Next Generation Communications Blog

January 2010

You are browsing the archive for January 2010.

Open API Establishes New Relationship Between Network Providers, Third-Party Partners

Inconsistent policies, practices and requirements across multiple networks can make application development a costly and lengthy process.   Supported by a mediation platform, Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service allows developers, content providers and advertisers to access multiple network capabilities through a single, published set of standards-based APIs. The APIs cover all development needs and enable consistent support policy evaluation and enforcement across all networks, according to company officials.   As a result, end users get new services, ACPs get their services and content to market faster, and network providers get new revenue streams   "Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Server portal brings developers and wireless carriers together in a mutually beneficial way that's also simple. We interface with developers on behalf of telcos to reduce the complexity and cost of sharing APIs in a secure way," blogged Alcatel-Lucent's Mark Hudson.   For service providers, this streamlined approach reduces the operational complexity associated with managing a large number of external developers by funneling all third party applications through a central, controlled, and secure environment.

Open API Marries Developers, Service Providers to Same Value Chain

Bringing together developers and service providers together to support the rapid creation and secure testing of new services is the crux of Alcatel-Lucent's integrated application enablement innovation suite.   I recently had the opportunity to speak with Alcatel-Lucent's Jeff Cortley, who explained that the fundamental dilemma today for networks is the magnitude and breadth of applications, video, etc., which are making more demands on the network, and subsequently requiring operators to continue to invest in more capacity and bandwidth.   "The current model for how revenue is partitioned doesn't really incent and motivate the carrier to keep making that investment," said Cortley, president of Alcatel-Lucent's Subscriber Data Management business. "One aspect of high leverage networks is, how do you drive down the cost per bid of the network and, therefore for the same investment that you're making today, you have the same capacity to support this growth, but then also put more capability in the network to allow it to be more responsive and provide more control for applications that are running across the network."   According to Cortley there is willingness by the developers who are in fact very anxious to take advantage of some of these capabilities, but at the same time, they are also apprehensive in what it will take for them to become partners with large entities and setting up commercial agreements. They must also address logistical issues in order to ultimately take advantage of the opportunities brought on by this evolution of application enablement.   "The answer here is there needs to be a paradigm shift where there's a more equitable distribution of revenue across the value chain, and the way that we can get there is by having the network be more open to the application and content providers and have them leverage the value that the carriers can offer and therefore have them share some of that revenue rather than just ride over the top and consumer bandwidth without the carrier fully participating in that value chain," Cortley said.

Driving Global Eco-Sustainability through ICT Innovation

But, just as reducing the environmental impact of technology will not happen overnight, the discussion around how to best achieve such goals and who should lead the charge is not a one-time conversation. As such, in the January issue, editor-in-chief Ruth Killeen has put together another series of articles to further explore how the ICT sector can drive eco-sustainability not only within its own markets but, ultimately, on a much broader scale across global technology markets.

Check out the Open API Application Gallery!

Since July, developers who have been using Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service technology to enhance their work recently released a slew of exciting, sophisticated, next-generation applications.

Mobile Apps to Thrive with Open API

As any network operator and developer in the communications technology space will tell you, services that helps them do their job more quickly and efficiently is always a welcomed addition. And as Web applications increasingly become the hot new tool for developers, more and more end users are deploying Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service.

Alcatel-Lucent Helps Lay Foundation for Relationships between Developers and Service Providers

By Susan Campbell

As a service provider, it is likely that you understand the challenges you face in this new mobile society. Consumers want access to multimedia options anywhere and at any time. To meet these challenges, you need to align a new strategy with a new business model and embrace opportunities that allow you to deliver the solutions that customers want.

By partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, you can gain access to comprehensive solutions and partnerships as a result of the company’s Application Programming Interfaces (API) bundles, as well as an associated revenue sharing model that is designed to transform application development through the elimination of upfront costs for developers.

The Green Touch Initiative from Bell Labs: A New Shade of Green IT

Quite simply, today's networks are 10,000 times less energy efficient than their theoretical minimum, meaning that if networks were built from a purely energy conservation perspective, we could run today's networks for three years using the power required to run them for one day currently - and that's already acknowledging there needs to be some balance between performance and energy efficiency in order to meet user demands.

