The infrastructure investment means Over the Wire has more control over network quality and voice quality of calls to and from Australia. Additionally it increases our international transit capability and capacity while greatly removing the reliance on third party carriers.

The establishment of core network sites in Los Angeles, San Jose and Singapore mark the first time Over the Wire owns and manages infrastructure outside of Australia and New Zealand.

Over the Wire CTO Ben Cornish said the upgrade would also allow the company to support the growth of Australian businesses seeking to expand into markets in Asia and the United States.

“This investment is about providing world-class business telecommunications between Australia, the US and Asia and provides a strong foundational capability to our growing wholesale capability, in particular to support some of the high growth UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS providers.”

Ben Cornish, CTO at Over the Wire

“Connectivity is crucial for businesses seeking to expand in overseas markets and Over the Wire is excited about the role we can play in delivering these solutions.”

Mr Cornish said the international network upgrade built upon the recent investments in Over the Wire’s Australian network.

“The international expansion of our core network sites follows the upgrade of our local network to our SuperCore platform and the completion of our Carrier Interconnect project,” he said.

“The SuperCore, which provides a new high-speed backbone connecting businesses and cloud services across the country with ultra-fast connections, is what makes our network readily available and accessible to overseas markets.

“Our recent Carrier Interconnect project established Over the Wire as a Tier 1 Voice Carrier in Australia offering full-service voice capabilities alongside our suite of connectivity, cloud, collaboration and security solutions.

“Linking our SuperCore and Tier 1 Voice Carrier infrastructure in Australia with new core network sites in the United States and Asia greatly increases the network capacity, capability and security we can provide customers.”

Over the Wire strategically selected pathways with the lowest latency to help support voice service quality and to open up opportunities in the international wholesale voice market.

The post New Asian & US Core Network Sites Now Online appeared first on Over the Wire.

ASX-listed IT and telecommunications provider Over the Wire (ASX:OTW) is upgrading core elements of its network and private cloud infrastructure housed in NEXTDC’s (ASX:NXT) national Tier IV data centre network.

The strategic partnership means Over the Wire now owns and manages an expansive carrier grade network and has more than two dozen ‘points of presence’ Australia-wide, including in six NEXTDC data centres.

Already home to key elements of Over the Wire’s recently completed Tier 1 voice network, NEXTDC’s data centres form the highly reliable and fault tolerant backbone for Over the Wire’s new SuperCore equipment. The SuperCore further amplifies Over the Wire’s already expansive network capacity by delivering multiple ultra-high bandwidth connections, and provides a high-speed backbone to connect businesses and cloud services across the country.

Over the Wire Managing Director Michael Omeros said the strategic partnership meant they could deliver cutting-edge, affordable, and fully integrated telecommunications and IT systems for Australian businesses.

“Combining our digital network with NEXTDC’s digital infrastructure platform opens up new opportunities and capabilities for both of us,” Mr Omeros said.

“Housing our SuperCore equipment in NEXTDC’s market leading data centres enables us to deliver superior connectivity, collaboration, and cloud services to businesses.”

“Australian businesses are rapidly turning to cloud technology as digital transformation serves as the primary driver behind organisational productivity improvements and customer experiences.

“Together, NEXTDC and Over the Wire are at the forefront of helping Australian businesses embrace the cloud and digital transformation.”

Michael Omeros – Managing Director at Over the Wire

“Our partnership means our network rivals the world’s leading cloud providers and cloud on-ramp services. It supercharges our multi-cloud capability, and strengthens our existing private cloud offering.”

“NEXTDC has data centres in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Sydney, which gives us access to nationwide consistency across the facilities.

“Quality, security, and reliability are crucial when it comes to operating in the digital sphere and NEXTDC’s hosting infrastructure is second-to-none.

“Access to their data centres provides us with many new opportunities including fibre to other facilities and also to other carriers that have equipment there as well.”

NEXTDC Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, David Dzienciol said “The deep networking capabilities of Over the Wire, teamed with NEXTDC’s national digital infrastructure platform offers Enterprise and Government greater choice, when it comes to best of breed infrastructure and capabilities to support their business.”

