Contributed article by Deepak Kumar, CTO and founder of Adaptiva

BYOD Falls Short, WAN Bandwidth is Tested, & XP Security Issues Abound

Worldwide, enterprises are advancing in various facets of technology - from BYOD to SDN and Cloud, new technologies and changes to improve efficiency levels are implemented every year. Of course, some of these are overhyped. While others are a more accurate depiction of the enterprise IT space and should be taken seriously.

This year, IT departments embraced mobile, cloud and virtualization in record numbers. These new technologies are providing dramatic efficiency gains in many areas. However, some of these innovations have raised unrealistic expectations, and IT is now finding the limits of those technologies. In light of this dynamic and changing market, here are my predictions for Enterprise IT in 2014:

BYOD will Fail to Live up to the Hype

Companies will increasingly provide limited access to select corporate resources for employee mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. However, the idea that BYOD will replace corporate endpoint devices, such as desktops and laptops, is far-fetched. The mobile device form factor is suited for consuming simple content, but is inadequate for consuming complex content or for creating content. Securing these devices is nearly impossible because even in a tightly controlled environment, the devices themselves cannot be locked down. Users can install any application, visit any web site, and transfer any data outside the company's network. In regulated industries such as health care and finance, BYOD can result in audit failure, lawsuits, and fines. BYOD will improve productivity and employee morale, but it will increase the burden on IT rather than reducing it.

Limited WAN Bandwidth will Stifle IT Infrastructure Convergence

According to the InformationWeek 2014 Next-Generation WAN Survey, 68% of respondents say demand for WAN bandwidth will increase over the next year, but only 15% are expanding capacity. The gap between required bandwidth and available bandwidth is growing rapidly. As globalization accelerates, rolling out high-speed global networks to distant sites will be expensive and not possible in many parts of the world. Companies want to realize efficiency gains by consolidating disparate assets into converged data centers, but this architecture is not viable for supporting locations with low-speed connections. For many global organizations, convergence will only succeed between high-bandwidth offices-it will be DOA everywhere else. Instead, these companies will adopt infrastructure and systems management software that operates efficiently at multiple sites with narrow WAN connections.

XP Will Cause Significant Security Issues

Windows XP is still the second most popular desktop OS in the world, and a significant number of enterprises will still be running it after Microsoft ends support in April 2014. Rolling out Windows 7/8 takes time and money, requiring infrastructure, bandwidth, and systems management resources. Development resources are needed to update, test, and certify critical line of business applications for Windows 7/8. Microsoft estimates it can take a company 18 to 32 months to plan and execute a Windows XP migration. With Microsoft no longer publicly distributing patches to the software's vulnerabilities, cyber attackers will have an easier time victimizing organizations running Windows XP. Many antivirus software providers have said they plan to stop providing security for the product after April 8, 2014. Although the risks would appear to justify the costs, many companies will be exposed. The coming year will see a plethora of unfortunate headlines about data theft and other cyber attacks on companies who left the front door open in the form of Windows XP.

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