Ray Mota Networking & Telecom Blog

ACG HotSeat with Alcatel-Lucent Kevin & Lindsay

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:54:00 +0000

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Due to some of the sequential year-over-year growth ALU had during a down economy, ACG wanted to do a HotSeat interview with Lindsay Newell and Kevin Macaluso from Alcatel-Lucent and get a deep dive into the key strategic drivers

ACG HotSeat with Alcatel-Lucent Kevin & Lindsay

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:22:00 +0000

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IPv6 Deployment: Are We Crying Wolf?

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:22:00 +0000

The migration from IPv4 to IPv6 has been a recurring topic for years with industry reps intermittently sounding the alarm of the imminent and potentially catastrophic depletion of IPv4 addresses. The prediction that IPv4 addresses would run out by 2005 (as some analysts claimed) clearly was just alarmist. Here we are in 2009 and the Internet world has not, like Henny Penny’s sky, come crashing down. Because of network address translation (NAT), which can translate public addresses to private addresses, IPv4 longevity has been extended. However, this extension is not indefinite, and, no doubts, the transition from IPv4 to the adoption of IPv6 needs to move forward. But as with all things technological, there must be transition. This is especially pertinent given the mission-critical nature of networks and the rapid growth of traffic, services (cloud hosting for one), and products that demand increasing amounts of bandwidth.

Why should service providers make the transition from IPv4 to IPv6? IPv6 offers multiple advantages: it removes the requirement for an infinite number of addresses, offers better renumbering, facilitates multihoming, performs internal topology hiding, prevents host counting, and eliminates NAT, which all add costs and complexity to a network. These advantages make it easier for SPs to deploy new applications without having to employ difficult work-arounds or deal with random failures that are prevalent with IPv4 and NAT. Another major and challenging issue is speed and scalability. Can NAT truly translate network to network fast enough so that there is no compromise in the reliability of connection?

In addition to promoting seamless connectivity and better scaling of networks and services, IPv6 provides service provisioning, network management efficiencies, and OpEx savings. If these are not reasons enough for conversion, consider competitiveness. IPv6 not only promotes business continuity, but also fosters tech innovation and growth. For equipment manufacturers, IPv6 advances the development and evolution of smart grids, intelligent buildings, sensor networks, and other hardware- and application-dependent technologies.

Spurring innovation is another key reason for adopting this protocol. Virtually unlimited (wink) address space is expected to drive cutting-edge advances in monitoring, tracking, and remote management software and applications. What innovation adds up to is potential dollars and market share for SPs; with an adaptable platform service providers can more easily deliver new and richer services and products.

Although IPv6 is the logical next step in the evolution of the Internet, IPv6 is not a panacea. Service providers do face limitations and costs with transitioning. During incremental deployment, IPv6 features cannot be effectively and fully utilized. Additionally, because IPv6 is not a scaled up version of IPv4, and the two protocols do not interoperate directly, some form of NAT is required to translate IP packet headers between them.

Another issue to consider with IPv6 is address distribution. And here, I’ll give a word of warning: initially, it was thought that IPv4 addresses would never be exhausted, but that has not proven to be the case. When devising an IPv6 address distribution system the industry needs to very prudent in its allocation so we are not in the same boat 5 to 10 years from now. If you don’t think that this can happen just look at the growth over the last five years of cell phones with IP addresses, not to mention the many other devices that will have IP addresses.

In spite of these transitional and other technical issues, IPv6 does once fully implemented offer service providers business and economic opportunities. The question is when will the stakeholders stop crying wolf and start coordinating an industry response to IPv6 transition?

SP's “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Boy oh boy, just when you just don’t think technology can get any better you hear that Cablevision is offering live streaming online Yankees’ games. First Manny getting benched and now this announcement. Folks, does baseball get any more exciting than this? Initially, these games will only be available in the team's home market, and, yeah, I know I won’t be able to take a break from toiling over my research to watch online, but a man can dream can’t he? Who knows, eventually, given end users’ expectation of on-demand services, all fans scattered globally may be able to grab their phone, laptop or any other gadget and watch every game online. Just think, never missing a Yankees’ game because it wasn’t nationally televised, sigh! I know some of you envious Red Sox fans are shaking your head and asking, “Ray, Ray, Ray, what’s your point?” Well, isn’t it obvious? Pickoff, of course.

Pickoff, to explain to nonbaseball fans — although I can’t imagine there being any — is a play that catches a runner off base. As end users continue to up the stakes in the types of services they expect coupled with the proliferation of next-gen mobile devices, high-speed connectivity, and data-intensive Web 2.0 applications, service providers’ networks cannot afford to be in a pickoff situation. SPs must ensure that their management tools, operating systems, middleware, databases, server platforms, network cabling storage arrays can accommodate the QoS and rate requirements of applications such as wireless broadband access, multimedia messaging service, video chat, mobile TV, HDTV content, digital video broadcasting, voice and data, and other streaming services for anytime, anywhere, and on any device delivery.

Meeting these requirements will be especially crucial when 4G, with infrastructure only packet-based, is eventually rolled out. With each user requiring bandwidths ranging from 100Mbps to 1Gbps, carriers will need even larger backhaul solutions. Successful pitching of new services will require specific equipment options to meet the coverage and capacity needs of different environments as well as allow SPs to continue addressing existing services.

Although there currently are no specific standards that define a 4G service, network or technology, groups are working on these specifications and plan to announce universal standards by next year. However, one thing is for sure right now: customers are consuming more band-intensive services and expect grand slam classes of service on par with business-grade IP services. Combine 4G with mobile phones equipped with high definition capabilities, well, it’s “Take me online to the ball game” — music to my ears!

Gorilla in the Managed Services Market

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:03:00 +0000

It’s not often the little guy gets the advantage, but in the case of managed services revenues, small businesses, which have been the “little guy” in the market, now have the edge. Worldwide, service providers are reporting decreases in all segments, on average, of -13.72% in their managed services revenues. But there is one segment that is the exception: small business managed services, which is proving to be the revenue gorilla in an otherwise depressed market.

Small businesses continue to see the economic benefits of outsourcing their IT, especially as many of them are directly affected by the credit crunch and are unable to secure financing for general operations and/or purchase of network equipment. Savvy service providers that anticipated this trend are now reaping the benefits. Small Office Managed WAN (CPE) Router Services increased 55.86%, sequentially, in Q1 2009.

As the costs associated with network complexity, metro Ethernet, IP VPNs, managed IP voice and IP security consume more of their IT budgets, SMBs recognize that outsourcing their network management to service providers is one way to improve their success and bottom line, avoid and manage risk, and improve their overall operational efficiency. For service providers, this recognition translates to new sources of revenues, that is, as long as they can address SMBs’ specific operational requirements, such as integration of software applications, data center consolidation, integration of other operational platforms, managed hosting, and managed network solutions, especially in the rapidly expanding areas of managed voice and security.

