Aussie IT leaders see beyond the hype on NBN

Despite the hype, Australian CIOs recognise the importance of the impending National Broadband Network (NBN).

Most Australian CIOs support the NBN, according to a survey of 207 of them which found “virtually all” of those participating deeming the fibre network to be “important”.

The inaugural Insights Quarterly report #8212; conducted by Connection Research and commissioned by the Fujitsu CTO, Craig Baty, and Microsoft ANZ CTO, Greg Stone #8212; found that a majority of the CIOs and ICT managers surveyed believed access to high-speed internet connections will be a big driver of Cloud-based offerings.

The result was illustrated on a ‘Hype-o-Meter’: A four-point radar or ‘spider’ diagram, which showed that the opinions of CIOs on whether the NBN is under- or overhyped is largely varied.

The Hype-o-Meter asked respondents to rate a number of technologies according to whether they believed the technology is underhyped or overhyped and whether or not the technology is important.

The thinner the shape, the more important CIOs deemed the technology to be. The higher the shape, the more overhyped the technology is believed to be.

“This is a time of great change in the Australian communications landscape, with the introduction of the National Broadband Network and the increased availability of a range of other technologies,” Baty wrote in the report.

“CIOs cannot take their eyes of the ball #8212; an effective communications infrastructure is an essential part of any corporate ICT system.”

This finding was in contrast to Cloud computing, which was regarded as both the most important and the most overhyped technology, and wireless broadband, which was found to be very important but also underhyped and not receiving the attention it deserves.

Earlier this month Lateral Economics report argued that Australia had the potential to become a Cloud computing hub.

The report (PDF) argued that the NBN’s rollout, which would give Australia an infrastructure for fast onshore data transfers and “promote business and consumer confidence in Cloud solutions”.

However, it also stated that the extent of Australia’s domestic backhaul capacity and international links to the NBN’s points of interconnect is unknown.

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