Thinking Outside the Box for Branch Office Connectivity

For some time, the industry has been busy clamoring over the need for an all-in-one branch-office-in-a-box server appliance. While networking vendors have been concentrating on a "magic box" for branch office connectivity, iPass has been thinking outside the box-delivering managed services that address critical remote connectivity needs.

Read on to see why the iPass Branch Office solution includes something that simply can't be loaded onto a server appliance - human experts, who monitor, manage and troubleshoot WAN connections.

Companies Speak
In a March 2007 survey of 453 networking professionals, SearchNetworking.com (a TechTarget company) found that managing decentralized enterprise infrastructure requires IT staff to balance four critical needs: performance, security, business continuity and cost control.

iPass Listens
iPass understands the challenges companies face when trying to connect dispersed offices and retail locations. To that end, iPass offers the Branch Office managed IP VPN service over Internet broadband to solve the core needs of branch office WAN connectivity. Likewise, iPass Device Management gives companies the management capabilities they need to keep their remote endpoint PCs and devices up-to-date and properly configured for optimum operation.

Ensuring High Performance
To remain efficient and effective in their roles, workers in branch offices need high-speed connections to company applications and data. In fact, increasing network and application performance over the company WAN tops most IT administrators' lists these days. From the results of the SearchNetworking.com survey, bandwidth constraints and application performance appear to be the first and third largest challenges in managing branch offices. For that reason, iPass tailors a solution plan for every customer that meets the application performance needs of each site. iPass then provisions service through any combination of Tier 1 Internet service providers and network access via xDSL, cable broadband, T1/fractional, DS3 and other access options. Next, iPass provides turnkey deployment and consolidated billing, backing the service with a comprehensive SLA featuring 8 key criteria to ensure that WAN segments remains available, responsive and secure.

To keep performance high and endpoints secure, iPass also offers Device Management. Advanced features for inventory, configuration and change management, patching and updating, and remote control enable IT staff to manage distributed PCs and devices without visiting remote sites or monopolizing WAN bandwidth.

At iPass, BOB Is a Real Person
Unlike branch office box in a box (BOB) server appliances, the iPass Branch Office solution includes human experts who tailor each WAN segment, negotiate ISP pricing, deploy the solution and then monitor, manage and troubleshoot each IP VPN connection. In fact, iPass proactively opens more than 95 percent of all case tickets and immediately acts upon conditions that could affect service.