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Later this year Telstra plans to release a second tool which will allow users to set network usage policies via the portal which will then be used to allocate network resources to specified applications in order to optimise performance. Telstra is pitching the system as a tool to enable enterprises to lift their productivity by ensuring that business critical applications receive priority on the network, while use of applications such as BitTorrent and YouTube are deliberately limited.
Speaking at the launch of the new service, Telstra chief technology officer Dr Hugh Bradlow, said that additional network intelligence was imperative as businesses increasingly relied on IP networks for access to critical business applications delivered as a service.
Dr Bradlow acknowledged that to some extent the Telstra service was a response to the challenge being faced by enterprises because of the proliferation of consumer devices – the so called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement - which were being connected to corporate networks. While corporate productivity applications can be accessed using these BYOD tools, so can consumer content – often clogging up corporate networks.
Telstra is clearly seeking to put the control of network consumption back in the hands of the CIO.
It might of course lead to some uncomfortable times for end users as they find access to their favourite consumer applications from work is curtailed. As Philip Jones, Telstra executive director data, IP and network applications and services, noted; “A lot of organisations will discover some interesting stuff about what people are doing at the start of their day. You no longer have to stand behind people to work out what they are doing.”