“We are very proud of the strong and trusted partnerships we have built within our partner ecosystem. Strategic partnerships like the one we have forged with Over the Wire play a crucial role in providing the much needed access to the cloud platforms and digital services that businesses need to succeed, all of which are accessible from within any of our data centres nationally,” David said.

“We are very fortunate having the opportunity to partner with likeminded organisations like Over the Wire. We share a passion for technology, and a view of always putting customers first.”

David Dzienciol – Chief Customer and Commercial Officer at NEXTDC

“As individual organisations and as a partnership, we are dedicated to playing an important role for our customers and helping to drive the underlying growth of the digital economy here in Australia”.

The post Tech Leaders Team Up To Lead Digital Transformation Australia-Wide appeared first on Over the Wire.

The homegrown, ASX-listed IT and telecommunications provider has selected Juniper Networks to supply the equipment required to upgrade Over the Wire’s core network into what the company has dubbed an advanced SuperCore.

The SuperCore upgrade, which will deploy Juniper Networks PTX10001-36MR Packet Transport Routers, will span multiple strategic data centres across Australia, and will commence installation this week. Once complete this upgrade will enhance Over the Wire’s capacity, particularly along the East Coast, where multiple ultra-high bandwidth connections will provide a fast and resilient back bone to connect businesses and cloud services across the country. The new platform will also provide enhanced data encryption capabilities, complementing Over the Wire’s established firewall and edge security offerings.

The SuperCore follows the completion of the Carrier Interconnect project, which led to Over the Wire establishing itself as a member of the exclusive Tier 1 group of voice carriers in Australia.

Over the Wire Chief Technology Officer Ben Cornish said Juniper was chosen as the successful vendor following an extensive Request for Proposal process.

“The SuperCore represents a major investment in Over the Wire’s core network that not only reflects the significant growth of our business but also lays a platform for a strong future as well.”

Ben Cornish – Chief Technology Officer at Over the Wire

“Australian businesses have come to expect higher bandwidth and our extensive reach for last-mile connectivity combined with the SuperCore will meet those expectations and then some. Through our SuperCore Over the Wire is supporting faster, more efficient and more reliable business internet and private network solutions,” Mr Cornish said.

“The SuperCore will also benefit our wholesaler and channel market, which will be able to draw on our new capabilities with the SuperCore.

“The SuperCore is a long-term investment in future proofing our service and is part of our commitment to delivering an outstanding telecommunications and IT network to operate on that is effective, affordable and fully integrated.

“Over the Wire’s network was designed and built with redundancy and resiliency as a key consideration, with the Supercore only enhancing these qualities further.  

“The SuperCore forms part of our bold and forward-thinking strategy to expand our leading infrastructure platform.”

“We are honoured to have been selected by Over the Wire as a trusted partner in their transformation journey and are excited to power its extensive network of data centers across Australia,” said Bruce Bennie, VP & GM, ANZ, Juniper Networks.

“With Juniper at its core, Over the Wire now has the foundation to deliver enhanced services and connectivity at an unprecedented scale and speed to its customers, while fuelling its future growth plans. Together, we will deliver on Juniper’s vision of experience-first networking and build an ultra-reliable and highly-agile network that will help businesses in Australia keep pace with innovation.”

Bruce Bennie – Vice President and General Manager ANZ at Juniper Networks

Mr Cornish said the Tier 1 network meant Over the Wire could now offer full-service voice capabilities Australia-wide that works seamlessly with the company’s suite of data, cloud and security solutions.

He said the SuperCore will play a key role in enhancing the cloud capabilities of the Over the Wire’s core network with added security capability.

“Cloud connectivity and capability is one of the backbones of providing a carrier-grade service to businesses,” Mr Cornish said.

“The capability of the SuperCore means our core network can easily meet the data demands of businesses now and in the years ahead.

“We don’t just want to be fast – we want to be reliable, secure and affordable.

“Over the Wire is building a carrier-grade network ready to support businesses as they move their calls, applications, and business operations into the cloud.”

The post Over the Wire builds SuperCore to enhance data network speeds and capacity appeared first on Over the Wire.