Verticals within the small business market also offer SPs another source of market share growth. Smaller banking and financial services institutions, manufacturing, telecommunications, and retail businesses are increasingly outsourcing their telecom services to lower their capital expenditures.

With competition eroding SPs’ profits, many are now looking to small businesses to grow their revenue and market share. Service providers are revising their business models to identify and target SMB market opportunities and designing strategies that deliver best-practices for services and products that address their specific requirements. With small businesses accounting for more than 50% of gross domestic product worldwide, capturing a piece of this “little guy” revenue share isn’t monkey business.

Juniper and Nokia Siemens Partnership: It’s All about Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:21:00 +0000

The push toward addressing the carrier Ethernet market just got a boost with the announcement that Juniper Networks and Nokia-Siemens have formed a partnership to provide an end-to-end solution in the transport market. The joint venture is not only timely but opportunistic. Worldwide, there are approximately 2.7 billion mobile subscribers, and the growth is only expected to continue increasing, especially in emerging markets. It is estimated that Ethernet mobile backhaul equipment revenue will increase to $2.2 billion by 2010. With Ethernet being the future as a carrier class technology for backhaul, carriers, clearly, need to invest in and upgrade their networks. For equipment and product manufacturers like Juniper and Nokia Siemens these numbers not only present them with an opportunity to provide carriers and operators with a network management solution that saves carriers OpEx and makes managing their networks easier, but also gives both companies a significant advantage in expanding their global footprint in the transport market.

Both the increase of wireline and wireless services, such as mobile video, messaging, online gaming, which require significant amounts of bandwidth and thus make the dependence on T1 circuits an expensive vehicle for delivering 3G and 4G WiMAX services, and the worldwide increase of mobile subscribers that are demanding a high and consistent level of reliability and performance from their providers are main drivers behind the push for carrier Ethernet as both a transport vehicle and service offering.

Carriers repeatedly identify transport as being their single, most costly expense. Data services deliver lower per bit revenue than voice services, and carriers recognize that to realize profits they need to reduce the cost per bit of transporting data traffic. Carriers expect cost-effective, scalable Ethernet to drive down their operating expenses while letting them have the flexibility to turn on bandwidth, something that they never had with legacy networks in the mobile space. The Juniper and Nokia Siemens’ carrier Ethernet solution creates a more complete end-to-end solution for the MX & A-Series platform to deliver an efficient, seamlessly integrated, easy-to-manage unified carrier Ethernet solution that supports all services on a single network. It offers point-to-point, point-to-multipoint or multipoint to multipoint circuit with a full OAM functionality that is normally associated with SONET/SDH TDM-based infrastructure, which is cost effective and has the scaling advantage of a packet Ethernet switching infrastructure. The OSS, which is a critical component of their solution, has been developed to target those carriers that are familiar with a SONET/SDH network and are used to a point and click environment. As a function of the solution, the access network management system will directly interface to the access component, figuring all the necessary functionality of the system. In addition, this end-to-end solution allows Juniper to extend deeper into the enterprise network, for example, Ethernet demarcation via its MX product line.

Juniper’s current BX-Series should still have a market for service providers that are looking to extend MPLS to the backhaul, while this new venture will allow either company to offer a circuit transport-type Ethernet product with proper OSS.

Carrier Ethernet as a service is showing dominance, and as more companies want Ethernet for their multimedia communications, VoIP services, equipment manufacturers will feel more pressure to develop products and services to meet those needs. For Juniper and Nokia Siemens it’s all about focusing on their customers and developing a solution and enhancements that are “always relevant and better than anything on the market.” This alliance and single-minded focus can only benefit the carrier Ethernet market.

Data Center Efficiency: The Silver Lining Is in the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:36:00 +0000

At the risk of being called a Pollyanna, I am going to go out on a limb and say that there are some positive outcomes of recessions. If nothing else, the current economic situation is forcing IT enterprises to take a hard look at their data centers and how they do business. With typical data center costs running approximately 25% of total IT budgets, increasing pressure from global competition, social responsibility and energy efficiency (“green”) demands, rapid technology changes, infrastructure complexity, information explosion, and user sophistication, enterprises are under pressure (if not duress) to find cost-efficient business solutions and models to operate their data centers. Cloud computing is one technology and service solution that offers enterprises a data center silver lining (go ahead and groan), which optimizes resources and drives efficiency.
With the proliferation of next-gen mobile devices, high-speed connectivity, and data-intensive Web 2.0 applications, more enterprises are recognizing the advantages of cloud computing. Three words, coincidentally A words, sum up cloud computing: anytime, anywhere, and adaptability. Cloud computing, whether private or public, is a model for provisioning processes, applications, and services while making IT management more flexible and responsive to the end user’s requirement of on-demand services regardless of location or the type of device the user is utilizing.

A cloud computing data center model enables rapid innovation, scalability, and support of core enterprise functions, resulting in significant economies of scale. Opex and capex savings are realized through the standardization of systems and software components. Virtualization reduces the need for additional hardware, software, and facilities as well as automation of server, network, storage, operating systems, and middleware provisioning and security issues, all of which are costly and time consuming functions.

Addressing and managing services within a cloud environment reduces infrastructure expenses without adversely affecting business requirements. With the deployment of virtualization solutions, utilization of servers can increase from 20% to 70% with a resulting decrease in required infrastructure. This hardware reduction translates to a dramatic decrease in some associated operation expenditures: rack space, real estate, power, and cooling.

Another important but often overlooked advantage of cloud computing is the ability to ensure continuity and data center longevity. The average life expectancy of a large data center is 12 years. With the cost of developing a data center at approximately $500M, cloud computing becomes both a business and operational value.

Not only does cloud computing improve system utilization, management, and provisioning as well as set the framework for data center longevity, it also increases service velocity; increases speed in service delivery within networks; reduces the overall costs associated with data centers; allocates resources more efficiently; establishes new revenue options; secures networks; and enhances customers’ experiences.

Profiting from Cloud Computing

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:41:00 +0000

One of the recent trends that has emerged and is gaining considerable momentum in the telecom industry is cloud computing as a service. Cloud computing, which is dynamically scalable, involves using infrastructure, platform, software, or Web 2.0 as a service. Using the Internet to meet the information/service requirements of businesses makes cloud computing ideal as a revenue source for service providers. SPs already have the infrastructure and platforms to incorporate these virtualized resources such as business applications online, which require that users access the application via a web browser. The software and any associated data are stored on the servers, freeing an enterprise from the costly OpEx associated with servers, security, data warehousing, and the necessary personnel to manage IT, functions that SPs already excel at offering and managing.