Smart Choices: Establishing a Solid Foundation for an Effective, Future-Ready Smart Metering System

Smart metering solutions provide power companies with a new, evolutionary way of monitoring and controlling power consumption in a real-time environment. Properly implemented solutions will not only create efficiencies on power grids, but can deliver financial benefits to utilities, who will have deeper insight into and control over their power networks.

The Key Benefits of Managing Security at a Network Level vs. a Device Level

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Cliff Grossner of security solutions marketing at Alcatel-Lucent. He explained that while certain kinds of security can be derived from managing security at the end point, Alcatel-Lucent's brand of enterprise security is more about managing security from the network.   "If you manage it from the endpoint you always get a fragmented view of the current security status of the enterprise, so that's always incomplete," Grossner said. "However, when you manage security from within the network, you then get the ability to have security that's applied consistently corporate-wide, applied consistently across voice data and mobility and also provides a very independent chain of control for the security team. That's also very important.

Transforming ICT for Sustainable Telecom Applications and Services

In fact, Bell Labs is set to announce a major new initiative on January 11, 2010, which it says has the potential to drive a fundamental transformation in network technology, resulting in a significant reduction of the ICT carbon footprint.

Top 5 Attributes of a Strategic Managed Services Provider

Given the competitive nature of the telecom industry, the benefits of a managed services partnership lend themselves well to creating a strategic advantage, as long as operators are diligent as they choose their partners. Given the risk involved, there is no alternative.

The Eco-benefits of Green IT for the Dynamic Enterprise

Ultimately, there are a number of ways any business can leverage green IT to increase its business operations while reducing its environmental impact - from effective planning strategies to more efficient infrastructure to the business process enabled by IP communications. All of these are central to not only an eco-sustainability strategy today, but to the evolution to a more dynamic enterprise environment.

Take the Quiz to See How Dynamic Your Enterprise Is

Businesses are quickly learning that they need to invest in technologies that enable a constant flow of information between colleagues, partners, and customers - to become a dynamic enterprise.

Using IVR systems as a competitive advantage

The secret to business success is really no secret at all: It's all about providing high quality customer service, whatever your particular industry. In fact, a survey conducted by Alcatel-Lucent back in 2007 found that three-quarters of 4,200 respondents said they would continue to business with a company with which they had a great contact center experience.

Best practices for cost effectively supporting the explosion of intelligent applications and wireless devices

The new year is upon us, and with that comes the hope and expectation of a number of live LTE-based network rollouts, particularly from Verizon Wireless, which is expected to turn up LTE in as many as 30 markets by the end of the year.

How Outsourced Network Management Will Help You Take Control of Your Business Transformation

For these operators, that also means devising new strategies that will allow them to successfully accomplish these different, yet intimately intertwined tasks that define their success. In today's new world of constantly evolving communications technologies - which impacts the entire value chain, from infrastructure and hardware vendors to network operators to subscribers - the need to more rapidly than ever adapt to new demands and new technologies often means enlisting the help of trusted partners.

A Focus on Eco-Sustainability from Alcatel-Lucent

What was once considered merely a trendy concept has now taken on a significant role in the business landscape, with the majority of business executives confirming that eco-sustainability is not only important, but is, in fact, a key consideration when making communications technology investments.

Embarking on 2010 as a Trusted, Dynamic Enterprise

As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, the  prospects of Web 2.0 (and eventually Web 3.0) are giving enterprises a new threshold of opportunity to leverage the Web to conduct business. At the same time, these opportunities also present security and trust issues that must be successfully managed in order for an organization to be what Alcatel-Lucent describes as the "trusted dynamic enterprise" - organizations which  address these security challenges with open and secure communications interfaces.   In order to be truly a dynamic enterprise, Alcatel-Lucent's vision is to build an entity where innovation, performance and productivity are the norm -  a solution marked by continuous and transformative growth. Anchored by its dynamic communications framework, Alcatel-Lucent interconnects networks, people, processes and knowledge to deliver rich customer interactions, improved operational performance and exceptional business results.   Alcatel-Lucent's dynamic enterprise newsletter is a braintrust of information that offers compelling insight and vital solutions for enterprises seeking out the latest news, trends, and expert advice in this area of transformation.
Featured Events