There’s no end to the bad news for telecom spending, apparently. A recent SDxCentral article illustrates the problem and perhaps exposes one of the underlying causes, but I think it’s also important to draw a connection back to one of my blogs last week. Yes, in an indirect way, net neutrality policies are responsible for…
When you ask questions you sometimes get solid answers. Sometimes, you get answers that are less than solid. Are network equipment vendors jumping more into the enterprise market? Yes, unquestionably they are. Is that the right move? Yes, but…. That makes the question we need to look at simple; how solid is that “yes, but”,…
Yes, we apparently need to look at an old topic again. One of the persistent challenges we’ve faced with networking in the age of the Internet is that of “neutrality”. Interestingly, it’s an issue that really arose before the Internet was much of a factor, coming out of the “privatization” of the previous monopolies on…
As I’ve noted in earlier blogs in this series, this week, one technology option for customer experience management stands out…AI. OK, maybe it stands out because AI stands out of most everything these days. Maybe it’s because AI is at least one reason why HPE wants to buy Juniper, and Cisco wants Splunk. But there’s…
Customer care is important everywhere, but probably nowhere as much as with any form of “service”, meaning the delivery of a capability, application, or experience through a network connection. The changing nature of the “services” we’re talking about has created major challenges for those who want to manage the customer experience, challenges that extend the…
It’s not surprising that of 344 companies that offered views on their strategic priorities in the last six months, 321 listed “improved customer care” at the top of their list. Customer care is also a major cost item, a big component in opex for service providers and a major cost for enterprises. Even equipment vendors…
Probably everyone’s parents and grandparents, at some point, advised them not to be a worrier. Far be it from me to go against that kind of historical weight, but suppose at some point you feel like you have to worry? Suppose that you’re the kind who believes in planning for the worst because the best…
“The times, they are a’changin,” according to an old Dylan song. That’s surely true in the telecom world, according to the telcos themselves. Looking back over the first full year of Andover Intel operation, and the conversations I’ve had with 88 telcos and cable companies worldwide, I can see both direct and indirect evidence of…
Cloud credibility took a hit in 2023, there’s no question about it. It’s still taking one in 2024 too. One troubling truth is that there are still signs that the lack of thorough evaluation of cloud benefits is (no pun) clouding current cloud planning. Might the same thing that led to too much cloud may…
Well, MWC is over. The general sense I got from those who attended, both the operators and the vendors, was that it was a cross between a wedding reception and a wake. That’s fair, because I think that’s actually what it was. It celebrated the marriage of telcos and AI, and it celebrated the death…