Delivering successful change programs is a significant challenge. Undertaking a Readiness Assessment speeds the launch of new IP services, reduces risks and aligns corporate objectives with your program.
The Challenge of Change…a true story
So your company is planning an all IP network. The CTO is delivering technology roadmaps, the COO is assessing the service portals, and network designers have been architecting for eight months. The program is well underway and people are now starting to plan the migration.
So, you start to scope out the effort required to deliver migration and calculate that it requires hundreds of resources to manage a switchover. You approach engineering to secure the resources, and are informed HR is managing a release program, remunerating engineers to leave the company. The same engineers that you need to deliver your program!
Sound familiar?
This is a real story, it happened to me as a Program Director. I often wonder how executives can launch complex investment programs that impact every aspect of the business, IT, Operations and Network, and then fail to align the vision with the wider company operations. And then I remember;
Addressing the Barriers to Assessment
Assessing the capability of the corporation to manage large scale change is not often addressed. It’s perceived as an academic exercise, one that poses uncomfortable questions of the companies own abilities and management, and one that can become time consuming when resources are most in demand.
However, if undertaken properly, with a specific objective and a hard timeline, such an exercise can save enormous costs in launching in managing Transformation Programs.
The Purpose of a Business Readiness Assessment
A Business Readiness Assessment provides a structured approach to determine the current state of the business to enter a large change program, and identifies the key activities that are;
Scoping Readiness Assessments
Readiness Assessments should be scoped against the range of the business that will be engaged in, and impacted by the Transformation program. That includes all organizations that manage or deliver the program, all organizations that are providing resources (or arranging resources through supplier management) and all organizations that are running parallel programs that are dependent.
The scope should assess two attributes of the organization;
Managing Readiness Assessment…Comprehensively
Readiness Assessments are undertaken through two data gathering and analysis methods:
First, the inventory of existing and planned corporate initiatives are identified and assessed. This is achieved through interviews across the stakeholder organizations, unless a central portfolio management team exists within the company. For each program, the objectives, timeline and program impacts are assessed.
Second, the ability of each organization to deliver against their program requirements is determined. Capability is measured in terms of available resources, skills, experience, reusable processes and specific tooling. This is captured through a structured interview approach, using a method of weighted scoring. This allows metric analysis of strengths and weaknesses against each area of the program, by delivery organization and capability area of discipline.
The diagram below defines the usual capability areas that need to be assessed:Generating Value
Post analysis, the Readiness Assessment is used to define a readiness action plan that prepares the organization for the Transformation Program. This includes;
A Lesson Learned
Whilst a Readiness Assessment is not necessary prior to launching large change programs, it is certainly useful. In my experience, the small investment required to run this short exercise has paid dividends across multi-year programs. It aligns program sponsors and cross division stakeholders to the IP Transformation program, which itself accelerates the launch process. In short, this approach is certainly, worth considering prior to investing in a large program, to avoid costly oversights later.
More information…
A Readiness Assessment is normally performed as part of Program Setup. These ideas are explored further in our white paper “Better business case management for IP Transformation.”
Watch for our next blog, The business case for IP Transformation: Realizing the benefits
For more information on creating an effective business case for IP Transformation, please see our earlier blogs on TMCnet, “The Business Case for IP Transformation: Creating the Case and The Business Case for IP Transformation: Managing the Service Roadmap.
]]>Unfortunately though, many large enterprises are unable to take advantage of advances in technology due to old or outdated infrastructure and ICT technology silos. In addition, being locked in to one technology vendor often stymies the enterprise from being able to update the tools necessary to increase employee productivity.
For instance, something as simple as developing and deploying a new app is often a frustrating experience, as the enterprise must submit a request to the technology vendor for a new app to be developed, then wait until the vendor adds it to their development queue before finding out when to expect it. This often takes months, if not longer.
In the meantime, instead of waiting for the new app, many employees take the “shadow IT” route. They download rogue (i.e., non-IT-supported) apps that will allow them to move forward with at least some of the functionality they seek, even without IT support. While this work-around may provide some degree of productivity enhancement for the employee, wouldn’t it be better if the enterprise was able to either plug in existing best-of-breed third-party apps or develop and deploy its own apps without having to wait for a vendor to become involved?
Alcatel-Lucent thinks so, which is one of the reasons our new solution, Rapport™ for Large Enterprise, is generating so much interest. Rapport is a private cloud-based communications and collaboration solution designed specifically for the large enterprise.
With Rapport, the communications network becomes a platform for innovation, enabling the creation of new “contextual communications”, where fundamental services such as voice, chat, video conferencing and sharing become functions available to any application, website or connected object. “Rapport liberates large enterprises from the communications technology silos and proprietary vendor offerings that IT departments need to contend with,” according to Bhaskar Gorti, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Platforms business.
