Presentation for CFO Australia network event held in conjunction with the Institute of Chartered Accountants on the impact of the NBN on Australian business

1. NBN for business
transformation
Considerations and
Cautions

2. Why?
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3. Outline
• Three dimensions of
the NBN
• Three features of fibre
(besides speed)
• Five cautions
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4. What the NBN is – and isn’t
®
http://www.commsalliance.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/20730/NBN_Reference_Architecture_Release1_Jan_2010.pdf
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5. Three Features of Fibre (before speed)
• Reach
• ADSL slows down after only 1 km
• Fibre full speed to 40km Reach more people, fill blackspots
• Upstream speed / Symmetry
• ADSL maximum 1 Mbps, 20:1 ratio
• HFC Cable maximum 2 Mbps, 50:1 ratio
• Fibre 100 – 2000+ Mbps Enable Creativity
• Fibre 12:1 to 1:1 symmetric Business, Videoconferencing
• Multiple Parallel Services - simultaneously
• Segregation of corporate traffic – no VPN required
Security, Quality-of-Service
• Speed
• Optical fibre laid today can support 1000x initial speeds – up
to 100 Gbps - with no change to cable Optical Fibre is
Futureproof
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6. Electronics Scaling
103.3
104.8
Moore’s Law
Transistor count Nielson’s Law
doubles every 24 Link Capacity/Bandwidth
months doubles every 18
months
Bandwidth Requirement outstrips
Moore’s Law by over 30 times!
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7. Three dimensions to keep in mind
• Internal Operations
• New Customers, New
Products
• Staff use from home
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8. Internal/Backoffice operations
Ubiquity Symmetry Segregation
No blackspots
• Dramatically lower comms
costs – especially regional &
rural
Reduce ‘Backoffice Friction’
• eliminate batch EOD/EOM
data loads
• Integrate systems
Realtime visibility
• Production volumes, stock
inventory,order fulfillment
progress, Point-Of-Sale
Simplify remote sites
• Centralise systems/storage,
avoid duplicated IT costs
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9. Internal/Backoffice operations
Symmetry Segregation Ubiquity
Increased visibility &
productivity
• Enhanced real-time access
to systems at remote sites
• Enable security video
monitoring
Unshackle operations
• Send more data from
branch & remote sites (no
1Mbps limit)
Reduce costs
• Better match to interoffice
voice/videoconference
traffic – reduce
overprovisioning
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10. Internal/Backoffice operations
Segregation Ubiquity Symmetry
Maintain Data Security across
sites
• Keep finance traffic
separated from production
or office traffic
Maintain availability
• QoS-enabled network
enables continuity to
critical systems even
through congestion
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11. Risks, Concerns, Issues
Risk Management – Link Failure has a greater impact
• Centralisation and ‘cloud’ makes connection link availability increasingly important
• Residential and SME NBN services (more?) vulnerable to cable cuts as copper/DSL
• Consider adding redundancy/backup with non-NBN links for critical sites
Cost/Fit-for-purpose issue - NBN is not the only network in business
precincts
• Current business-grade network operators, alternative carriers will still supply
non-NBN connectivity – eg dark fibres between datacentres
• In regional areas, local networks may provide lower network delays than NBN
connections
Planning/Time/Tendering Issue – large business precincts will get NBN later
• Most customers and staff will be on the NBN before the office locations
• Branch offices may be on the NBN before Head Office locations
• Capital City business offices may not need NBN connection at all
• Don’t wait for Head Office to be connected before planning for the NBN!
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12. Customers, Products, Fulfillment
Ubiquity Symmetry Segregation
More customers online
• Especially regional/rural
• More consistent speeds
Richer customer interactions
• More video, less static
content
• Video call centre, click-to-
videocall?
• Increased costs of online
presence
High customer expectations
• Digital downloads instead
of media-in-the-post
• Real-time ecommerce,
stock tracking, pricing on
site
• Increased risk of
comparison-shopping
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13. Customers, Products, Fulfillment
Symmetry Segregation Ubiquity
Enhanced Customer
Interaction
• Enable services that are
not viable currently
• Digital Uploads become
viable for large datasets
• Interactive services
• Fullscreen Video Help
• Security/Health monitoring
Reduce customer costs & time
• Eliminate couriering
physical media to service
providers
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14. Customers, Products, Fulfillment
Segregation Ubiquity Symmetry
Highly Secure Services
• Bypass Internet
insecurities – no tunnels
• QoS-enhanced services
• Create true Private
Network
• Immune to problems with
Internet service
• Service customers without
an Internet service
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15. Staff use of NBN
Ubiquity Symmetry Segregation
More staff online
• especially regional & rural
Virtual Teams from home
permanently
• E.g. Distributed Callcentre
of part-time agents
• Permanent extension off
office PBX – at home
Cost savings – do you need an
office?
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16. Staff Use of NBN
Symmetry Segregation Ubiquity
Increased productivity
• Send large files faster to
office / teams
• Enables creativity,
collaboration and
contribution
Enable access to performance-
sensitive IT systems
• Esp. legacy mainframe
environments
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17. Staff Use of NBN
Segregation Ubiquity Symmetry
Maintain Data Security – but
very complex
• Keep finance traffic away
from non-finance staff OK
• Segregating from home
traffic is HARD
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18. Risks, Concerns, Issues
Risk Management – Information Leakage & theft
• Increased connectivity provides more opportunity to retain corporate data
• Need strong policies around not making ‘local copies’ on home systems – incl USB
storage
• Continue assurance that home devices are clean of malware
• Beware use of insecure home/office synchronisation methods – e.g. Dropbox
(CommsDay 08/05/2012)
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19. Thankyou
Paul Brooks
pbrooks@layer10.com.au
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