Guide to Interconnection Oriented Architecture (IOA)
You know that a reliable network is essential to your business. But, juggling the latency blips, data backhauling, and poor user experience is getting tiresome for you and your IT department.
Overall productivity is suffering, compliance is questionable, and getting people on the same page in a new office is like pulling teeth.
According to Equinix, network speed and latency issues can wreak havoc on your bottom line:
- Amazon saw that for every 100 ms of latency, they lost 1% in sales.
- Google found that when an extra .5 seconds was added to the time it took to generate a search page, traffic dropped by 20%.
- A stockbroker could lose $4 million in revenues per millisecond if an electronic trading platform is 5 ms late in completing the transaction.
So, how can you deliver reliable connectivity across your company without sacrificing anything crucial to business function?
Interconnection Oriented Architecture is a unique networking infrastructure that allows you to adopt a connection-first strategy that puts communication back into the hands of your employees.
The Essential Interconnection Oriented Architecture (IOA) Guidebook for Enterprise Companies with a Connectivity Problem
The concept of ‘Interconnection Oriented Architecture’ may sound a little complicated for a networking solution, but, in fact, it’s a more straightforward concept that builds upon what’s already established within your technology stack.
This article breaks down the most important things that you need to know about enterprise IOA and how it affects your business:
- What exactly is IOA?
- How does it work?
- What’s the difference between SOA and IOA?
- Why is it important to businesses, specifically enterprise businesses?
- What are the common issues it solves?
- What are the benefits of IOA?
- What kind of businesses is it right for?
- What areas of my business does it affect?
- What are the key features to look for?
- What do I need to get started with IOA?
- How does IOA factor into my existing network?
Even if you’re a tech guru, this article outlines what you need to know in a simple way that you can clearly and easily present to shareholders or new team members. It’s a win-win!
What is IOA?
IOA, or Interconnection Oriented Architecture, is an enterprise networking model that leverages WAN, LAN, and cloud computing to streamline the delivery of data across vast distances while keeping you safe and compliant in every regard.
This lends itself to a dynamic enterprise network that improves digital engagement and supports digital transformation across the organization.
Ultimately, enterprise IOA aims to:
- Simplify user access with geo-specific data housing and automation.
- Optimize the networking ecosystem by leveraging multiple clouds.
- Improve response times by reducing the distance data needs to travel.
- Innovate faster with predictive capabilities and automation triggers.
- Maintain compliance by reducing the amount of data traveling your network.
Used by nearly 10,000 companies worldwide to shorten the distance between their people and assets, Interconnection Oriented Architecture offers a unique networking option that is not only streamlined but mostly self-managed.
How does IOA work?
Because an IOA lives at the intersection of physical and virtual networks, it brings WAN and LAN connections together to support digital collaboration at every point and location in your business.
By building upon much of your existing network infrastructure, IOA is able to deliver a cost-effective model that supports your business’s needs and can adapt to change more quickly in the future.
Interconnection Architecture is a layered networking approach that features an interconnected network of nodes, with a communication hub at the center of each node.
The edge nodes are built using four distinct layers:
- Network
- Security
- Data
- Application
These nodes act as gateways to specific locations and task sets within the network, effectively localizing the delivery of data and services to those who need them most.
What’s the difference between SOA and IOA?
As a technically savvy individual, you’ve probably heard of the concepts of business architectures before, namely, Service Oriented Architecture. But, how is Service Oriented Architecture different from Interconnection Oriented Architecture?
SOA – Service Oriented Architecture
SOA is a software design approach in which services are provided to components via network communication protocols.
It essentially serves as a self-contained blackbox for a specific business activity. REST, or representational state transfer, is an example of SOA at work.
IOA – Interconnection Oriented Architecture
IOA is an infrastructure development approach that is based on colocation hub deployments from Equinix.
It solves several fundamental business challenges that impact communication and the delivery of information.
Why is IOA important to businesses like yours?
Networking plays a critical role in good business management and customer engagement. But, why would Interconnection Oriented Architecture be better or more important to your business than the other networking solutions out there?
The fact is that IOA solves several critical business challenges and provides some very unique benefits that can help your business adapt and embrace digital disruption.
Some of the key business issues or challenges that it solves:
Because IOA is a connection based on the user location rather than the network carrier, it is infinitely more scalable and flexible than traditional legacy networks. This offers a unique way to solve common business challenges or issues facing your IT department.
