"It was important that setup was simple because installation isn't necessarily undertaken by IT experts," he said adding that the rollout is supported by a training video and manual.

"Different people have different skill levels so a simple deployment was critical to the technology's success." Steve Dixon, A/NZ regional director, at Riverbed, said globalisation makes wide area data services (WDS) technology crucial to many organisations. "When organisations win back more bandwidth with WDS technology, they can reallocate some of it to real-time applications such as video conferencing, voice conferencing and VoIP," Dixon said.

"At the same time, the Steelhead products can improve application performance and download time, allowing every office within an organisation to increase productivity and better collaborate - regardless of their location."

- with Sandra Rossi