A changing business operating environment has forced many organisations to rethink their approach to technology. In particular, the increased adoption of hybrid work means businesses need to update their networks to deliver the same experience for remote workers as in the office.

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is a logical solution to this challenge and a technical leap forward for businesses with multiple sites and distributed teams. SD-WAN is paving the way for companies to adopt new and emerging technologies, support remote working, and deliver superior user experiences to employees. For the technology department, it frees up bandwidth, which lets the IT team dedicate more time to other business-critical tasks.  

For organisations that rely on traditional WAN, it may seem like true digital transformation is out of the question. However, with the right support, pivoting from traditional WAN to SD-WAN can be seamless, even for multi-site businesses. An SD-WAN solution will begin immediately adding resilience to the existing network as well as optimising capacity and redundancy.

For networking experts, SD-WAN, and its technical benefits, will be clear. However, technical benefits will not always be enough to make a strong case for business leaders; it’s essential to demonstrate how SD-WAN can deliver on technology benefits as well as business outcomes. This guide summarises the business benefits to help illustrate where SD-WAN will add tangible value to the business, from top to bottom.

Business benefits of SD-WAN

Deploying SD-WAN delivers significant business benefits, including:

• risk of costly downtime or slow network speeds offset by distributing load across link technologies and providers
• more uptime means more productivity, operational continuity, and increased employee engagement
• new locations can be spun up immediately, not in weeks or months
• workers gain instant access to the company network when new sites are plugged in
• employees have secure access to company platforms and storage wherever they are working
• more security for workers who are no longer behind the corporate firewall in hybrid work arrangements
• workers can join the company network securely without relying on virtual private network (VPN) gateways or complex access processes.

Technical benefits of SD-WAN

SD-WAN gives bandwidth back to the IT department by:

• letting technology departments stand up new locations and deploy applications across sites with existing links immediately, without having to wait for provisioning or change management
• preventing a failure in one service plan from affecting the rest
• scaling design using cloud-hosted gateways and a range of link technologies
• facilitating the use of multiple services in an active/active configuration
• allowing cloud-based management for ubiquitous access across all devices
• providing an easy-to-use interface to view network utilisation and advanced troubleshooting
• presenting a common set of systems and applications to end-users at any location

SD-WAN is a managed solution that is quick to deploy and an easy choice for companies that want better link quality without renegotiating their connectivity. Without downtime or complex rollouts, businesses can incorporate SD-WAN into their infrastructure, providing a net gain in security and efficiency for very little comparative cost.

Why choose Over the Wire for SD-WAN?

SD-WAN is a bespoke solution that requires a tailored approach to match your unique business requirements. While the benefits of implementing SD-WAN are significant and fast to achieve, your choice of SD-WAN provider will be critical for the ongoing success of your implementation and management.

The right SD-WAN partner comes with reliability, proven experience, and a focus on high-quality service and responsiveness, with a high stake in your ongoing success.

You need a provider to create an SD-WAN solution that is mapped to your business needs. A provider that will not only supply the hardware and appropriate setup to get you started, but will also continue to provide valuable support and useful advice along the way. And, you need a provider that has proven success.

Get a free 30-day SD-WAN proof of concept in your environment

Take the guesswork out of SD-WAN with an onsite proof of concept demonstration mapped specifically to your network.

To learn more about how SD-WAN works in the real world and how it can help your business, register for our [proof of concept workshop] and learn how businesses like yours have solved common networking problems as we unpack how and why SD-WAN works so well.

Attendees can take part in high-value discussions and will have the chance to hear about how other companies in your space have achieved success. Attendees will also qualify for Over the Wire’s free 30-day onsite proof of concept demonstration.

The post SD-WAN Proof of Concept</br><span style="font-size:0.8em">See SD-WAN Live In Your World</span> appeared first on Over the Wire.

EMBARGO
Monday 20 December 2021 – Monday 10 January 2022
If you would like any more information regarding Over the Wire’s Embargo period, please contact the Sales team at sales@overthewire.com.au.

SERVICE CHANGES
In preparation for this holiday shut-down, we encourage any of our PBX customers needing holiday-specific changes made to their services to email support@overthewire.com.au with your requirements as soon as possible.

Office Shut-Down: 25 December 2021 – 3 January 2022
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.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during 2021. We look forward to continuing to partner with your business in 2022.

Best wishes for a safe and happy Christmas.

The post Over the Wire Embargo Period 2021 appeared first on Over the Wire.

Telecommunications, cloud and IT solutions provider Over the Wire Holdings Limited (ASX: OTW) is pleased to announce it has delivered another year of strong growth in recurring revenues with the company beginning to experience the full benefit of recent investments across its integrated solution platform.

