Across the various places I write on networking topics, the topic that consistently outperforms the rest is OSS/BSS. I also get more comments and questions on that topic, and operators tell me that it’s become the most important issue. That all means that this is a good time to look at just where we are…
If there is a winner in the sad commoditization of networking, it’s surely Huawei. Their sales have climbed steadily as everyone else struggles or ties into narrow market niches. They’ve won a lot of battles in legacy networking, but that doesn’t mean it’s all beer and roses from here on. Three reports of their Operations…
A popular song of my youth was “How Deep is the Ocean, How High is the Sky?” We may be adding another semantically related question to that list, which is “How High is the Top?” Top-down planning for technology change has always been a favorite notion of mine, and we’re now starting to wonder as…
One consequence of commoditization is consolidation, and since networking is clearly commoditizing it’s not surprising that we’ve seen a wave of M&A. The most recent M&A rumor is that Brocade is for sale, and that Broadcom is a likely buyer. The obvious question is whether the move would be a good one for both companies. …
Ciena made a very interesting announcement this week, one that combines agile optics with software automation and intelligence. WaveLogic AI is a programmable chip/module that adds considerable capacity and agility to Ciena’s inventory, and opens the possibility for extensive software automation at the optical level. Given that Ciena has one of a very few totally…
Nokia reported a starkly negative quarter, citing slowing sales in wireless in particular as the reason. OK, that’s true, but it should hardly have been a surprise to Nokia or anyone else in the network equipment business. For half a decade, operators have been showing their version of the same slide, with revenue per bit…
Juniper turned in a nice quarter, a quarter whose success was largely due to the cloud and its impact on switching and the data center. Since Juniper is a small-ish player in the networking space, a successful focus on something emerging like the cloud could have a disproportionate impact on its numbers. That could mean,…
No matter how stupid a notion is, it’s never too stupid to be hyped. The corollary point is that proof, even successive waves of further proof, of a notion’s stupidity won’t drive the hype away. We’re seeing proof of that with the recent DDoS attack, launched from what would be called IoT. You all know…
In the last couple weeks, we’ve heard from three tech companies who could define how IT is done. Ericsson represents the service-centric view of transformation, though in the network space. HPE represents the agile side of the IT incumbent picture, and IBM the entrenched (some would say, ossified) side. It’s worth looking at the picture…
The deal between AT&T and Time Warner hasn’t yet to be approved but it seems pretty likely to happen. In any event, just the attempt is big news for the industry. Many see this as a new age for media companies, but there are many questions of whether a conglomerate like this is the answer…