consuming to install and difficult to 

manage. The German company macmon 

secure GmbH stands out from the crowd as 

its NAC product is designed to be simple to 

deploy and maintain while its smart agentless 

architecture means it can be protecting your 

network from day one. It doesn't require 

agents or sensors as it queries all your 

manageable switches and uses methods such 

as SNMP, REST or Telnet/SSH to find out 

which network devices and connected 

endpoints are in the network. 

The macmon NAC appliance also offers its 

own embedded RADIUS server for 

authentication to fully support the industry 

standard 802.1X while making it much simpler 

to adopt. The above mentioned protocols are 

also being used to enforce NAC controls, 

which is why it is not only compatible with 

informational technology but can also secure 

operational technology (OT) networks with all 

their legacy systems. 

This simple approach has major benefits 

in the battle to control what macmon 

classifies as UFOs (unidentified frightening 

objects). These could be an intruder, an 

employee's access point being used to build 

their own Wi-Fi network, or something as 

simple as a workstation. 

macmon NAC can see all endpoints 

regardless of whether they are a desktop PC, a 

BYOD, a controlling unit of an industrial facility, 

or the laptop of a service technician. This 

network overview is extremely valuable for both 

homogeneous and heterogeneous 

infrastructures and large non-transparent 

networks, which can often be found in the 

manufacturing or the automotive industry. 

Mobile user controls are particularly good as 

macmon NAC can identify them irrespective of 

which network switch or Wi-Fi device they 

access, and uses whitelists to determine what 

access levels they are allowed. Furthermore, 

macmon NAC is manufacturer-agnostic, so it'll 

work with any manageable switch, and can 

scale easily as the network expands, allowing it 

to work with the latest IT systems as well as 

long-established operational technologies. 

We found deployment swift as we installed 

macmon NAC on our VMware vSphere host in 

ten minutes. The web console is easy to use, 

and our first task was to create a list of 

credentials for our monitored switches where it 

defaults to SNMP. 

macmon NAC gathers information about all 

network devices and endpoints and their 

attributes such as MAC and IP addresses and 

their names using (amongst others) ARP, DNS 

and DHCP as well as OT specific protocols. 

These may be added to a list of 'known' 

endpoints in the console and assigned to 

groups such as PCs, mobiles and guest 

devices, which in the simple mode even 

enforce up to three levels of authentication 

and related authorisation. 

Any new endpoints that macmon NAC 

discovers are considered unauthorised and 

policies are used to determine what access 

levels they should have - if any. Predefined 

rules make this even easier as they can block 

these devices, dynamically manage VLAN 

membership and present guest users with 

custom captive web portals. 

The macmon VLAN Manager is a powerful 

instrument to roll out as it automatically 

maintains a zoning concept in big production 

facilities or other industrial contexts, which is a 

requirement of many security regulations such 

as IEC 62443 or even ISO 27001. The 

Premium bundle enables full compliance 

scans on endpoints and offers even more 

integration options to gain additional status 

from third-party tools. 

macmon NAC is very amenable as it generally 

integrates with a wide range of third-party 

security solutions and even offers a framework 

to simply add your own integrations. NC 

Product: macmon NAC 

Supplier: macmon secure GmbH 

Tel: +49 30 23257777-0 

Web site: www.macmon.eu 

Sales: info@macmon.eu 




SECURITY UPDATE 

COMPLYING WITH THE NIS 2 DIRECTIVE TO HELP SECURE CRITICAL ASSETS 

STEVEN KENNY, INDUSTRY 

LIAISON, ARCHITECTURE & 

ENGINEERING, AXIS 

COMMUNICATIONS, 

EXAMINES THE LATEST 

CYBERSECURITY 

COMPLIANCE REGULATION - 

THE NIS 2 DIRECTIVE - AND 

WHAT SECURITY BUSINESSES 

SHOULD BE DOING TO 

PREPARE FOR IT 

The European Parliament adopted the 

NIS 2 Directive (NIS 2) in November 

2022 and a planned UK alignment is 

set to follow. NIS 2 replaces and repeals the 

NIS Directive that established cybersecurity 

requirements for the operators of essential 

services (OES) and digital services providers 

(DSP). It modernises the existing legal 

framework in the EU to keep up with 

increased digitisation and an evolving 

cybersecurity threat landscape, and will 

improve cybersecurity risk management and 

introduce reporting obligations across a 

number of new sectors and entities. 

With an October 2024 deadline by which to 

adopt and publish the measures necessary to 

comply with NIS 2, it's important to determine 

what this means for security businesses 

working with, or wishing to work with, 

affected companies. A network camera, for 

example, while used for both security and 

operational means across a range of 

industries that may come under the NIS 2 

Directive, is not classed as a critical asset. 

This technically places it outside the Directive's 

scope. Yet such a device nevertheless 

represents a vulnerability through which a 

malicious threat actor could launch an attack. 

What steps, then, should security businesses, 

their partners and customers be taking to 

ensure compliance? 

DEMONSTRATING CYBER MATURITY 

The new directive eliminates the distinction 

between OESs and DSPs, instead it clarifies 

businesses as either essential or important 

and uses a size-cap rule to determine which 

medium and large-sized entities fall within its 

scope. To comply with NIS 2 a holistic 



SECURITY UPDATE 

approach is required that considers all 

possible threat vectors. It is expected that 

those businesses that need to comply with NIS 

2 will have to carry out a greater level of due 

diligence on their technology partners. As part 

of this evaluation process and a vendor risk 

assessment, it is highly likely that policies and 

processes will play a much greater role. 

Securing a network, its devices, and the 

services it supports requires active 

participation by the entire vendor supply 

chain, as well as the end-user organisation. 

For the physical security industry, working 

closely with customers and other stakeholders 

will help to ensure a joined-up approach that 

everyone can agree on. Dedicated tools, 

documentation and training will help mitigate 

risks and keep products and services up-todate 

and protected. 

Equally, end-users will now be seeking to 

work with those suppliers and / or vendors 

who follow appropriate policies and 

processes, as well as holding third-party 

certifications. It's therefore imperative that 

physical security businesses can 

demonstrate, for example, that they adhere 

to a Vulnerability Management Policy, hold 

certification for ISO/IEC 27001 for 

Information Security Management Systems 

(ISMS), and Cyber Essentials Plus 

accreditation. 

DEVICE AND SYSTEM CONTROLS 

AND HARDENING 

Product integrity controls and features help to 

ensure that both hardware and firmware are 

protected from unauthorised change or 

manipulation. Signing a firmware image with 

a private key prevents firmware from being 

installed or upgraded without presentation of 

the appropriate credentials. Additionally, 

secure boot, based on the use of signed 

firmware, consists of an unbroken chain of 

cryptographically validated software, starting 

in immutable memory, that ensures a device 

can boot only with authorised firmware. A 

move to the use of signed video ensures that 

video evidence can be verified as 

untampered, making it possible to trace the 

video back to the camera from which it 

originated and verify that the video has not 

been modified or edited. 

The use of system hardening processes aims 

to protect and secure devices and systems 

against cyberattacks by reducing the attack 

surface - essentially protecting all possible 

points of entry that could be used by an 

attacker. Creating strong passwords, 

removing or disabling all superfluous drivers, 

services, and software, and setting system 

updates to install automatically are all 

recommended approaches. The likelihood of 

unauthorised or unauthenticated user access 

is further reduced by applying a Zero Trust 

policy, in line with the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology's (NIST) risk 

management framework which promotes a 

never trust and always verify approach to any 

request for systems access. 

While it is very unlikely that physical security 

systems will be classed as a critical asset as 

far as the scope of the NIS 2 Directive is 

concerned, it is important that organisations 

consider a holistic approach during the 

scoping of such technology. Physical 

security businesses, working closely in 

partnership with supply chains and 

customers, can deliver a system that is 

secure from both a physical and 

cybersecurity perspective, while 

helping to meet NIS 2 requirements. 

Stringent security measures, backed 

by policies and processes, tools, 

documentation and training, will 

help reduce risk and keep customers 

protected. 

