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Is Network Everything?

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VoicenData Bureau
New Update

I

do not agree with the concept ''network is the computer''. I

think the network is everything. Sample this: The sale of

networking products doubled in 1999-2000 compared to the

previous year to touch the Rs 1,500-crore mark!

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A few years ago, while

attending a seminar on networking, the only thing I heard

speakers talk of was LAN. They talked about peer-to-peer

connectivity, printer sharing, Arcnet and Ethernet, and UTP

cabling. That was 1992.

The entire meaning of

networking has undergone a sea change since then. Today, we talk

of thin clients and Applications Service Providers (ASPs).

Business demands and powerful applications are necessitating the

need for networks that can handle huge amount of secure and

efficient information flow. Network is going well beyond

business needs. It will decide the future of education, health,

justice, law and order, and governance. It is much more than a

few computers connected to each other. If network is poised to

be such a big influence then are we gearing up to take advantage

of this emerging phenomenon?

A close look at all the

research that has gone into making our annual, Networking

Masters 2000
, reveals that while on one hand there is a lot

of networking happening in India, there are a lot of areas which

seem to have been ignored on the other. Bandwidth, for instance,

on which the fate of networking will depend, is far below the

desired level. The Government, which traditionally has been the

sole provider and controller of bandwidth is yet to wake up.

This is highly de-motivating not just for the users, but also

for investors who are eager to set up communications-enabled

services. According to the NASSCOM-McKinsey study, inadequate

bandwidth will result in a loss of $22.5 billion worth of export

revenues! It will lead to a loss of job opportunities for about

3,50,000 people.

It''s not just the

Government that is proving to be the stumbling block. The users

as well as the network integrators are also to be blamed. The

project management and network-planning skills of a large number

of these integrators are questionable. Project management is

very crucial to the right networking deployment and its

effective utilization. Further, the users get confused with a

range of networking products available and are not clear about

the intricacies of issues like network services and maintenance.

Plus, there is a total uncertainty about network security.

A recent TV advertisement that I saw

focussed on the importance of networking in all walks of life.

At the end the commercial a girl asks, "Are you

ready"? Not me, but I think people in the communications

and IT ministry, infotech industry, and more importantly, the

enterprises, need to answer this question.

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