Join us Tuesday for a webinar exploring critical-infrastructure entities making the transition to IP

Technology based on Internet Protocol (IP) has permeated almost all aspects of our lives, particularly those involving any form of communications. As such, the notion of that an enterprise should migrate its communications systems to an IP-based solution might seem like a foregone conclusion to outsiders. After all, who wouldn’t want to tap into the innovation, rich feature sets and economies of scale associated with today’s IP ecosystem?

But such choices are not so clear for critical-infrastructure enterprises. Whether we’re talking about an airline, a utility or another critical-infrastructure entity, they require communications systems that have to work at all times, no matter what the circumstances are, because their customers depend on them to maintain operations in myriad challenging environments.

Given this, critical-infrastructure entities often have invested heavily in their communications infrastructure to meet high reliability standards, so any decision to make a change cannot be done lightly. No one wants to get rid of an operational communications system simply for the sake of change, particularly if it results in additional expense—a tough case to make in this economy—and the need to retrain workers on a new system. On the other hand, the economies associated with IP can make a very compelling return-on-investment case.

Another big issue is security. Migrating to an IP-based system can expose a critical-infrastructure entity to new cybersecurity threats that did not exist with a legacy system, so strategies to protect critical data and to maintain protection on a day-to-day basis need to be in place before a transition is made.

Even after the decision to move to an IP-based system is made, critical-infrastructure entities often face a difficult challenge to actually execute the transition. While some enterprises have the luxury of being able to take systems down at night or over the weekend when making a technological migration, many critical-infrastructure entities must be able to maintain operations around the clock to ensure that the entity’s primary mission—for instance, keeping the lights on, for an electric utility—is not compromised.

On Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, we’ll be conducting a webinar that will feature a panel of experts that have helped critical-infrastructure enterprises migrate their systems from a time-division multiplexing (TDM) infrastructure to an IP-based architecture. Registration for the webinar—sponsored by AVTEC—is free, so please join us, as we explore the challenges, potential pitfalls and best practices associated with such a technological migration.