The NIS 2 Directive - Axis briefing 

paper to support cybersecurity 

compliance: https://www.emeacomms.axis.com/nis-2-directivebriefing 

ABOUT STEVEN KENNY 

Steven Kenny has spent 18 years in the 

security sector in roles that have seen him 

take responsibility for key elements of 

mission critical, high-profile projects across 

a number of different vertical markets. His 

current role sees him lead a team of 

Architect and Engineering managers across 

the EMEA region whilst supporting various 

industry associations and standards 

organisations. He currently sits on the EMEA 

Advisor Council as the emerging technology 

lead for TiNYg (Global Terrorism 

Information Network), and on various 

standards committees to support IoT 

security, as well as the BSI Private Security 

Management and Services. NC 


OPINION: IOT 

IOT AND THE FUTURE OF NETWORKING 

ALAN HAYWARD, SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER AT SEH TECHNOLOGY, LOOKS AT THE 

OPPORTUNITIES POSED BY IOT AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGIES, THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIABLE 

NETWORKS IN THIS NEW ERA, AND HOW INTEGRATIONS CAN BE SUCCESSFUL 

The Internet of Things is transforming 

networking by connecting the digital 

and physical worlds in new ways. 

Wired and wireless networks are changing 

how we live and work, and as a result the 

traditional networking model is gradually 

fading away. IoT consists of physical 

devices that include sensors and software, 

that connect and exchange data with 

other IoT devices over the networks 

and/or the wider internet. There are 

already many examples of IoT 

applications in existence today in the 

home, businesses and transportation. 

The potential of IoT doesn't just lie in its 

ability to connect physical objects but in 

how it can enrich the digital world with 

new sources of data and information. 

Human environments can be far better 

understood through the data created by 

IoT devices and then analysed, to identify 

patterns and conclusions. IoT has so 

many applications and use cases that are 

yet to be explored and as physical 

devices become more compact and 

networks more advanced, those 

opportunities will multiply. 

BUILDING RELIABLE NETWORKS 

The evolution of networking and the 

emergence of IoT will place a strain on 

both existing and new networking 

infrastructures. More devices will lead to 

more data being transmitted over 

networks at increasing rates and speeds. 

ericsson expects the number of IoT 

connections to increase from 13.2bn in 

2022 to 34.7bn in 2028 with a CAGR of 

18%. The numbers clearly state that the 

IoT evolution is already well underway, 

and networks need to be ready to handle 

the forecasted increases in connections. 

Today, networking is such a foundational 

element of life that there's an expectation 

for infrastructures to be reliable. The 

modern world moves at such a pace, that 

opportunities are missed as a result of 

poor connections and slow speeds. 5G 

for example is still yet to prove itself and 

gain penetration in the wider market. 

Edge computing is seen as one way to 

improve reliability by moving computing 

and storage resources closer to where 

data sources are, rather than data being 

transmitted to data centres and more 

centralised resources. Edge computing 

can ease congestion, improve latency and 

increase bandwidth. All of this requires 

monitoring and other adaptations to be 

successful, but edge computing offers so 

many opportunities to help transform IoT 

and networking for the better. 

TAKING INTEGRATION TO THE 

NEXT LEVEL 

In order to adapt to changing networks, 

organisations will need to build 

innovative solutions with open standards 

to connect legacy devices to evolving 

network infrastructures. There's a risk that 

some will be left behind in this new era. 

The reality is that legacy devices will 

continue to play a pivotal role in the 

coming years, and some organisations 

for security and operational reasons 

prefer to use them. 

Integrating legacy devices into changing 

networking infrastructures will require the 

use of intermediary devices for dongles, 

USB devices, printers and industrial 

solutions. Such devices can then be 

controlled and managed remotely, to 

ensure that they continue to effectively 

serve user needs. Events can be rapidly 

diagnosed and repairs can take place to 

ensure the maximum uptime of 

peripherals. The next era of networking 

won't just be dependent on the success of 

new technologies but also on how legacy 

systems can function over new network 

infrastructures. Legacy devices won't 

disappear for many years and will be very 

much part of the future too. 

The future of networking will bring with it 

so many possibilities and challenges to be 

overcome. For the future to be a success, 

networks will need to be reliable - and 

legacy devices can't be forgotten in the 

process. The challenges of the past and 

how they are solved will be crucial to the 

future of networking and IoT in an everevolving 

digital world. NC 




Hornetsecurity 

Security 

Awareness Service 


PRODUCT 


Cybercriminals never sit still and are 

always looking for new ways to outwit 

businesses and breach their security 

controls. Email spear phishing is still one of the 

most successful and prevalent forms of attack, 

so businesses must be more robust in their 

defences and stop seeing staff as just another 

security risk. 

Security Awareness Service (SAS) from 

Hornetsecurity is an innovative solution that 

turns staff from a potential liability into an extra 

defence layer. Using Hornetsecurity's patented 

Spear Phishing Engine (SPE), it tests and e- 

trains them in attack recognition and 

avoidance techniques. 

SAS goes further than many competing 

solutions as, instead of merely providing 

templates to help build phishing scenarios, the 

SPE does it all for you by automatically creating 

realistic simulated phishing emails, based on 

the most current types of attacks. 

Even better, it employs its Awareness Engine 

and patented Employee Security Index (ESI®) 

to regularly evaluate each user's behaviour 

and increase or decrease the level of training 

intensity to help them achieve a strong 

security mindset. 

Deployment is swift, as you whitelist the 

spoofed mail domains used by SAS, and onboard 

users and groups from Active Directory 

(AD), Azure AD, LDAP or via CSV upload. 

Ongoing management is equally simple, as 

SAS uses the same web portal as all other 

Hornetsecurity products to provide a single 

pane of glass. From the SAS configuration 

page, you view all evaluated users and groups, 

enable phishing simulations and set up e- 

training. For phishing simulations, you can hand 

the whole process to the Spear Phishing Engine, 

which automatically generates and sends 

simulated phishing emails, based on each user's 

measured security level. 

Plenty of customisation is available, 

as you can have personal evaluations sent to 

each user, so that they can view them in their 

own Security Hub portal and choose to view the 

types of phishing emails, with options for 

emails containing attachments, macros, 

credential phishing and domain spoofing. A 

Report Phishing for Outlook plug-in is also 

available, so users can report suspicious emails. 

The e-training module is activated for all users 

and you can specify the number of training 

sessions it should carry out each year. The 

Awareness Engine is very smart, as its Single 

User Booster feature ensures weak users in a 

group receive more training, while the 

Productivity Booster reduces training for those 

with high security scores. 

At this point, you can leave SAS to get on with 

its job in the background and as users receive 

their test phishing emails, it watches what they 

do with them. If they recognise and report it, 

they'll improve their security score; but, if they 

click on a link or open an attachment, the e- 

training module kicks in, right at the 'most 

teachable moment'. Users that were tricked are 

redirected to an advisory web page, which 

provides interactive e-training that teaches them 

all the things they need to look out for. It shows 

how to validate the sender's address, hover the 

cursor over a link to see its real destination and 

question the message content - all simple, but 

important, precautions. 

The SAS dashboard shows your current and 

projected ESI® scores and enables selfgovernance 

with knowledge, as it compares 

your company's rating with the industry average. 

A statistics page provides charts of all actions 

carried out on test emails, their success rates 

and which psychological tricks are proving 

to be the most effective. 

Hornetsecurity's Security Awareness Services is 

a staunch ally in the fight against phishing. It 

can turn staff into a valuable security asset, and 

its power-ful automated phishing simulation, 

response and e-training capabilities make it 

remarkably easy to deploy and to use. NC 

Product: Security Awareness Service 

Supplier: Hornetsecurity 

Web site: www.hornetsecurity.com 

Tel: +44 (0) 203 0869 833 

Sales: sales@hornetsecurity.com 

Contact Hornetsecurity for pricing. 




OPINION: DATA CENTRES 

HOW DATA CENTRES CAN BECOME GREENER 

MICHAEL MCNERNEY, VICE 

PRESIDENT MARKETING AND 

NETWORK SECURITY, 

SUPERMICRO, OUTLINES THE 

DIFFERENT METHODS DATA 

CENTRE OPERATORS CAN TAKE 

TO REDUCE THEIR POWER 

CONSUMPTION 

Data centres use significant 

amounts of electricity to power 

their thousands of servers. From 

the location of a data centre to the 

placement of server racks, there are 

several actions that data centre 

managers can take to improve the power 

usage effectiveness (PUE) of the data 

centre. The PUE of a data centre is 

defined as the total amount of power 

delivered to the data centre, divided by 

the amount of power used by the IT 

components. The lower the value, the 

more energy efficient the data centre is. 