This situation is due to issues with the supply chain of the HFC NTDs (Network Termination Devices) chipset, that COVID-19 has severely impacted.

There are limited scenarios where the NBN may continue to accept orders:

• Service Transfers, Reconnects, Self-install Kits, Missing NTD and Additional NTD requests (Service Class 24)
• Disconnection Date Passed and no service (Legacy)
• Medically vulnerable with no legacy service
• Medical support business with no legacy service (Doctor, Medical Centre, Hospital)
• Emergency services with no service
• Essential Service Businesses (e.g Pharmacies, Supermarkets and Petrol Stations) in emergency/disaster situation (e.g fire, flood) with no legacy services

At this stage, the NBN has not advised when HFC orders will resume.

If your service falls outside of the above exceptions, you will likely be affected by this advice. Your Over the Wire Account Manager will contact you to discuss alternative arrangements.

Over the Wire will continue to provide NBN HFC service order acceptance updates on this page, as we receive them from the NBN.

The post New NBN HFC Orders Temporarily On Hold appeared first on Over the Wire.

We would like to thank you for your support throughout this challenging year. We look forward to continuing to partner with your business in 2021.

Over the Wire’s Embargo Period: 14 December 2020 to 10 January 2021

Due to our upstream carrier embargoes, some orders and number ports will be delayed during the Embargo Period and may also be held up afterwards as the backlog is processed by our suppliers. Over the Wire’s Service Delivery and Support Teams will operate with a reduced staff during the Embargo Period to process any active and emergency deployments and resolve any service issues. We’ll notify you of any potential impacts to your orders and delivery time frames in the lead up to the Embargo Period. If you would like any more information regarding Over the Wire’s Embargo Period, please contact us at sales@overthewire.com.au.

PBX Service Changes

We encourage our customers to submit any PBX holiday-specific changes such as IVR messages before 5pm on the 16th of December to ensure they are applied and tested prior to Christmas. Please email support@overthewire.com.au with your requirements as soon as possible. If you would like to change the IVR messages on your PBX, please ensure you attach the appropriate files and include clear instructions of how you want the new routing to operate, along with start and end dates for these changes.

Office Shut-Down: 25 December 2020 – 3 January 2021

The bulk of our staff will be taking a well-earned break from 25 December to 3 January. Over the Wire’s Network Operations Centre will continue to operate throughout the holiday period and is available 24×7. Our Provisioning team will have reduced staffing to manage any emergency deployment issues, and our Sales and Billing teams will not be operating. Our focus during this period will be the up time of your services. Specific changes should be requested in advance to ensure resources are available. Any unscheduled change requests may result in extended delays or additional costs.

Normal operations will resume from Monday 4 January 2021.

Best wishes for a safe and happy Christmas.

The post Over the Wire Embargo Period 2020 appeared first on Over the Wire.

NOVA Entertainment (NOVA) is Australia’s fastest-growing entertainment company, with broad nationwide interests. Its mission is to create content that is loved and shared by audiences, wherever they are, through its commercial radio networks, mobile and social brands. The underlying network that powers these systems relies on Internet technologies to interconnect and broadcast this rich-media content. When the world is listening, downtime is not an option.

Over the Wire is an ASX-listed cloud, telecoms and security managed solutions provider that has a national network with multiple points of presence in all major Australian capital cities and multiple locations in New Zealand.

NOVA has partnered with Over the Wire for almost 10 years. In that time the supported network has grown to its most recent evolution – a transformational SD-WAN network powered by market-leading VeloCloud cloud networking technology and protected by Zscaler cloud security.

Maximum transmission network availability is vital in a highly competitive industry where downtime affects advertisers, audiences, ratings and ultimately revenue. Over the Wire has incorporated redundant connectivity from the studio through to the FM and digital transmission towers in Brisbane, Gosford NSW, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Furthermore, high availability SD-WAN was introduced to provide increased visibility, flexibility and control of the corporate network, and enable technology-driven innovation as more applications move to the cloud.

Cost-savings in the data access network were re-invested in a cloud security wrap to ensure NOVA remains safe from cyber-interruptions.