For service providers to successfully market and offer cloud computing as a managed service, they must focus on a strategy that outlines the benefits for enterprises. A key marketing focus is emphasizing how cloud computing centralizes data, which, in turn, reduces data storage costs, a huge budgetary item for some enterprises. It allows enterprises to automate IT functions and frees their staff from focusing on updating and maintaining data. It also allows enterprises to increase users without having to add expensive hardware and software capacity and allows flexibility as network load requirements shift.

Another advantage to cloud computing is that it also provides ease in accessing information. Enterprises can jump on this type of service very quickly without worrying about acquiring additional hardware, software, personnel, or licenses. Staff has access to information from any office or location. Additionally, SPs assume the burden of security, which reduces the security issues for the enterprise as well as lower costs for such items as code review and/or penetration tests.

Mature service providers can capitalize on their reputations and solid performances to offer businesses reliable, comprehensive, and secure services. And most importantly and a benefit SPs need to strongly emphasize, cloud computing allows enterprises to focus on other aspects of their businesses without having to concentrate resources on IT, server updates, and maintenance issues — a win-win service offering for both SPs (new revenue source) and enterprises (focus on core business) that subscribe to this managed service.

Managed Services: Practicing EBMS

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Consider the following: global managed service revenues are estimated to grow to $66 billion by 2012. Pause a minute and reflect: $66 billion by 2012! People, that isn’t chump change! And if getting a piece of the $66 billion isn’t enough of an incentive, here’s more: IP voice is seeing the fastest growth but from the smallest base; IP VPN is the most mature service; hence, it is realizing the lowest growth; and finally, metro Ethernet and security are experiencing above average growth. What’s my point? Envision, build, market and sell (EBMS). The global telecom market offers service providers unlimited managed services opportunities for those who are willing to seek and grab them.

To support businesses’ MNS, SPs need to focus first on some key aspects of their own businesses. SPs need to distinguish or brand their offerings from those of their competitors. That doesn’t just mean selling products. SPs must become “trusted advisors” to their customers, delivering a suite of services and products tailored to their clients’ specific requirements. This means developing and aggressively marketing value-added service offerings that complement their clients’ existing service portfolios.

Verticals offer the best managed services revenue possibilities with some showing more favorable growth than others. The retail and government sectors are two verticals experiencing stronger than average growth. The education sector is by far the highest growth sector but is the smallest of the verticals. Although manufacturing remains the largest vertical by revenue, with finance close behind, both offer the lowest expansion potential.

SPs also need to identify new markets worldwide as well as pinpoint each theater’s unique opportunities and challenges. For example, Europe is the most mature theatre in managed services today; offering new managed services must be specialized and targeted to realize significant revenue share. North America will become the largest market by 2012, presenting SPs with numerous growth possibilities. Asia-Pacific and emerging markets have the highest potential, fuelled by BRIC countries. Japan offers the least growth because of its mature networking market.

So, you’re probably asking, how do I get some of the $66 billion? My suggestion is to envision, build, market, and sell your service. Consider delivering programs for experienced providers that delivers technology as a service. Consider a unique partnering platform. Focus on enterprises that want to accelerate time to market, maximize revenue opportunity, and differentiate themselves. And provide access to a full range of go-to-market, marketing, technical, branding, and financial resources that support every stage of the service lifecycle. These strategies might just get your business a little more pocket change.

ARPU: What’s Driving Yours?

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Think about your ARPU. What drives it? With global economies either facing or in recession, understanding and evolving your business in relation to economic conditions, broadband growth, and end-users’ experience is imperative to stay competitive, increase your bottom line, and expand your market share.

If there is a good thing about recessions — good being relative, mind you — it is that they force businesses to take a hard look at how they do business, a point I just made during a recent speaking tour to EMEA service providers and applicable to all SPs worldwide. For telecoms, looking at their business means recognizing and modifying operations to meet the transformation taking place; and understanding the customer base to provide and manage the service-oriented, personalized lifestyle services that customers are demanding.

Competition requires that service providers deal with some major challenges facing them: multiple network domains, increasing costs, slow services, QoS, and service price pressures, just to name a few. These are hardly new for the industry, but given the volatility of the market, it is critical that the industry focus on them, postponing or ignoring these challenges is no longer an economic option.

Developing new business models that deliver innovative services quickly and price them competitively is the key to more profitable growth. SPs need to ensure that revenue and profit are driven by usage, that advertisers pay for service, and that they differentiate themselves from the other players.

How can SPs do that? First, make sure that your business model is flexible and can rapidly adapt services as market conditions and as consumers’ demands change; second, differentiate each service based on internal (or external) service-level objectives; third, upgrade your infrastructure to deliver services via highly cost-effective operations; establish pricing based on an end-user pays for service model ; and finally, differentiate! Targeting verticals is one way to differentiate and to increase ARPU.

So, I’ll ask you again: What’s driving you ARPU? If your revenue and profit aren’t driven by usage maybe it’s time to reconsider your business model and strategy on OpEx.

If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Change

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:42:00 +0000

If it seems like I keep harping about the economy and what telecoms need to do to survive during these perilous times, well, I guess it’s because I am. Let’s face it, there isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t hit by another doom and gloom headline or a story that’s analyzing what Congress and the President are trying to do to turn the economy around. As I’ve said before, even though the economy is in recession, telecoms cannot afford to neglect their infrastructures. Service providers need to grab the opportunities to continue building new and efficient applications and services to meet consumers’ demands. 2009 will, most likely, be a tough year economically for all businesses, and the telecom industry, even though it will weather the recession better than other markets, is no exception and will feel some repercussions from the downturn. The economy won’t be the only challenge that SPs will face. 2009 will also see telecoms facing some strong, challenges as nontraditional competitors make a grab for market shares.

More service for fewer dollars demands from consumers will spur competition among providers, especially as new segments jump into markets they have not traditionally ventured in, for example, cable companies now courting the small business markets. Cable companies, too, will increasingly feel the pressure from nontraditional competitors as telecom carriers hone in on their triple-play services market.

Another segment that is seeing big player action is the wireless data space. Google is making its Android mobile platform accessible for anyone to use. The move is not altruistic; Google’s goal is to encourage the development of a wide variety of applications from which it can benefit. Clearwire is also jumping into the fray and marketing its WiMax as its core service. Apple’s iPhone has revolutionized the handset, especially in the area of video downloads.

What can SPs do about this the territorial encroachment? Those service providers that can target verticals, identify their specific requirements, and provide truly customized service packages that interact and operate in parallel rather than just bundling disparate services as a group will differentiate and grab market share and grow profits. In the wireless arena, these nontraditional competitors are giving the mature wireless carriers a wake-up call and are not only offering serious competition but also new opportunities to partner and innovate.

