Put the 'E' in enterprise

Communications News, Feb, 2004

IBM defines e-business as me transformation of key business processes through the use of Internet technologies." The Gartner Group says, "e-business is any net-enabled business activity that transforms internal and external relationships to create value and exploit market opportunities driven by new rules of the connected economy. A business is an e-business to the degree that it targets the market opportunities of conducting business under new electronic channels, which revolve around the Internet."

Seems like nearly every organization today has some kind ore-business activity, whether it's simply a Web site, portal, intranet or extranet, or keeping remote employees securely connected. Those activities bring their own challenges, such as ensuring the performance and security of Internet-related processes, as well as such solutions as outsourcing IT functions. In this special focus section, we take a look at four examples of e-business activities.

An all-in-one remedy

The golfers' cliche about "a bad day at the golf course beating a good day at the office" did not necessarily pertain to the media and event coordinators working in the media center at last year's Boise Open PGA Tour Event. In fact, they experienced the best of both their worlds-watching some of the greatest golfers perform on a beautiful course and working in an efficient, convenient and technologically advanced remote office.

The PGA Tour event organizer, Jeff Sanders Promotions, had the "problem" of quickly serving the mobile communication technology needs of tour personnel and media, while maintaining the successful 13-year tradition of the Boise Open. This is when Jeff Sanders Promotions discovered Boise's SolutionPro, a regional ISP servicing the Pacific Northwest and intermountain regions. The Boise, Idaho-based company has provided Internet services to businesses and residential customers since 1997.

"Typically, we compete for the solution, not the product," says Murray Owen, vice president of sales for SolutionPro. "In the case of Jeff" Sanders Promotions, it was the case of a cold call that lead to a discovery of their needs. Based on this, we assembled a cost-effective offering of service and the technology that didn't require them to look somewhere else."

The technology solution from EntergeCore Networks transformed the Hillcrest Country Club's ornate ballroom into a Wi-Fi media and communications center.

According to John Bush 111, PGA Tour media official, "The Boise Open raised the standard of excellence on the nationwide tour, particularly in the technological advances. More than 100 PGA Tour officials, meteorologists and accredited media working to meet multiple deadlines had high-speed access to the Internet, as well as the tournament intranet, all wirelessly through EmergeCore's IT-100 appliance. It turned the location into a virtual media center."

SolutionPro technicians were given the goal of reducing the potential complexity and cost of creating the media center on a short timeline, while providing high-level, mobile-enterprise networking and Internet services.

The challenge to create the communications hub was compounded by the need to accommodate an increased number of media representatives covering the participation of the young LPGA Tour prodigy, Michelle Wie, and other prominent PGA players. With an increase in media coverage and attendance came the possibility for an increased need for communication infrastructure.

"The media center quickly evolved into a fast-paced, productive branch-office environment of news and weather service bureaus, along with a flail-service event coordination department," Owen says. "Media and PGA Tour personnel were able to connect securely and wirelessly to the Internet, their applicable intranets, send and receive e-mails, file stories, analyze weather forecasts, upload images and share files with the help of a box about the size of a laptop PC."

The IT-100 "IT in a Box," from Boise-based EmergeCore Networks, proved to be the difference for SolutionPro's success in creating air inexpensive, yet comprehensive hot spot enterprise network. Ultimately, the seamless operation of the media center's Wi-Fi network was accomplished without the help of expensive service and technology through multiple hardware components and software, but rather in spite of it.

The silent, fanless IT-100 combines 20 gigabytes of storage with a router, a four-port switch, a firewall a Wi-Fi access point or hot spot, an FTP server, multiple domain support, an e-mail server and VPN services iii a single $1,395 device.

The media center's network supported PCs with an Ethernet or wireless access point, including laptops and PDAs. Similar to the savings a small office could expect, SolutionPro technicians took advantage for the IT-100's built-in wireless LAN access point, and eliminated the need of wiring the ballroom to accommodate the network. "The install time of two devices was only 15 minutes each," Owen says.

Through the built-in VPN server, the media and tour personnel had the ability to remotely and securely connect to the media center's network and ultimately their head office's intranet. The 20-GB hard drive of the 1T-100 allowed it to be configured quickly to serve as a file server and e-mail server for the media center.