There are two matters of importance that will shape the way Australia in particular, and the rest of the world in general, work with networking tools.
First thing is the uptake of fiber, high speed wireless network and cable connections. Not only it is not a luxury anymore, it is becoming indispensable in a ever more mobile civilisation.
If 10 years ago, working from home was being seen as a good way of watching Oprah in your PJs and quickly slap something together in 2 hours before going back to work the day after, now it is not uncommon for someone to stay home and yet still turn in a solid 8 to 10 hours of work using remote facilities (remote desktop, corporate VPN, etc)
The other is that we've officially ran out of IP addresses. The existing pools have all been attributed, and while it may take some more time for people to be "left out", we have to get started on IPv6. While an average home user won't feel the need for it, yet should appreciate what it can do (imagine being able to play networked games from your PS3, XBox or PC without having to configure obscure settings on your router or check the recording of your favorite show on your tv from your phone at the office. IPv6 Truely would allow us to get back to the roots of "Plug N Play"), business users should get prepared to it.
There will soon be a time when we'll need to configure IPv6 ranges. Exchange 2010/Windows 2008 ships with IPv6 natively (which will be the point of another post). Port forwards are getting increasingly complex to configure when you have several servers that needs to be accessed from the outside. Imagine a network where 10 or more servers are directly accessible from the outside with no need for port forwarding? (Nota: Directly accessible does NOT mean "wide open". Proper firewall rules still apply)
Those two are somehow linked because of one central point:
Most routers (moreso home routers) do not support gigabit WAN nor IPv6 natively.
How do we want to help the uptake of new technologies if we do not provide the tools to do so? Would 3G be so popular now without the new generation of smartphones?
I do not think I'm wrong to think home users should actually be the target market. If your CEO can witness the benefits of such technologies in his home, he will be more inclined to give you the time and means to implement those benefits at work.
In conclusion, next time you need to shop around for a new router, be it at home or work, ponder 5 minutes on this:
Is it better to save 100 dollars now, or to get a headstart on future proofing your network?
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