Optimizing Your Approach To Wide-Area File Access By John G. Kelly, GlobalSCAPE

For more and more organizations, their profitability and competitive edge increasingly depends on knowledge workers sharing complex ideas across long distances. Organizations distribute this work to take advantage of lower labor costs, to continue work on complex projects 24/7 and to allow local experts to customize products and services for regional needs. While work on each phase of a project used to be completed in one location, today workers across the globe need access to the same spreadsheet, CAD drawing or MRI image at the same time.

To meet these needs, IT managers must ensure these workers can see and share the same files virtually instantaneously over WANs (Wide Areas Networks). Any delays in file access can lead to the loss of productivity by individual users. This loss of productivity can slow product development and result in lost market opportunities when many users, over weeks or months, must wait for the files they need. Ensuring a single file version is also critical as working on and delivering old or incorrect files to users can lead to confusion, rework and possible financial loss caused by the delivery of low-quality goods and services.

Today's business climate requires that IT management to find the most efficient and cost-effective means to provide instant, concurrent access to even the largest files over WANs while at the same time optimizing their networks.

In the last few years, appliance-based accelerators have developed a strong following based on their promises of fast access to three types of resources: applications, databases and files. But many companies are finding that appliance-based accelerators are not delivering the fast file access that was promised. This article will explore what is needed and what factors are creating this shortfall.

John G Kelly has over 25 years of experience in product development and the creation and implementation of innovative marketing programs. He leads the marketing department at GlobalSCAPE and helps define product strategy and the product roadmap for the company. Prior to GlobalSCAPE, Kelly ran his own consulting business and has worked with major companies such as Abbott Labs, Bausch and Lomb and Colgate Palmolive. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the U.K.