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Cisco Fits the Bill: Integrated Service Routers for Virtualization and Branch-Based Computing
Branch offices, global villages and home-based offices demand state-of-the-art, distributed data and voice communications. They place huge demands on IT to be “anywhere, anytime” for maintenance, troubleshooting and operation of these systems. This IT maintenance of distributed computing, according to industry analysts, accounts for as much as 80 percent of ongoing technology operation costs.
One answer to geographically distributed hardware, routers and servers—and their cost—is the Cisco Integrated Service Router (ISR) (www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/access/1800/1801/hardware/installation/guide/hig.html). The Cisco ISR allows for virtualization of routers, with branches and remote offices receiving premium services from the router as if it were in their own “back room.” Here is how it works: In a virtualized deployment, the actual physical router is located in the corporate data center. Through virtualization and partitioning technologies and techniques, IT is able to run dedicated router resources for geographically distributed offices—and attend to maintenance, upgrades and troubleshooting from the central data center where maximum IT expertise and resources are available. Virtualization of routers, servers, operating systems and software has been one of the top two IT trends over the past three years. Organizations have realized that a handsome return on investment (ROI) can quickly be gained with virtualization services that allow IT to “stay put” in a data center at headquarters, instead of going on the road to solve branch computing issues in the field. Virtualization has paid off in other areas as well—such as better use of computing resources, reductions in the numbers of physical servers and software licenses, and the ability to execute failovers with speed and agility. Overcoming User Resistance to Virtualization Although the cost savings and operational efficiencies data is in on virtualization, there are still pockets of user resistance when it comes to losing physical servers in remote offices and locations. Branch office managers do not like to cede control of physical routers and servers to an IT department in another location. In the past, these branch managers have experienced losing customers and good faith when routers and servers were down. They also don’t understand the concept and the technical capabilities of virtualization, and they feel more secure knowing that they have their own computing resources onsite. Two especially resistant industries are retail and financial services. Both industries have customers who are constantly putting through transactions at local stores and branches—and who grow impatient when systems are “down.” Both also use software and systems that typically have built-in “store and forward” mechanisms that trigger when the central processing router or server at headquarters, the ultimate recipient of in-store or in-bank transactions, becomes unavailable. During these times, the computing problem issue is entirely transparent to customers, who continue to process in-store or in-bank transactions with the local store and forward server logging the transactions—and then later transferring all transactional activity to the corporate mainframe or server when that resource comes back online. If IT provides effective education on virtualization and failover to business managers, along with an actual demonstration of virtualization in action, these managers will become more receptive to the concept. They will also quickly see the benefits of instantaneous problem resolution that no longer requires an IT person to physically travel to a site. Above all, the critical thing for managers with end P&L responsibility to know is that their customers will always be served by their systems—and that they are not “losing anything” when the physical server is removed from the premises. In a virtualization strategy, Cisco 3800 Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) are one of the most robust solutions available for multiple branches on a single server at headquarters. These ISRs can handle concurrent voice, data, security and end applications, and they are both modular and scalable. Most importantly, they provide peace of mind to IT and business users. If you are in an industry that relies on in-store and in-branch distributed servers, the Cisco 1861 Integrated Services Router will integrate voice, call processing, voicemail, automated attendant, conferencing and security. It enables anytime, anywhere secure access to information. Cisco offers a full slate of certifications for technical personnel on these new Cisco routers. Certifications are available in the area of:
Courses are also available for quicker technical introductions to the routers—or for training of in-branch or in-store business personnel. 
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