Networks in Action

Hyland views telecommunications as an integral part of IS and LAN internetworking as the foundation network, which will coexist with SNA networks but demand an entirely new style of thinking. She argued that network managers must understand this shift to internets or "they will be replaced by someone who does.... Managers cannot take what they know about 3270 multidrop lines and apply it to the internet. If they do, they'll be woefully constrained in this new environment and wind up with a network that's too hierarchical".

She believes that information systems organizations lack these skills. A 1991 survey of network executives in the largest 1,000 firms in the United States concluded that there is a dearth of skilled LAN and LAN internet managers. Forty percent of the companies had installed routers, but of these only half were installed by IS, which mainly still operates "traditional" networks. End-users are playing a strong role in decisions about internets, bringing in outside specialists and systems integrators.

"Managers must get involved and take control of these LAN internets that have grown in a haphazard, anarchic fashion. It's too important to an organization's business objectives to be done otherwise". The network needs a central architecture and management oversight to increase IS visibility and contribution to coordination, to obtain volume purchases and economies of scale, and to trim redundant internet links.

She argues strongly for IS drafting of formal plans for a corporate network architecture: "Many network offerings cannot be delivered unless they are coordinated by IS". The network manager must build coalitions with end-users and must build internal support, mainly by providing a first-rate help desk and central technical support capability. Planning horizons must be shortened because the internet market is dominated by change, multiple vendors, and dramatic technical innovation that often moves faster than standards. Users must make pragmatic decisions within a maximum two-year planning horizon.

She believes the transition will be very difficult, with much controversy and many "uncomfortable decisions".

Questions for Discussion

1. What are the major challenges faced by telecommunications managers of the 1990s?
   
   
2. Describe the new skills needed by telecommunications professionals to be effective in meeting the challenges identified in question 1.
   
   
3. Outline the organization of a telecommunications department that is designed to meet the challenging requirements imposed by companies shifting from a terminal-mainframe architecture to a client/server, internetworking system.