What is the goal, the real and ultimate goal, of service lifecycle automation? That may seem like a stupid question, and in more than one dimension. First-off, everyone knows that service lifecycle automation is supposed to cut opex. Many know that opex is actually a bigger portion of each revenue dollar operators earn than capex…
Where Are We Really Heading with Broadband?
It’s pretty clear that fixed broadband access is changing. Both CATV and fiber-based operators are raising their speeds, to 2 or even 4Gbps. AT&T, who a year ago wasn’t all that positive on fixed wireless access (FWA) as an option now says that they’re going to retire more and more copper, replacing it with fiber…
Are Cloud Articles and Surveys Just Adding to Cloud Confusion?
Inevitably, the technology news cycle follows a pattern of hype-the-plus to exaggerate-the-minuses. We have two recent stories that seem to pit one extreme and the other, one that says that the cloud in general and multi-cloud in particular has “hit a wall”, and another that says that “there’s no going back from multicloud”. Can we…
Could a “Digital Twin” Model of a Network Help with NMS/NOC?
The hierarchy/intent modeling approach I’ve blogged about, similar to the TMF SID, seems to serve the mission of service management automation well. It also seems possible to use a similar modeling technique to represent real-world “digital twin” relationships, and (finally) it seems possible to use a digital-twinning approach that represents features rather than real-world elements…
Should Operators Fear the Metaverse, Embrace It, or Both?
Would the metaverse be good for operators? That question was touched on in a Light Reading piece on MWC, which pointed out (correctly) that the show was surprisingly short on “mobile” news. It was bigger, at least, on metaverse, which prompted the author to comment “Nobody could explain why the metaverse is a good thing…
Is a Unified Model for Lifecycles and Real-Time Processes Possible?
In the last two blogs on modeling, I reviewed “service modeling” and “virtual-application modeling” and determined that the digital-twin approach wasn’t optimum. I then reviewed the metaverse and IoT applications’ use of modeling, and determined that the hierarchy/intent approach wasn’t optimal. This would seem to argue that there are two missions and two models, and…
Why We’re Entering the Age of Managed Services
Many of you know that I use a survey-driven demand model to forecast stuff, and recently I decided to run the model on one of my favorite topics, managed services. The model forecast significant growth over the next five years, peaking in 2025 at an annual level of over 50%. That’s sure interesting, so I…
Lessons from Dell in 5G and MWC
Server vendors have both special benefits and special challenges in the battle for telco infrastructure, the “telco cloud” or “carrier cloud”. On the plus side, any cloud requires servers, and having a seat at that table gives a vendor more leverage in deals, and may also help keep competitors out. On the minus side, the…
Modeling Digital Twin Systems
If you look at a service, or an application, you see something that’s deployed and managed to support a mission that’s really defined by the elements you’re working with. We can deploy the components of a service by connecting the feature elements, but how they interact with each other to produce the service is really…
Can VMware Look Beyond the “VM?”
Changes in direction are always a challenge, both for vehicles and for companies. What’s particularly problematic are changes in direction that take a company from a historical, comfortable, incumbent position and out into the wild and competitive world. VMware is facing that kind of direction change, and their current quarter says their approach could use…