With the Rapport platform, application developers are able to access the rich set of client and network open application programming interfaces (APIs) and simple software development kits (SDKs), allowing quick and easy development and deployment of communications services. This accessibility allows the enterprise to deliver innovative communications features to apps, websites and other connected objects, enhancing them with a communications-enabled, contextual communications experience.
Enabling Contextual Communications
Business today is global and 24/7. As such, employees need to be able to communicate with their peers, business associates or clients wherever they are, on whatever device they are using.
One of the most recent developments contributing to this is contextual communications – essentially, having the communications features you need embedded in the tools you use. However, in order to provide these functions to employees, large enterprises need to be able to quickly develop and launch these new contextual applications. Rapport open APIs make it easy to embed real-time communications functions into devices, applications and websites.
If you’re not familiar with contextual communications, here are a few examples of what they might enable your business to do:
Rapport’s REST-based APIs let applications developers create uniquely differentiated communications experiences, depending on the business requirements. This helps large enterprises better serve their employees and customers by building these communications services into the applications, websites and other connected objects they use.
Rapport also provides the enterprise with the option of either developing and deploying their own apps using the Rapport open APIs, or plugging in best-of-breed apps to help meet the needs of employees for the latest services, whether in the office or on the move. With Rapport APIs, it’s about the future of communications.
Unlock Service Innovation
Because Rapport open APIs provide easy access to rich communication and collaboration features, innovation now becomes part of corporate communications. Use Rapport APIs to add ‘communications as a feature’ to existing services and WebRTC client libraries to extend your services to the web. Create compelling new contextual applications with the quality of service users want. Rapport also offers large enterprises the use of our sandbox, a fast prototyping environment, to pre-validate and demo your application and WebRTC client with our Rapport cloud test platform, leveraging IMS technology.
With Rapport, instead of waiting on a vendor, application developers are able to develop and deploy the new communications features, services, applications and innovations the enterprise needs. By tapping into capabilities such as HD voice and video, conferencing, interactive voice and rich communications, developers can now build compelling new communication-enabled apps, helping to increase employee productivity and user satisfaction.
Summary
As you see, Rapport open APIs help the large enterprise break free of technology silos and vendor lock-in by freeing them to develop and deploy the contextual communications services they need, as they need them – instead of waiting on a vendor to tell them what will be available and when. By using Rapport’s open APIs, large enterprises are now able to develop and deploy apps in a real-time manner. What once took months or years can now literally be done in a period of weeks.
For more information on Rapport for Large Enterprise and how it can help your business, please visit the Alcatel-Lucent Rapport for Large Enterprise website or contact your local Alcatel-Lucent sales office.
One of the big promises of UC was consolidating a range of disparate communications technologies and bringing them together both for a single communications experience, and also for easier deployment. Yet, the downside of this consolidation has been perhaps an over-reliance on a single vendor solution. This concentration in a single UC vendor it is limiting the ability of enterprises to adopt the latest technology as it emerges, instead having to wait on their provider or record.
With one vendor providing the entire communications technology, an inconsistency in quality also is emerging, suggests a recent blog post by Brendan Ziolo, Head of Large Enterprise Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent, 5 reasons unified communications is hurting large enterprises.
“When there were only a few communications functions, one vendor was able to provide a competent platform for each,” noted Ziolo. “Today however, there are so many options that vendors naturally have functions they excel at and other functions that are far behind what is available in the market.”
Further, UC is reducing the control that enterprise has over its communications technology, and some firms are finding it a challenge to integrate UC platforms after a merger; each firm is deeply embedded with a single solution, and woe to those firms that merge with another and these UC solutions don’t line up. This is more the case with UC than when a range of technologies were used and there was more leeway for mixing and matching.
“Large enterprises are looking for a new alternative to the current unified communications solution,” posits Ziolo. “Many are beginning to look towards more open, cloud-based frameworks that eliminate the challenges associated with vendor lock in and free up the organization to select the best-of-breed apps that meet their business requirements.”
Alcatel-Lucent looks at this and other next steps in the unified communications journey in a recent white paper, Moving beyond Unified Communications. unified communications
UC definitely has delivered advantages such as ease of use. But like most things, it also has come at a cost that wasn’t immediately apparent but as the white paper explains there is a path forward to resolve the problems.
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Let’s face it, most large enterprises are stuck in a rut when it comes to unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions – and a 20th century rut at that. While these enterprises would like to be more in control of their UCC and ICT infrastructure, most are not sure where or how to begin.
Large enterprises typically choose a UC solution vendor based on one primary fact – that the vendor told them they could provide everything they needed. From an enterprise perspective that makes sense. Having only one vendor eliminates additional budget requests and cycles, reduces the number of people involved, and effectively streamlines the operation.
