HP: 'Intelligent' networks to support future corporations

Speaking at the NetEvents Asia-Pacific Press Summit in Malaysia this week, ProCurve marketing executive Amol Mitra discussed market shifts in information assimilation, virtualisation, security, and the human-computer interface.

Mitra described a networking ecosystem that has become increasingly saturated by gadgets and devices that provide pervasive access to large volumes of data.

“There is no way the network can assume and assimilate this much information and be sustainable,” said Mitra, who is the Director of Marketing, ProCurve Asia-Pacific and Japan.

“It’s no longer about speeds and feeds; at the end of the day, it’s about information accessibility, to ensure that you [organisations and employees] are able to make quick decisions and make productivity inherently enabled by the network,” he said.

Future networking technology will be centred on creating ubiquitous, automated, and adaptable networks that allow users to talk, in human terms, to machines, Mitra said.

By building troubleshooting and support functions into future networks, processes could occur without human intervention or onerous management.

“What really needs to happen is that the network has to get smarter, more intelligent,” Mitra said. “Our goal is to build an adaptive network that can drive productivity.”

Touting HP as one of few vendors capable of supporting its information-driven vision for corporations, Mitra encouraged organisations to move away from single-vendor environments to build an ecosystem of best-of-breed technologies.

Network security was highlighted also as a key area of investment for individuals and organisations.

“Today, most secure systems are not accessible, and the most accessible systems are not secure,” Mitra said, emphasising that future networks should strike a balance between accessibility and security in order to be both reliable and secure.

While he acknowledged power requirements of new technology to present another issue in today’s energy-aware environment, Mitra expects advancements in green technology eventually to overcome increasing energy requirements.

“Green technology is keeping pace and exponentially getting better,” he said.

“I believe that we will reach a common ground at some point, where more advanced technology will not necessarily mean more power consumption.”

The greatest hurdles in the way of technological uptake was said to be trust and behavioural changes that need to be made throughout an organisation.

“Cost is a factor,” Mitra admitted, “but I’m not sure it’s the only factor.”

“You [organisations] need to establish a leadership team that can espouse this [techno-centric] behaviour down the hierarchy chain to the nth degree,” he said.

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