Dec 12 2008 3:29PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Alcatel-Lucent,
Next Generation Networks,
Web 2.0,
service delivery platform,
third-party platforms
Alcatel-Lucent has posted a press release with more color on its new strategy, one that makes it clear just how dramatic its new position is. The company is now committed to a program of facilitation for the composition of services by partners as a primary strategic thrust, a position that is totally unique in the equipment vendor space and exactly what operators have been telling us they want to see.
Quoting from their release, “This strategy requires providing an open environment, which does not exist today, where all these trusted capabilities can be available between the network and “over-the-top” applications typical of Web 2.0. It is a challenge that Alcatel-Lucent is uniquely positioned to address, with its long-standing relationship with network-based service providers and thousands of enterprises worldwide, its capabilities in delivering fixed and mobile broadband, flat-IP networks and its end-to end integration capabilities around the globe.”
Vendor PR is never a sure sign of things to come (like any form of PR), but this has the potential to be a game-changer of a strategy in a market where monetization has become a singular obsession among buyers.
Dec 12 2008 2:05PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Alcatel-Lucent,
Next Generation Networks,
service delivery platform,
third-party platforms
Alcatel-Lucent has announced job cuts and predicts a decline in global telecom spending of between 8 and 12%, which is much larger than any dip we can see based on any credible set of economic trends.
The forecast appears to be based on the presumption that the recession will continue not only through 2009 but through 2010 as well, since only that outcome would create such a broad suppression of spending.
The good news is that Alcatel-Lucent has targeted the strategic issue we believe has the greatest credibility: the linking of network assets to over-the-top players in what is popularly called “third-party access.” If they play strongly here, they stand to gain considerably, and even more so should the market conditions get as bad as they expect.
Dec 10 2008 6:32PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Cisco,
Next Generation Networks,
Social networking,
Web 2.0,
social media,
service delivery platform,
third-party platforms
Cisco announced a broad if somewhat vague program to bind the Elements of Web 2.0 applications into a cohesive whole. The details on this vision were extremely difficult to extract, and we could find no Cisco material online to offer more insight. But it appears to us that Cisco is proposing a broad concept of service-from-mashups where APIs used by various social networks, sites, and even operators could be combined in some centralized way to create new services.
What is even less clear is exactly what role Cisco proposes to play in this. Will it offer a product set, host a service, or both? All this said, we admit that it just might be that Cisco is looking at the area of reformulating service creation—a major focus of our own interest—and also the area of using social networking and similar Web evolutions as the basis for collaboration and communication, another thing we believe to be essential in shaping the next generation of services.
In short, Cisco may be on to something and we’ll try to figure out what exactly it is.
Dec 2 2008 3:01PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Next Generation Networks,
Microsoft,
service delivery platform,
third-party platforms
Microsoft has quietly dropped its Connected Services Framework, an ambitious program that targeted telcos with a package of components that was, at some points in Microsoft’s positioning, a service and sometimes a product.
The move has been interpreted as a response to the complex telco environment, but we think the real reason is more complicated. First, vendors are finding telcos are not happy about closed platforms for services and thus are more likely to demand standards conformance. That opens the ecosystem, making it less profitable for the vendor. Finally, monetization of new services is still problematic, and as a result, the investment needed to create them has to be carefully justified.
All of this speaks against CSF. We note, however, that Microsoft has specific point products that we believe it intends to deploy to telcos. In fact, Microsoft has been successful with carriers worldwide in getting some of these into networks—as much as anyone has, in fact. It’s shedding the CSF packaging and positioning, in our view, but not the market.
Aug 15 2008 8:23PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Google,
Open source,
third-party platforms
Google Android will be making its debut for the holiday season according to reports, with its first phone created by HTC and offered by T-Mobile. The new phone will have a touch screen, larger slide-based keyboard, and support an unknown number of Android applications from developers in the Open Handset Alliance program.
Android is the strongest of the open handset systems in our view; we have joined the programs and examined the material. There are other handset players and providers looking at announcements as well, but we do not believe that any more than one additional player has any chance of making an announcement by year-end.
We hear that HTC/T-Mobile will actually be ready likely in October but may delay a bit to insure pre-publicity is strong and that others don’t have time to capitalize on any holiday marketing successes.
