Effecting customers' business transformation through SONA

In today's complex enterprise environment, system integration unites the component subsystems, processes, people, and operations of a business enterprise into a single system, bringing together disparate networks, computing systems, and software applications physically, logically, and functionally. More than ever, system integrators play an important role as enterprises are increasingly depending on virtualization to reduce duplication of resources and capital expenditures, and on Web 2.0 and service-oriented composite applications to dynamically combine data from various sources in real time.

System integrators can enhance their value to a business by taking advantage of the Cisco Service-Oriented Network Architecture (SONA) and applying it to a customer's business process. After all, one of the major challenges businesses face is the need to adapt to rapidly changing environments. Because the network is the only component that touches and connects every resource and can make intelligent routing decisions, it is the most critical element of the enterprise architecture. It needs to have adaptive capabilities.

Cisco SONA is an open architectural approach that:

• Connects integrated network services to applications
• Helps optimize business processes by increasing collaboration across the enterprise through virtualization of network resources and services
• Helps businesses scale their infrastructure by enabling them to accommodate change as it occurs.

It offers other benefits as well, including:

• Increased business agility: Enables the enterprise to react quickly to changing markets or competitive environments by using network services to improve the performance of applications
• New business models: Enables the enterprise to use information available only in the network to deliver new internal and external-facing applications and capabilities
• Increased IT efficiency: Reduces capital expenditures by taking advantage of common services, including identity, location, access control, encryption, and virtualization, that can be offloaded from servers to the network to increase server utilization and efficiency
• Optimization of existing technology investment: Permits full use of previous technology investments, while providing a roadmap for technology migration and standardization on the enterprise platform

Using the Cisco SONA approach, system integrators can help customers increase revenue, decrease time to market, and differentiate themselves from other businesses. In turn, the system integrator will gain credibility and become a trusted advisor to customers

Increase Revenue with New Applications

Using SONA, system integrators are in a unique position to provide insight into new and improved business applications that can best be enabled by the network. This includes using location services to monitor and track key business assets, or the integration of key collaborative business applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) to speed decision making. SONA also provides the ideal platform for Web 2.0 implementations, which can enhance profitability and business innovation under the system integrator's guidance.

Reduce Design and Deployment Time

Using SONA services, system integrators can also help customers reduce development time and reduce equipment requirements by using pervasive network services. This enables competitive differentiation in the total cost of integration and potential for an accelerated schedule for deployment.

Gain Credibility

Cisco offers several partner programs and certifications for system integrators and channel resellers. These programs educate integrators on Cisco solutions and provide workshops for different vertical markets, as well as offering certification programs for customers.

Increase Trusted Advisor Role

System integrators using the SONA approach can showcase their expertise in optimizing business processes by utilizing network services. As trusted advisor status increases, the integrator will gain visibility into new business initiatives in the customer roadmap and can recommend additional projects based on the SONA approach.

Enterprise must design their architectures to align business strategy, mission execution, and IT investments. System integrators work with customers to define business strategy and optimize business processes by harnessing the power of enterprise systems. Cisco provides the foundation for a fully matured architecture with validated technologies, services, and design guides that are developed, tested, and supported by networking experts.