Of course, sourcing renewable power is 

an obvious first step. Still, other methods, 

such as increasing air inlet temperatures, 

optimising power delivery, and utilising 

the right system at the right time, can 

contribute to a greener data centre. 

OPERATE AT HIGHER 

TEMPERATURES 

When using traditional air cooling 

mechanisms, the air entering the server 

(inlet temperature) is maintained by 

Computer Room Air Conditioning 

(CRAC). How air conditioning is used in 

a data centre contributes the most to the 

PUE calculation. Reducing the amount of 

air conditioning significantly lowers the 

PUE and, thus, OPEX costs. Around the 

world, many data centres are keeping 

inlet temperatures too low. Data centre 

operators can reduce power usage by 

increasing the inlet temperatures to the 

manufacturer's recommended maximum 

value. Looking at the results from a 

recent survey of over 400 IT professionals 

and data centre managers, there is a 

wide range of inlet temperatures, which 

indicates that most IT administrators are 

limiting the inlet temperature to less than 

the manufacturer's "highest" limit. 

CAPTURE HEAT AT THE SOURCE 

CRAC is the most significant variable to 

optimise to lower overall PUE. The PUE of 

a data centre can be significantly reduced 

when using liquid cooling solutions in 

particular. While the data centre 

infrastructure may need to be modified or 

added to, the longer term OPEX savings 

will outweigh the initial costs. 

LIQUID COOLING 

Liquid cooling of the CPUs and GPUs can 

significantly reduce the need for having 

CRAC units in data centres and the need 

to push air around. There are several 

different methods to use liquid cooling to 

reduce the need for forced air cooling: 

DIRECT TO CHIP (DTC OR D2C) 

COOLING 

This method passes a cold liquid over the 

hot CPU or GPU. Since a liquid is much 

more efficient at removing and 

transporting heat than air is, the CPU or 

GPU can be kept within its thermal design 

power (TDP) envelope. This can lead to 

significant savings when scaled across 

thousands of systems in a medium to a 

large data centre. 

REAR DOOR HEAT EXCHANGER 

(RDHX) 

The rear door of the rack contains liquid 




Server with D2C Liquid 

Cooling Intstalled 

and fans, which cools the hot server 

exhaust air before the air enters the data 

centre. The hot liquid needs to be cooled 

before it is returned to the data centre 

CRAC. This liquid cooling method keeps 

the air at a lower temperature in the data 

centre, reducing cooling demands on the 

CRAC, which will lessen the amount of 

electricity needed in the data centre. 

IMMERSION COOLING 

With immersion cooling, the entire server 

- or groups of servers - are submerged in 

a dielectric liquid. The close contact of 

the liquid molecules with the hot CPUs, 

GPUs, and other components is an 

efficient way to cool the servers, as fans 

will need to be removed from the 

servers. Some minor modifications must 

be made to the server before immersion. 

An entire rack of servers can be cooled 

in this manner. 

Immersion Cooling of Complete Servers 

HOT AND COLD AISLES 

A significant amount of electricity can be 

saved using the CRAC if the hot and cold 

aisles are separated in the data centre. 

When designed with hot and cold aisles, 

the inlet and exhaust air should not mix, 

allowing the data centre cooling to 

operate more efficiently. For adequate 

cooling, the rows of racks need to be 

installed so that the rear of the racks face 

each other, creating a hot aisle. 

Therefore, an important best practice 

when designing an energy-efficient data 

centre is to have hot and cold aisles. 

OPTIMISE POWER DELIVERY 

Power conversion from AC to DC entails 

some amount of heat generated. With 

AC being delivered to the data centre, 

the power must be converted to DC for 

the system. With each conversion, energy 

is lost, contributing to the inefficiency of 

the data centre. More efficient 

conversion will result in less wasted 

power during the conversion, with heat 

being the by-product that must be 

removed from the system. 

Titanium power supplies are the most 

efficient option, offering 96% power 

efficiency. Platinum power supplies are 

slightly less efficient at 94%. Gold power 



Hot and Cold Aisles in a Data Centre 

supplies offer a lower efficiency of 92%. 

The efficiency of a power supply isn't linear 

or flat when it comes to the supply's output 

range. Most power supplies operate at 

their maximum efficiency when running in 

the upper ranges of their rated capacity. 

This means that an 800-watt power supply 

providing 400 watts of power (50% 

capacity) will be less efficient than a 500- 

watt power supply providing that same 400 

watts of output power (80% capacity). 

SOURCE GREEN ENERGY 

A data centre's energy source has the 

most significant impact on its carbon 

footprint and poses the most substantial 

opportunity to benefit the environment. 

Renewable energy programmes for 

commercial customers include generation 

through utility, third-party power 

purchase agreements (PPA), or renewable 

energy credits (REC). Distributed 

renewable energy production owned or 

controlled by data centres is optimal. But 

on-site renewable energy sources do not 

always satisfy data centre energy 

demands. Fortunately, clean grid energy 

can augment this. There are also 

increasingly effective energy storage 

solutions for deployment on-site, coming 

down in cost as battery technology 

improves and scales. 

RETHINK SITE SELECTION CRITERIA 

Large-scale data centres cost a lot of 

money to operate. For example, a single 

hyper-scale data centre can demand 100 

MW of power to keep servers, storage, 

and networking infrastructure performing 

as expected (enough to power 80,000 US 

households). In addition, while electronics 

use most of the energy consumed in a 

data centre, cooling those electronics to 

maintain operating temperatures can 

consume 40% of facility energy. 

Building costs consist of the land value 

as well as the cost of construction. 

Construction prices vary depending on the 

geography or region. Unlike building a 

home or an office building, a data 

centre's location has some unique 

requirements to be considered "green" 

and deliver agreed-upon Service Level 

Agreements (SLAs). Factors such as 

climate, energy pricing, risk of natural 

disasters, water costs, and the cost of 

network bandwidth all contribute to the 

choice of data centre locations. 

Data centres are critical to the world's 

economy. Many aspects of modern life 

depend on them, which consumes more 

electricity than ever before to deliver the 

services everyone uses. While the work per 

watt of the CPU continues to increase, 

there is a need to reduce the overall data 

centre power consumption. 

There are several actions that data centre 

operators can take. These include running 

systems at warmer temperatures, 

configuring the data centre with hot and 

cold aisles, and sourcing green energy. 

Data centres can reduce their PUE by 

taking just a few steps, lowering their 

operating expenses and decreasing their 

CO2 footprint for years to come. NC 




Endace 

EndaceProbe 

Cloud 


PRODUCT 


Cloud computing has revolutionised 

business operations globally, but the 

'shared responsibility' security model 

used by providers presents many challenges for 

SecOps and NetOps teams. Providers look 

after the security of the infrastructure, data 

centres and server hardware leaving customers 

to handle cloud application, data, operating 

system and access security. For teams to 

respond quickly to cyberattacks and resolve 

network or application performance issues, they 

must be able to capture, store, index and 

analyse accurate records of all traffic activity. 

Historically, this has been a major pain point for 

cloud services, but packet capture expert 

Endace has the perfect solution as its wellrespected 

EndaceProbe appliances can now be 

hosted in the cloud. 

Supporting Amazon Web Services (AWS) and 

Microsoft Azure public clouds, EndaceProbe 

Cloud delivers the same excellent packet 

capture and analysis features found in Endace's 

hardware appliances and places them right 

where they can provide deep visibility into cloud 

environments. Capable of capturing packets 

from virtual packet brokers, VPC mirrors, virtual 

span ports, load balancers, firewalls, vSwitches 

and virtual machines, EndaceProbe Cloud 

assures full security, storing all recorded packet 

data within your own VPC or virtual network. 