The problem is that choosing one vendor effectively locks the enterprise into a proprietary technology silo with that vendor. Sure, the vendor may be able to provide the tools the enterprise needs, but at what price, using what technology and in what timeframe? Instead of the enterprise choosing the technologies that it needs, the vendor is now effectively in control and dictates which technologies will be used by the large enterprise.
Business in the 21st century is dynamic. New technologies, tools and applications are developed every hour of every day that provide more new and useful UCC features and functions, enabling employees to be more productive than ever before. However, in order to stay competitive, large enterprises need to be able to react quickly to take advantage of those changes.
Being locked in to one vendor does not allow the large enterprise to react or adapt quickly to changes. In addition, older PBX systems are not capable of handling the demands made on them. Due to this, the status quo prevails and enterprise communications and collaboration are stuck in the 20th century, which often results in employee frustration.
To get around these limitations, employees often go outside of the formal IT system and bring/use their own communications devices (BYOD) or use 3rd-party apps that are not supported by IT (aka “shadow IT”). Unfortunately, these workarounds often create even more problems than they were trying to solve. However, thanks to Alcatel-Lucent’s new Rapport™ for Large Enterprise solution, the status quo can now be changed and enterprises can join the 21st century.
With Rapport, large enterprises now have the ability to react quickly to changing business conditions, break vendor lock-in, and provide their employees with the communication and collaboration features and capabilities they really need; when, where and how they need them. The large enterprise takes back control of their own communications infrastructure, eliminates shadow IT, and embeds the communications and collaboration features and functions needed into any Internet-connected device. Rapport effectively places a communications engine in the enterprise data center so that the enterprise now controls their own communications and collaboration and are no longer at the mercy of a vendor.
Rapport allows the large enterprise to replace their existing hardware-based or other type of solution (such as PBXs, audio conferencing equipment, soft clients, etc.) with a private cloud-based software solution. With proven integration of leading, open enterprise soft clients, desk phones and apps for full PBX features and more, Rapport provides full-service telecom network capabilities (including global routing, session management and fully-featured communications services) through one communications backend. The large enterprise manages their ICT infrastructure and uses their own IP trunking (instead of a telco’s) to deliver the unified communication and collaboration services their employees need across the enterprise.
Rapport uses open APIs and SDKs, allowing the large enterprise to easily integrate existing applications or develop and roll out new apps and services in a short period of time. No more submitting a request to a vendor, waiting for them to enter it into their development queue and then finally being told how long it will be before you receive it.
In short, Rapport is what large enterprises have been waiting for – a private cloud-based solution that lets them control the features and functions their employees receive.
For more information on Rapport for Large Enterprise and how it can help your business, please visit the Alcatel-Lucent Rapport for Large Enterprise website or contact your local Alcatel-Lucent sales office.
]]>Fiber-to-the-home networks service more than 130 households today, and PON is the dominant FTTH architecture. This trend is expected to continue, with 90 percent of the forecast 300 million FTTH subscribers by 2019 to be served by PON, according to Ovum.
As PON subscriber numbers grow, so will the types of users it can address. And that will include enterprise customers. That said, TWDM is the best and obvious way forward for service providers in the GPON realm, according to Ana Pesovic, senior marketing for wireline networks at Alcatel-Lucent who in a recent TechZine posting, TWDM technology moves ahead: XG-PON1, explains why TWDM is superior to XG-PON1 on a number of fronts. These include from a bandwidth perspective, in terms of revenue potential, and in its ability to lower carrier risk.
Ovum backs up those statements in its recent article TWDM-PON is on the horizon: Facilitating fast FTTx network monetization, in which the firm suggests that communications services providers would do well to leapfrog XG-PON1 and move on to TWDM-PON.
Ovum explains the case for TWDM citing its ability to:
“Now is the time CSPs should begin evaluating TWDM PON, analyzing deployment scenarios in terms of operational and monetary benefits,” Ovum suggests.
Pesvoic of Alcatel-Lucent, which launched its Universal TWDM-PON technology solution last year, agrees, commenting: “TWDM-PON lets operators offer high revenue generating commercial services, consolidate all services (residential, business and mobile backhaul) over one network, or perhaps co-invest to share deployment cost and risk. As a result, TWDM-PON monetizes the network faster.”
]]>A recent Alcatel-Lucent application note, The large enterprise has changed, gave an interesting snapshot of large enterprise IT today.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent, The large enterprise has changed
Based on this, it stressed that large enterprises have networking and communications infrastructure needs that are surprisingly similar to those of the network operators themselves, thanks to the growing importance of having employees connected with the bandwidth, security and reliability they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.
What this means is that large enterprises should start thinking like a network operator. This includes having telecom-grade IP platform infrastructure in place to support employee connectivity.
Specifically, large enterprise should think about using data center automation that can take advantage of technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN). With something like Alcatel-Lucent’s Nuage Networks Virtualized Services Platform, large enterprises can deliver SDN capabilities including centralized, policy-driven networking, simplified configuration and compliance automation.