The organisation’s legacy voice and video-conferencing requirements are also managed under the agreement, and Over the Wire have commenced a project to transition NOVA to Microsoft Teams collaboration.

Over the Wire’s proven track record in deploying and managing converged voice and data networks, coupled with a product portfolio that met NOVA’s new requirements, meant that continuing to work with the company was a logical step forward. Over the Wire’s service offering and carrier agnostic approach, provided connectivity options from more than 30 different wholesale providers, ranging from mobile broadband to high-speed fibre. This was a critical requirement for NOVA.

Fundamentally, with their business moving at a dramatic pace, it has been essential for NOVA to partner with a reliable, well-aligned technology provider who would enableit to focus on innovating and growing their core business.

Matt Steadman, CTO at NOVA, said: “Whenever you listen to any of NOVA Entertainment’s stations on your radio or online, you’re hearing the performance of Over the Wires networks in real-time. There are many tangible benefits to working with Over the Wire, but without basic, solid connectivity the team here at NOVA is ultimately unable to deliver on its mission. We appreciate their hard work keeping us on air and allowing us to focus on our business with confidence.”

Scott Smith, CEO of Over the Wire, said: “We are very excited and grateful to be extending our agreement with NOVA, it’s a great result for both businesses. After 10 years, we now have an extremely trusting partnership, and this helps us provide the best possible technology outcomes to NOVA. As our technology portfolio has expanded the scope of our engagement has grown too.”

About NOVA Entertainment

NOVA Entertainment is Australia’s fastest growing entertainment company with broad interests across the media industry. NOVA Entertainment owns and operates the Nova Network, the most listened to metro network in Australia, which includes Nova 96.9 Sydney, Nova 100 Melbourne, Nova 106.9 Brisbane, Nova 93.7 Perth and Nova 919 Adelaide. In addition, NOVA Entertainment also owns and operates smoothfm in Sydney and Melbourne, the talk station FIVEaa in Adelaide and Star 104.5 on the NSW Central Coast and a number of digital radio stations – Coles Radio, smoothfm, smooth Relax and smooth Chill. The company’s radio stations are complemented by a range of digital assets across social, mobile and online which leverage the company’s content to provide new growth opportunities including Nova’s Red Room, the experiential and music event brand, and GOAT, a mobile first platform, targeted at millennial consumers.

About Over the Wire Holdings Limited

Over the Wire (ASX: OTW) is an ASX-listed telecommunications, cloud and IT solutions provider that has a national voice and data network with points of presence in all major Australian capital cities and Auckland, NZ. The company offers an integrated suite of products and services to business customers including SD-WAN, IP-WAN, internet, data centre, cloud security and managed services.

Over the Wire companies include Over the Wire, NetSIP, Faktortel, Sanity Technology, Telarus, VPN Solutions, Access Digital Networks and Comlinx.

The post Over the Wire Keeps NOVA Entertainment On Air Using Managed SD-WAN appeared first on Over the Wire.

The VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud service supports inherent security in network agility, intelligently adapting to changing business priorities, such as the mass shift to home working necessitated by Covid-19. At the same time, VMware provides optimised access to public cloud services through its system of gateways, and to private/hybrid data centres and the enterprise applications hosted there.

“Many of our clients today are operating in complex hybrid technology environments,” says Scott Smith, CEO. “They are undertaking their own, unique digital transformation journeys and looking to their partners to help them leverage technology for business success.”

As a provider of SD-WAN, Over the Wire can now complement its investment in a national data network, launching a hybrid WAN service. VMware provides customers with an SD-WAN delivery model that leverages any underlay network technology, including the core MPLS network combined with ‘Over The Top’ connections where required – an excellent outcome for businesses with, for example, a combination of state head offices and a branch network, for example in Retail and Health. VMware delivers increased flexibility to customers through elastic access, improving performance for cloud applications at the edge – all via a zero-touch deployment and operations model.

As a network aggregator and now a VMware SD-WAN Service Provider, Over the Wire is investing heavily in managed SD-WAN solutions. Combined with its cloud voice fabric NetSIP, managed VMware SD-WAN is a robust application for business, delivering virtual quality of service through intelligent link optimisation.

