IT executives are more focused on the branch than ever, so what can you expect?

Branch Office Best Practices Newsletter, By Robin Gareiss, Network World, 1/09/07

I’m anxiously anticipating these next few weeks because I’ll be doing one of my favorite tasks as a research analyst - crunching data.

Two colleagues and I just wrapped up detailed interviews with more than 100 IT executives, gathering about 200 data points on the virtual workplace from each person. Yep, that’s 20,000 data points - and that doesn’t even include the correlation analysis!

So why do I enjoy spending hours and hours cleansing data and running statistical analysis? The results are never less than fascinating. They prove hypotheses, uncover new trends, and beg questions about decision-making.

I’ll be sharing many of these findings with you in this column during the next several weeks. The benchmark study covers best practices for building a successful virtual workplace. We focus on some core technology areas, including VoIP, video over IP, mobile integration, and collaborative tools. We also examine strategies, such as those for mobility, unified communications, and the branch office.

Early analysis shows us the following branch office trends, on which I will provide additional detail in the coming weeks:

1. IT and networking staffs are increasingly interested in optimization tools to improve throughput between the data center and the branch offices. If organizations aren’t using the tools yet, they’re generally running trials or planning to evaluate them.

2. The number of networking devices at the branch isn’t declining, yet many IT executives say they’re considering all-in-one devices, which combine switching, routing, security, VoIP, optimization, storage, and file sharing. The reason? Fewer devices to manage and upgrade, and potentially lower costs.

3. IT personnel reside in a very low percentage of branch offices. The larger the branch, the more likelihood an IT person will work from that location. But many organizations monitor and manage 100% of their remote locations from headquarters. This causes challenges when it comes to implementations, training, and troubleshooting, leading companies to consider third-party services.

4. Though most organizations are consolidating applications in a small number of data centers, many still run some number of applications at the branch locations.

Overall, we found IT leaders are paying more attention to branch offices, whether it was simply defining types of branch locations, identifying the decision makers for branch office technology, determining what applications will help branch office employees be more productive, or how to better manage the IT and network infrastructure.

This is going to make for some interesting reading during the first quarter, so stay tuned! If you have pressing branch office issues that would benefit from some fresh data, please let me know at robin@nemertes.com.