WAN optimization IS tactical. For any IT administrator who has no defined policies or goals for their IT operations, WAN optimization is a way, and afterthought, they can reign things in. If IT and business operations were well-defined then the need for WAN optimization is moot. Everything will be laid out with a specific purpose in mind.
I've spoken to dozens of C-level and IT people who are literally clueless regarding how their infrastructure is being used. They blindly swallowed and bought bandwidth or WAN products without any knowing why. The cart is definitely before the horse. Organizational leaders should be using policy to spell-out why they have technology and what it's going to do for them. Then they can spend time managing the technology and use therein to achieve the desired results. Buying WAN gear only treats a symptom plus perpetuates the madness of throwing technology at a problem that can be addressed with user information and basic management principles.
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Tactical or Strategic -- It's YOUR Choice
We see WAN optimization as both a strategic and tactical technology, depending on the IT challenge at hand, and how closely that challenge is tied to broader IT strategy, policies and goals.
The #'s cited in the EMA survey actually show strong progress from 2-3 years ago (or more), when WAN optimization was purely tactical -- deployed primarily to save bandwidth, and sometimes to centralize file servers. That half of respondents now rate it as strategic speaks to the fact that IT teams are starting to proactively select these solutions and are taking the time to integrate them into their architectures and plans before deploying.
This trend will take several more years before the large majority of WAN optim deployments are strategic, long term "enabling of the WAN" for applications, but that time will come, as it has for other (at the time) advanced IP technologies like firewalls, QoS, VoIP, etc.
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