Deployed as a virtual machine, using the 

recommended sizing, EndaceProbe Cloud 

delivers 4Gbps packet to disk write 

performance, millisecond accurate 

timestamping, and a maximum native storage 

capacity of 250TB per instance. Endace's 

software compression and Smart Application 

Truncation technology further boosts packet 

capture capacity to as much as 500TB. You can 

also control cloud subscription costs by sizing 

the appliance up or down to your requirements. 

Endace adds extreme flexibility. All 

EndaceProbes in globally distributed cloud and 

hybrid networks can be centrally accessed 

through a single console. Endace's 

InvestigationManager - which can be hosted in 

the cloud or on-premises - provides centralised 

search and data-mining. Using 

InvestigationManager's integrated 

EndaceVision, a browser-based analysis tool, 

analysts can choose data sources from multiple 

EndaceProbes, view them simultaneously and 

use data visualisation tools to home in on areas 

of interest such as flows, top talkers, protocols 

and users. All search operations are performed 

locally on each EndaceProbe and only packets 

of interest are passed to InvestigationManager. 

Data egress charges are significantly reduced 

as there's no need to download huge pcap files 

from the cloud. 

Management of all Endace deployments can 

also be done centrally using EndaceCMS, 

which provides a single pane of glass for all 

administrative functions including health 

monitoring, configuration and upgrades. You 

can host EndaceCMS either on-premises or in 

the cloud too. 

EndaceProbe Cloud integrates seamlessly with 

a wide range of security and performance 

monitoring tools including solutions offered by 

Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Plixer, Splunk and 

many others. Endace's APIs integrate directly into 

the user interfaces of these products so teams 

can analyse packet data directly from within the 

tools they already use without needing to have 

specific knowledge of Endace's appliances. 

A good example is Splunk. When Splunk 

shows an alert or event, analysts can access 

related packets directly from within the Splunk 

GUI - so they don't need to change their existing 

workflows. They can create, share and customise 

investigations accessing data from multiple 

EndaceProbes, view conversations, extract files 

from suspicious communications, generate rich 

logs for insight into network activity, and decode 

packets directly in the hosted Wireshark, thus 

avoiding more cloud egress charges. 

Cloud infrastructures are under an everincreasing 

barrage of cyberattacks, and SecOps 

and NetOps teams need total visibility into AWS 

and Azure environments to do their jobs. 

EndaceProbe Cloud provides an answer as this 

highly scalable unified packet capture and 

analysis solution is simple to deploy and ideally 

suited to hybrid, multi-cloud architectures. NC 

Product: EndaceProbe Cloud 

Supplier: Endace 

Web site: www.endace.com 

Sales: +44 (0)800 088 5008 




CASE STUDY 

GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION AND ASSET MANAGEMENT 

FOR RENTOKIL INITIAL 

RENTOKIL INITIAL ENHANCES SECURITY COMPLIANCE, TRACKING AND REPORTING ACROSS 

25,000+ IT ASSETS WORLDWIDE WITH LANSWEEPER 

Based in the UK, Rentokil Initial is one of 

the largest business services companies 

in the world, with 44,500 employees 

and operating in over 80 countries. The 

company offers route-based services including 

Pest Control, Hygiene, and Workwear, through 

teams of local experts. 

In early 2020, Rentokil Initial's Global 

Configuration Manager was looking for a way 

to solve the gap in their asset management 

strategy. The Rentokil Initial team uses the 

ServiceNow IT Service Management platform 

to manage digital workflows for enterprise 

operations, and they've also been using its IT 

asset management capabilities to track and 

manage IT assets across the enterprise. 

The company needed a solution that could 

automatically identify and add assets to the 

inventory that might otherwise be overlooked 

or forgotten. With more than 25,000 assets to 

manage, this large-scale automation was a 

critical capability to have. 

Enhancing IT asset management and 

identifying potential vulnerabilities: 

Complete IT Asset Identification: Rentokil 

Initial's first goal was to identify all IT 

assets and potential vulnerabilities 

residing within Windows devices and 

software across its extensive global IT 

estate. This was essential for maintaining 

a comprehensive view of their digital 

landscape. 

 

 

Accurate CMDB Data: Rentokil Initial 

aimed to feed up-to-date, accurate IT 

asset inventory data into its ServiceNow 

Configuration Management Database 

(CMDB). This data would serve as the 

foundation for compliance tracking and 

reporting, helping them stay in line with 

industry regulations. 

Accurate Data Records: Rentokil Initial 

used Lansweeper IT asset management 

software to discover the IT assets on its 

network. This accurate data seamlessly 

fed into their CMDB, creating single, 

verified data records for each managed 

asset. This transformation laid the 

foundation for streamlined compliance 

processes and real-time reporting. 



CASE STUDY 

Computer Security and Visibility: In a world 

where data breaches and cyber threats 

loom large, Rentokil Initial recognised that 

safeguarding their digital assets was 

paramount. Security became the chief 

motivator for embracing Lansweeper, 

enabling them to gain a comprehensive 

view of their IT assets, including Windows 

devices and software, and pinpoint 

potential vulnerabilities. 

Rentokil Initial bid farewell to spreadsheets 

and manual processes, which often left room 

for errors and inefficiencies, and ushered in 

streamlined operations with enhanced 

accuracy. By eliminating the time-consuming 

manual tasks that plague IT asset 

management, Rentokil Initial was able to foster 

a more agile and responsive approach. 

Integration was a cornerstone requirement 

for enhanced IT asset management, and 

Mark Blackman, Global Configuration 

Manager at Rentokil Initial, underscores the 

importance of this, "We needed a solution 

that would complement what we already had 

in place and simplify software audits. While 

our ServiceNow platform provides asset and 

configuration management, if somebody 

didn't manually register an asset, or if there 

were connected Windows devices that had 

not been identified, we were blind to those 

asset's existence." 

Understanding the magnitude of security 

risks, including identifying and alerting when 

an unknown asset connects to the network, 

was deemed critical. This integration with 

ServiceNow empowered Rentokil Initial to 

proactively monitor their IT landscape, 

fortifying their security posture. 

"Rather than relying on a single tool, we have 

multiple tools in place, which feed information 

to the CMDB within ServiceNow," explains 

Blackman. "Having data from many tools 

creates data "triangulation," providing a depth 

and breadth of information across all virtual 

machines, physical devices and software on 

the assets we want to manage." 

Compliance with the General Data Protection 

Regulation (GDPR) was a compelling driver for 

embracing an IT asset discovery solution. 

Lansweeper provided the necessary tools to 

maintain GDPR compliance, ensuring Rentokil 

Initial remained in harmony with the everevolving 

legal landscape. 

A SEAMLESS PATH TO ORGANISATION- 

WIDE VISIBILITY 

In the quest for comprehensive IT asset 

management and security compliance, 

Rentokil Initial deployed Lansweeper scanners 

across regional data centres in North America, 

Asia, and EMEA. This was a significant 

milestone and set them on a journey to 

revolutionise their organisational visibility. 

All the data gleaned from these scanners was 

centralised in a data hub in the UK. This data 

repository served as the linchpin of Rentokil 

Initial's IT asset management strategy, 

facilitating real-time insights and compliance 

tracking on a global scale. 

While ServiceNow operated in the cloud, 

Lansweeper's on-premises "mid server" acted 

as the bridge between the two. This onpremises 

component perfectly executed 

Lansweeper queries, ensuring accuracy and 

efficiency. The results were then seamlessly 

transmitted back to the cloud instance of 

ServiceNow, creating a harmonious marriage 

of precision and convenience. 

ILLUMINATING THE IT LANDSCAPE 

Rentokil Initial gained the ability to peer into 

every possible area of their IT assets connected 

to the corporate network. This panoramic view 

extended across continents, helping them 

gauge the state of IT globally. 

Moreover, this newfound visibility wasn't just 

about counting assets - it was about identifying 

potential vulnerabilities and risks lurking 

beneath the surface. Armed with this insight, 

Rentokil Initial could proactively fortify their IT 

infrastructure, safeguarding their business from 

potential threats. 

The combination of agent-based and 

agentless scanning is ideal for managing 

devices across global locations. The agentless 

scanning provides the ability to determine 

whether a lost or misplaced device is GDPR 

compliant and/or free from vulnerabilities, and 

therefore not at risk of being compromised. 

