Posts by Bob McCallister

We all understand that technology constantly changes. Interestingly, it’s not only that old tools get swapped for new ones, it’s that our initial perceptions of, and uses for, a specific technology evolve as well. Take SD-WAN. When we first became aware of SD-WAN, it was considered as a smart replacement for legacy WAN solutions. Think of MPLS and you’ll understand where I’m going. But this approach has shifted with the rise of enterprise-level digital transformation….  MORE

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In the world of telecommunications, you tend to see a lot of predictions. Some never match expectations, while others eventually live up to the hype. The latter is the case for Software-Defined Networking (SDN). Many companies are beginning to see the value of this networking architecture technology. For those of you not completely familiar, SDN facilitates network management and enables programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring. SDN addresses the…  MORE

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If you’ve been in the telecommunications or technology industry long enough, you’ve likely witnessed partnerships that didn’t quite work out. That’s the nature of the beast. On paper, a joint venture or strategic collaboration can seem like a great idea with a mutually beneficial future. Then in the real world the stars don’t align how you imagined. That’s why it’s critical to cover all of the details and ramifications before formalizing the partnership agreement. Not…  MORE

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Technology trends may come and go, but few things remain as consistent as the growth of broadband. It’s an objective fact that broadband consumption keeps rising, which is a driving force for the overall success of the telecommunications industry. If you look at mobile traffic across the globe, it’s been increasing by nearly 50% each year, with wireless traffic seeing approximately a 20% annual boost.  What accounts for this seemingly endless growth? Sure, there are…  MORE

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Ever since the invention of the wheel, people have been imagining and predicting how technology will shape human life (and business). Now that it’s impossible to separate tech from our daily lives, it easier to assess what will come tomorrow, next month, and next year. But rather than looking to just 2018, we wanted to take a longer, half-decade view. Here are some trends to be aware of from now until 2023: Technology companies are…  MORE

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There are so many web sites and news sources about telcos these days, it can be hard to know where to focus. For example, with all the stories about 5G, NFV/SDN and IoT devices, you may believe those are the areas that should be priorities. That may be the reality for some network operators, but many are still devoting the bulk of their time to their legacy TDM-based assets. It’s something they can’t overlook, since…  MORE

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If we could safely predict one business issue for telecom providers, it’s that they will always have to increase performance of their networks. Data traffic will only grow, as will the expectations of consumer and businesses. For this reason, mobile networks are enhancing their networks with small cells. Small cells are a highly effective way to deliver coverage in any environment, be it residential, commercial and rural spaces. Plus, when you strategically deploy small cells,…  MORE

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Unless you’ve been living off the grid the past decade, you know that data is everything in business these days. Those who access the right data and apply it the right way are the ones who stay on top. We typically hear about data in relation to marketing and sales. But network operations teams are learning that they can use data to make a big difference as well. The truth is, as organizations transform into…  MORE

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