Key highlights from the year include:

• Becoming a Tier 1 voice provider following the completion of a multi-year Carrier Interconnect project
• Growing recurring revenue by 38% to $103.2 million and delivering strong positive operating cashflows
• A customer retention rate of 97.8%
• Completion of the Zintel, Fonebox and Digital Sense acquisitions
• Implementation of new Cloud availability zones in Perth and Adelaide
• Increased international capacity and partnerships
• Commencement of investment program to significantly upgrade the company’s core network (SuperCore)

Over the Wire Managing Director Michael Omeros said the achievements of the last financial year were important for the long-term future of Over the Wire and the growth of sustainable earnings.

“The completion of the carrier interconnect project and the completion of the Zintel, Fonebox and Digital Sense acquisitions provides us with a strong platform to lock in a variety of new, recurring revenue streams,” he said.

“We are already feeling the impact of these investments with second-half organic recurring revenue up 7% on the first half and a strong pipeline of new contracts and work.”

“The current financial year has started well and in line with expectations and we remain confident of delivering on our target of 15% growth in organic recurring revenue.”

Mr Omeros said the company’s Cloud. Connect. Collaborate. solution offering would continue to deliver positive outcomes for clients and help support future revenue growth.

“With the completion of the Carrier Interconnect project, we now have all the elements of a comprehensive, fully integrated platform that simplifies technology and empowers business,” he said.

Financial Results

Throughout the year, Over the Wire continued to focus on building its recurring revenue, with total recurring revenue growing 38% to $103.2 million. This component of revenue now represents 92% of overall revenue, up from 85% in FY20.

EBITDA for the year was $23.5 million (FY20: $17.4 million) with EBITDA margin improving from 20% in the previous year to 21%. The company also reported the continued strong conversion of EBITDA to cash with net cash from operating activities in the year of $24.5 million, up 111% from $11.6 million in the previous year. At the end of the year, the company has $16.7 million cash on hand.

The Board has declared a final dividend for 30 June 2021, of 2.25 cents per share fully franked, taking the full-year payout to 4.0 cents per share, up from 3.75 cents per share in the previous year.

Outlook

During FY21, OTW completed its transition to becoming a Tier 1 voice carrier. Completion of the platform means Over the Wire joins an exclusive group of Tier 1 carriers in Australia that can now offer full-service voice capabilities. Other Tier 1 carriers include Telstra, Optus, TPG, MyNetFone and Vocus.

Mr Omeros said completion of the project was a significant milestone in the history of the company and, combined with a range of other solution and platform improvements, had laid the foundation for a new phase of growth.

“As a Tier 1 voice carrier we will be far less reliant on third-party providers and unencumbered by legacy technology which will deliver instant savings and about $2 million in additional earnings each year,” he said.

Mr Omeros said the company had already begun to see the benefit of investments flow through with a range of new recurring revenue contracts signed.

Following on from the second-half organic recurring revenue being up 7% on the first half, the strong pipeline of new contracts and work creates confidence of delivering on the target of 15% growth in organic recurring revenue.

“We have the people, solutions and platform to deliver strong organic growth in the current year and are focussed on ensuring we deliver in line with our expectations.”

About Over the Wire Holdings Limited

Over the Wire Holdings Limited (ASX: OTW) is an ASX listed telecommunications, cloud and IT solutions provider that has a national 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 Data Networks and Internet, Voice, Data Centre co-location, Cloud and Managed Services.

Over the Wire Holdings, Limited companies include Over the Wire, NetSIP, Faktortel, Sanity Technology, Telarus, VPN Solutions, Access Digital Networks, Comlinx, Zintel Communications, Fonebox and Digital Sense.

The post Over the Wire Earnings up 35% as Solution and Platform Investments Drive Growth appeared first on Over the Wire.

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.

Commenting on the changes, Michael Omeros, Managing Director, said “I would like to express the Company’s sincere gratitude to our outgoing Chair, John Puttick, who provided a wealth of support, guidance and wisdom since our listing in 2015. John led the board with integrity, a commercial mindset, and a passion for growing our business to scale – all while retaining the Company’s entrepreneurial spirit.”

“On John’s retirement, I am pleased to welcome Stephe as Non-executive Director and Chair,” added Mr Omeros. “His experience and approach are exactly what the business needs as we execute our Cloud. Connect. Collaborate. strategy in the years ahead”.

Mr Wilks said, “I am delighted to be joining Over the Wire at this time – when the business is performing strongly and focused on growth opportunities. I look forward to working with the Board and Management team to build on the very solid foundations established in the years since the Company’s listing”.

Stephe is an active non-executive Director on the Board of several public and private companies, across a range of commercial and operations disciplines, with a particular emphasis on technology, governance, corporate finance and M&A. Stephe is Chair of 1st Group Limited and non-executive director of ASX listed BluGlass Limited (ASX:BLG) and Interactive Pty Limited.

Stephe has extensive corporate finance, CEO, senior management and operational experience,– particularly in the Australian and US markets, building on earlier work for telcos in the UK, Australia and the Asia Pacific region. He previously held roles as diverse as Chief Operating Officer of an aggressive wireless broadband infrastructure company, Consulting Director of NM Rothschild & Sons, and COO of Nextgen Networks.

