Previous: Resource Consolidation
It's revealing that 52% of respondents say their top remote/branch IT challenge is proper management of the infrastructure. This response held constant across all deployment sizes and industries. Management controls have taken on more importance as storage managers grapple with growing and more complex remote-office deployments. Typical management issues include questions about security controls and whether various products can be managed through a common interface.
The issues of management controls are 100% distinct from resource consolidation, even though many vendors lump the two concepts together. By separating management controls from storage consolidation, you have more flexibility as to how you can structure your ROBO infrastructure. For example, it's possible to have centralised controls over remote/branch data processes, security processes and apps, but still have them all remain locally deployed at remote/branch locations as in a typical Windows DFS-based deployment.
Regarding desirable product attributes, 51% of users say they're interested in centralised management controls. To drive this point home, in the same question, 58% of all respondents checked integration capabilities as a desirable feature, indicating the importance of weaving a new technology in with an existing infrastructure.
One of the key areas where this integration and management control matters most is security (see "ROBO security issues"), especially as some next-generation remote/branch IT solutions begin to span and converge multiple technologies such as network compression, app acceleration, WAFS and app integration. An aggregate 46% of respondents list pervasive security controls as one of the top two critical factors in their potential remote/branch IT deployment, second only to mission-critical reliability (see "Top two features a ROBO technology must possess").
The ROBO security management issues users are concerned with are centralised user-access controls and directory services for server environments, application-based security, encryption for WAN appliances and routers, and local disk-encryption techniques for remotely located servers and storage.
ROBO security issues
Security is now top of mind in remote/branch deployments. Here are some common security issues to consider when operating across the WAN:
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Device-to-device authentication. It's not enough to have security just between clients and branch-office optimisation devices, or between the branch servers and the WAN optimisation device. The optimisation devices themselves should provide solid security.
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Directory integration. Scrutinise security issues relating to directory services provided to remote/ branch sites. If you're considering a WAN optimisation or application-acceleration platform, explore the transparency and integration with existing user controls and management policies.
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Data authorisations. There are many approaches to handling data authorisation at remote/branch offices. Make sure the vendor demonstrates how it ensures coherency and prevents data corruption. WAN optimisation devices must communicate with each other or a central site. Understand the vendor's approach in detail.
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Server security integration. Users should ensure that security on their server platforms integrates with potential WAN tools. For example, make sure session integrity (e.g., SMB signing in Microsoft) is supported by the WAN tool to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Next: Optimisation