Large enterprises also should have virtualized network services that can leverage SDN to create wide area networks (WANs) that can use best of breed technology and avoid proprietary lock-in.
In terms of the cloud, large enterprises are overwhelmingly deploying private clouds. Large enterprises should make sure they have a turnkey solution in place to make those deployments easy and also flexible enough to support web-based applications and mobile apps.
In thinking like telecoms, large enterprises additionally should consider optical transport and data center interconnect.
Optical transport delivers the bandwidth and speed that large enterprises need to keep up with network demand, and data center interconnect delivers the flexibility and capacity for faster service turn-up and assured business continuity while improving asset utilization and lowering costs. Data center interconnect brings scalable, secure, high-performing, multi-site data center connectivity for the cloud era.
Network connectivity is a key component of every business, especially for large enterprises. As a result, businesses need to learn from network operators and consider investing in similar technologies when it comes to their own connectivity projects.
Large office buildings sometimes encounter a troubling problem in the form of poor cellular reception for employees. With atriums, business space in basements, internal walls and glass windows, more than one “modern architectural masterpiece” has discovered that workers lose cell coverage when they enter the building.
Of course, there are steps that can fix such problems even after a building is constructed. One of the best options is small cells technology for good in-building cellular coverage.
Small cells enable mobile operators to easily and cheaply add coverage where needed. A single enterprise-grade small cell (100 mW) can cover about 1000 square meters depending on the particular topology of the space, and several can be combined for complete coverage.
In building environments, though, it can sometimes take great expertise to identify exactly where and how many small cells to place for effective coverage. And obviously unnecessary small cells add unwanted capital expense.
When determining small cells setup, three keys should be taken into account.
First, collaborate with the IT department. When operators work with a corporation’s IT department, they can save time and hassle by leveraging the firm’s on-site knowledge, including location, existing power and backhaul facilities.
Second, Determine coverage requirements. Start with an on-site survey to glean a full understanding of the critical areas that require small cells coverage. These can include such places as executive offices, the company restaurant, and spots where workers often congregate. It helps then to estimate the number of users expected to use cellular in each area, and plan for growth.
Third, calculate placement requirements. Operators should optimally balance two aspects of small cell overlap. A good propagation estimate helps avoid overlapping cells, which can cause interference.
When these keys are taken into account, though, small cells technology makes a world of difference for buildings that challenge existing cellular access.
]]>It is to keep enterprise customers on the mobile service provider networks for enhanced services that good in-building wireless solutions are seen as both a powerful business tool and a competitive advantage. This is particularly true when it comes to retaining small-to-medium business customers (SMBs).
This is an observation, driven home well in a recent TechZine posting by Tristan Barraud de Lagerie, Product Marketing Manager, Small Cells, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Field insights: Small cells retain enterprise customers. As he points out, ALU research has shown that more than 87 percent of enterprises are likely to switch to operators that guarantee good performance, but Alcatel-Lucent research found. He adds that, “Until recently, very few wireless solutions have been dedicated to meeting small enterprise needs. Not even in France and the U.K., where SMEs make up 99.8 percent of all businesses — and employ more than half of the workforce (51 percent in France, 59.3 percent in the UK.”
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
Small cells to the rescue—a five step approach for success
The good news for mobile operators is that small cells can give them the in-building coverage and quality of service they need to prevent churn and provide quality customer experiences. In fact, Barraud de Lagerie outlines five step approach to achieve success which have been applied successfully at thousands of small enterprises in France and the U.K. The five steps include:
The goal is simple, small cell deployments can be and should be positioned as a win/win for the operator and for enterprise customers. This is especially important for attracting and keeping SMBs customers as in-building gives the operators the ability to quickly and cost-effectively introduce new services like high-quality voice over LTE (VoLTE). And next-generation multi-standard (3G/4G/Wi-Fi) small cells make it easier to migrate to new services, and support always-on and all ways connections for the exploding and diverse population of wireless devices and their increased use as the communications platform of preference for all enterprise communications.
]]>The Law of 80 Percent clearly explains why in-building Internet access currently matters a lot. Mobile data traffic grew by roughly 80 percent in 2014, about 80 percent of mobile usage occurred in-building, and 80 percent of WLAN installations are at risk of not being able to handle traffic loads, according to research by ABI and Gartner.
This is a problem as Internet access expectations shift from coverage to quality and capacity. While some form of Internet access is available just about everywhere, there is a huge difference between good Internet and inadequate capacity.
Enterprise cells and indoor small cells can help meet this demand.
In-building cellular Internet can be addressed by three technologies, according to a recent Alcatel-Lucent webinar, Fact vs. Fiction – The Debate on In-Building Architecture Options that can be found on YouTube. These three technologies are distributed radio systems (DRS), distributed antenna systems (DAS), and distributed baseband (also known as small cells technology).