Before Nextgen, Stephe was founder and Managing Director of XYZed, where he developed and managed Australia’s first competitive broadband wholesaler. He has Science and Law degrees from Macquarie University and a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney.

The post Stephe Wilks succeeds John Puttick as Chair 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.

Pushing through, the team all made it to the finish line and raised great donations along the way.

It isn’t too late to get involved, with donations still available to support those living with MS. If you’d like to contribute, you can donate here.

A special thank you also to our partners who helped us bring our new riding kits to life; NEXTDC, Juniper Networks, NetApp and VMware!

About the ride:

The MS Brissie to the Bay bike ride has been part of the Brisbane cycling scene for three decades now. Not only is it loved by families for its fun and friendly atmosphere, the 100km distance provides a scenic route to the bay for the more experienced riders.

This ride is more than just a fun day out on the bike; our amazing riders raise money to help change the lives of the thousands of Australians living with multiple sclerosis (MS). MS Queensland is the first choice for people living with MS and other chronic, progressive neurological diseases because of our experience, commitment, knowledge and services.

Every case of MS is unique. The symptoms, severity and progress of the disease are different for everyone. We are committed to helping those living with MS, by providing programs and support to help improve their quality of life.

The post Over the Wire team ride Brissie To The Bay fundraising for MS Queensland 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.

The ASD Essential Eight is regarded as a foundational component to resilience in online security and while it doesn’t cover every possible element, it offers arguably the best guidelines for IT security posture.

The recommended implementation order of the Essential Eight is as follows:

1. Application whitelisting – to control the execution of unauthorised software. 
2. Patching applications – to remediate known security vulnerabilities.
3. Configuring of macro settings – to block untrusted macros.
4. Application hardening – to protect against vulnerable functionality.
5. Restricting administrative privileges – to limit powerful access to systems.
6. Patching operating systems – to remediate known security vulnerabilities.
7. Multi-factor authentication – to protect against risky activities.
8. Daily backups – to maintain the availability of critical data.

Each component is critically important for the modern IT setup however, most businesses in Australia would be lucky to have even half of the Essential Eight implemented.

Why?

In our discussions with customers, the reason usually falls to three key challenges. Time, resources and costs. The underlying challenge for IT security specialists is illustrating and communicating the risk to senior leaders and contextualising it to the security posture of their company.

Too often, IT security professionals ignore learnings from the industry examples that can help build a business case to meet these obstacles.

For context, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)* responded to an average of 31 cyber security incidents per week in 2020-21 with self-reported losses totalling more than $33 billion. 

The frequency of incidents in Australia needs to form a part of your risk assessment and be a key pillar of building your Essential Eight strategy. 

It’s not just a matter of losing data. The biggest long-term consequence of a data breach is the loss of customer confidence. If your organisation was compromised and customer data was released, how would they react?

Implementing the Essential Eight as a baseline is more effective for saving time, money and effort than reacting to a large-scale cyber security incident. 

Avoiding a reactive scenario and bringing your organisation into line with Essential Eight requires a structured approach.

1. Discover your information assets and estimate their value – Scan and physically inspect your environment. Input your data into a CMDB if you have one or keep well documented records of the location, details and connectivity of your assets.
2. Perform a risk assessment – Think through potential attacks against your systems and data including initial entry points, spread and damage scenarios. Prioritise control of your most at risk assets.
3. Review – Use the outline of the Essential Eight to note the areas where no security capabilities exist or where additional work is required.
4. Develop a plan – Adopt new required security controls and improve the operational effectiveness of your existing controls.
5. Gain management buy-in – Form line-of-business commitments for necessary financial and personnel support.
6. Implement the controls – Measure progress and risk reduction and communicate your findings. Also, keep an eye on trends that could introduce new risks to your organisation.

A key oversight I’ve often encountered with Essential Eight implementation is the lack of review and improvement of risk mitigation strategies. A successful security posture is not stagnant. 

Rather, it requires maturity of the implementation to reach full alignment with the intent of strategy.

See the Essential Eight and resources from the Australian Cyber Security Centre here. 

Author Clint Walters has held a range of specialist roles in IT integration and solutions architecture for more than 15 years. He was previously a Senior Solutions Architect at Digital Sense, an Over the Wire company.

The post Understanding the Essential Eight appeared first on Over the Wire.

Further to the above, Over the Wire has observed that NBN field staff have been redirected to restore services in flood affected areas of New South Wales and cyclone affected areas of Western Australia.  

Over the Wire can potentially arrange alternate 4G based and other data services if required. Should you have any concerns or queries regarding an in place NBN service order, please contact our provisioning team via provisioning@overthewire.com.au.  If you would like to discuss possible delays for any upcoming orders please contact your Account Manager or the Over the Wire Sales Team on 1300 689 689 (option 3).

The post NBN advises of delays in their provisioning process appeared first on Over the Wire.