“A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.” SPs that truly want to win will have to change not only how they do business, but also take into consideration with whom they are competing and develop new strategies to effectively contend with these newcomers. And, I repeat, even in this economic climate SPs need to evolve their networks to service the next-generation of network appliances. If they don’t, they may just find that their nontraditional competitors have become mainstreamed and grabbed more of their markets and profits.

Columbia University Graduate School - Ray Mota Presents ITSM

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:13:00 +0000

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Dr Ray Mota presents at Columbia University Graduate School on ITSM, Dr Mota discuss all of the requirements and framework to make your IT department successful

“The Times They Are a Changin’”

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:51:00 +0000

“Times they are a changing,’” yes, indeed, they are, not only for the country with Tuesday’s inauguration of the first black president and the new direction he wants to take the country, but also in the telecom industry. Even with months of preparation and an increase in network capacity, wireless networks were overloaded and crushed from the video and photo traffic from the approximately 2 million people who attended Barack Obama’s inauguration. I was one of those people who tried calling some friends that were in Washington D.C. but could not get through to them. One of my buddies finally called me back and marveled at how he was able to record videos, store movies and have his entire family photo album all in his cell phone and yet at the event he was lacking the fundamental capability of making a simple phone call.

With wireless becoming the technology of choice and data, such as text messaging, instant messaging, twittering, mobile Web, video, games, and social networking, driving wireless growth, meeting that growth will require and ultimately force providers, carriers, and equipment vendors to upgrade their architecture and technology. Clearly, data traffic, not only the type but also the amount being sent over the Internet, is evolving to a level that the current bandwidth of many networks can no longer support. Inauguration day was a case in point.

Additionally, the current generation of telecom users — those that have always had access to the Web and cannot conceive of a time when there was no Internet — want to be connected all the time either on their laptops or iPhones. They also have a cultural perspective that involves “the group” where everything is collaborative in nature and where there are no lines between home and work. Look at the success of sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Because of this collective cultural perspective, this generation requires services that demand a lot of connectivity, and efficient connectivity requires state-of-the-art networks. The questions are who pays for it, and who profits from it?

The jam (and I’m not talking the Springsteen concert) at the inauguration was a glimpse of the future if the industry doesn’t address the network capacity issue. With plans in the works for 4G technology, the telecom industry needs to define their business model to be ready for the future in terms of the technology forces and requirements demanded of new technologies and by the end users. The industry needs to create an action plan to make these changes happen because whether or not you’re ready, the times for both the country and in the telecom industry are definitely changin’.

Social Networking: Is Your Network Ready for It?

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Happy New Year, everyone! I trust you had wonderful holidays communing with friends and family. I know I did. And speaking of socializing, in my last blog I alluded to the growth of the social networking (SN) and the community platform industry. After checking with some of my industry contacts, it has become very apparent that SN is not only here to stay but is becoming an increasingly valuable enterprise tool for them: Here’s what I’m hearing from small businesses and large enterprises:

➢ Allows businesses to form mutually beneficial alliances and cross promote.
➢ Allows enterprises to connect with both customers and other associated businesses.
➢ Internet is 24/7, giving advertisers through social networking sites an advantage to reach many more customers than using traditional forms of advertising and marketing.
➢ Allows enterprises to promote their business and facilitates network building.
➢ Excellent resource for new ideas as well as potential customers.
➢ 70% of new business that a company gets is through word of mouth.
➢ Allows enterprises to participate in benchmarking to help identify and improve areas of business performance.
➢ Benefit from economies of scale by involving employees in joint skills development, cross-training initiatives, and staff exchanges.
➢ Makes it easier for businesses that operate globally to keep in touch with contacts.

With Facebook alone reporting over 20,000 social network groups focused on business topics on their site (90% of Fortune 1000 companies are included in this number) and with companies such as Cisco using it, social networking is not only here to stay but is becoming an increasing valuable tool for businesses to foster teambuilding, training, build brand loyalty, increase customer service, and drive more traffic.

Quadruple-play services are adding considerable voice, video, and mobility to the IP infrastructure. SN profile pages can contain images, blogs, videos, etc., which are stored in separate domains. Retrieving and displaying a profile page requires many DNS lookups, which demands a carrier-grade network capable of not only displaying the information but doing so relatively quickly to meet traffic as well as service level expectations without sacrificing performance, speed, and flexibility. Additionally, this trend offers SPs an opportunity to consider offering a managed service SN solution as a way to balance APRU and increase the value chain of their networks.

Whether social networking is offered as a manage service or in-house solution, addressing the current infrastructure is a requirement if social networking is to become a vital part of the business strategy in unified communication integration. Internal and external interactions with customers, specific enterprises, and other SP will require optimized, application-aware networks to enhance the experience and deal with the increasing traffic of these systems. Is your network ready to handle the load?

Video Packets: The Final Frontier

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:44:00 +0000

I just got back from California—and no, it wasn’t another baseball event just in case you’re wondering—I attended the Cisco C-Scape 2008 conference held in San Jose. The two-day event, which is timely, especially with the proliferation of social networking and community platforms, focused on topics related to video and packets.

Video is the “final frontier” in relation to packets in that it is the last area to be packetized. Real-time interactive applications such as voice and video conferencing calls demand very large packets, which require fast data transfers; consequently, the signals are often relayed using unreliable protocols, which ultimately results in network packet loss. The success of video conferencing and QoS is dependent on the users’ experiences, and participants need to have a seamless reproduction of the event so that end users have the illusion that their conversation is taking place in the same location at the same time. Quality is quickly compromised in voice and video when there is packet loss.

Consistent packet delivery requires network characteristics that make deployment of these applications more challenging than traditional TCP-based applications, such as e-mail. Packet loss is particularly troublesome to compressed video with interdependent frames because errors can transmit across many frames and latency requirements do not permit retransmission of all lost data.

Cisco’s approach is to delve into deeper integration of video and social networking in the enterprise space. To address this requirement, Cisco is evolving their network as a platform, which complements their high-level trend of integrating their strategy of selling products to solutions. They are now migrating their platform to address users’ experiences; the goal of this convergence is to enhance the productivity of users while consolidating some of the backend systems and lowering the TCO of these enterprises.

As the social networking and community platform industry continues to grow, it will become imperative that video and social networking technology provide a seamless way to share content without packet loss to ensure not only QoS for end users but to also deliver strong ROI for businesses. And judging from the conference, Cisco is positioning itself to conquer this video-packet final frontier.

Dynamic Control Plane: Home Run or Strikeout?

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:52:00 +0000

As some of you know, every year at this time I make my baseball training camp pilgrimage. I just spent almost two weeks working with young, professional players. I can hear you now. Sure, Ray, real hard work being in sunny Arizona coaching and playing baseball every day. Seriously, folks, it was! But don’t think I spent my time chewing gum in the dugout. Even as I was toiling on the field I never forgot about the players in the telecom industry. No siree! Between innings my thoughts were focused on networks and dynamic control plane.