Both Enterprises and Service Providers benefit from Over the Wire’s multi-tenant cloud gateway architecture and the ability to support real-time applications over private, broadband and wireless links. VMware and Over the Wire’s partnership provides increased flexibility for customers seeking to deliver performance, reliability and security across the Enterprise, over the Internet and to the cloud.

Adoption of cloud computing by businesses around the world has accelerated dramatically. As more mission-critical applications move to the cloud, reliability and performance of such applications is fundamental to the growth of businesses.

Today’s distributed enterprises struggle with application performance and WAN complexity at their branch offices. VMware SD-WAN automates branch deployment and ongoing management, enables performance to cloud and enterprise applications and enables IT departments to roll out branch offices virtually by uniquely using the cloud as the WAN. Rapid deployment – while fixed connections are being installed – and branch resilience are possible using 4G/5G technology.

“Over the Wire aims to provide connectivity and collaboration using cloud solutions that will free customers from the burden of investing in hardware solutions,” said Scott Smith, CEO. “VMware is at the core of this initiative. By combining VMware SD-WAN with Over the Wire’s national voice and data network, customers can easily transform their business using a next-generation branch network that combines intrinsic security and performance with a simple, centralised and abstracted management layer. This will help them adapt to changing business and network conditions.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with Over the Wire,” said Ron Longo, vice president worldwide service provider sales, VMware. “Over the Wire has an enviable pedigree in delivering reliable managed voice and data network solutions – and great customer experience. Together, we will provide businesses with what they need for simple, scalable and cost-effective cloud networking.”

The post Over the Wire Partners with VMware to Deliver Managed SD-WAN Services in Australia appeared first on Over the Wire.

With the shutdown of ISDN services to commence at the end of September 2019, the death of traditional telephony is just around the corner. The roll-out of NBN, while incomplete, has been the catalyst for Telstra to pull support for the legacy fixed-line technology, and the flood of change requests has well and truly commenced.

Number Porting

A major change for organisations shifting from ISDN phone services to business VoIP is the requirement to convert their existing phone numbers to be virtually hosted. This is achieved by porting these numbers to a new VoIP provider to ensure they aren’t lost when ISDN services are disconnected.

Delays in porting numbers are already noticeable and substantial, with average porting timeframes doubled in the past 6 months when transferring away from Telstra, and increased over 50% from Optus and other carriers. These delays are impacting all number porting, not just transitions from ISDN, and is only expected to get worse as fixed-line telephony shutdown becomes a reality.

Handling the delays:

• Planning ahead is paramount. With complex number porting often taking as long as three months to finalise, getting ports underway early is the best way to ensure you don’t miss any calls. Over the Wire customers get access to our powerful self-service Customer Portal and easy-to-use number porting tool, and of course our friendly staff are always happy to help simplify the process for you.
• While waiting for number ports to be completed, a redirection to temporary numbers can help to keep services flowing and give you the ability to take advantage of your new VoIP setup sooner. Ask our sales team if you qualify for free temporary numbers to help make your transition to Over the Wire even smoother than ever.

Fibre Service Provisioning

In addition to the delays in number porting, the extra demand for high speed fibre internet and private network services has also caused longer than usual provisioning timeframes for these services. Whether as a necessity due to copper-based connections no longer being serviceable, or businesses taking advantage of great new pricing for additional bandwidth options to support over-the-top voice services, the spike in requests has been noticeable. While typical lead times for fibre services is between 4 – 8 weeks, the current trend is generally between 8 – 14 weeks.

Handling the delays:

• Again, planning ahead is an important factor. If moving office or in the path of a disconnection be sure to have your request in early to stay connected.
• If you’re in a pinch for time, we’ve got your back. Our Private Mobile Data options are a great way to bridge the gap and have you up-and-running fast – just see what Credo Financial had to say when we helped them relocate with just 2 weeks notice!

Be ready for the ISDN shutdown

If you’d like to know more about the ISDN shutdown and how you can make sure your business is prepared, check out or ISDN Shutdown Survival Guide, an ebook designed specifically to help Australian businesses navigate the minefield being caused the Telstra’s ISDN shutdown. Or let us know if you’d like help from one of our sales consultants to guide you through the process.