Each technology has its pros and cons when deployment options are considered.
With DAS systems, the benefits include a neutral host, coverage, and well understood technology, according to the Alcatel-Lucent webinar. But it requires dedicated backhaul, and this limits capacity. It also has a high total cost of ownership due to cooling and space requirements.
DRS is good for very high-capacity situations, such as sports stadiums. It also is an early example of cloud random access network architecture. But it is not a neutral host, and it needs unlimited backhaul.
Indoor small cells are perhaps one of the most useful of the three when it comes to in-building cellular. Small cells are easy to scale, use shared backhaul, and are cost-effective for both capacity and some coverage. Yet, small cells also require RF interference management are not a neutral host and is a relatively new technology.
The right mix of technologies depends on the situation.
For instance, DAS is good for public spaces where there is no operator differentiation. This includes shopping, trains, airports and restaurant situations.
DRS, on the other hand is good for retail storefronts and stadiums, since they allow for vendor and operator differentiation.
Small cells make the most sense for private and enterprise in-building cellular needs due to their cost and scalability. Banks, hospitals, factory building and regional headquarters should consider small cells, according to Alcatel-Lucent.
Whatever technology is ultimately chosen, however, the need is clear: In-building cellular is the current battleground, and the need for adequate quality and capacity is crucial.
]]>The craze for WebRTC grows louder as its realization in the market begins to be marked with high profile adoptions such as in Google Hangouts, Amazon Mayday, and SnapChat’s AddLive solution. The formal standardization of WebRTC began in 2011. Early implementations by Google and Mozilla, on Chrome and Firefox respectively, followed shortly - beginning in 2012. And with the availability of developer versions of WebRTC on Chrome and Firefox, an ecosystem of proof-of-concept and early commercial products and solutions quickly emerged. Open source plug-ins are filling the gap in browsers that do not yet support WebRTC e.g. Internet Explorer. There is also clear progress being made in WebRTC standards for ORTC. Given this, we expect that WebRTC ORTC will likely be natively available on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer within the next 18 months.
Craze@Alcatel-Lucent
This is exciting to witness after having initiated Alcatel-Lucent’s WebRTC work in 2011. Since then we have come a long way:
In June 2013 we launched a complete WebRTC solution for telco and enterprise markets including client Javascript libraries, the WebRTC Border Controller and an ecosystem of partners with a sandbox providing a fast prototyping environment for WebRTC apps,
We played a key role in driving standards for WebRTC including the current 3GPP IMS WebRTC specification work, IETF MSRP Data Channel integration and ATIS ORCA Javascript WebRTC APIs for 3rd party development. Our ORCA API implementation covers basic VoIP/video call control, advanced VoIP/video call control, and RCS over Data Channel and is available through our Web Developer Portal and via github. The solution makes it easy to embed real-time communications into applications, websites and the browser,
We are also engaging with 3rd party app partners, building a vibrant ecosystem of developers, who are integrating their innovative apps with our ORCA APIs and backend system, opening up new opportunities for service providers to capitalize on existing network investments and to enhance the customer experience.
Craze@Telcos
With the growth in IP communications deployment and adoption of VoLTE services, discussions with telcos and enterprises have intensified. Many of these conversations are taking place at WebRTC dedicated public events such as Upperside’s WebRTC Expo Conference, Informa’s WebRTC World Summit and more recently TMCnet’s WebRTC Conference & Expo and IIR’s Next Generation Service Platform where Alcatel-Lucent hosted a VoLTE Innovation Hackathon providing an on-site virtualized platform with support for developers.
What’s clear is that service providers are now prototyping, trialing and integrating WebRTC gateway and services into their existing IP communications. This is happening even while open questions are still pending regarding use of plugins, building of WebRTC apps native to the device as well as in the browser, use of transcoding, federated versus island solutions, and technology maturity in areas of QoS, codecs, identity management, browser support, etc. And there are several reasons for this.
As mentioned by Stephane Cazeaux from Orange Labs during UpperSide’s WebRTC Expo Conference, the telco’s approach to WebRTC is primarily to pursue “access webification”, i.e., WebRTC enabling web access to existing telco services and improving the telco’s brand experience. An example is the New Conversation APIs enhanced version of the SIPPO Web Application Controller from Quobis, which won the first ever “fast tracking innovation” contest at the Conversations 2014 conference. It highlights the value of a common WebRTC client for legacy as well as new WebRTC-enabled services such as collaboration, B2C click-2-call, Gmail plug-in, etc.
