Month: January 2012

2011 in the Cloud: The Year of Managing Expectations

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Cloud Enable
A. DeCarlo
A. DeCarlo

Summary Bullets:

  • While most businesses are still experimenting with on-demand services, research by Current Analysis shows the vast majority of those using the cloud today are happy with their experience.
  • Positive cloud experiences bode well for future growth, as market acceptance of cloud services rises and solutions mature.

2011 was a banner year for IT services.  As organizations continue to explore their alternatives to traditional outsourcing models, IT solution providers have been evolving their strategies to support the expected rise in on-demand services.  Acquisitions like CenturyLink’s multi-billion dollar deals for Qwest and Savvis; Dimension Data’s OpSource purchase; and Verizon’s Terremark and CloudSwitch buys, among others, are changing the market landscape for cloud services.   Continue reading “2011 in the Cloud: The Year of Managing Expectations” →

LTE: Revolution or Evolution for Business Users?

by Gary Barton, posted in Communicate
G. Barton
G. Barton

Summary Bullets:

  • LTE bandwidth will make tablets and smartphones even more powerful tools.
  • Reliability remains fundamental for all mobile solutions.

2012 will see the launch of Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in the UK.  It is tempting to see this as the beginning of a revolution in delivering mobile services.  Trials of LTE have already occurred in the UK, with BT and Everything Everywhere partnering to run trials in Cornwall whilst O2 has run its own trials in London.  The promised increase in bandwidth from around 14 Mbps up to around 50 Mbps, and even above 100 Mbps in the longer term, certainly seems to offer a lot of potential.  However, the question must be asked: what extra advantages does this bandwidth offer business users?  Even for consumer users watching YouTube video clips, 14 Mbps is usually more than sufficient bandwidth.  In theory, LTE supports a maximum speed of up to 150 Mbps on current technology.  However, when deployed in the real world, BT has predicted that 30 Mbps will be the maximum likely speed (and then only during low-usage periods), whilst Everything Everywhere has suggested that speeds will be between 2 Mbps and 40 Mbps. Continue reading “LTE: Revolution or Evolution for Business Users?” →