A key use case for these features was for 

mergers and acquisition integration, which is a 

key part of Rentokil's Initial strategy. "When we 

acquire a new company, we simply deploy 

Lansweeper on the company's infrastructure, 

and we can immediately see all the devices 

they have, what operating systems are not 

supported, and whether they've been patched 

properly," said Blackman. "That helps us 

budget appropriately for any hardware 

upgrades or remediation work to bring these 

assets up to our corporate standards." 

The data in the CMDB keeps Rentokil Initial's 

senior management team informed via KPI 

reports generated by the ServiceNow platform, 

and data from Lansweeper is essential to 

creating those reports. 

NINE MONTHS TO GLOBAL 

TRANSFORMATION 

The global rollout was no small feat - the 

networking team played a pivotal role, 

meticulously identifying subnets and 

credentials. These details were the keys to 

unlocking a comprehensive scan, and the 

infrastructure team meticulously verified them 

to ensure the initial scan's success. 

It stands as a testament to Rentokil Initial's 

commitment to organisational visibility and 

security. It's a journey that has not only 

illuminated their IT landscape but also fortified 

their defences against the ever-evolving threats 

of the digital realm. NC 


OPINION: DDoS ATTACKS 

SPANNING SECURITY GAPS AT THE EDGE 

ROMAN LARA, PRINCIPAL 

ANALYST AT NETSCOUT 

OUTLINES THE THREAT FACING 

ORGANISATIONS THAT FAIL TO 

ADAPT THEIR DDoS 

PROTECTION AT THE EDGE 

In recent years, threat actors have become 

increasingly efficient and effective at what 

they do, allowing them to launch more 

dangerous attacks and evade traditional 

defence techniques more successfully than 

ever before. 

During this time, cybercriminals have also 

been launching a greater number of attacks. 

Findings from NETSCOUT's latest Threat 

Intelligence Report show that global 

distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks 

reached an all-time high in 2022, with almost 

13 million attacks taking place. 

This increase in attack frequency, coupled 

with the ease of use of DDoS-for-hire services, 

means organisations need to ramp up their 

protection of their critical online infrastructure, 

in addition to that of downstream customers. 

Although there are conventional protection 

solutions which can stop some types of DDoS 

attacks, businesses must go one step further to 

strengthen both their on-premises and cloud 

security measures from the different kinds of 

DDoS attacks which exist. 

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to DDoS 

protection at the edge, but by establishing a 

hybrid DDoS defence strategy, enterprise-level 

organisations stand a better chance of 

preventing the different types of DDoS attacks 

from significantly damaging their business. 

There are three main types of DDoS attacks 

which are used by threat actors to intentionally 

overwhelm a targeted website or digital 

network: protocol, application-layer, and 

volumetric attacks. 

PROTOCOL DDOS ATTACKS 

Firstly, protocol DDoS attacks are primarily 

focused on taking down services or underlying 

network infrastructure which are responsible 

for delivering content to the end users. The 

attacks disrupt services, thereby resulting in 

legitimate users being unable to connect to the 

resources. A common method to deploy a 

protocol attack is through a SYN flood attack. 

In 2021 NETSCOUT detected a shift in 

preference by adversaries to direct path 

attacks. These DDoS attacks target stateful 

devices such as servers, load balancers and 

next gen firewalls with the intention of filling 

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) State 

Tables with bogus connections, resulting in 

specific resources being overwhelmed and 

becoming inaccessible to legitimate users. This 

allows cybercriminals to take down even highcapacity 

devices capable of maintaining 

millions of connections designed to protect 

services connected to the internet, such as file 

transfer, email, and web servers. 

A SYN flood attack involves an attacker 

overwhelming the target's servers with 

countless SYN packets - a request from 

another device to start a new communication 

channel - which contain spoofed IP addresses. 

In response to each SYN packet, the server 

invites the device to create the new channel. 

However, the invitation is never fulfilled, and 

the server continues to wait. As a result, the 

server eventually crashes from waiting too long 

for each individual SYN packet request. With 

this attack method, cybercriminals can 

dismantle high-capacity devices capable of 

sustaining millions of network connections, 

such as supercomputers. 

APPLICATION-LAYER ATTACKS 

Secondly, application-layer attacks are 

designed to disrupt web applications that end 

users interact with. An application-layer 

attack can be launched by a cybercriminal 

using even a single machine or legions of 

bots to continually request the same digital 



OPINION: DDoS ATTACKS 

resource - like a website or pdf - from the 

targeted server. 

As a result, the application is overwhelmed 

and is unable to deliver content to its users. 

These attacks are mostly used to target web 

servers, but can also go after any digital 

application, including session initiation 

protocol (SIP) and border gateway protocol 

(BGP) services. 

VOLUMETRIC ATTACKS 

Lastly, there are volumetric attacks. These 

involve threat actors flooding a target with 

malicious traffic in an attempt to consume 

all available bandwidth either within the 

target network/service, or between the 

target network/service and the rest of the 

internet. These attacks are simply about 

causing congestion. 

From 2006 to 2021, volumetric attacks 

reigned supreme, with DNS amplification 

attacks at the forefront. These attacks work 

by sending requests that generate large 

replies to multiple open domain name 

system (DNS) servers from a spoofed IP 

address to appear as though the request is 

coming from the target. At full scale, the 

large influx of DNS traffic onto a single 

server can overwhelm it, forcing the server 

to crash. 

Adversaries will typically choose one or 

more of these different types of attacks to 

use against the on-premises and cloud 

environments of targets in order to maximise 

the degree of damage. This demonstrates 

the need for organisations to integrate a 

multi-faceted defence approach across both 

their network availability and digital 

infrastructure to effectively mitigate modern 

DDoS threats. 

THE NEED FOR A HYBRID DDOS 

DEFENCE APPROACH 

The difficulty organisations face is having to 

put equal protections in place to reinforce 

their security across all network 

environments. This blocks DDoS attacks 

which are capable of evading either onpremises 

only or cloud-only defences. 

For instance, conventional cloud-based 

DDoS mitigation tools can defend against 

larger volumetric attacks targeting internet 

connectivity prior to them overwhelming 

local protection. Meanwhile, to defend 

against application-layer and encrypted 

traffic attacks, organisations will need onpremises 

defences near the targeted 

applications or services. However, with both 

examples, the solutions' level of effectiveness 

is very limited as it protects one network 

environment instead of the other. 

For organisations to overcome this, it is 

best practice for them to adopt a hybrid 

or multi-layer DDoS defence approach 

with both cloud and on-premises 

components that recognise all the 

different DDoS attack vectors and 

methodologies. 

HOW TO ESTABLISH A HYBRID 

SECURITY STRATEGY 

A hybrid DDoS defence strategy 

incorporates an on-premises, detection 

and prevention system with on-demand 

cloud-based mitigation capabilities at 

the edge. The combination of the 

unrelenting nature of adversaries and 

the growing complexity of DDoS attack 

methodologies and techniques 

necessitates the basis of a 

comprehensive DDoS mitigation 

strategy to be an on-premises, roundthe-clock, 

purpose-built DDoS attack 

protection system. 

This must be capable of automatically 

identifying and blocking all types of 

DDoS attacks and other cyberthreats 

prior to damage being inflicted on 

business-critical online infrastructure 

and services. 

While traditional cloud-based DDoS 

protection solutions are effective when it 

comes to stopping large volumetric DDoS 

attacks, they have difficulty in blocking 

other types of DDoS attacks designed to 

evade their systems. But cloud-based 

mitigation solutions shouldn't be 

discarded entirely, as they strengthen the 

protection of on-premises tools. 

Fundamentally, the best solution is to 

use a combination of an on-premises and 

a cloud solution with intelligent and 

automated integration, as this provides 

the most comprehensive protection 

possible. Although this doesn't represent a 

one-size-fits-all solution, this approach 

helps organisations to ensure that new 

and evolving DDoS threats can be dealt 

with in real time. 

INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE THREAT 

ACTORS 

With cybercriminals becoming 

increasingly adept at launching 

dangerous attacks and evading 

traditional defence techniques, an 

inability to adapt and defend against 

these emerging DDoS attack techniques 

will significantly damage businesses. 