As networks become more complex, it becomes more difficult if not impossible to build in end-to-end efficiencies quickly or provide services based on real-time traffic patterns without an interface that allows SPs to manage the interactions between the IP-layer functionality of packet networks and that of the optical layer. Even though proprietary optical intelligence solutions provide many benefits, they do have limits to their effectiveness in extending efficiency to networks with multiple technology layers and multiple regional or organizational domains with multivendor equipment. These kinds of networks are increasingly dynamic, as global service providers, ISPs, IXCs, I-LECs, and C-LECs interoperate to provide end-to-end networks to their customers.

What is missing in these networks is a management domain or dynamic control plane that provides this end-to-end functionality. Although the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Network to Network Interface (NNI) and other groups are working toward developing consistent protocols to govern all kinds of traffic on transport networks that support packet-switching, TDM, wavelength and fiber switching that will be adhered to by optical equipment providers, these standards are far from complete.

Some carriers have opted to take an incremental migration approach by using a proprietary solution until the dynamic control plane is completely standardized. Many SPs have already invested in intelligence enhancement devices that have saved them 22% in intelligence-related OPEX (mainly provisioning labor) and 19% in CAPEX (figures derived from a Synergy case study), mostly in fiber efficiencies. However, these solutions do not fully address the requirements of the multidomain, multivendor, multiservice provider portions of a network.

Another factor affecting control plane development is the economics. What are the benefits/drawbacks of dynamic control plane that relate to OPEX, CAPEX, and revenue? Considering the current climate of the telecommunications industry, where carriers are hesitant to spend limited resources on anything that does not quickly contribute to their bottom line, it is understandable that they are reluctant to adopt a technology with significant promise but little immediate reward.

For those service providers that need to have interoperability between multiple domains with multivendor equipment, having dynamic control plane standards in play is extremely important. Since SPs don’t really have many choices; those that are not affected by multilayer, multidomain problems can temporarily avoid addressing the issue. Those that are affected can test a variety of proprietary and standards-based solutions in their labs and networks while simultaneously putting their trust in the vendors and standard bodies that claim that investing in proprietary solutions today is not going to backfire tomorrow, requiring expensive box swaps and upgrades to correct.

There’s still a lot of work to be done with control plane standards, and the recommendations when finalized could turn out to be either a grand slam or strike out for network operators. (Go ahead and roll your eyes. You’d have been disappointed had I not ended with a final comment about baseball.)

Strategic Partnerships: All in the Timing

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Is anyone surprised at Juniper’s recent decision that it has severed its partnership with Alcatel-Lucent? If so, you shouldn’t be; certainly, the market wasn’t. With Alcatel-Lucent’s acquisition of TiMetra it was just a matter of time before the relationship ended. When you look at the maturity of Alcatel-Lucent’s service provider Edge router offering, the gaps in the Edge that Juniper filled were becoming nebulous, and the efforts required to keep the partnership going could no longer be justified by either group. Juniper has always viewed its partnerships as adjuncts to their product line and customers, and the partnership with Alcatel-Lucent has served its purpose, vision, and strategy. As Kim Perdikou of the Juniper executive team succinctly stated, “We had a good partnership with Lucent; however, we’re moving in different direction. In addition, Juniper is focusing its efforts on long-term strategic partnerships like Nokia Siemens Networks, especially in the mobility market.”

So, like all partnerships that are not maturing, Juniper and Alcatel-Lucent opted to bow out and pursue more advantageous alignments. According to Juniper, the Alcatel-Lucent account has demonstrated an approximate flat 10% share decline and, consequently, has very little direct account impact for them. A big amount of the partnership had focused on straight resale, instead of solution deals.

What it all comes down to is value proposition, with Juniper pursuing its partnership model of managing and driving its strategic alliances like major global end-user accounts. And with no significant financial impact from the dissolution, Juniper is poised to construct relationships in wireline, specifically with Nokia Siemens, which ultimately will open other options for Juniper.

From a business model perspective, partnerships play a key component in any company’s development, but if the partnership doesn’t grow the bottom line and add additional value to the customer, it really serves no purpose to either partner. For Juniper, it is all about how they sell additional and more services and how it benefits their portfolio. Approaching a relationship from this model ultimately bodes well for a longer, more advantageous partnership, without having head-to-head competition with the other company, which, let’s face it, isn’t the point of a partnership. I feel this will benefit both companies.

Carrier Ethernet: Beyond the Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Recently, I was involved in a panel presentation with experts from various segments of the industry to discuss those factors that make for successful adaption of Carrier Ethernet, which has been labeled the “natural choice” for deployment and how service providers are looking to increase Ethernet expansion within their networks as both a business value and technology migration decision. From that discussion and my numerous interviews with service providers, vendors, and equipment manufacturers, I have narrowed down the success requirements to two: scalability and addressing some of the service provider pain points.

Within the Metro network, CE is a value proposition. However, when going outside of the network, there seems to be a need to expand Ethernet with existing customers as opposed to maintaining legacy systems. Scalability and addressing some of the pain points the providers are facing are two main requirements of successful CE deployment. Just because it’s Ethernet doesn’t mean it is natural deployment; it has to be true carrier grade.

Ethernet evolution has reached the point where capability is now defined as being similar to layer 2 and layer 3 capabilities. For CE convergence to be effective it must have speed or service velocity within a network. Additionally, SPs need to be able to deploy the services across their entire network and offer multiple services. However, these are not the only factors that make convergence successful. Equally as important is enhancing the customer’s experience with these services. One of the most difficult pain points for SPs is the customer acquisition costs. Capturing and keeping customers is a top priority not only from a CapEx/OpEx perspective but from a growth perspective—being able to offer that customer more services and increase ARPU per user. But the bottom line is that none of these pain points matter unless the economics of the network or delivery within the network decreases.

The equipment being deployed outside of the Metro is over 17% CAGR—clearly there is growth in that segment. There are two different components associated with this growth. Carrier Ethernet acting as aggregation is the traditional layer 2 that has QinQ Ethernet over MPLS, pseudo wire, native IP, and MPLS VPN. But to deliver outside of the Metro you need to deliver new, enhanced services with the traditional layer 2 but with a QinQ that is able to be delivered into Ethernet over: MPLS, VPLS, layer 2 access into layer 3, native IP, MPLS VPN, encrypted VPN, IP security to deliver better application awareness, and the traditional VPLS, RFC2547 and Ethernet subscribers.

