Welcome to the first iteration of a brand new Network World Canada.
As you browse through this issue, you’ll notice that we’ve spruced things up with a number of improvements. In an industry characterized by a steady stream of pipe-rattling changes, it’s imperative that we change right along with it. We believe that what you’ll see throughout this and subsequent editions will compose the timeliest and most useful information to help you maximize the potential of your network.
As in previous years, we’ll continue to present the industry’s latest and most important news on the opening pages of the publication. This will be followed by a page of insights and opinions from a host of leading thinkers. Whether you agree with their stances or not, we guarantee that their thoughts will provoke a few of your own.
Due to the tremendous growth in the importance of the telecommunications sector, we’ve moved our section devoted to the topic up from the back. Now simply called Telecommunications, you’ll find what you need to know about the role of voice traffic and how to manage its increasingly large presence on your systems.
Our new Infrastructure section will be your place to turn to for the most recent developments in the world of routers, servers, switches and other core elements that form your network. Look here for stories detailing the latest products, as well as news items concerning the vendors that build them.
The inclusion of a section titled Network Solutions is perhaps the biggest indicator of change within the industry. While the term may smack of marketing-ese, there’s no denying that the solution concept is very real one that is having a profound impact on how networks are bought and built. In days of yore, networks were relatively simple beasts whose components could be upgraded here and there, and no one really had to worry about the fact that multiple vendors’ equipment was deployed across it.
Today, however, with so many new elements on the scene, having 10 different vendors represented in your environment can be a downright pain in the butt. Hence the idea of “the complete package”, or solution. By way of in-depth product and news articles, and we’ll keep you up to date on everything you need to know about this new reality.
You’ll also see rotating sections on Security, Careers and The Internet. And after you’ve digested all the “heavy” stuff, we’ll take you one layer beyond in the OSI model to Layer 8 – networking’s funny side – where you can hopefully kick back and have a laugh or two.
Despite the changes, one thing definitely remains the same: we enjoy hearing from you. Let us know what you think about the new look, or anything else on these pages. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we do creating them.