Therefore, businesses should implement a 

more comprehensive defence strategy to 

secure their network edges. 

Even though cloud-based solutions may 

be cost-effective, ultimately, they must do 

more to protect organisations from the 

rapidly evolving nature of the threat 

landscape and the emerging types of 

DDoS attacks. 

Nevertheless, a multi-layer, hybrid solution 

which deploys on-premises defence at the 

edge, alongside a cloud-based backup, 

ensures enterprises can maintain improved 

cyber hygiene and prevent extended server 

downtime in the event they're impacted by a 

DDoS attack. NC 

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @NCMagAndAwards NOVEMBER/DECEMBERR 2023 NETWORKcomputing 27

OPINION: NTNs 

TO 5G - AND BEYOND! 

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES' DYLAN MCGRATH GIVES US AN INSIGHT INTO THE FUTURE OF 

NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS AND THE ERA OF DEMOCRATISED CONNECTIVITY 

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) 

represent an exciting new frontier 

in communications as they extend 

the reach of 5G into regions lacking 

terrestrial infrastructure. NTNs use both 

satellites and high-altitude platforms such 

as balloons, airships and pilotless aerial 

systems in the stratosphere to ensure 

coverage and reliability in virtually any 

scenario. Decreased costs and new 

capabilities in terrestrial 5G are combining 

to make NTNs increasingly viable, 

ushering in a new era of true global 

connectivity and a space-based IoT that 

will permanently change our perception of 

communication. 

3GPP's 5G standards recognise NTNs as 

a part of the 5G connectivity infrastructure. 

One of the network's chief benefits is multiconnectivity, 

as users connect through both 

terrestrial and satellite links, with the 

former handling low-latency traffic and 

satellites reserved for high-latency traffic. 

There are a multitude of fascinating use 

cases to explore here, including: 

 

Augmentation of terrestrial networks: 

5G NTNs will fill gaps in cellular coverage, 

allowing operators to enhance 

the latter without driving up costs. 

NTNs will also bolster network resiliency, 

increasing availability and preventing 

outages. In addition, they will 

enable operators to quickly restore 

service to areas impacted by natural 

disasters. NTNs can also be used to 

dynamically enhance coverage in 

response to changing circumstances. 

Take a Premier League game under 

typical terrestrial network conditions. 

Data throughput and connectivity suffer 

with the influx of spectators posting and 

 

streaming. With NTNs, however, drones 

could be deployed as flying base stations 

above the stadium to temporarily 

boost connectivity and increase bandwidth, 

leading to a glitch-free experience 

for the game's duration. 

Whole-world connectivity: As NTNs 

mature, they will enable global broadband 

connectivity, even in isolated 

regions. Consider remote locations 

across the globe, such as parts of 

Canada or Tibet, where establishing 

ground infrastructure to support terrestrial 

connectivity is either not economically 

viable or physically impossible. 

NTNs will change this, providing 

consistent, high-speed service in even 

the most inaccessible areas. Some 

vendors have already introduced services 

that support an SOS messaging 



OPINION: NTNs 

 

 

capability - for example, enabling a 

lost hiker on a remote mountain 

range to summon help via their 

smartphone. NTNs will make this 

pervasive and eliminate the connectivity 

challenges we associate with 

sailing, camping, mountain climbing 

and other activities in isolated areas. 

This will also have significant implications 

for aerospace and defence, 

and other sectors operating in geographically 

remote regions. 

Remote pipeline monitoring: With 

speeds of up to 20 Gbps, 5G NTN's 

high-speed data transfer capabilities 

are a significant benefit for applications 

that rely on real-time data processing-for 

example, remote monitoring, 

surveillance, and autonomous 

vehicles (AVs.) In the latter industry, 

NTNs can augment terrestrial networks 

and ensure vehicle safety in 

the event of congestion or outages, 

and in areas with poor connectivity. 

In addition, offshore oil platforms 

and other enterprises operating in 

remote regions without terrestrial 

infrastructure will be able to monitor 

operations and equipment more 

closely as the technology matures. 

Image intelligence: The Ukraine war 

provides an excellent example of this 

insight, as satellite images were the 

first to show the military vehicles 

Russia amassed in advance of its 

attack. This intelligence will become 

a key weapon in future military conflicts, 

as well as tracking global 

warming, pandemics and other 

macro events. 

ROADBLOCKS TO INNOVATION 

As with any new technology, before 

realising these and other 5G NTN 

possibilities, the industry must first 

overcome numerous challenges. These 

include design considerations: 

 

The link distances are much longer 

with NTNs than with terrestrial 

networks, and the resulting 

implications must be accounted for 

in the design process to avoid 

issues. Introducing a fast memory in 

which the signal is written and then 

read out with a different speed is 

one important step. This addresses 

both the propagation delay and 

high Doppler frequency associated 

with NTNs. 

Where and how to process data is 

another concern. 

 

In most cases, this will be determined 

by the individual use case and end 

goal. For industries such as the 

military, it may be better to design a 

satellite with a big computer, long 

battery life and a large solar array to 

facilitate edge computing of the 

data via the satellite. This would 

enable divisions to spot 

changes in civilian 

movement or armament 

formation that could 

signal a hostile advance, 

as in the Ukraine 

example discussed 

above. In other 

scenarios, it might be 

better to send data to the 

ground for processing, 

which entails having the 

bandwidth necessary to 

facilitate the transmission. 

Finally, NTNs have the potential to 

replace the legacy proprietary 

network and operator systems with 

total interoperability and universal 

service. Actualising this vision requires 

that network operators and satellite 

providers collaborate share knowledge, 

and come up with new ways to bring 

services to the end users. 

Much work remains before NTNs can 

fully deliver on their promise, but the 

future is closer than many might think. 

As we move towards making seamless 

global connectivity a reality, savvy 

companies should be preparing to 

capitalise on NTNs and all the 

possibilities inherent in a truly 

connected world. NC 


OPINION: CLOUD SECURITY 

BOOSTING YOUR CLOUD DEFENCE 

ANTHONY WEBB, VICE PRESIDENT AT A10 INTERNATIONAL 

EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANCE OF COMBINING APPLICATION 

DELIVERY WITH NEXT-GEN WAF TO BUILD RESILIENCE FOR HYBRID 

CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS 

In today's modern business landscape, outside 

of any macro issues or economic uncertainty, 

there are two significant technology 

challenges that enterprises are grappling with. 

The first challenge is around the constantly 

evolving threat landscape, and the growing 

sophistication of cybercriminals and their 

techniques. This means the risk of an application 

attack and a data breach is an ever-present 

threat that enterprises must contend with. 

The other key challenge is around the 

effectiveness and economics of cloud 

operating models. Without a doubt, over the 

last decade digital transformation has 

catapulted many businesses forward, and 

some can now claim to be 'true' digital 

businesses servicing their customers in new 

and exciting ways. However, in this new digital 

and hybrid cloud environment, enterprises are 

highly concerned about how they can best 

secure, optimise, and automate their 

infrastructure in the most effective and costefficient 

way. 

APPLICATIONS MUST BE 

CONSISTENTLY AVAILABLE 

Today, organisations must guarantee their 

applications are consistently and securely 

accessible, no matter the location, to ensure 

the best end-user experience and productivity. 

This includes ensuring workloads are efficiently 

distributed across all servers, monitoring 

application health, and maintaining 

operational integrity around the clock. 

However, when you add in the need to 

protect against a rise in application attacks and 

an ever-increasing number of bad actors 

targeting the organisation, the scale of these 

challenges starts to become clearer. Likewise, 

complex deployments, coupled with regular 

maintenance and often limited resources 

dedicated to cybersecurity, are exacerbating the 

risk to organisations further. 

In this environment, with cybercriminals 

constantly evolving their tactics to exploit 

vulnerabilities in systems, a layered defence 

strategy that provides comprehensive 

protection against a wide range of threats is 

essential. At the same time, a solution that also 

helps to deliver better business outcomes, 

enabling organisations to optimise the 

customer experience, and ensure business 

continuity, is highly desirable. 