But WebRTC doesn’t only make it possible for service providers to leverage the web for telco-based consumer and enterprise services (including B2B, B2C). Talking business strategies and opportunities at the UpperSide conference, Fabrizio Caffaratti from Telecom Italia differentiates the WebRTC retail model -- where WebRTC as a framework enables WebRTC distinctive and enriched retailed services -- from the WebRTC wholesale model -- where the service provider capability is to leverage the web ecosystem for the benefit of telco services (B2B2C) and to monetize telco WebRTC APIs exposure to third party developers. As an example, Apizee’s Web Call Center application integrates Alcatel-Lucent New Conversation APIs allowing RCS service continuity on the web.
The potential of WebRTC to positively impact IP communications is high. There are many use cases and business models being explored in both the consumer and enterprise markets. These scenarios leverage WebRTC for VoIP, video, and data channel-supported services. They include the use of WebRTC in browser as well as WebRTC implementations native to the device – providing a consistent approach to facilitate the realization of the vision for IP communications enablement of all IP connected devices, the Internet of Things. The possibilities are truly exciting and the craze is not stopping!
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Recently in Munich, Alcatel-Lucent ran a 12 hour Hackathon that pitted the industry’s best and brightest developers against each other. The mission: build the most original, compelling and marketable app using New Conversation APIs.
New Conversation APIs make the rich functionality of IP Communications simple to mash up into applications. By enabling developers to easily integrated voice, video, data and contact information into any app, service providers can innovate faster – providing entirely new communications experiences to end users from any screen, device and network. They enable operators to explore new opportunities for enhancing retail services and to pursue new wholesale markets through application partners (web, verticals, M2P, M2M…).
For the Hackathon, Alcatel-Lucent provided on-site the virtualized, commercial grade IP communication platform and APIs access through its WebRTC Border Controller, Converged Telephony and Rich Communication Servers. But the real stars were the developers, whom powered by pizza, beer and caffeine, brought the adrenalin, ingenuity and drama.
The Hackathon did not disappoint. The developers delivered highly original, compelling and marketable apps that run on IP communication serving as the foundation for today’s LTE network and VoLTE services. A panel of global telecom industry analysts, developers and operators had the tough task of choosing a winner.
Ultimately, judges named PhoneDeck the winner. Its developers used New Conversation APIs and WebRTC technologies to deliver an app enabling the seamless mobile integration into CRM Salesforce. The app significantly improved the work experience of sales representatives through a screen-pop displaying relevant information about the customer calling on the mobile; call whispering providing information from a previously scanned customer business card stored on the CRM; click to call back on the sales representative’s browser; mobile, multi-device call handover; and mobile call reporting.
Hackathon finalists included:
Such competitions ultimately benefit end users like you and me. It provides a path to creating a world where communications is more dynamic and compelling – one that connects all contacts and communications in the online and real worlds to make the act of communicating simpler and more meaningful.
]]>In my first blog in this series, I discussed the reasons enterprise employees are bypassing the IT department when they purchase business software. Most shadow IT users would put it this way: “That’s what I have to do to get my job done efficiently.” In many respects, that short summary goes right to the heart of the matter.
But I’d like to push a little deeper now and examine the place where shadow IT begins – the point where enterprise employees start believing it’s a necessary option. What’s the crucial factor there? Cumbersome processes with long delays? Inferior or out-of-date tools? Or could it involve how those employees are perceived and treated?
Who’s serving your customers?
Traditionally, IT departments have acted as “gatekeepers” protecting the existing infrastructure — and making sure regulatory requirements are satisfied. This includes looking at requests and saying no to those that aren’t consistent with IT policy. This is a crucial role, but it has its downside. When there’s intense pressure to meet business goals, the IT department can seem obstructive. And that creates the feeling that it’s necessary to find other faster, more convenient sources for tools that can enhance productivity.
In contrast, today’s on-demand application providers are very attuned to their customers’ needs. Instead of declining requests, they say: “Yes, we have what you want. We’ll deliver it immediately. And we’ll keep your life simple.” Enterprise employees have come to expect this kind of responsiveness. And as a result, IT departments have lost their former monopoly on the applications used within the company.
Of course, new online, on-demand delivery methods have played a major role in the proliferation of shadow IT. But isn’t it possible that the app providers’ attitude is equally influential? And if that’s the case, how do you win back your “customers?”
Embrace the same mindset — and add your own excellence
One way IT departments are starting to render shadow IT powerless is to claim the very same customer–focused approach for themselves. In changing their role from gatekeepers to service brokers, they can open up a great opportunity to outperform shadow IT in meeting customer needs — while adding expertise that can’t be matched by outside vendors.
When supported by the right enterprise infrastructure, IT organizations can be a convenient, one-stop source for both internal and external business technology. The key, of course, will be to keep this process easier than going directly to a competing vendor — while applying the corporate security and compliance policies that shadow IT overlooks.
