The terms “big data,” “real-time visibility,” “securing the enterprise” and “breaking down silos to engender actionable insights” are at or near the top of most IT professionals’ lists of popular industry phrases buzzwords. And they should be. The need for proactive and reactive operational control, business agility to respond in an optimized way to changing circumstances and being instantly responsive for risk mitigation, are paramount. 

And given all that, it’s never a bad time to learn more about best practices and unique approaches for getting ahead of challenges in what I have called “The Age of Acceleration,” when the only constant is change and the pace at which it is accelerating.

It is with the above in mind, that I would like to recommend a forthcoming webinar, Unifying Network and Security Operations, Monday February 11, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. EST. TMC’s Group Editorial Director Erik Linask (News - Alert) will be reviewing with Jeffrey Woodward, senior manager at Panduit Corporation, how Panduit has designed its Unified Operations Center (UOC) to be “A living example of the power of the company’s Unified Physical Infrastructure (UPI) approach to unify core business systems and deliver deeper visibility into real-time building operations data.”

We so often hear the term, “the cobbler’s children,” in referring to companies that like the cobbler whose children have no shoes, are not users of their own solutions. In this case, Panduit has come up with not only a potential game-changing solution to a problem that has been vexing its own operations, but one any large enterprise should know about and give consideration to for improving its performance and maximize operational efficiency and effectiveness – while increasing vigilance.

Centralization and visibility are key to an ‘Intelligent Enterprise’

 Located at Panduit’s World Headquarters, in Tinley Park, Illinois, the UOC is a centralized operations center that combines network, building and security functions. It is one of the first operations centers of its kind to unify Network Operations Center (NOC (News - Alert)) and Security Operations Center (SOC) functions, enabling Panduit to manage the security of its global facilities from a central location. By integrating management of the network and physical security systems over a UPI-based physical infrastructure, Panduit’s UOC allows data to be shared across a full spectrum of network, building system, and security applications for improved operational awareness and response.

Panduit will be sharing the knowledge gained from improvements in its own transformation to an “Intelligent Enterprise” and discussing how to leverage existing IP infrastructure investment, physical security and operations (SOC), network security and operations (NOC), and facilities operations. In short, the firm is using centralized control and big data with sophisticated analytics to share information for the purpose of optimizing its operations and increasing operational awareness and responsiveness.

This session is a great way to understand in practical terms that are transferrable to your organization.

Topics to be covered include:

• Unified Physical Infrastructure (UPI) approach to business systems and deeper visibility into real-time building operations data
• Development of a Unified Operations Center for centralized global security
• Leveraging existing IP infrastructure for combined physical security operations (SOC) and network operations (NOC) and facilities operations

Panduit has clearly leveraged its solutions expertise to not just assure the high performance of its network in support of its business operations, but also to improve physical and virtual security around the world, the responsiveness of its employees, and the management of its properties. It is doing so in real time. 

While part of the story here is about building management, the solution is extensible to a range of challenges, including those your organization may be confronting. We hope you can join us.