COMBINING ADC WITH NEXT-GEN 

WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL 

Combining an application delivery controller 

(ADC) and a next-gen web application firewall 

(WAF) creates a robust security solution that 

supports the principles of a Zero Trust security 

framework. As organisations seek to establish a 

more efficient, effective, and secure cloud 

operating model, these two combined 

technologies enable a highly performant 

security solution at a strategic application 

ingress point that reduces false positives and 

automates security, empowering agility and 

effectiveness. The ADC efficiently sifts through 

the myriad of threats, while the next-gen WAF 

efficiently provides defence against more 

sophisticated web attacks. 

HOW DOES THIS LAYERED DEFENCE 

APPROACH WORK? 

To explain in a bit more detail how this layered 

defence works, let's start with the ADC. ADCs 

can provide load balancing and transport layer 

security (TLS) offloading, which can help reduce 

the attack surface by minimising the number of 

entry points into the system. This mitigates the 

impact of volume-based attacks, such as DDoS 

or brute-force attacks. On the other hand, 

next-gen WAFs can provide deep packet 

inspection and advanced threat detection 

capabilities, enabling them to identify and 

block attacks such as account takeover (ATO), 

known CVEs, injections, cross-site scripting 

(XSS), and other OWASP Top 10 attacks. 

Earlier in the year, we partnered with Fastly to 

offer its next-gen WAF with our Thunder® 

ADCs to provide our customers with a premier 

next-generation web application firewall 

solution running on high-performance 

hardware and virtual platforms for businesses 

operating in a highly competitive market. This 

enables organisations to protect their apps 

against advanced threats with greater accuracy 

while gaining superior application availability 

and accelerating content delivery. 

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES 

WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE 

Unfortunately, digital transformation is not a 

one and done initiative. Moving forward, 

enterprises will continue to evolve their 

environments as new technologies inevitably 

emerge. Likewise, the cyber threat landscape 

will undoubtedly continue to expand, very likely 

at the same pace as we're seeing currently - if 

not faster. Organisations must therefore stay 

vigilant, never compromise and make sure that 

they have a layered defence approach to 

protect their business. NC 



OPINION: WI-FI 7 

THE MAGNIFICENT 7? 

KALAM MEAH, ISP DIRECTOR AT TP-LINK UK & IRELAND LTD., 

CONSIDERS HOW BUSINESSES CAN EMBRACE THE NEXT STAGE 

OF CONNECTIVITY WITH WI-FI 7 

The arrival of Wi-Fi 7 marks the next stage 

of wireless connectivity, offering reduced 

latency, seamless 4K streaming and ultrafast 

downloads. While Wi-Fi 6 was created to 

handle the growth of connected devices, Wi-Fi 

7 delivers astounding speeds for these devices 

with more power and efficiency, achieving data 

rates of up to 46 Gbps - 4.8 times faster than 

Wi-Fi 6. This new technology will be pivotal in 

supporting the rollout of evolving technologies, 

such as AR, VR and the Internet of Things (IoT), 

across healthcare, education and hospitality. 

Few mainstream devices currently support the 

technology, but businesses can still embrace 

Wi-Fi 7 and plan for its long-term use within 

their organisations. Older devices in the 2.4, 

5, and 6 GHz spectrum bands can connect via 

Wi-Fi 7, albeit at slower speeds. That gives 

businesses the flexibility required for a 

smoother, more cost-effective transition, 

meaning they can upgrade their networks 

gradually without wholesale device 

replacement. 

ENHANCING HEALTHCARE DELIVERY 

Delivering timely, best-in-class elective care to 

a backlog of more than 7 million patients is an 

ever-evolving problem. Wi-Fi 7's improved 

connectivity will support medical professionals 

and clinicians across diagnosis, treatment, 

research, and innovation adoption. 

The pandemic demonstrated how to deliver 

non-urgent healthcare remotely and online. 

Telemedicine solutions help alleviate pressure 

by reducing the time spent on face-to-face 

care, and remote patient monitoring (RMP) 

eliminates the need for regular in-person 

check-ups. Keeping devices and hospitals 

connected is the leading challenge here; the 

number of hospital-based IoMT (Internet of 

Medical Things) is projected to exceed seven 

million by 2026, with more than 3,850 per 

smart hospital. 

These solutions require robust infrastructure 

to ensure secure, timely transmission of health 

data between patients' homes and hospitals. 

Wi-Fi 7's integration with IoT-based systems 

delivers just that. 

CHANGING THE FACE OF THE 

CLASSROOM 

Wi-Fi 7 will be a game-changer for education. 

Students and teachers can download and 

upload learning resources more quickly, 

stream videos with less lag, and participate in 

virtual lessons with minimal disruption. 

High-definition video conferencing and 

immersive VR experiences will be better 

supported through advanced technologies like 

MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple Input, 

Multiple Output), enhancing remote and 

hybrid learning environments by allowing 

multiple devices to communicate 

simultaneously without delays or quality issues. 

Increasingly, academic trusts are adopting 

tech-based ecosystems to improve security, 

cost and energy efficiency. Many schools are 

already utilising smart lights and motion 

sensors to automate lighting and reduce 

energy consumption, while smart locks, 

surveillance cameras and access control 

systems are helping schools limit or extend 

access, protecting students, staff and property. 

Wi-Fi 6 may struggle to support the breadth 

of these technologies effectively. Wi-Fi 7, on 

the other hand, can fuel the transition to Smart 

Schools with five times the network capacity 

and 480% more throughput than Wi-Fi 6. 

BRINGING HOSPITALITY INTO THE 

NEW TECHNOLOGICAL AGE 

From independent coffee shops to large hotel 

complexes, customers expect uninterrupted Wi- 

Fi connectivity, and staff rely on it to organise 

bookings, take payments and update stock 

lists. Increased bandwidth and multi-channel 

capabilities will significantly improve hotel 

connectivity, enabling Wi-Fi 7 to accommodate 

thousands of connected devices. Via apps, 

hotels can transform guest experiences with 

more control and enhanced security through 

sensors, thermostats and other devices. 

Automated check-in allows guests to arrive at 

unsociable hours and reduces the number of 

staff required to welcome them. 

Managing the unified infrastructure of large 

hotel complexes remotely over Wi-Fi 7 will 

enable IT technicians to monitor devices and 

network health, responding to connectivity 

issues near-instantaneously without having to 

visit the site. 

NOT 'IF', BUT 'WHEN' 

As it evolves and becomes more established, 

Wi-Fi 7 will usher in a new era of connectivity. 

That's why it's essential for organisations to be 

aware of its potential. As one of the key 

building blocks that spearheads innovation, 

industries should embrace this opportunity to 

harness the power of Wi-Fi 7 to improve 

communications, enhance customer 

experience and streamline operations for 

stakeholders and customers. NC 




OPINION: ESM 

ENGAGING AI FOR ENTERPRISE SERVICE MANAGEMENT 

ENTERPRISE SERVICE MANAGEMENT IS MAKING AI-POWERED TEAMS A REALITY, ACCORDING TO 

CULLEN CHILDRESS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCT AT SOLARWINDS 

This communications overload scenario 

is the reality for most teams across 

departments within an organisation. 

However, the good news is that there is a 

solution to streamline internal 

communications, requests, and tasks. 

Your employees probably feel like 

robots. Just attempting to keep up in 

our increasingly networked and 

always-on world means an endless 

barrage of alerts for the various 

applications and technologies we use to 

do our jobs. 

Teams are more connected than ever, 

but that actually may be limiting 

productivity and collaboration. One study 

found that employees already spend 

nearly 30% of their time on email, leading 

to high levels of stress and pressure to 

respond to messages rather than focusing 

on more substantial tasks. 

While communication is key to 

collaboration and creativity among teams, 

especially in today's hybrid and remote 

workforces, an overabundance of 

communications is bogging down 

employees' abilities to do their best work 

and stifling creativity rather than 

fostering it. 

IT teams have long recognised the value 

of IT Service Management (ITSM) 

solutions in streamlining and improving 

efficiency. These systems use AI to help 

automate routine tasks, prioritise 

requests, and provide self-service options 

for employees. Instead of having a real 

person do this alone, AI quickly supports 

simple tasks such as automating service 

ticket routing, leveraging virtual assistants 

to answer frequently asked questions, and 

developing an endless feedback loop to 

enhance the end-user experience. 

