Time To Rethink The WAN
The Keynote Panel Discussion, “Time to Rethink the WAN” was provided by, Ian Gibson, Chief Information Officer, SuperChoice, Bernard Wansink, CIO, Shiavello Group, and Kamal Nankani, Global Chief Enterprise Architect, GE Capital.
There’s been an explosion in the uptake of software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps across Australian businesses as they realise the benefits of painless upgrades, seamless integration, and pay-as-you-go services that can be scaled up and down as required.
But this rise in SaaS app usage has created a new set of issues. The high cost and inflexibility of traditional Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks reduces an organisation’s ability to provide the right level of support and performance required for these SaaS services.
In this new era where SaaS will become the dominant model for consuming apps, more visibility and control over the application layer is required.
Enter the software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), a virtual WAN overlay that helps companies securely connect users to apps in the most cost-effective way available. It essentially enables businesses to boost or replace their MPLS networks with secure Internet connectivity.
This panel session will explore with SD-WAN is so important for organisations managing SaaS and cloud apps across their networks and how it can help them prioritise SaaS traffic – particularly to branch offices –to improve app performance cut costs.
Ian Gibson is the Chief Information Officer and Responsible Officer for SuperChoice Services Pty Limited where he has been completely transforming the technology business. Prior to joining SuperChoice, Ian worked in senior executive and CIO roles including at Adaptra, CitiStreet, Link Market Services and the National Australia Bank. He also co-founded a boutique consulting firm and has worked with several technology start-ups.
Ian was a Partner in Accenture’s Strategy practice where he focused on business and IT-enabled strategic and operational planning. His consulting work ranged across several industries, both locally and internationally, and for some of the largest clients in their respective industry. Ian is also a Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary focusing on technology start-ups and NFPs. Ian has a BSc (Computer Science & Mathematics) and an MBA from Melbourne Business School and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a regular speaker and has authored more than 43 publications including twice nominated for Thought Leadership awards.
Bernard Wansink is the Chief Information Officer for Shiavello Group. As Chief Information Officer, Bernard is responsible for the strategic alignment and management of the Group’s ICT strategy with the corporate vision, with a focus on strategic planning and development, organisational restructuring, change management and delivery of value to organisational operations.
He has developed and managed innovative ICT strategies, portfolio, program and projects for more than fifteen years and has an MBA in Technology Management, CPPD (AIPM), CRISC (ISACA), PRINCE2, ACP (PMI) and ITIL certifications.
Kamal Nankani, Global Chief Enterprise Architect, GE Capital is a proven Senior IT executive with extensive experience in all aspects of IT Management. He partners effectively with business and technical stake-holders at all levels of the organisation to provide leadership in the development of technology strategy and delivery of business systems solutions. Kamal is a results oriented leader with a proven track record delivering business aligned technical services and solutions. He has a strong track record and thrives on providing operational insight, innovation and applying technology to continuously improve business value. He is a strategic thinker and inspirational leader establishing and motivating high performance teams, is an expert in DevOps, Continuous Delivery & Integration, Application Architecture, Security & Compliance, Infrastructure Technology Program Delivery and Data Centre Consolidation
Doug is a veteran of the IT Industry, he has enjoyed roles in sales, business development, marketing, product management, alliances and services. A native Brit with an Aussie accent, he’s been based in Singapore for the past 15 years operating across Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. During the last 9 nine months he’s worked closely with a number of startups focused on public & hybrid cloud solutions, advising customers on cloud-based managed services and application/workload migration into Amazon Web Services, Azure and Google.
Prior to that Doug was at Cisco where he set the APJC cloud services strategy: consulting with system integrators, service providers, resellers and distributors; helping them prepare their businesses for the transition from traditional hardware to annuity sales models. He also sold into global, Multinational Corporations and enterprise customers delivering business-focused, end-to-end data center solutions. Familiar selling ATM, optical, wireless, storage, servers, switching, VDI, virtualization, Cisco WAAS, etc.. Doug also worked for StrataCom, and held engineering, pre-sales and management positions in Europe at Texas Instruments and Case Communications.