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7signal recently announced its latest version of software, Release 5, which proclaimed the arrival of two ground-breaking Wi-Fi performance management features: Auto-Analyze™ and Auto-Optimize™. However, deserving of equal attention is the new hyperlink testing capability that ships with the same release of software.
We recognized the need for this feature over a year ago when Release 5 planning was in its early stages. Its significance and usefulness warrants a broader discussion about the state of today's workplace, which we have outlined below.
No longer representative of just the devices we carry, mobility represents a cultural shift in our society that profiles the way we work and live. Simply put, we are mobile. Join this precept with the Age of Cloud Computing and it is clear that workers and their productivity are increasingly dependent upon connections that link them outside their organizations to access mission critical applications anywhere, anytime hosted by managed service providers as well as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors.
While it's true the workplace has been virtualized for more than a decade, modern technology allows both office and remote workers to collaborate and share online systems in a way that is more seamless than ever before. Whether it's the customer service group connecting to the CRM system in the cloud or the marketing people connecting to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, all of these systems and services are critical to the operation of the business.
As a result, internet connections to application service providers' websites must conform to the same service level agreements as the applications that reside in the data center. If not, then the business is at risk. By continually measuring the connection and download time of key web pages, you provide proactive assurance and afford yourself the opportunity to act once the 7signal system has alerted you of any performance degradation. Examples of action may include, notifying the business proactively, opening a trouble ticket with your ISP or examining routers and gateways that may be failing. It is important to reiterate that the action takes place ahead of any critical system failure and before any disruptions to business continuity due to the proactive nature of the performance management solution in place.
The emergence of our mobile culture combined with the advent of cloud computing has placed new demands on Wi-Fi networks. Reliable, global connectivity is the new standard. Therefore, comprehensive Wi-Fi performance management systems that measure, analyze, optimize, verify, track and trend performance according to service level are clearly the next evolutionary step in network management. 7signal continues to lead in this arena and the features contained within Release 5, including continual hyperlink testing, are evidence of this.