businessinfomag.uk magazine 20 Q: Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has just announced OmniVista Terra, a new on-premises network management platform. Before we dive into the product specifics, can you set the context for us. What’s happening in the network management market right now? Gerry O’Hanlon: What we’re seeing across the industry is quite remarkable, and frankly, concerning for many IT leaders. Major vendors – Cisco with Meraki, Juniper with Mist and HPE Aruba – are pushing customers towards cloud-only management platforms. In some cases, they’re removing on-premises options entirely. Meraki, for instance, was designed from the ground up with no on-premises controller option. Juniper Mist operates purely in the cloud, with no on-premises controllers available. It’s become the industry’s default direction. While cloud management makes perfect sense for many businesses, we’re hearing loud and clear from customers in regulated industries – government, defence, healthcare, transportation, energy and utilities – that they simply cannot adopt cloud-only solutions. They face strict compliance requirements, have data sovereignty concerns, or need guaranteed performance with ultra-low latency. These aren’t edge cases; they are massive sectors with specific operational needs that cloud-only vendors are increasingly unable to serve. Q: How does OmniVista Terra differ to what’s currently available? Gerry O’Hanlon: OmniVista Terra is our next-generation on-premises network management system, and what makes it unique is that it’s not a compromise. We’re not offering a stripped-down version of a cloud platform. Terra delivers the exact same advanced features as our cloud-based solution, OmniVista Cirrus, including unified LAN and WLAN management, AI-driven analytics, intelligent chatbot assistance and comprehensive observability, but it runs entirely on the customer’s infrastructure, under their control. Q: What does Terra actually do for network administrators? Gerry O’Hanlon: Terra provides a single, intuitive interface for managing switches and wireless access points, so there’s no jumping between different consoles and no separate learning curves. You get zero-touch provisioning for rapid device deployment, realtime device insights for proactive troubleshooting and advanced Zero Trust security policies with automated IoT micro-segmentation. The AI capabilities are particularly exciting. We’ve integrated an AI-based chatbot so that, instead of navigating complex menus or consulting documentation, administrators can use natural language to get real-time responses to network queries, configuration guidance and troubleshooting support, dramatically accelerating problem resolution. Pair that with OmniVista Network Advisor, our AIOps tool, which identifies patterns and anomalies that humans might miss, and you can mitigate issues efficiently across your entire network. Q: You mentioned Terra’s comprehensive observability. Why is that important? Gerry O’Hanlon: Exceptional observability is critical for modern networks. Terra provides deep, real-time analytics on network performance, user behaviour and device status. You get Quality of Experience metrics, historical analysis and Wi-Fi heatmaps for coverage optimisation – everything you need not just to react to problems, but to prevent them. The platform gives you complete visibility into what’s happening across your infrastructure, which is essential when you’re managing complex, mission-critical networks. Q: Why would an IT manager choose on-premises deployment when cloud is often seen as simpler and more flexible? Gerry O’Hanlon: That’s the critical question, isn’t it? For many organisations, cloud absolutely is the right answer, and that’s why we offer OmniVista Cirrus. But consider these scenarios: a government agency handling classified information cannot have network management data traversing public internet infrastructure, regardless of encryption; a hospital needs guaranteed, predictable performance for life-critical medical systems and can’t afford latency variations based on internet connectivity; an energy utility managing critical infrastructure needs air-gapped security; a financial institution faces strict data sovereignty regulations requiring all operational data to remain on-premises. In these cases, on-premises isn’t just a preference, it’s a mandatory requirement. Terra gives these organisations maximum control and data ownership; predictable ultra-low latency; strong local control, ideal for regulated industries; and fixed, upfront operational costs rather than ongoing subscription dependencies. Q: But doesn’t on-premises mean higher operational overhead, more IT staff, more complexity? In this Q&A, Gerry O’Hanlon, Country Business Leader for UK and Ireland at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, explains how the company’s new on-premises network management platform gives customers in regulated industries more choice and control On-premises network management in a cloud-first world NETWORKS Gerry O’Hanlon
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