A: We combine professional expertise with the world’s most connected IP network to deliver communications, IT, information security and network solutions for enterprises. The global economy is front and centre, and enterprises worldwide are looking to get the biggest bang for their buck in 2009. With that in mind, Verizon Business has identified a few business technology trends to help corporate and government IT leaders do more with less.

They are:

Enterprise 2.0: Yesterday’s work style is being replaced with a fast-moving hot bed of innovation inspired by social networking tools such as Facebook, Wikis, Mash-ups, Twitter and Digg-it. Web 2.0 is quickly evolving into Enterprise 2.0 by removing traditional barriers of walls, wires, time and distance—reflective of today’s often far-flung enterprises—in favor of new social networking tools will enable workers to connect to their extended network of customers, suppliers, vendors and employees in new and exciting ways.

Work as Activity versus Place: Organisations want their employees to get their jobs done no matter where they are located in time or space. For that reason, telework is becoming a strategic imperative. Companies will continue to recognise the productivity-boosting benefits of enabling mobile teleworkers or at-home teleworkers to remain securely connected to  corporate resources. Managed mobility offerings will help businesses track, monitor, secure and manage the plethora of mobile devices accessing corporate networks.

Visual Communications: Video will continue to play a starring role, as companies make the most of their IP connections to create a culture of collaboration. From the boardroom to the desktop to the laptop to the mobile phone, more online, phone and video collaboration will take place, as companies increasingly embrace the cost-savings, productivity and environmental benefits of virtual meetings versus business travel. Unified Communications integrated into Business Processes: UC uses Internet protocol networks to integrate various systems, media, devices and applications to help streamline business processes, and accelerate decision-making.

Ready, Set Go IPv6: As carriers prepare for the next-generation of Internet protocol, it’s time for companies to assess their IP assets. The number of IP-addressable devices and systems is skyrocketing within enterprises and a few organisations have current documented data on what those assets are, how they are being used and which ones are most critical to their operations. Knowing which IP addressable elements are linked to which business needs will enable IT leaders to prioritise the data and applications that will need to be future-proofed with IPv6 capabilities while phasing out those that are idle or counter productive to operations.

Getting SaaSy: The network becomes king once again in 2009 making it the perfect platform for software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery. Serving content, applications and security in a centralised online environment will become the rage. Buying computing resources will help companies control costs while attaining the security, performance, scalability and reliability required for the enterprise.  Centralisation will keep IT departments on top of their game in 2009.

360 Security: Professionals will need to be security-conscious in and out of the office. 360-degree security, mandatory on any IT checklist, requires that the flow of data be protected in and out of the corporate network and through the extended enterprise of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees. Eco-Responsibility as sound business strategy: Companies will evaluate eco-responsibility along with their technology investments as part of an overall business strategy. Corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important in how companies are viewed by their employees, customers and investors.

Cutting through the compliance clutter: Compliance and regulatory oversight are here to stay. In 2009, expect more, not less, with IT in the hot seat for ensuring IT systems are fully compliant and all the right controls are in place. Enterprises should be prepared to be strategic, think innovatively and act decisively.

A: Flexibility, scalability and the ability to achieve higher performance, increased reliability and stronger security will be

crucial as the outsourcing industry evolves.  Maintaining and enforcing service level agreements (SLAs) will be key in

adopting a flexible and sustainable model in the short and long term.  
Businesses should work and agree with their IT provider (internal or external) on these basic concepts in order to deliver

SLAs that support and drive the business and provide continual service improvement and value to the business.
The key has been the availability of reliable, available, secure and far-reaching and very high-bandwidth networks that

support companies’ business aims. The Verizon Business network is robust global IP networks available, and we are committed

to continuing to invest in it, and therefore our customers’ future. We have made significant investments in the APAC region,

and globally, all designed to support our customers’ business needs.

Business communication is now an integral element of business operation, and as the world moves to IP, communication

infrastructure will become even more closely embedded in the heart of the enterprise. Please comment.
Yes I agree with the fact that business communication is an integral element of any business operation. With UC now an

important part of business communications strategies, companies are making decisions about voice telephony that will help

them achieve greater collaboration and productivity. Workers leveraging presence capabilities in a UC environment can realise

greater efficiency by gaining more control over work flow and time management as well as expedited communications.  What’s

next is yet to be fully realised as UC becomes integrated into automated business processes, where human and artificial

intelligence commingle in an IP world to drive even greater business growth.   

Recession has forced organisations cut a lot on travel; both international and local. How can Verizon help enterprises to

leverage the benefit of communication without the need of travel? Do you think most organizations will now extensively look

at video conferencing and other conferencing technology due to reduced travel budgets?

Increased pressure on enterprises to reduce travel costs, enhance productivity and maintain eco-consciousness has put

teleworking back in the spotlight. Verizon Business is in a unique position to provide a consistently global set of

capabilities. We bring to the table a very rich and robust suite of services that can be leveraged to create flexible and

secure teleworking solutions.
If VoIP is thought to be the first return on an IP network investment, UC will be the gift that keeps on giving.

A: More than ever, IT organisations are looking for ways to do more with less. That holds true whether it means using managed

services or tuning up existing networks instead of building new ones. IT organisations are also looking for the right

technologies, such as sophisticated automated speech systems, to better serve customers. In 2009, it’s all about

productivity. Companies can choose which functions to keep in-house and which to hand off to a third party. Flexibility, the

need for specific skill-sets and globalisation are making selective out-tasking the preferred model. With managed services,

companies can focus on what they do best and leave the rest of the IT work to someone else. Think about the coming year as a

great opportunity to improve productivity and bring your team to a whole new level.