Network Integration:
Aligning the network infrastructure with business goals

A poorly integrated network affects the organization’s ability to respond to change.

The typical enterprise network is often a patchwork of poorly integrated systems and technologies. This situation is caused by a number of factors:

• Rapid, organic growth without adequate controls and standards, leading to uncoordinated
  procurement activities and a wide diversity of hardware and software.
• Changes in IT management where a new CIO or senior manager has strong technology
  preferences and biases that are at odds with the previous management.
• Mergers and acquisitions, which bring together diverse and often incompatible networks
  and business processes under a single corporate umbrella.

The consequences can be dramatic. The infrastructure is constantly under stress and fragile, making it hard for IT groups to deliver to the organization’s expectations and needs. Management often responds by funding tactical projects for consolidation or standardization that are little more than temporary fixes—the underlying problems recur within months. Beyond the unnecessary expense, a poorly integrated network can degrade productivity and hamper the organization’s ability to respond to changes in the marketplace. The solution is network integration: aligning distinct and independently evolved systems and technologies for optimal function and performance that enhances business objectives. TorreyPoint has helped a wide range of organizations integrate disparate and disorganized infrastructures into a coherent, unified network—and reap the benefits.

The TorreyPoint Network Integration solution addresses the challenges of a poorly integrated network with a proven process that delivers benefits including operational savings, increased business agility, and futureproofing.

TorreyPoint approaches network integration with a proven and disciplined approach.

As a networking consultancy, TorreyPoint’s core competency is the modern enterprise network. Based on our experience driving many such projects to a successful conclusion, we have developed our Network Integration solution. It consists of a six-phase process—each phase can be delivered individually or as part of a comprehensive end-to-end project:

Phase 1: Discovery. We conduct a thorough assessment of the network, including identifying all network assets, verifying and updating software and hardware versions, and auditing network connection diagrams to match the actual network configuration. This step pinpoints what works and what doesn’t, an important step for prioritizing the implementation sequence. Outcome: Detailed set of requirements.

Phase 2: Socialization. An often overlooked step, this phase involves communicating the requirements across the organization to solicit buy-in from all stakeholders who will be affected by the integration project and set reasonable expectations for the outcome. All feedback is recorded and all decisions documented and verified with stakeholders. Outcomes: 1) Revised requirements, 2) Documentation of decisions.

Phase 3: Design. The requirements are mapped into physical changes to the network architecture and components. TorreyPoint and the customer’s IT team collaborate closely on the design to take full advantage of each organization’s unique strengths.
Outcome: Architectural design.

Phase 4: Implementation planning. Taking the architectural design a step deeper, this phase works out the details of the deployment, including dependencies and sequencing. Build-out and configuration of new equipment and subsystems takes place during this phase so that all components are ready for the actual deployment. Outcome: Detailed implementation plan.

Phase 5: Deployment. The team sets the implementation plan into action. All physical changes to the network are done, and information is migrated as needed. TorreyPoint and the customer’s IT team work closely during this phase to ensure successful and timely completion with minimal disruption to network operations, and to accomplish knowledge transfer. Outcome: All network changes implemented.

Phase 6: Validation. All aspects of the integrated network are tested and validated. TorreyPoint leaves when customer is completely satisfied and confident in the local IT group’s ability to operate the network. Outcome: Fully validated and operational network.

Network integration offers a range of benefits without adding staff or incurring significant downtime.

A comprehensive program of network integration requires specialized expertise and experience which may be lacking in even the most talented IT group. TorreyPoint’s approach is to partner with the customer in a way that leverages their existing capabilities. We stress cooperative execution as well as on-going knowledge transfer to ensure continued smooth operation. The TorreyPoint solution does more than just augment the organization’s staff—it amplifies the effectiveness and skills of the in-house IT team to achieve the desired integration on time, within budget, to specifications.

The benefits of the TorreyPoint Network Integration solution include

• Operational savings. A poorly integrated network requires far more resources for network management and monitoring compared to one that is tightly integrated. Those operational savings translate into staff hours that can be redeployed to more strategic uses such as rolling out new services and improving internal processes for network management and control.
• Improved business agility. Siloed rigid network architectures require significant time and money to change, limiting the organization’s ability to respond to developments in the marketplace and hindering its competitive profile. The TorreyPoint Network Integration solution rationalizes the network and restores the ability to make changes incrementally and quickly, without massive rip-and-replace operations.
• Futureproofing. It’s hard to predict when and where a poorly integrated network will fail, but it’s a certainty that it will. Addressing the problem proactively with a TorreyPoint Network Integration solution avoids the disruption and frustration of network downtime, and ensures the organization’s ability to continue to grow the network gracefully for years to come.
• Minimizing disruptions to operations. TorreyPoint’s structured approach streamlines the migration process, keeping network downtime and employee disruptions to a minimum.
• Controlling staff size and payroll. TorreyPoint can provide engineering consulting with specialties that are hard to find in the job marketing, avoiding the need to invest in full-time employees with specialized skills that will not be needed after the integration project is complete.
• Targeted skill building. Knowledge transfer is an integral part of every TorreyPoint project. The in-house IT staff gains in-depth experience in relevant technologies without the cost and disruption of formal training courses.

Businesses today must be flexible to adapt to evolving market conditions—and that includes the corporate network. TorreyPoint can help businesses of any size as well as government agencies and educational institutions capitalize on the opportunities in front of them—without growing their IT staff or disrupting business operations.