NAS for me

Dear Soutiman
Your articles on enterprise storage were very interesting and informative. It is indeed true that many Indian CIOs don't think beyond a DAS model. Can you let me know of a few manufacturers and models of NAS file servers? Do you recommend any particular vendor and model?

Yours faithfully
Cdr. Pradeep Prasad
Delhi

Hello Cdr Pradeep Prasad
Thank you for appreciating my articles. I hope that articles like these and other efforts from people in the IT industry will increase awareness about enterprise network storage.

Vendors like HP, Compaq, EMC, IBM, HDS, Maxtor, Storagetek, Apara, and Sun manufacture NAS solutions. I do not recommend any particular offering because it really depends on the kind of configuration, size, capacity, and budget that you have.

It's best that you make an assessment report of the amount of storage that your organization is looking for. Other than the aspects mentioned above it should also keep in mind growth in terms of number of users, locations, and product offerings.

More ERP anyone?

Dear Editor
Around the year 1990, ERP was touted as the next big thing that could change the face of IT-savvy enterprises. Most IT magazines and other publications called it one of the most promising technologies. The hype died down in 2000, when many companies could not justify the high costs associated with implementation and maintenance of systems and manpower. What is the current state of affairs regarding ERP? Is it fashionable to use ERP again?

Regards
Atul Sharma
Chandigarh

Dear Atul Sharma
Yes, its true that many ERP packages fell short of people's expectations. And that had happened due to a variety of reasons. In some cases the ERP vendor was not able to correctly map the solution. The user was left with tools that didn't match his requirements. In some cases implementation from the user's side was not proper. And in some cases the staff was not trained properly to handle the change in workflow processes.

Over the last 15 months, there have been reports that companies who have used ERP are now benefiting from it. There has been sufficient amount of cost savings and a measurable ROI. Even companies that had trouble implementing ERP are now very adept using it. And for some its become a part of the everyday life.

This is a good lookout for companies who plan to implement ERP and hope to derive benefits from it. India already has a number of reputed ERP vendors like SAP, Oracle, and Sybase providing solutions. Pretty soon, JD Edwards, another well-reputed ERP vendor will launch its products in India. The future of ERP looks good, but enterprises will have to take very well-informed decisions to avoid disappointment.

Internet access monitor

Dear Soutiman
I manage a LAN of 25 clients and we use NAT on Windows 2000 for connecting to the Internet over an ISDN link. Can you please tell me if there is any tool available for monitoring Internet activity? We used Winproxy earlier which gave us the active connection details and have now shifted to NAT.

Regards
Zaheer Khan

Dear Zaheer
Thank you for writing to me. There are various spy softwares which you can install and use to keep track of Internet usage and activity. There are also other tools like keystroke recorders which allow you in-depth monitoring.

You can visit http://www.internet-monitoring-software.com for more information.

I hope that you formulate an employee Internet access policy which lays down guidelines for Internet access. And let all the users know about the policy to encourage better bandwidth usage and avoid nasty surprises.

Eager for DWDM

Dear Minu
I am really impressed by the information provided in the interview with John C. Collins, Director, APAC, Optical Internet Engineering, Nortel Networks. The technicalities were explained clearly and I am now eager to learn more about DWDM technology.

Can you please tell me a few links where I can gather more information about the technology and its benefits? Please keep up the good work.

Regards
Vishnu

Dear Vishnu
Thank you for appreciating the article on DWDM. I hope to feature more articles on DWDM in later issues as well. You can visit the following links for more information.

http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/dwdm/
http://www.cableu.net/fibrtech/dwdm.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/mels/dwdm/dwdm_fns.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/mels/cm1500/dwdm/dwdm_ovr.htm

Server sales

Dear Brian
I am a regular reader of Network Magazine and find it very informative. Can you provide me information on the sales figures, in terms of number of units sold and the rupee value of sales of mainframe and mid-range servers? Can you provide me the sales figures of vendors like IBM, HP, SUN, and SGI?

Has your magazine conducted any survey that will have the figures? If not, is there any other information source?

Regards
Sumathi Chandrashekaran

Hello Sumathi Chandrashekaran
Thank you for appreciating our magazine. It is nice to see that you are interested in mid-range and mainframe server sales figures of various vendors.

The battle in the mainframe and mid-range market is mostly between IBM and Sun. Between these two, the competition is very intense and interesting to follow.

You can visit the following links for some information.

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-252504.html?legacy=cnet
http://news.com.com/2104-1001-253078.html?tag=bplst
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1361/020212ibmserversales/

To get accurate information about server sales in terms of units shipped, revenue, and India-specific information it's best to get in touch with agencies like IDC and Gartner. They will have the correct information that can help you. You can also visit the vendor Websites and look into the press rooms. Sometimes the companies may like to talk about its achievements in detail.

ERP

Dear Soutiman
I have gone through your magazine site and find it very informative. I am a final year student of MBA (Systems) in Rajkot and am conducting a research on the working of ERP and its impact on enterprises. In this case your articles with Monsanto India and Godrej have been very helpful.

Can you give me some links to articles and white papers on ERP? It will help me a lot in my research.

Regards
Chirag Shah

Dear Chirag
Thank you for visiting my Website, It's encouraging to see that you are conducting research on ERP. I wish you all the best. Companies like BPCL, Colgate-Palmolive, Hindusthan Lever, and Hero Honda have implemented ERPs.

Articles on ERP can be found at:
www.erpassist.com
www.ittoolbox.com

White papers on ERP can be found at:
http://www.erpcentral.com
http://www.intelligenterp.com

Interesting LIC

Dear Minu
Your article on LIC's WAN was very interesting. It's very encouraging to see that public limited companies have shed its negative image about computerization and are taking large steps to IT-enable its businesses. In the days of manual work, LIC's service to customers suffered a lot and newspapers carried many letters of disgruntled policy holders. I firmly believe that this will now lessen and perhaps end. I wish LIC all the best.

Ramesh Gupta
Hyderabad

Dear Ramesh
Thank you for appreciating my article. It is indeed encouraging to see large public limited companies get serious about its IT infrastructure. With the success of LIC, we hope many other public limited companies will follow suit.