No matter what industry you’re in, you’re probably feeling the pinch of a poor enterprise network:
- Internet or Telecom carrier limitations and data throttling.
- Relocating teams is like pulling teeth.
- Excessive and frequent data backhauling through your own network.
- Constantly having to shift data all over the network to accommodate users.
- Takes forever to get connectivity and data to new locations.
What are some of the key benefits of Interconnection Oriented Architecture?
Solving critical business problems via IOA opens up a world of unique benefits to your business, from reducing latency to improving productivity and everything in between.
While the benefits of IOA certainly don’t end here, this is a high-level look at the type of outcomes you can expect after making the transition:
- Reduce Latency
- Reduce Topological Distance
- Improve Real-Time Decision Making
- Improve Response Times
- Minimize Risk of Data Theft or Leakage
- Improve Overall Network Performance
- Maximize Bandwidth or Throughput
- Reduce Overhead Costs
- Support New Changes in Business and Market
- Support Workforce Needs
- Address New Demands of Digital Engagement
- Innovate Faster or Deliver Services Faster
- Maximize Productivity and Efficiency
- Support Growing Data Volume
- Support Changing Complexity of Data
- Consolidate Access
- Balance Load
- Improve QoS
What kind of businesses is IOA right for?
While an Interconnection Oriented Architecture is beneficial for any business, it is best suited to distributed or remote enterprises with an in-house IT department and a unique need for digital collaboration across the enterprise.
These types of organizations often have lots of sensitive data moving back and forth across their network and require high-level data leakage protection and GDPR compliance.
What areas of business are affected by Interconnection Oriented Architecture?
IOA is typically the IT department’s domain, but the impact can be felt across the entire organization.
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In fact, all departments and employees will benefit from the implementation of an Interconnection Oriented Architecture:
Sales Department
Communicate with sales reps in the field and engage with prospective customers throughout the relationship.
Marketing Department
Coordinate campaign and content delivery with in-house and remote employees across locations far and wide.
IT Department
Easily manage and maintain data integrity and security across the organization, as well as simplify location setup and launch.
Human Resources
Evaluate and maintain employee compliance with regulatory bodies.
C-Suite
Get real-time updates and insights into relevant KPIs to share with shareholders and stakeholders.
What are the major IOA features to be aware of?
So, now that you’ve gotten a brief look at how IOA can affect different areas of your business, what are the specific features that you should look for in an enterprise IOA solution?
Here’s a rundown of some of the most important and impactful features that Interconnection Oriented Architecture can bring to the table:
- User-Oriented Gateways or Nodes
- Geo-Specific Gateways or Nodes
- Layered Structure
- Single Platform Framework
- Optimized WAN Connections
- Predictive Algorithms
- Automated Triggers and Actions
- Multi-Cloud Connectivity
- API Integration and Management
- Multi-Party Flows
- Real-Time Policy Controls
- Scalable Data Repository
- Tailored Network per Traffic Type
- Secure Hybrid Cloud
- Segmented Traffic Flows
While these are some of the most prevalent and arguably the most important features of IOA, they are not the only ones. Depending on your current tech stack and your business needs, additional features may surface.
Ask your prospective IOA strategist or solution provider for a complete rundown of their features or get a customized roadmap to how they can help you achieve your goals.
How does IOA factor into your existing network?
As mentioned above, integrating IOA doesn’t have to be a royal pain, and leveraging your existing software and hardware is a viable option.
Your interconnection architect will work with your team to determine your unique needs and what equipment makes sense to leverage for the future of your connectivity.
IOA combines LAN and WAN for better networking access, so if you’re already using SD-WAN and/or hybrid cloud computing solutions, these are a great addition to your stack.
To simplify your implementation strategy, IOA can be rolled out one location at a time to ensure ease of adoption and to monitor and manage any hiccups in the process.
Self-Managed Networking Doesn’t Have to be a Disaster
Connectivity is crucial to your business. Getting the best of both worlds doesn’t have to be a massive pain for your IT department, nor does it have to be a managed services sacrifice.
Put your IT department back in control of your enterprise networking by adopting an Interconnection Oriented Architecture moving forward.
Integrating IOA into your tech stack is as simple as contacting us today to chat about how we can help you design and implement the perfect networking solution.