The post Threat of ISDN shutdown already causing delays across the industry appeared first on Over the Wire.

The Basics of Corporate Networks

Most corporate networks in Australia today are built on private MPLS (MultiProtocol Label Switching) technology. These private networks are distinct and separate from the public Internet, and are only able to interact with it based on the business’s security policies. These policies are enforced by a firewall which separates and regulates the flow of data between the public Internet and the private corporate network.

A different paradigm: SD-WAN

When people talk about SD-WAN in a corporate network setting, they are usually referring to an approach which uses CPE’s (Customer Premise Equipment) that run more advanced software to effectively build a virtual network over the top of any underlying network – public or private.

Each branch typically ends up having its own firewalled Internet link, and the corporate network itself might even be run over the Internet through secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) tunnels.

What are the Pros and Cons?

MPLS and SD-WAN each has advantages and disadvantages which may be relevant depending on an organisation’s requirements. It can be optimal to combine elements of both approaches to deliver what is knowns as a Hybrid WAN solution. A comparison of the two approaches to some key areas follows.

Security

To be secure, SD-WAN requires encrypted VPN tunnels between sites and relies on firewalls at each Internet connection point to secure your corporate data. These are proven technologies, but is a VPN (Virtual Private Network) over the Internet as secure as an ACTUAL private network that doesn’t run over the Internet at all? The answer to that is more complex than the scope of this article.

With proper configuration either a VPN or private MPLS approach can be considered secure. An even more secure solution can be achieved via a hybrid WAN configuration that uses encrypted VPN tunnels over private MPLS links. The best approach depends on your organisation’s needs and budget.

Network Visibility and Orchestration

The more advanced software that runs on SD-WAN devices can give improved visibility and orchestration of network traffic. In practice OTW’s Advanced ESP firewall can provide similar network edge reporting for a private network.

The ultimate in network reporting and orchestration can be delivered via an integrated solution between Advanced ESP and compatible SD-WAN devices. Once again, the best approach comes down to your organisation’s needs and budget.

Critical Traffic: Application Prioritisation vs QoS

Certain types of network traffic are affected by fluctuations in network performance much more than general traffic. Examples of sensitive traffic include voice, realtime video and terminal services. SD-WAN and private MPLS each have the capability to provide priority to critical traffic, but they use different approaches which can lead to different outcomes.

A private MPLS network provides priority to critical traffic such as voice using end-to-end QoS (Quality of Service). End-to-end QoS is the gold standard in traffic management, with every step in the data’s journey managing its priority and ensuring that it will be delivered promptly and in the same order it was sent. Assurance of voice quality can only be achieved with the benefit of end-to-end QoS.

An SD-WAN network cannot deliver end-to-end QoS over a public network like the Internet. Instead, SD-WAN can make decisions about which link to send traffic along depending on what application the data belongs to, and the current performance of the available links. This makes SD-WAN adept at optimising the utilisation and performance of multiple links to a single site, whether this is implemented as providing active/active load balancing between links, split tunnelling based on application, or low priority traffic being sent down cheaper low quality links, while high priority traffic is sent down the best available link at a point in time.

The flexibility of application prioritisation has many uses, but it should be noted that application layer priority cannot provide the same consistency and assurance of voice quality as end-to-end QoS. For an SD-WAN solution to achieve that standard, the underlying network layer still needs to be an appropriate high quality private MPLS link that supports QoS, effectively making it a hybrid WAN solution.

International

When a corporate network involves international locations, the cost and logistics of deploying private MPLS connectivity to those locations can be prohibitive. SD-WAN shines in this situation, allowing an office to be connected to the network simply by sending an SD-WAN device to the site and connecting it to an easily available Internet link.

Cost

There is significant hype in the market about SD-WAN enabling organisations to cut the cost of their WAN. The SD-WAN vendors who promote this claim are mostly based in the USA where the wholesale network connectivity landscape is quite different – in Australia, private MPLS links are more affordable compared to commodity Internet links. As a result, the higher cost of SD-WAN endpoints typically offsets the gains from reduced tail costs, resulting in a similar Total Cost of Ownership.

