The FOTON Solution Center is responsible for creating the actual solution concept. This is mainly done by our business consultatants and FOTON architects together with our customer, our customer's customer and partners and suppliers. FOTON offers leadership, methods and tools to create a solution concept. The solution concept includes Business Case verification together with pilot customers, the creation of pilot solution, partner strategy and selection, operational model, process definitions and strategic marketing plan.

This step of the process focus on:
• Solution Development
• Market Analysis
• Business Case Verification
• Defining of operational processes

To succeed in creating new solutions for the IT and Telecom industry it is mandatory to work fast, customer oriented and with solutions that consit of building blocks from different suppliers.

By organising a Solution Center you are well equipped to quickly create integrated solutions. The Solution Center will automatically handle trade offs between the perfect technical solution and time-to-market by using an itterative process where pilot customers and suppliers/partners are active participants. The investments and risks are also shared between the customer and the suppliers/partners. The FOTON Solution Center defines this itterative process and it's participants, roles, responsabilities and output.

Server-centered data storage solutions (DAS) are not up to today's increasing demands regarding flexibility, availability, security, scalability and manageability. So they no longer guarantee cost-effective provision of high-performance storage infrastructure services. This is a fact that IT-intensive companies are increasingly recognizing. Two technologies that are tailored to the greatly increased demands on data storage have been gaining ground on the IT market for some time: NAS (network-attached storage) and SAN (storage area network).

SAN/NAS Technology
Storage networks can greatly improve access, consolidation, performance and data availability of an IT infrastructure. It has also been shown that such storage networks form the heart of mission-critical processes, i.e. they are the lifeline between the system and the information. The company expects that both SAN (storage area networks) and NAS (network-attached storage) will revolutionize the market in the same way that the LAN did. Network storage enables both existing and new storage infrastructures to be incorporated into a scalable overall concept. The SAN also sets new standards in terms of total cost of ownership (TCO), because it is very cheap to operate.

Network-attached storage (NAS) is an architectural storage system that can be connected directly to a network (e.g. Fast Ethernet). A NAS appears like a normal Windows NT and/or UNIX fileserver to the other computers. A NAS has its own operating system (often based on UNIX - LINUX) that is exclusively optimized for input-output processes. Therefore, a NAS is generally faster, cheaper, simpler and more reliable than a conventional fileserver. A NAS also offers genuine data sharing, because the data is physically present only once on the NAS, and can be presented for Windows and/or UNIX systems as required. Highly redundant NAS systems are also available from various vendors.

Storage Optimization
Goal:
• Most effective infrastructure (become smarter = Compete in a different way) Roadmap:
• Design innovative Storage topologies (SAN/NAS)
• Implementation of availability- & performance classes
Output:
• Productivity improvement > 300%
• Storage optimization

As an integrator of information technology, FOTON works closely with clients to address their mission-critical information technology needs. Our Technical consulting team assists in the planning, design, development, deployment, and ongoing support of multi-vendor technology solutions. Consulting focuses on infrastructure installation for local and wide area networks coupled with internet, intranet, electronic messaging and information management solutions.

Experienced FOTON consultants work with client management to take a "big-picture" approach to the use of technology. They provide strategic advice by working collaboratively with clients to deliver recommendations that advance the client's strategic goals through sound information technology solutions.

Key components to every successful installation are the analysis and design services that help clients develop industry standards-based architecture and operating plans created to enhance productivity. This technology assessment and planning process helps clients review their existing use of technology with an eye towards achieving their future goals. As a result, clients are able to make informed strategic decisions geared toward improving the return they receive from their investment in technology.