We’re different. Remember that. We’re insightful, and remember that too, and remember that a big reason why we’re insightful is that we’re different. Andover Intel is based on a simple principle, which is that to understand tech, you have to understand what tech buyers are doing, expecting, justifying. We’ve established a user contact program that…
Are We Starting to See the Real AI?
There are plenty of reasons to get concerned, really concerned, about what’s going on in AI. There seems to be a growing disconnect between AI press releases and stories, and what enterprises are telling me. That disconnect seems linked, as is often the case, with the concept of “washing” announcements with mentions of new technology…
Picking All the Broadband Apples
What happens when all those proverbial “low apples” are picked? Technology markets, and in fact most markets, are made up of prospects that vary considerably in terms of ease of access, return on investment, and other economic factors. The combination of attributes mean some are really attractive and should be targeted quickly, and others much…
Extreme Takes Aim at Competitors in an Era of Change
Enterprises have long had a choice of vendors in the networking space, but for most the dominant players have been Cisco and Juniper. The former is undergoing a reorg, and the latter is being acquired (subject to approvals) by HPE. While I’m not hearing enterprises express worry about this (see my blog on this), there…
Technical Debt, Data Debt, and AI
Most of us see debt as something to be avoided, so “technical debt” minimization has been a priority for development teams. Essentially, the term means an erosion in software quality caused by taking the expedient path, not taking enough time, or simple carelessness and errors. There’s also a growing interest in what many consider a…
What Enterprises Really Think About AI Agents
What do AI and wireless have in common? Yeah, this is sort of a trick question, but most people probably respond with “hype”, and that’s true. What’s also true is that both have a kind of generational succession to them. In wireless, most remember 4G, know 5G is current, and 6G is next. AI succession…
Why Do Technologies Get Hyped and then Dissed?
Is it “everything old is new again”, or “everything new is a bad idea”? Whichever it is, it sure seems like a lot of hot new tech ideas are getting a harder second look these days. The cloud, AI, and microservices are all tech revolutions that are getting some serious questions asked about their value….
Are Enterprises Worried About Network Vendor Health?
Are enterprises worried about their network equipment vendors’ health? Do they have something to worry about? What’s causing whatever is happening, and how might it change networking? All good questions, and ones we’ll try to answer here. There have been multiple stories about how things like the HPE/Juniper deal and the Cisco restructuring are making…
Comcast, Cable, and Content
Video, they say, killed the radio star. Content, they say, is king. But now we hear that cable companies are in trouble because of streaming, and Comcast is spinning off a bunch of its TV properties. I’ve gotten 44 comments on video streaming and content from operators since July first, eight of which were from…
The Role of and Prospects for the Network Digital Twin
Nokia is one of the companies who’s addressed the “digital twin” concept explicitly, and so when it’s Bell Labs group does a piece on digital twins in telecom, it’s worth a look. Operators have mentioned digital twins in my chats, too (53 of 88), so I have some comparative data to relate as well. A…
The Security Outlook for 2025, According to Enterprises
Is network spending now really nothing more than security spending? Obviously not in a total-spending sense, but probably in a capex-growth sense. Of 354 enterprises who commented to me on their 2025 network budgets, 287 said that security capex would grow at an average of 6%, where overall network spending was expected to grow by…