When you consider what this means to the service provider from an Ethernet equipment perspective, the telecom industry is looking at 26.2% CAGR to 2011, which is approximately 24 billion dollars. So, from a services aspect there is a huge business value proposition associated with CE. When we look at CE outside of the Metro, there is a tremendous amount of CapEx savings, 82% compared to the legacy.

If a provider has speed, multiple services over the entire network, enhanced customer service, increased ARPU, and low deployment costs, then convergence can be considered successful. The SP is able to increase revenue or profit for bit per type capability, while promoting and creating customer loyalty through an enhanced experience. Given these factors, Ethernet becomes the deployment option not only from a capability standpoint, but also from a financial one in its ability to: deploy multiple services; provide better NNI capabilities for interprovider-type of connections; simplify the network while simultaneously looking and identifying the interface of choice, DSLAM capability or switching router; and provide a possible solution for OpEx associated with mobile backhaul. What could be a more natural choice?

Worldwide Telecom: An Economic Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:09:00 +0000

I’ve been talking to telecom reps, and they tell me there’s plenty of chatter in boardrooms about the current economic downturn and what impact it will have on their industry. With global markets barely rising at the close of this week (although there were gains at the beginning of the week, they were counterbalanced by pension fund companies buying stock to balance their portfolios at the close of the month); and with the Commerce Department reporting that U.S. personal spending fell by 0.3 percent in September, (the largest decline since June 2004) coupled with flat readings in July and August (worst quarterly performance in 28 years) and with foreign markets reporting similar volatility, the telecom industry has definite cause for worry. Although the latest economic news is gloomy, short and long-term revenue predictions are positive for the telecom industry.

Worldwide telecommunications market revenue continues to grow in 2008, albeit with some repositioning in the playing field. However, for the fastest growing region, investors need to look at the Middle East and Africa. This region continues to show promise as the telecom industry and governments continue to invest in infrastructure, introduce competition, and address unfair or restrictive regulatory issues.

Clearly, the predicted growth rate is positive but a word of caution: the industry does face challenges, for example, adapting to convergent trends that are eroding the margins of traditional service providers and equipment manufacturers. With other regional markets such as Asia and putting the squeeze on their market share, SPs and equipment manufacturers must reassess how and where they do business. One solution: looking at emerging and nontraditional markets and adapting their business plans to grow their industries in these segments.

No doubts SPs, carriers, and vendors will be affected by the fallout of this recession-teetering economy; however, the telecom market revenue growth predictions are still strong. Instead, their worry should be focused on evaluating their business strategies to continue delivering cost-effective, cutting-edge technology and services while planning and shaping their business to meet future demands. As I stated in another blog “Jitter: Not Just a Transport Issue,” although the overall economic outlook is pessimistic, consumers are still demanding services. But business as usual won’t suffice in the current economic climate. The telecomm industry must re-evaluate how it does business and put its resources toward more efficient services and applications.

Energy-Efficient and Higher Speed Ethernet Standards: An Interview with the Ethernet Alliance Group

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:56:00 +0000

The following is a discussion about energy-efficient Ethernet with Robert Hays, strategic planner at Intel Corporation for desktop, mobile and server networking products and Catherine Seeds, PR manager for the Ethernet Alliance. Robert serves as a member of the BoD for the Ethernet Alliance, Marketing Chair of the Energy-Efficient Subcommittee for the Ethernet Alliance and participating member of the Higher Speed Ethernet marketing committee. Robert has also made recent contributions to future Ethernet standards in the IEEE 802.3 Higher Speed Study Group and Energy-Efficient Ethernet Task Force.

Ray: What is the Ethernet Alliance?

Catherine: The Ethernet Alliance is a global, non-profit industry organization that was formed to promote industry awareness, acceptance, and advancement of technology and products based on existing and emerging IEEE 802® Ethernet standards. Their mission is to accelerate industry adoption and remove barriers to market entry by providing a cohesive, market-responsive industry voice on IEEE 802 Ethernet projects.

Ray: How many members does your organization have?

Catherine: We have over 100 members. Some are industry vendors, industry organizations, and some are university members, but all of them promote Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance has established itself as the leading forum for interoperability test events hosted by its various technical subcommittees each year. The Ethernet Alliance supports the IEEE by providing visibility into the standards process and provides value-added content to educate the industry on existing and emerging Ethernet technologies. The Ethernet Alliance also facilitates collaboration between academia and the industry through its University Program.

Ray: Talk about energy-efficient Ethernet.

Robert: Energy-efficient Ethernet adds a new low-power idle state that enables systems to reduce power consumption between transmission periods without inhibiting high-speed communications. It also provides a method to optionally negotiate the wake or resume time from low-power idle, allowing systems to safely enter deeper sleep states. The benefit is twofold: it saves power and energy consumption is more directly proportional to bandwidth utilization. Currently, Ethernet devices are often designed for maximum capacity and consume power at levels that are independent of the utilization rate or traffic load.

Ray: Do you have a blueprint for an Ethernet standard?

Robert: We’ve been defining a method to increase the power being transmitted over Category 5 or better cabling. This technology enables the next generation of network appliances such as Ethernet-power wireless access points, security camera and IP phones. We are defining a new physical layer to specify both asymmetric and symmetric line rate operations.

Ray: When do you anticipate having a blueprint for the EEE standard?

Robert: The details for a blueprint are currently under discussion. There is a draft 1.0 specification under review by the IEEE 802.3az task force now and it will be sometime in the middle of next year when we have a complete draft of specifications. I expect the final standard to be ratified in early 2010. Another interesting aspect of this is the United States Energy Protection Agency, EPA, is tracking energy efficient Ethernet for the Energy Star program.

Ray: Can you give me a little information about the Energy Star program and the requirements?

Robert: The way the Energy Star program works is either pass fail. You either meet the requirement or you don’t, and it is relatively strict as far as what the requirements are. The EPA manages it so that the bar is constantly raised. Right now, energy-efficient Ethernet is part of the proposed requirements for PCs in 2011. If in fact they go through and if energy-efficient Ethernet is required, then you would surely see PC OEMs trying to support it because that energy star logo is a big deal.

Ray: What are the energy star programs for servers?

Robert: It is a little bit different and incomplete for servers and switches but it is being defined. I think it is a response to the rise of the mega data centers drawing lots of power. So if they are going to start regulating some of the power consumption for data center equipment. I would expect energy efficiency to be one of the requirements.

Ray: Any idea of the bandwidth for gig-type devices?

Robert: It is being defined for Ethernet of various flavors, including 10/100 and Gigabit for clients as well as 10GbE for servers. It will be supported on copper cabling and blade server backplanes.

Ray: Anything else you want to mention about energy-efficient Ethernet?

Robert: Again, one of the things we are trying to accomplish with energy-efficient Ethernet is to reduce the power of systems that are either idle or not fully utilized.

