Month: March 2020

Telstra Collaborates with China Unicom, KT, and Telefonica to Co-Develop Edge Computing Platform

by Alfie Amir, posted in IT Leader
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Joining the collaboration enables Telstra to accelerate its edge computing strategy and expand the service globally.

• Telstra could consider partnering with the hyperscalers to provide wider cloud options for edge computing applications and offer differentiated services.

Edge computing is picking up its momentum globally with various announcements by telcos and cloud providers in recent months. Google announced Anthos for Telecom, Global Mobile Edge Cloud (GMEC), and a partnership with AT&T last week. AWS launched Wavelength (AWS compute and storage within Verizon’s 5G network) in December 2019 and announced partnerships with Verizon and Vodafone in the same month.

On February 27th, nine European and Asia-Pacific telcos (China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, EE, KDDI, Orange, Singtel, SK Telecom, Telefonica, and TIM) announced collaboration to co-develop an interoperable edge computing platform with the support of the GSMA through its Operator Platform Project. A week after the announcement, Telstra signed an MoU to join China Unicom, KT, and Telefonica in the initiative. The initial phase of the collaboration focuses on the development of edge computing capabilities and platform interoperability across different networks and geographies. The next stage will include the development of mobility use cases across borders and federation capabilities.

Continue reading “Telstra Collaborates with China Unicom, KT, and Telefonica to Co-Develop Edge Computing Platform” →

Maybe it’s Time to Rethink Tech Trade Shows

by Steven J. Schuchart Jr., posted in IT Leader
S. Schuchart

Summary Bullets:

• Trade shows are a tech staple, but compelling reasons to question them exist.

• The human interaction aspects of trade shows provide strong benefits.

The Convention. The Show. Some tech industry trade shows are so iconic that they are only known by their initials. Spring and fall trade shows are a staple, with great amounts of vendor and service provider time tied up with these conferences. Months and months of planning for attendees, speakers, sessions, food, and entertainment. Vendors have whole teams that do nothing but handle show details, booth hardware, transportation, and promotion. Somebody has to make sure the keynote intro is at an ear-splitting volume with a concert-like light show and features a walk-on song from Imagine Dragons for the CEO. A gradual shift over the last 20 years away from generalized third-party hosted shows with multiple vendors in one market have more or less yielded to vendor-specific shows, where other vendors show up, but exist in a careful détente. That has led to overall more shows each year. The big shift that had been going on was away from some cities where the costs for customers and visitors were pricing the very customers the trade shows are for out of attending.

Then COVID-19 hit. Now the spring tech show circuit is looking pretty grim with cancellations abounding. Even the storied service provider focused Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was cancelled, for very understandable reasons. With the next few months of conferences either cancelled or imperiled, perhaps it’s time to take a look at the concept of the ‘big tech conference’ overall. Because sometimes the convention ends and the thought occurs: Was travel really necessary for that information? Continue reading “Maybe it’s Time to Rethink Tech Trade Shows” →

IoT Platforms Add Enhancements for Machine Learning, Application Development, Vertical-Specific Use Cases, Security, and Edge Computing

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas

Summary Bullets:

• GlobalData has completed its latest update on the enterprise IoT platform market. Not surprisingly there have been many vendor announcements over the last six months, including new partnerships and new technical capabilities.

• New features focus on updated edge capabilities, machine learning-powered security (and assorted other security enhancements), analytics improvements, further support for no-code application development, and vertical-specific IoT applications.

Over the last 12 months, the enterprise IoT platform market has evolved, with many new capabilities added and diverse go-to market and technology partnerships established. Examples of the latter include Microsoft’s collaboration with Winmate to build hardware, IoT devices, and embedded solutions; SAP and Verizon’s collaboration on analytics; Google’s integration with the Aeris connectivity management platform, and PTC’s partnership with Magic Leap to advance AR in the enterprise. Some of the new capabilities recently announced include the following: Continue reading “IoT Platforms Add Enhancements for Machine Learning, Application Development, Vertical-Specific Use Cases, Security, and Edge Computing” →

Console Connect Coming to Australia Fills Out PCCW’s SDN Offerings

by Malcolm Rogers, posted in Cloud Enable, IT Leader, Network
M. Rogers

Summary Bullets:

  • The arrival of Console Connect in Australia fleshes out PCCW’s software-defined infrastructure offerings in the market, although integration of some features is still lacking.
  • Software-defined interconnect (SDI) is not new to Australia, and PCCW faces existing competition; however, the company is well positioned to manage cross Australia-to-China workloads.

PCCW’s expansion of the Console Connect platform into Australia is a positive move for the company. PCCW already offers its SD-WAN services (Viptela and VeloCloud) in the country. The addition of its cloud-focused Console Connect to the portfolio of networking services available in the country will complement its SD-WAN offering by giving enterprise customers more visibility and control over bandwidth and performance as enterprise workloads are increasingly hybrid and multi-cloud. Software-defined networking and cloud interconnect are high-growth areas within the Australian market. According to “GlobalData Market Opportunity Forecasts to 2024: ICT in Australia” (February 21, 2020), spend on SD-WAN is expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 19.6% to reach USD 114 million, while enterprise spend on cloud management platforms will grow at a five-year CAGR of 16.6%, reaching USD 526 million. Continue reading “Console Connect Coming to Australia Fills Out PCCW’s SDN Offerings” →