On a day-to-day level, the service broker approach relies on building customer relationships and applying the same principles as an effective sales force. These principles include:
When an IT organization adopts this approach, other departments will seek them out as a valuable contributor to the business. They’ll rely on IT for options and education. And they won’t go looking for their own applications, because it’s simply cheaper and more efficient to ask the IT department for help. In other words, good customer service from the IT organization renders shadow IT completely unnecessary.
Establish an effective framework for agility
There are, however, some crucial technical requirements for success as a service broker. IT departments will need an application framework that offers interoperability and uses standard interfaces, so they can more easily plug in whatever applications are the best fit for new customer requests — no matter what source they come from. The framework needs to support fast and seamless integration, with the ability to reach across business lines. This breaks down silos and enables optimal efficiency.
Most importantly, the framework must be flexible to support an environment of constant change as new applications come and go – it needs to keep pace with application innovation. The rapid advance of technology today makes existing implementations obsolete faster than ever before, and can render new projects outdated before their deployments are even completed.
This means it is the application control framework that is important, not the applications themselves. The technology must support the IT organization’s needs to transition from being a gatekeeper to a service broker by enabling diverse applications to work together smoothly — and at the same time provide the tools needed to outperform shadow IT when it comes to pleasing customers. And further, it needs to be device independent, so that services can be delivered to employees in the way that they want to use them.
What’s next
My next blog in this series will look more deeply into that framework for agility. What works and what doesn’t? Where is Enterprise IT truly headed? And where does it leave concepts like Unified Communications?
Bryan Davies leads Enterprise Communications Marketing for Alcatel-Lucent. To continue the discussion, follow Bryan on Twitter @brdavies or click here to contact us.
]]>The first step in resolving any problem is to make sure you understand the core issues. So here’s the crucial question for shadow IT: What is the biggest challenge it presents for your IT department?
Holding back the flood?
Today’s flood of mobile devices and cloud services is making shadow IT a bigger headache than ever before. But it’s nothing new. It started with the first enterprise employee who ever put an application in place without the knowledge or approval of IT staff.
Five years ago, the fundamental reasons for bypassing the IT department were the same as they are today: Individuals and departments want the best tools available for doing their jobs efficiently, so they can meet their key performance indicators (KPIs). This is especially true for today’s highly mobile workforce where the boundaries of the where and when you work are broad. A recent New York Times article noted that more than 3.2 million enterprise employees in America telecommute. This highly mobile and adaptable workforce wants to avoid cumbersome IT procedures that limit their choices, add unnecessary effort — and force them to wait around for delivery of their new applications. In other words, if something slows down productivity, these departments will go around it. This impulse is actually good for the business, because it helps employees wring every last drop of efficiency out of their processes.
But you know the consequences. When anyone circumvents standard procedures, their applications fall outside the controls and safeguards that your IT department has put in place. So is your biggest challenge to hold back today’s flood of nonstandard devices and applications, as a way to maintain control? Do you simply need to implement clearer rules, with tougher enforcement? Or is there another possibility?
Facing disruptive change
Some analysts believe that today’s pressure to be productive is driving growth in shadow IT. But a very different market trend may play a more powerful role: It’s now remarkably fast, easy and economical to acquire applications. Anyone with a credit card and a browser can have a new application running in virtually no time — instead of going through the lengthy process of IT procurement.
This application-on-demand method began in the consumer marketplace. But, like the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, it has moved into the workplace. Even key decision makers in non-IT departments are using their budgets to quickly purchase what they need. As early as January 2012, a Gartner analyst predicted that, within 5 years, CMOs would spend more on IT than CIOs.
Now, as a result of this growing trend, 80 percent of respondents to a recent Frost & Sullivan survey said they use nonapproved software as a service (SaaS) applications in their jobs. In other words, 4 out of 5 employees are using shadow IT. The applications they rely on make up more than one third of the 20 SaaS applications used at the average company. And they extend across all application types. http://www.zdnet.com/6-reasons-why-shadow-it-is-emerging-from-the-shadows-7000024854/
Here’s an especially interesting point about this trend: The same study found that IT employees use a higher number of nonapproved applications than other employees do. The analyst who reported on these findings suggests that the high occurrence of nonapproved SaaS applications may indicate that they’re “no longer in the shadows.”
So perhaps the biggest challenge facing your IT department is to recognize the consequences of disruptive change. Shadow IT is the direct and simple reaction of employees who feel their needs are not being met through traditional IT channels. And today, they have easy, nearly instantaneous alternatives for getting what they want. These user-friendly options are inundating the marketplace. What will the consequences be if you focus on trying to control and contain them?
The next step
The second step in killing shadow IT is to embrace it and render it powerless! When IT organizations embrace shadow IT and implement strategies to enable employees to safely and easily access the innovative new applications they need everyone wins. That’s what we’ll discuss in the next blog in this series.
Bryan Davies leads Enterprise Communications Marketing for Alcatel-Lucent. To continue the discussion, follow Bryan on Twitter @brdavies.
