Around the world, infrastructure development of communications networks is an ongoing process as organizations move to implement the latest technologies to address customer and internal stakeholder's needs, as well as meeting new standards and government regulations. Today's typical enterprise network is no longer restricted to a local area contained within one or two buildings; it is connected to branches, facilities and customers around the globe. This situation presents both risk and opportunity for enterprises, government departments and other public organizations of all sizes.

What is infrastructural risk?
When your enterprise network does not match the technical specifications and requirements of a new public communications infrastructure, the result is greater infrastructural risk. Under these circumstances, your network does not yield its maximum possible return on investment. Infrastructural risk affects enterprises within the immediate vicinity of a new communications infrastructure, because the best time for implementing a new technology into a city's communications infrastructures is when new systems and equipment are being deployed. As the use of these new technologies increases, it will eventually spread beyond the metro area into surrounding communities.

What created infrastructural risk?
Infrastructural risk is not created by the development of new communications systems. It occurs when enterprise networks are not properly future-proofed. When enterprise networks are designed only to meet the needs of today and ignore the need to adapt to the latest technological advancements and increasing user demands, they are prone to incurring greater infrastructural risk.

The best pilot site to implement the future technology is in the new infrastructure where the backbone is constructed at the highest entry point. Some highly desired new technologies are not introduced until new backbone systems and public communications infrastructures are deployed in an urban geography. This makes introducing new technologies typically synonymous with new infrastructure deployments in a city.

How are infrastructure developments related to enterprise networks?
Implementing the latest network technologies when new communications infrastructures are built is a cost-effective and logical step. When your enterprise network is incapable of matching the networking standards of the new public communications backbone, it is likely that your current network equipment will be unable to maintain effective communication links and become obsolete sooner.

Who is affected by infrastructural risk?
Infrastructural risk is a concern for all organizations who wish to deploy advanced, high performance enterprise networks. Whether you are moving to a new office with a more advanced communications infrastructure in place or you plan on staying in your existing location, which is far from the new systems, infrastructure improvements go beyond what you see on the ground, the underground is also alive with construction as new cables and data lines are laid providing interconnections to both new and old structures.

For companies moving into new areas where infrastructure improvements are going on, they will enjoy a network backbone arrangement consisting of the latest technologies that can support new services and performance levels that run all the way to the individual desktop. However, many enterprises will encounter issues with legacy systems and out-of-date equipment that will keep their network investment from being fully utilized.

Companies that are outside of areas with new infrastructures are still affected because of the new network lines that are being built underground. How to turn the latest public communications developments into opportunities to improve their enterprise network efficiency is a top agenda for all enterprise network administrators, regardless of location or proximity to fresh infrastructure deployments.

In some cases, the introduction of new technologies makes older network equipment obsolete and many network vendors do not produce or maintain continuous after-sales services for obsolete models, but for various enterprises they are often not ready or feel they have no long-term need for upgrades. These organizations are facing the greatest infrastructural risk.

Who should take care of infrastructural risk?
The infrastructural developer, while implementing the latest technologies, will typically provide network compatibility with most mainstream applications to cater to the needs of the widest possible selection of potential tenants. From the end-user's point of view, network managers are the ones responsible for reviewing how to increase compatibility of the current network and to implement network equipment upgrades to make their systems capable of handling the data communications needs of tomorrow.

How to avoid infrastructural risk?
The best way to stay on top of the latest networking trends and to ensure that your equipment and systems are future-proof is to select an enterprise network provider that is ahead of the trend so they can offer you equipment to meet the demands of today and tomorrow.

The right enterprise network provider will be very customer-oriented and will offer full service and support for the lifetime of the equipment. Using these criteria network administrators can prepare their organizations for the convergence of voice, video and data communications as their enterprise networks link up with the on-site telecommunications systems. To protect a customers' current IT investment, some network providers can offer "bridge solutions" so that customers can migrate seamlessly from old to new network environments. But when the time comes for a network upgrade, smart organizations will choose equipment that future-proofs their investment.

What kind of network solutions providers can offer help?
First, the network provider should be capable of providing both telecom and enterprise network solutions. This way they can serve the needs of both the developers and the enterprise customers thus ensuring smooth migration and guaranteed compatibility.

The network provider should also be able to offer a long-term commitment to after-sales service and offer interim "bridge solutions" for organizations needing to move from an older system.

There are only a couple of total network solution providers that can meet these guidelines. The solution providers need to understand how to best converge the telecom and enterprise networks to protect its customer's current network investment as they seamlessly migrate to new technologies and systems. Finally, organizations should remember to view infrastructural risk from a positive angle, it provides an opportunity to reap the benefits of the latest advances in networking and data communications technologies while future-proofing your IT investments.