A recent survey of SolarWinds customers 

found that its AI features in ITSM solutions 

enabled IT teams to reduce the time to 

resolve tickets by 24% and save an 

average of 23 hours per week. These 

benefits can now increasingly be 

leveraged beyond IT teams with the move 

to what is being called "Enterprise Service 

Management," which enables other 

departments to build their own AI-driven 

ticket management system. 

CLOSING THE COMMUNICATION 

FLOODGATE 

The expansion of Enterprise Service 

Management (ESM) provides every 

department across an organisation with 

its own service portal, ticket management 

system, and service catalogue. This 

empowers HR, legal, marketing, sales, 

and other departments to enjoy the same 

increase in 

efficiency and 

productivity that IT teams 

have seen for years. And with the 

integration of AI into ESM services, it 

further facilitates inter-departmental 

cooperation, enabling the entire 

organisation to enhance service delivery, 

better manage requests, and speed up 

workflows for better employee and 

customer experiences. 

Consider an HR department which plays 

a pivotal role in an organisation's 

success, from recruitment and 

onboarding to benefits administration and 

employee engagement. They are 

frequently inundated with inquiries, from 

leave requests to payroll issues and 

everything in between. Traditional 

communication channels like email, 

phone calls, and instant messages often 

result in bottlenecks and delays, leaving 

HR departments struggling to keep up. 

With an ESM system, HR departments 

can transform their operations and 

significantly reduce the need for email or 

phone calls. For example, leave requests 



OPINION: ESM 

can be streamlined through the ESM 

system. Employees could submit 

requests through the portal, which 

would then automatically route them for 

approval to the appropriate managers, 

with notifications and reminders built in. 

This reduces the administrative burden 

on HR and ensures that requests are 

processed promptly, enhancing 

employee satisfaction. 

THE AI ADVANTAGE 

The benefits of ESM get even better 

with the integration of AI, which has 

already proven it can be a powerful 

tool for businesses. AI algorithms within 

ESM can analyse data generated by 

various requests and interactions, 

providing valuable insights to all teams. 

AI-powered ESM solutions can go 

beyond just appropriately directing 

ticket requests, for example, by 

providing personalised responses based 

on the employee's profile and past 

interactions. AI will also be able to 

identify trends in employee inquiries, 

helping departments proactively 

address common concerns and 

improve company policies and 

workflows. With the promise of AI, the 

entire organisation is poised to become 

more productive and efficient. 

AI will have a profound impact on our 

businesses and teams. But counter to 

some concerns, we foresee this will free 

up our teams' time for more impactful 

work rather than mean a loss of jobs. 

We can expect people to work 

alongside their new AI "colleagues" 

while taking on new roles that AI is not 

suitable for, including increasingly 

being able to use their human creativity 

and ingenuity to innovate. 

Organisations cannot afford to let 

inefficient internal communications 

slow their operations and creativity. It's 

time to envision a workplace where 

employees throughout the entire 

organisation can dedicate their 

attention to their substantive 

responsibilities instead of being 

overwhelmed by a flood of alerts and 

notifications. 

The future of work has arrived, 

leading to unprecedented creativity, 

innovation, and productivity, no matter 

the size of your business or industry. NC 


OPINION: PROVIDERS 

NECESSARY PROVISIONS 

HAS ADAPTABILITY BECOME THE NEW BENCHMARK FOR AN 

EFFECTIVE NETWORK? JUSTIN DAY, CEO AND FOUNDER OF 

CLOUD GATEWAY, PROVIDES AN ANSWER 

For businesses today, the significance of 

maintaining a competitive advantage 

and embracing technological 

advancements can't be overstated. While the 

past focus for IT professionals was on network 

stability, today's challenges focus more on 

network performance and the ability of 

connectivity providers to keep up. It's no longer 

acceptable for providers to be rigid and 

unadaptable, and IT teams don't want to be 

restricted to particular technologies and 

circuits. But it isn't just proprietary technology - 

this form of commercial inflexibility also 

encompasses fixed costs, contact durations 

and a whole host of other variables. 

PROVISIONING FOR WHAT YOU NEED 

If your company has experienced network 

interruptions, erratic bandwidth or total 

outages, you'll know only too well the 

substantial risks they bring. These risks not 

only include financial loss but also extend to 

potential harm, reputational damage, data 

loss, decreased productivity and diminished 

customer satisfaction. Exploring advanced 

networking solutions like Secure Access 

Service Edge (SASE) can enhance operational 

efficiency and bolster network resilience. 

However, it's crucial to also evaluate the 

flexibility on offer from your chosen 

connectivity provider. 

Be wary of committing to more bandwidth 

than you currently require. Instead, look to start 

with a volume that suits your present needs. If 

a provider suggests an over-provisioning 

strategy, persuading you to adopt larger 

volumes and more connections up front, ask 

yourself whether this truly benefits your 

business. Often, the argument from the 

provider is that it's more cost-effective to secure 

more megabytes upfront, but this might not be 

in your best interests. 

The optimal approach involves scaling up 

in alignment with your actual requirements, 

when the time is right. Rather than investing 

a significant portion of your budget into a 

contingency plan. Consider partnering with 

a provider who can offer flexibility and 

collaborate with you to formulate the best 

network strategy, allowing you to pay as 

you grow. 

NOT ALL NETWORKS ARE CREATED 

EQUALLY 

While it's advisable to choose a provider with 

a solid track record, you should exercise 

caution if you're confronted with lengthy 

contracts and outdated technologies. Opting 

for a larger, well-established provider can 

sometimes mean getting locked into legacy 

infrastructure which is yet to be modernised. 

While a specific technology might meet your 

current network requirements, it's essential to 

consider the long-term. Will it adequately 

adapt to the growing complexities of your 

network and expanding infrastructure? 

Additionally, it's sensible to approach service 

credits with caution. Although they may appear 

reasonable, they are often inadequately 

negotiated and a challenge to manage. As 

emphasised previously, network disruptions 

can harm a business's reputation, finances and 

overall performance. Before finalising any 

agreement, evaluate whether the service 

credits proportionately compensate the 

potential loss of value to your business if you 

do experience downtime. Ask yourself whether 

the service is primarily focused on remedying 

issues after they occur or on proactively 

preventing them from happening. 

WHAT DOES VALUE MEAN TO YOUR 

BUSINESS? 

Alongside price, you should also prioritise 

value when selecting your connectivity provider 

and network technology. Undoubtedly, cost is 

a significant factor in the decision, with pricing 

varying considerably based on speed, capacity, 

and connection type. However, it's important to 

reflect on what value truly means to your 

organisation. Is it centred around adopting a 

cloud-like approach? Can you easily scale to 

meet your evolving requirements? Does the 

contract offer flexibility through terms and coterming, 

allowing you to align existing and new 

services with the original contract dates? 

Ultimately every business is unique, and there 

is no universal connectivity solution that fits all 

needs. For this reason, seek out a provider 

capable of offering a diverse range of 

technologies and services. The right provider 

will assess your IT, financial and operational 

requirements and suggest the most appropriate 

technology to address your specific needs, 

rather than your perceived need. Maintaining 

flexibility in your network infrastructure is not 

only about adapting to changes efficiently but 

also possessing the commercial agility required 

to embrace new opportunities and fulfil 

evolving expectations. NC 



COMING SOON 

THE 2024 NETWORK COMPUTING AWARDS 

Once again, we will be asking you- the readers of Network Computing - to put 

forward the people, the products and the companies that have most impressed 

you. Look out for more details in the new year. 

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTINGAWARDS.CO.UK 

ATTENTION VENDORS: 

Have you got what it takes to impress our Judges? It's never too early to put 

yourselves in contention. Book your solutions in to be independently reviewed 

for Network Computing and they will be shortlisted for the BENCH TESTED 

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR. Additionally, we invite you to submit your customer 

success stories for the NETWORK PROJECT OF THE YEAR. 

There are also opportunities to get involved with 

the Awards as a sponsor. 

Contact: dave.bonner@btc.co.uk

NC Nov-Dec 2023

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