This on-site Interop podcast with Steve Hardy of Avaya focuses on the changing nature of voice communications for the enterprise and the coming importance of unified communications for both large enterprise and small business customers.

Years ago application delivery wasn't much of an issue, because apps were run over high-speed, low-latency local area networks.  These days, company employees are located in their homes and many far-flung remote office locations, and often rely on limited WAN connections.  How can IT ensure acceptable application performance under these conditions? In this interview, Jim Metzler explains the risks associated with remote application delivery and technologies that can help improve performance.

Global warming. Globalization. Air travel and all it entails. The justifications for video conferencing keep expanding, and the need for better video conferencing continues to grow. In this on-site Interop podcast we talk with Craig Malloy, CEO of LifeSize, about the advantages of high-definition video conferencing, an what telepresence can mean to large and small businesses.

Are you ready for 10 gigabit networking on copper cables? Most companies aren't taking advantage of 10-gig fibre yet, so the idea of high-speed networking over Cat 6a cable will take a while to work into the corporate mindset. When it does, products like those from Teranetics will make 10G-BaseT a reality. In this on-site Interop podcast we talked with Sanjay Kasturia, CTO & chairman of Teranetics, about what it will take to deploy 10 gig networking over copper, and just how long it might be before we're all buying 10 gig copper switches at Fry's.

Cold air and reliable electricity. They don't sound exciting, but take either one away from the modern server room and things get very exciting very quickly. Unfortunately, the increase in excitement is accompanied by a sharp decrease in business activity. In this podcast from Interop, we talk with APC's Paul Marcoux, US training and development director for the firm known for uninterruptible power supplies and machine-room air conditioners. Paul talked about the changes in technology that are accompanying user concerns for the global ecosystem, and the never-ending need to keep servers, switches, and other infrastructure components safe and happy.

This podcast interview from Interop 2007 features Jason Matusow, senior director for IP & interoperability at Microsoft. He talks about the changing expectation of interoperability, the role that standards like IP play in allowing platforms to work together, and the various points at which interoperability can be accomplished. This interview will be of interest to anyone who needs to make products and technologies from different vendors play together nicely in the corporate environment.

As networks grow in size and speed, keeping up with the contents of the flowing packets for performance and security analysis becomes more difficult -- and more critical. In this podcast from Interop, we talked with Mahboud Zabetian, president and CEO, and John Bennett, vice-president of marketing, from WildPackets, a company well-known in the packet capture and analysis market. They talked about the necessity of pulling meaningful information out of a massive data stream, and the ways in which better information can add up to increased profitability from your network.

Admit it: you don't think of KVMs very often. That's a shame, really, because a lot has changed in the KVM and remote access world over the last few years. In this on-site Interop podcast, we talk with Richard Cawdery, product manager for Adder, a UK-based company that is expanding into the North American market. Richard talked about the advances in KVM technology, particularly those advances that allow a technical staff to gain access to servers from around the world while maintaining necessary security. KVMs may never rival YouTube for excitement, but as a necessary part of the server-room infrastructure, there's a lot the right KVM can do to make life better for your technical staff.

In the Interop media center we spoke with Kris Lamb, director of the X-Force at IBM's Internet Security Systems. Kris is responsible for looking at current and evolving threats to computing, and we talked about the changing nature of cyber-criminals, the greatest threats facing networks today, and the vulnerabilities network managers should take into consideration for the future.

Trusted computing -- making sure that every device attached to the network follows the rules of the network -- is a critical factor in networking as it moves forward to be the central infrastructure of the enterprise. In this on-site Interop podcast we talk with the co-chairs of the Trusted Computing Group's Trusted Network Connect Work Group. Paul Sangster, a Symantec Distinguished Engineer, and Steve Hanna, a Juniper Networks Distinguished Engineer, talked about the importance of the trust relationship between network devices, the recent announcement that Microsoft's NAP (Network Access Protection) will support the TCG's framework, and the future of trusted network access as the definition of the network and devices attached to it continue to expand.

Wireless networking products have moved from a "fat" model to the "thin" model, which has most of the network intelligence in a central switching unit. Xirrus, supplier of the wireless networking gear at Interop 2007, has moved to the fattest-AP model, with network transport and management intelligence housed in an access point with as many as 16 separate radios. In this on-site Interop podcast we talk with John DiGiovanni, director of marketing at Xirrus, about the company's engineering philosophy and how it allows them to provide full wireless coverage to a large trade show and conference with a bare handful of (very large) access points.

In this on-site Interop conversation with Vivek Pathela, vice-president of product marketing at Netgear, we talk about the specific networking needs of the SMB (small- to medium-business) market, and new Netgear products in wireless networking, storage, and VoIP (voice over IP) aimed at the requirements of the smaller business.

This interview from Interop features Alan Cohen, vice president of mobility solutions at Cisco. We discussed the Cisco Business Mobility Initiative  and the nature of collaboration in the rapidly-changing world of highly-mobile computing. This wide-ranging interview covers the social, business, and technological factors driving the rise of mobile computing in the enterprise.