Ray: What is different about how the group is looking at energy-efficient Ethernet from what the high-tech industry has focused on the last 10-20 years?

Robert: High-tech industry has focused on decreasing maximum power while increasing maximum performance. For example, let’s talk about designing a server or a switch system. Historically the most important thing has been to try and keep the overall power consumption to a minimum when the thing is running at full high-performance mode. And people compete on minimizing that maximum power number. What you started to see in the last couple of years is the realization that systems are not always running at full speed and sometimes are 25-50 percent utilized. So, the actual power consumption at the wall is more of a factor of actual utilization and not active power.

Ray: How has this affected vendors?

Robert: This realization of the different workloads has led a lot of systems vendors to compete on other things besides max power, such as idle power or power per work load. There are benchmarks that are coming out that measure on average how long takes you to complete a task and how much power you draw to complete it. Energy-efficient Ethernet is really targeted at this idle and average power consumption metric, and the goal is to try to get the actual power or energy consumption over time to be more directionally proportional to the amount of work that was completed for the utilization percent. Most of the proposals that were evaluated for the EEE standard were around solving that problem.

Ray: The people that I talk to in the data centers cannot reconcile green message and performance.

Robert: Yes, the analogy I give is, you buy a car and you look at the specs. One of the specs is how fast it goes. So, if this car goes 120 miles per hour that’s great. But what’s the mile per gallon at 65-70? In our case, we are trying to address both the capability of driving 120 miles per hour even if you get lousy gas mileage, but under normal working loads—35, 55, 75—here is your better mile per gallon.

Ray: How do you envision timing when you look at energy-efficient Ethernet?

Robert: That is the whole reason the industry goes to IEEE 802.3—to create interoperable standards. It is obviously critical that whatever protocol I use on my end of the wire for servers, the switch vendors are also using it on the end of their wire so that we work together—when you establish links on the Ethernet it is sort of an extension of auto negotiation where you not only agree on what speed you would link, you’d also advertise that you’d be capable of operating in an energy-efficient mode. And if you are this mode, it will exchange more information, for example what features do I support. Once that link is established you are in the operating mode.

Ray: Discuss the Ethernet Alliance promoting the Ethernet and IEEE promoting the standards.

Robert: Think about it as three pillars of Ethernet standards. The first pillar is technical specification and that is what IEEE does. They don’t promote anything; they write and publish the specs. The second well-established pillar is the University of New Hampshire and their interoperability lab, which has become the industry test bed. When vendors design new equipment to meet a specification, they send it to the IOL and they do the testing and report any issues. Both of these are business/marketing aspects. The third pillar is the Ethernet Alliance, which is an industry association tasked with educating the market on Ethernet technology and promoting new standards and applications for Ethernet from a vendor-neutral perspective.

Ray: How do you get your message out there?

Robert: Ethernet Alliance is more of a marketing group, and we do actually promote the technology through trade shows, press releases, demonstrations, limited advertising, and publish white papers. We also do public demonstration of new technology. We are trying to educate the market and most of our members also participate in IEEE.

I’ll throw one more thing about energy-efficient Ethernet. Initially, most group members came in thinking about power and the actual Ethernet link. But when people considered more of a system view, they saw opportunity to save system power above and beyond the Ethernet link itself and saw this issue in the context of overall system power management.

For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org/

Jitter: Not Just a Transport Issue

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:09:00 +0000

Jitter seems to be the operative word in the telecomm industry these days, and I’m not talking about transport issues either. Like all other segments of our economy, telecommunication businesses are uneasy at the economic outlook, especially in light of falling share prices, plummeting investor confidence, and continuing downturns in economic data. With home sales, durable goods orders, retail sales, and unemployment claims all posting drops, and the failure of Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Washington Mutual, the U.S. market—actually, markets worldwide—are seeing their equity indices plunge.

Even with the recent bailout approval, the telecomm market outlook is cautionary at best, and the majority of service providers and industry experts expect some impact and, most likely, some slowing down in the near future as the domino effect of failures starts impacting their industry. For example, service providers that provide voice and data services to financial services companies and banks will feel the repercussions as the businesses, which are typically substantial consumers of these services, curtail or delay system upgrades. As other companies cut back, securing new contracts, particularly long-term ones, will challenge even the most tenacious marketing and sales departments.

Pricing pressure and competition are additional factors that will have an effect on telecoms. Pinched consumers are demanding faster and less expensive triple-play services, which require more bandwidth consumption. This demand for more service for fewer dollars will spur competition among providers, especially as new segments get into markets they have not traditionally ventured in, for example, cable companies now courting the small business markets.

Worldwide, financial advisors are predicting that capital for mergers and acquisitions, strategic initiatives, and debt refinancing for all businesses, including telecoms, will be very difficult to acquire, not to mention very expensive as interest rates soar. This lending freeze will force carriers and providers to put major projects on hold or reduce their scope until economic conditions improve.

In spite of the current economic outlook, consumer demand for services is growing, and telecom industries need to grab the opportunity to review and adapt their business strategies to build new and efficient applications and services. New services will require that carriers deliver more and faster Internet bandwidth that will support the voice and video content; lower prices; open networks and a more competitive environment.

Those telecom industries that can modify their business strategies to continue delivering cost-effective, cutting-edge technology and services while simultaneously planning and adapting for future demands will not only ride out the economic downturn, but will place themselves in a strategic position to capture more market share and revenue, ultimately surpassing those companies that simply plan to ride it out.

Energy-Efficient and Higher Speed Ethernet Standards: An Interview with the Ethernet Alliance Group

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:06:00 +0000

The following is the first of a two-part discussion about energy-efficient Ethernet with Robert Hays, strategic planner at Intel Corporation for desktop, mobile and server networking products and Catherine Seeds, PR manager for the Ethernet Alliance. Robert serves as a member of the BoD for the Ethernet Alliance, Marketing Chair of the Energy-Efficient Subcommittee for the Ethernet Alliance and participating member of the Higher Speed Ethernet marketing committee. Robert has also made recent contributions to future Ethernet standards in the IEEE 802.3 Higher Speed Study Group and Energy Efficient Ethernet Task Force.

Ray: What is the Ethernet Alliance?

Catherine: The Ethernet Alliance promotes telecom industry awareness, acceptance, and advancement of technology and products based on existing and emerging IEEE 802R Ethernet standards. Their mission is to accelerate industry adoption and remove barriers to market entry by providing a cohesive, market-responsive industry voice on IEEE 802 Ethernet projects.

Ray: How many members does your organization have?

Catherine: We have over 100 members. Some are industry, industry organizations, and some are university members, but all of them promote Ethernet technology. Our task is to investigate and address market demands for increased power capabilities that are compatible with the existing power over Ethernet standard IEEE 802R.

