In the first part of this series on the changing network performance requirements that enable the increasingly virtual enterprise, we assess the business and technology issues driving the adoption of application delivery optimization solutions to ensure remote and mobile workers have secure and efficient access to the applications and data they need.

The virtual enterprise: challenges for deploying the new WAN

Through changes in business practices and technology, organizations of all sorts are evolving and reinventing themselves in new forms. Technology is steadily eroding the need for staff to be together in a specific place to work and collaborate, which is breaking the close coupling of place and work. Work is fast becoming something you do, not a physical place where everyone goes to get things done. In the data center and on the desktop, breaking the close link between specific physical assets and the actual work is now accomplished through a process of virtualization.

In support of this transformation, the