At the end of the day, whether a network solution is based on SD-WAN, private MPLS, or a Hybrid WAN approach, in most cases the only way to materially cut networking costs is to sacrifice link quality or network resilience.

The Right Solution for your Organisation

There is no “one solution fits all” when it comes to corporate networks. It takes professionals who understand the finer details of networks and business requirements to develop the best solution for your needs.

Over the Wire is uniquely positioned to design and deliver the style of network solution that makes sense for your organisation, whether it is based on private MPLS, SD-WAN or an integrated combination of both. Over the Wire’s years of experience in converged voice & data networks and managed security, combined with our status as a Fortinet Gold Partner, enables us to deliver a network solution which provides the standards of quality and security that you require.

Contact a member of the Over the Wire team today and speak to one of our experts to find out what solution suits your unique business needs.

The post What is SD WAN? appeared first on Over the Wire.

For example, you may have heard about Ethereum, a public blockchain network used by the UN’s World Food Programme to underpin a cashless economy for Syrian refugees. The instant validation of data means that this kind of process is applicable all around the world.

In Australia, businesses are starting to take note – here are five ways your business could leverage blockchain technology.

1. Customer identification

By employing blockchain, financial services organisations could tap into untold efficiencies in customer identification.

In a recent piece by iGTB Senior Business Analyst Binu Yohannan, he argues that the blockchain can serve as a single repository of customer identification information for an entire industry sector. With the appropriate encryption and data security regulations, the blockchain could store a bank’s customer or transaction information in a database with all other institutions in the same country or city.

This gives organisations access to real-time, secure information that would otherwise be held up in the gatekeeping processes banks commit to on an individual basis.

2. Smart contracts

A smart contract is a computer program that contains a set of legal rules for negotiating the terms of an agreement. The rules can automatically be enforced and the agreed terms executed without the need for third party approval.

Smart contract data is encrypted and stored on a shared ledger in a Blockchain so in theory it is secure and immutable.

There have been exploits of smart contracts in the past, so it’s important that your code is as airtight as your network security.

3. International payments

International payments can be made much faster and in a more transparent manner through the blockchain, according to Mastercard. The credit card giant is embracing the blockchain in a bid to overcome speed- and cost-related hold-ups in global B2B transactions.

An Accenture report suggests a 70 per cent drop in financial reporting costs through blockchain, as well as a 30 per cent decrease in compliance-related costs. By settling B2B transactions in the digital sphere without third party risks, businesses can realise massive financial benefits.

4. Voting and corporate governance

The transparency and P2P verification of a blockchain network makes it ideal for ensuring information is both secure and accurate. While this has largely meant financial institutions are benefiting from the tech, any enterprise involved in any kind of election can also reap the rewards.

By skipping third parties (in this case an electoral authority), organisations can create a shared voting ledger that records and validates data without fear of tampering. It’s ideal for true insight into how an employee base (or even an entire population) wishes to vote.

5. Democratising the music industry

A tale as old as time – how do artists get paid for the full value of their work? The answer could lie in blockchain.

Writing for Techcrunch in 2016, TechTalks founder Ben Dickson argued that a single database on a blockchain network could contain artists’ music, including copyrights, licensing fees, time stamps and unique identifiers. Tamper-proof and concreted in the system, individuals and businesses could then buy the music for a transparent dollar value, which is then permanently recorded in the chain.

By skipping third parties like labels and streaming services, people can pay artists directly for their music in a transparent, efficient manner.

What are you waiting for?

Blockchain technology has levelled the playing field in so many ways. No longer do banks, record labels or other third-party authorities control information and money in the way they used to. It’s a complete democratisation of information, but it’s also absolutely reliant on data networks – which can be fallible.

The blockchain can revolutionise your business, yes, but without the right security protocols the information you submit to it could be vulnerable.

That’s where Over the Wire can help – read our comprehensive cyber security e-book to learn more about the primary areas of cyber risk and find out more about beefing up your security.

The post 5 ways blockchain can help Australian businesses appeared first on Over the Wire.