Ray: Talk about energy-efficient Ethernet.

Robert: Energy-efficient Ethernet is a new low-power idle state that enables systems to reduce power consumption between transmission periods without inhibiting high-speed communications. It also provides a method to optionally negotiate the wake or resume time from low-power idle, allowing systems to safely enter deeper sleep states. The benefit is twofold: it saves additional power and energy consumption is more directly proportional to bandwidth utilization. Now, Ethernet devices are often designed for maximum capacity and consume power at levels that are independent of the utilization rate or traffic load.

Ray: Do you have a blueprint for an Ethernet standard?

Robert: We’ve been defining a method to increase the power being transmitted over Category 5 or better cabling. This technology enables the next generation of network appliances such as Ethernet-power wireless access points, security camera and IP phones. We are defining a new physical layer to specify both asymmetric and symmetric line rate operations. Asymmetric operations will operate at 10 Gigabit Ethernet downstream and 1GbE upstream, while symmetric operations will use 10GbE for both downstream and upstream directions. For both scenarios, downstream transmission takes advantage of mass deployed 10GbE point-to-point devices.

Ray: When do you anticipate having a blueprint?

Robert: The details for a blueprint are currently under discussion, and it will be sometimes in the middle of next year when we have a complete draft of specifications. Related to and the interesting aspect of this issue the United States Energy Production Agency and the energy power/star program. I’m interested in the PC component of this program. There’s already a draft proposal for what the PC energy requirements will be.

Ray: Can you give me a little information about the energy program and the requirements?

Robert: The way the Energy Star program works is either pass fail. You either meet the requirement or you don’t, and it is relatively strict as far as what the requirements are. The EPA manages it so that the bar is constantly raised. Right now, energy-efficient Ethernet is in the proposed requirements for PCs. If in fact they go through and if energy-efficient Ethernet is required, then you would surely see PC LEMs trying to match that rate because that energy star logo is a big deal.

Ray: What are the energy star programs for servers?

Robert: It is a little bit different and incomplete for servers and switches but it is being defined. I think it is a response to the rise of the mega data centers drawing lots of power. So if they are going to start regulating some of the power consumption for data center equipment. I would expect energy efficiency to be one of the requirements.

Ray: Any idea of the bandwidth for gig-type devices?

Robert: It is being defined for Ethernet of various flavors, including servers and copper.

Ray: Anything else you want to mention about the Alliance?

Robert: Again, one of the things we are trying to accomplish with energy-efficient Ethernet is reduce the power of systems that are either idle or not fully utilized.

Talking about Security

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:44:00 +0000

Analyst Point of View: Ray Mota, Synergy Research Group

Security: More than Just a Point Solution

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Enterprises and service providers need to understand that when they consider security they cannot only look at it as a point solution. Security must be viewed as an end-to-end solution. Why? Simply put, because it is only as strong or safe as the weakest link in a network or infrastructure, and having the appropriate security tools and controls ensures that firewalls and servers are not breached and systems are not at risk.

The security requirements vary somewhat when you consider the differences between enterprises and service providers. Enterprises are very critical about their networks and the importance of their infrastructure in relation to their business initiative. Essentially, they either manage their own network or have a partnership and coordinate their infrastructure/network security with a group of trusted managed service providers.

Service providers, on the other hand, must understand that just as with enterprises, applications are driving their networks. However, the key difference is that service providers are dealing with either hundreds or thousands of unrelated networks that require traffic flow isolation and each necessitate impenetrable security — both potentially costly requirements.

The need to protect their networks and at the same time minimize OpEx poses challenges for service providers. Their conundrum is increasing value in their network while they struggle with high customer acquisition costs, competition, profit per bit, etc. Consequently, service providers are focusing on convergence of their networks to lower their costs, especially as they add more intelligence on the network to deliver more, richer, and faster services. Since customer acquisition costs are high, they must ensure that they maintain and satisfactorily service their existing customer base and not solely focus on market shares and profit.

What must enterprises and service providers do to address the goals of (1) maintaining and upgrading the integrity of their network security while simultaneously (2) offering more services and expanding their market and (3) reigning in their OpEx?

To address their market share and retain their competitiveness, service providers must increase their content and applications, which demand more complex infrastructure requirements. Since all service providers are moving to IP because of the flexibility and potential cost saving (driven by convergence), security must be impregnable because IP increases security risk. Additionally, service providers need to maximize the value of each service they deliver either through multiplay or some manage service offering, both of which also have security requirements.

When it comes to service and security, the bottom line is that SPs need to, at a minimum, implement scalable, high-performance, reliable, and inviolable networks; manage multiple remote connections; and monitor and address potential security issues from many sources without degrading the customers’ experience. The challenge becomes one of juggling and balancing security and performance without compromising either.

Keep Your Eye on India’s Emerging Market

noreply@blogger.com (Ray Mota, Chief Strategist) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:02:00 +0000

India, the fastest growing market in the world, offers tremendous opportunities for telecommunications equipment makers and service providers. A large population, decreasing tariffs, easing of rules and regulations, a growing middle class with rising incomes and discretionary spending are allowing millions access to telecommunication services and devices such as mobile phones, cable and satellite dishes. And like Russia, rural areas present the greatest opportunities for penetration and growth.

However, doing business in India poses challenges: market access, problematic and iffy policy and regulatory environment, diverse business cultures, dialect and language barriers make this emerging market daunting for even the most aggressive vendors and providers.

How can vendors and service providers succeed in India’s emerging market?

Focus on the rural market: Currently, only 20% of the rural populations are mobile subscribers. It is estimated that by 2010 there will be over 500 million mobile phone subscribers, and the total number of telephones (wireless and wireline) in India now tops 282 million. The mobile tariffs are the lowest in the world; the equivalent of approximately 5 U.S. dollars activates a new mobile connection. Vendors and providers need to develop well-targeted business models that offer promotions and bundled offerings to this sector.

Develop next generation networks/architectures: Rural teledensity is very low in India. An opportunity exists for equipment vendors to develop an infrastructure for next-generation networks, for example, a network/architecture based on optical fiber, using IP and offering an assortment of services and open platforms for service development.

Focus on information technology: Internet users in India make up the 4th largest market in the world but proportionately are still much lower than most countries worldwide. In June 2008 broadband connection, which is defined as 256 kbit/s and higher, was estimated at only 4.4 million. With a population of 1.13 billion (March 2008), the market for information technology services has barely been cracked.

Focus on expanding value added services: This market within the mobile industry is estimated to grow from $500 million (2006) to $10 billion by 2009, making the opportunities for value added services limitless.

Given the enormity of India’s market, vendors and service providers have ample economic and business growth opportunities. But, as with the Russian market, India’s emerging telecommunication market is not for the faint of heart — or small pocketbook.