Editor's Corner

In a meeting recently, a colleague didn’t want to talk about change, but transition. It was a subtle word choice that removed from the conversation the angst and uncertainty of the situation and replaced it with a synonymous word that spoke to forward, positive action. By speaking in terms of transition, he conveyed that he had already evaluated and accepted the change and was moving forward.

In this issue of Bandwidth, there are many articles about transition. Citrix discusses how application virtualization can improve IT efficiency by providing applications as a service. Check Point talks about how their architecture provides an agile platform for responding to ever-changing threats to ensure availability as well as being positioned to leverage new technology advances.

We also feature several articles on Microsoft. Many of our clients are analyzing or implementing Microsoft’s update of their core infrastructure portfolio - Vista, Exchange 2007, Server 2008, Office Communications Server 2007 - all are looking for the opportunity to leverage new functionality to improve productivity. Chris Zwergel, a Senior Consultant with Akibia, provides an overview of new features in Exchange 2007 that enhance the management of your messaging infrastructure that simplify demonstrating compliance with security policies.

Gaining real efficiencies requires planning that incorporates how the solution features will enable users to adopt the technology to help them streamline and improve their work flows. Akibia's case study with Hollingsworth & Vose is an excellent example of how growth and efficiency can be gained when a solution is matched to an organization’s unique operational requirements. John Etzel states:

“With our new infrastructure we have been able to mitigate the barriers that can exist with a matrix organization in a geographically distributed company. We are more efficient, more agile and now have the tools in place to be more collaborative.”

Certainly, significant upgrades have many challenges and changes, but results such as Mr. Etzel’s demonstrate the benefits. We hope you enjoy this edition of Bandwidth which is designed to help our clients understand how technology can be used to realize efficiencies, enable growth and ways to ensure a smooth transition.

Tim Richardson

Product Marketing Manager, Akibia, Inc.