We have now started a project to provide a white paper response to this request from the Province of Ontario.

They are looking for thought leadership on a range of topics headlined by their WAN (Wide Area Network) strategy, looking for insights on how best practices in this are changing due to Cloud Computing and other related developments.

Key topics include:

• Telecomms modernization – Migrating legacy voice to VoIP
• Core network – MPLS with meshed core, wireless WAN connections, RAS/VPN & firewalls
• Procurement – A common contract model
• Service Management – Service desk for incidents, release management

This is all applied to be applied to a landscape of 1,600 locations, 124,000 LAN ports, 500 boardroom video conference units, as well as a broader community of 444 municipalities and a multitude of colleges, universities, school boards, hospitals and community health centres.

These are pretty standard features of networking technology that have been around for a while, so the focus on where new innovations are relevant is conveyed through a couple of key points made in the RFP:

• “A network of and a set of access services that will support initiatives such as UCC, cloud computing, data centre consolidation, mobility, etc.”
• “A procurement strategy and operating model using industry best practices with respect to service acquisition, deployment and operations.”

The headline term I use to describe this field is ‘Unified Cloud Communications’, and we will be submitting our response as a CCN white paper that is also promoted widely, so it’s a great vendor promotional opportunity.

Contact me if you’re interested in contributing to this paper.