What does the future hold? One infrastructure across the enterprise
Source: SecurityDirector New
LAS VEGAS–Panduit Corp. outlined the benefits of leveraging a unified physical infrastructure across its enterprise during a session at the ISC West conference here.
When the company embarked on building a new company headquarters, the decision was made to integrate design, construction, policies and governance, and consultants and suppliers to build a “connected” facility. Jeff Woodward, global safety and security manager for Panduit, said the move to a unified network infrastructure was driven by the desire to develop world-class facilities for employees, using technology to design new solutions, building collaboration and reducing environmental impact.
Today, he said, most businesses maintain various infrastructures, such as security, building controls, IT networks, communications and power, in silos. But an increased demand for converged solutions across these processes is driving the idea of a unified infrastructure.
Panduit Corp.’s convergence of facility systems onto a single network has equated into improved control, communications and management, Woodward said. It has also “reduced workforce costs to monitor sites,” he said, because of the centralized security operations center.
The idea of leveraging all these services across a single network is still gaining traction in the market, especially when security technology is brought into the conversation.
“Panduit isn’t the norm in security,” said Ray Coulumbe, manager, industry consulting for Cisco. “The move to convergence hasn’t been as quick as my company would have liked or expected.”
Even so, the idea of convergence is “going to get driven by business value … ultimately, to have more control and more resources.”
Coulumbe said it is critical that companies bring all stakeholders together when implementing a unified infrastructure. “You need expertise from both sides to provide a robust network,” he said. “Physical security in this converged way is another customer for IT . IT needs to provision services for us, while physical security is another service provider to IT.”
The new headquarters is expected to open in early 2010 with a LEED gold rating.
Link to article: http://www.securitydirectornews.com/general-news/what-does-future-hold-one-infrastructure-across-enterprise