In this Interop on-site interview, we talk with Thomas Burns, Dave Miller, Dor Skuler, and Vincent Vermeulen of Alcatel-Lucent as they describe two of the products introduced at Interop. Omni-Access IDS/IPS is a high-bandwidth appliance available in versions intended for both perimeter and network core deployment. Non-stop Laptop Guardian is an end-point protection device that allows IT managers to update and monitor corporate laptop computers, even when they're not turned on. Together, the products increase protection through a layered security model.

In this interview from Interop, we talk with Don Malloy, chair of the marketing committee of OATH, the Initiative for Open Authentication. Don speaks about new OATH projects including OCRA, the OATH Challenge-Response Algorithm, and how the projects are coming to fruition through standards committees and industry adoption.

In this interview from Interop, Chris Austin and Jason Sloderbeck of Positive Networks discuss new trends in authentication and their company's new service which uses a cell phone to authenticate network or application log-ins.

In this podcast, we talk with Andrew Winston, author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. Andrew talks about how companies can see environmental sensitivity as a competitive advantage rather than a straight cost. Environmental awareness is on the rise across the economy�this podcast (and the free conference session at Interop) can help you understand how your company can benefit from the global change.

In this podcast, we talk with Dion Hinchcliffe, founder and CTO of Hinchcliffe & Company, a consulting company specializing in advising firms as they move to Enterprise 2.0. We talk about the definition of Enterprise 2.0, the benefits that may follow as a company moves to Enterprise 2.0 functionality, and the steps an organization might begin to take as they move into the world of the new enterprise.

In part two of this podcast, we bring back several  members of the CIO Bootcamp leadership: Thornton May, CIO and dean of Executive Leadership Academy; Bruce Barnes, CEO of Bold Vision; Louis Gutierrez, a Principal of the Exeter Group; and Tom Mantz, managing director of MNL Associates. These four top IT executives talk about the critical points of success and failure in the evolving CIO's role and the skills required for an individual to succeed as the position is redefined. This is part two of a two part podcast -- listen to the first half for more details on the nature of the changes facing CIOs.

In this podcast, we talk with Joel Snyder, a senior partner with Opus One, about Network Access Control--Cisco Systems' framework for developing a trusted device environment on the enterprise network. Joel has spent over 20 years designing and implementing secure networks, and he bases our conversation on that experience to talk about the current state of NAC, where the technology is going, and why it is a framework that you should know about if you're charged with insuring the security of your organization's data network. 

In this podcast we talk with John Pironti, Chief Information Risk Strategist at Getronics, about the current state of enterprise information security. John is well-positioned to discuss this topic, holding every major security certification and serving as a frequent speaker and lecturer on a variety of security themes. In this podcast he talks about current issues in enterprise information security, what responsible companies should be doing today to make sure their data is secure, and how companies of all sorts are handling--and mid-handling--the threats they're facing now.

In this podcast we talk with Keven Marier, founder and Editor in Chief of IP Video Security magazine about IP video security. This technology, which uses the enterprise data network to carry video signals as part of the physical plant security system, is replacing the closed-circuit television systems at many installations. Keven talks about trends in IP video security, the factors driving companies to adopt the technology, and how IP video is being incorporated into overall physical plant and data security systems.

In this podcast, we talk with Nelson Ruest, Senior Enterprise Consultant with Resolution Enterprises, about the process of migrating from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Nelson is an experienced Microsoft professional who was one of Canada's first MCSEs and the author of a library of books on the Windows operating system. We talked about strategies for migrating from Windows XP to Windows Vista, the arguments for and against making the move today, and the results early adopters are seeing from their move to the new operating system.

In this podcast, we bring together several  members of Interop's CIO Bootcamp leadership, also know as "the posse": Thornton May, CIO and dean of Executive Leadership Academy; Bruce Barnes, CEO of Bold Vision; Louis Gutierrez, a Principal of the Exeter Group; and Tom Mantz, managing director of MNL Associates. These four top IT executives talk about the changing role of the CIO within the organization and the skills required for an individual to succeed as the position is redefined. This is part one of a two part podcast -- the second half goes into more detail on the changing requirements of the role.

In this podcast, Richard Wolf, the General Manager for Office Graphics Services at Microsoft. In this role, Wolf oversees two major business applications within Microsoft Office: Visio and Powerpoint. In this podcast, which is the second in a two-part interview, Wolf talks about new features and capabilities of Powerpoint 2007, the upcoming version of Microsoft's presentation application.

In this podcast, we talk to Richard Wolf, the General Manager for Office Graphics Services at Microsoft. Wolf oversees two major business applications within the Microsoft Office suite: Visio and Powerpoint. In this podcast, which is the first in a two-part series, Wolf talks about the new features and capabilities of Visio 2007, the upcoming version of Microsoft's drawing and diagramming application. In part 2 of this podcast interview, which will be released next Monday, Wolf will explain what users can expect from Powerpoint 2007.