Bring-your-own-device, mobile video, virtualization and a greater need for quality of service have prompted the need to rethink the network. In fact, the exponential increase in traffic has added a sense of urgency on the part of enterprises to upgrade their networks.
What’s needed is a converged network, according to a recent paper by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). Enterprise Converged Network Solution, which carries the subtitle, Deliver a Consistent and Quality User Experience, Streamline Operations and Reduce Costs. With a long and deep history of providing state-of-the-art enterprise networks, ALY is advocating a converted, application-aware network that accounts for the latest evolutions in computing, yet is a resilient enough to meet both today’s needs and those of tomorrow.
“Now is the time for enterprises to re-think their strategy to support higher WLAN utilization, increased LAN access speed and better core performance,” noted the paper. “They must adopt a network with a simplified architecture that optimizes resource utilization, provides a consistent quality of experience (QoE) for wired and wireless users, and simplifies overall management.”
The converged network suggested by Alcatel-Lucent must address the following needs.
First, it must be a high-performance network with wire-rate 10GbE/40GbE core, which can often simplify and flatten architectures from three layers to two by eliminating the need for a distribution layer.
Second, it needs network virtualization for reduced equipment, network simplification and streamlined operations, and a resiliency that does not impact real-time application performance in case of failure due to the increasing use of cloud solutions and real-time communication.
Third, it must automated provisioning of access switches and endpoints. But it also needs to have superior wireless LAN performance for quality multimedia delivery and flexible deployment options.
It also needs lower power consumption.
Because of BYOD, a converged network of the future also must have embedded security for protecting users and groups, and a user profiling system for a quality user experience on a highly mobile environment.
In addition, and also on the “must have” list, is having multimedia fluency for enhanced quality delivery of voice and video to accommodate the growing bandwidth and quality of service requirements arising from increased adoption of unified communications (UC) by employees not only at their desktops but when they are mobile or working remotely. With multimedia fluency, it is possible to:
“Even between voice and video sessions, the user could have different QoS based on his specific needs,” noted the paper.
Network needs are changing, and it is important to have a network in place that can handle the evolution. The network of the future must be simplified, virtualized, with wire-rate switching capability and high port density. It must not only bring immediate benefits, but also prepare businesses for increased BYOD and cloud use while delivering a quick return on investment.
That’s no small order, and clearly as Alcatel-Lucent explains a converged solution is the best way to optimize network performance at low cost with simplified administration that is applications-fluent, while also being agile enough to adapt to whatever the future may hold.
]]>As leaders in Europe debate whether the EU is “back” during the World Economic Forum, the region is increasingly falling behind when it comes to telecommunications, according to Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes.
“There is a real danger,” noted Combes in a recent blog post on Europe’s digital divide (published in the Wall Street Journal, “that Europe is losing ground in the information era.”
That’s because there is an increasing gap between what the latest smartphones can deliver and what Europe’s telecommunications companies can support due to a price war that inhibits infrastructure upgrades.
“Europe is locked in a vicious circle of competition focused exclusively on price, one that forces operators to reduce their investments and destroys their innovation capacity,” noted Combes. “This type of competition is bad news for a digital Europe and its consumers.”
The digital agenda in Europe needs to be reset by the likes of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) and others. Telecommunications investment in the order of between €110 and €170 billion will be needed by 2020 if the region is to keep pace with the rest of the world in terms of cellular infrastructure and innovation. Failure could cost Europe €750 billion in lost GDP growth, and as many as 5.5 million highly-skilled jobs for young qualified European graduates.
“That’s a high price to pay for accepting life in a slow-motion telecoms world,” he noted.
What Europe must do, first and foremost, is move to an all-IP network infrastructure, supported by a virtualized infrastructures based on cloud technology.
Combes also suggested that Europe must invest more in applications and analytics and capabilities such as SDN and NFV.
“Today eight out of the top 10 global Internet platforms are American,” he wrote, and the two others are Chinese. “A new model of international work distribution seems to be taking shape in which the profitable operators are in the U.S. and the American Internet platforms are taking most of the residual value in Europe, while the application development centers are in India and the manufacturing is in China.”
Europe led the way when it came to 3G deployment, but now it is being left behind.
To fix the problem, operators need to end a competition model that is only based on reducing prices in the short term. Spectrum allocation also needs to be reviewed, and shared and efficient policies on net neutrality must be crafted to allow operators to differentiate themselves and revive investment.
“We also need to come back down to earth and stop thinking that the telecom sector can continue with 120 operators in Europe, subject to rules and procedures that change from one country to another,” Combes boldly wrote.
If Europe is not to fall too far behind, its digital agenda must tackle the recent decline in telecommunications. Importantly, as Combes stated, it must do so with a sense of urgency and purpose.
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