Remember when we used to talk things over? I’m not talking about relationships, but about faults and problems. Have we, as an industry, gotten too focused on real-time analysis and forgotten “retrospection?” There’s an interesting article on this, as it relates to software operations, that we could think about applying to networking. Note that the…
How could we use augmented reality and what would that use require from the technology itself? AR is perhaps a key in unlocking a whole new way of empowering workers and engaging consumers, but like other new technology arrivals, there seems to be a complex ecosystem needed, and it’s not entirely clear how we’ll get…
Just what is needed to broaden the potential revenue base for 5G. One idea that’s been gaining in credibility is a vertical-market focus. Both Google and IBM have taken vertical steps recently, and now we have an interesting article on the architecture of a vertical exploitation of 5G. You all know I’m a big, unashamed,…
Kubernetes has been almost as revolutionary as containers, and almost synonymous with that concept too. As great as Kubernetes is, though, it’s often seen as a complexity black hole, and its complexity is surely both a barrier to its adoption and a barrier to cloud-native development. Google doesn’t like that, largely because cloud-native support is…
Network technologies often seem to overlap, particularly where several somewhat-related ones end up going in the same physical place in the network. This may be a factor in something talked about in a recent SDxCentral piece, which speculates that SD-WAN is just a “Trojan Horse” for SASE, meaning Secure Access Service Edge. I think there…
The battle for Open RAN may be taking its final and most useful form. HPE is entering the space, and with a suite of elements that promises to reduce the integration burden associated with Open RAN and other open-model networking technologies. Since Mavenir announced a partnership with Red Hat in the same general area, it’s…
The biggest operations problem carriers face is more debatable than you might think. The CFOs and most CEOs say it’s high operations cost, but some in the operations and CIO groups think it’s really customer portal problems. Telcos and cable companies alike have been cutting operations costs by cutting headcount, largely by eliminating humans as…
Could better knowledge, better data, create better broadband? That’s a question that the FCC is looking at, according to a story in Light Reading. Conceptually, the idea is an outgrowth of a general FCC look at the role of AI, undertaken by the Technical Advisory Council. The FCC isn’t noted for its speed relative to…
Inside-out or outside-in? That’s the biggest question in network transformation, for operators and for vendors alike. It’s a question that involves assessing a lot of complex factors, ranging from the nature of new network technology ideas, sunk costs and financial depreciation, budgets, mindsets, hopes, and fears. The balance of these forces is constantly shifting, but…
There seem to be a lot of announcements around automated operations these days. Many, perhaps even most, involve artificial intelligence and machine learning. Obviously a part of this is due to the tried-and-true tactic of vendors jumping on hot terms for SEO, but part is also due to the fact that operations issues are increasingly…