I had to blog about the iPhone experience. First of all, I could not wait to finally be rid of the Blackberry; it's a great device but just not as fun, friendly, or cool as the iphone.
iPhone brilliant colors and bright screen are the best I've ever seen on a phone. The user friendly interface is truly world class. The touch screen buttons takes advantage of the large display and bright colors, making it very easy to see the fonts of names, phone numbers etc.
I could really go on writing a lot of cool things about the iPhone but I must speak with balance. As for as I'm concern, the 3G is a big downer! Sucks battery with no consistent appreciable increase in performance. Heck, I disable 3G and I'm loving the phone more.
The last comment is, AT&T! Please add more capacity to your network because obviously it's rediculously over subscribed!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Why Nortel chose LTE over WiMAX
Why Nortel chose LTE over WiMAX
4G one of 7 hot growth markets eyed by Nortel
By Jim Duffy , Network World , 06/13/2008
Sponsored by:
Cross WiMAX off the list of hot growth markets Nortel plans to tackle in the coming years to boost its fortunes.
The company all but exited the WiMAX market this week with its intentions to scale down development of base stations in favor of a relationship with Alvarion. At the same time, Nortel told financial analysts at a Toronto gathering that it’s placing its wireless bets on LTE, or Long Term Evolution, a 4G successor to the 3G cellular infrastructures now deployed by Verizon and AT&T.
The WiMAX market is not developing fast enough for Nortel to invest in both it and the rapidly emerging LTE market, says Chief Strategy Officer George Riedel.
“The WiMAX market relative to where we thought it would be 18 months ago has probably moved out not once but twice in terms of the size of the opportunity,” Riedel says. “LTE has shifted in,” Riedel says, in terms of technology and standards development, trial implementations and subsequent purchases.
Related Content
Another reason is that WiMAX was a niche technology and opportunity, Riedel says.
“It was a different segment,” he says. “WiMAX to us ultimately becomes the underserved broadband segment: people in markets where broadband capacity doesn’t generally [propagate]. They want something sooner rather than later.”
Nortel would not disclose how much it invested in WiMAX over the past several years. But the company is moving on, now fixated on seven strategic markets where it feels it can achieve double-digit growth going forward.
“Think of it as a set of product-related opportunities with attendant services, most of which all have fairly substantial growth rates,” Riedel says. “The numbers we’ve seen from the ‘08-’11 time frame is somewhere between 35% and 40%.”
In addition to 4G, those Magnificent Seven target markets are:
* Unified communications products and services – Nortel’s leaning heavily on its alliance with Microsoft for desktop applications but is also targeting the back-office or business process phase, which links UC with SOA and Web services. Nortel expects to work with a broader collection of partners for this effort, Riedel says.
* Metro WDM – Developing products for carriers to expand fiber capacity in cities. One such product is Nortel’s OME 6500 metro core transport system.
* 40G/100Gbps metro and long-haul optics – Verizon and AT&T are two carriers going to 100G long-haul now and Nortel expects these bandwidths to reach down into metro areas before long.
* Carrier Ethernet – Lots going on here. Analysts have this pegged at about a $4 billion market now with substantial growth in the years to come. Verizon just selected Nortel’s ERS 8600 switch as a candidate to expand its Ethernet service footprint. And Nortel is pumping up its Provider Backbone Transport/Bridging implementations as complements or alternatives to MPLS for scaling metro Ethernet.
* Carrier applications – Voice call continuity, fixed-mobile convergence and others “agnostic of people’s hardware,” Riedel notes.
* Services – Integration, consulting, project management across the aforementioned product areas.
Related Content
“We think we have something distinctive to say in these spaces,” Riedel says of Nortel’s opportunity. “Whether it’s the strength of our technology, coupled with some of these partnerships, and an open view of how we add value or what layer we participate in vs. others; and the ability to do this in real-time” given Nortel’s heritage in voice. “We feel reasonably good about the ability to grow well into those segments.”
All contents copyright 1995-2008 Network World, Inc. http://www.networkworld.com
4G one of 7 hot growth markets eyed by Nortel
By Jim Duffy , Network World , 06/13/2008
Sponsored by:
Cross WiMAX off the list of hot growth markets Nortel plans to tackle in the coming years to boost its fortunes.
The company all but exited the WiMAX market this week with its intentions to scale down development of base stations in favor of a relationship with Alvarion. At the same time, Nortel told financial analysts at a Toronto gathering that it’s placing its wireless bets on LTE, or Long Term Evolution, a 4G successor to the 3G cellular infrastructures now deployed by Verizon and AT&T.
The WiMAX market is not developing fast enough for Nortel to invest in both it and the rapidly emerging LTE market, says Chief Strategy Officer George Riedel.
“The WiMAX market relative to where we thought it would be 18 months ago has probably moved out not once but twice in terms of the size of the opportunity,” Riedel says. “LTE has shifted in,” Riedel says, in terms of technology and standards development, trial implementations and subsequent purchases.
Related Content
Another reason is that WiMAX was a niche technology and opportunity, Riedel says.
“It was a different segment,” he says. “WiMAX to us ultimately becomes the underserved broadband segment: people in markets where broadband capacity doesn’t generally [propagate]. They want something sooner rather than later.”
Nortel would not disclose how much it invested in WiMAX over the past several years. But the company is moving on, now fixated on seven strategic markets where it feels it can achieve double-digit growth going forward.
“Think of it as a set of product-related opportunities with attendant services, most of which all have fairly substantial growth rates,” Riedel says. “The numbers we’ve seen from the ‘08-’11 time frame is somewhere between 35% and 40%.”
In addition to 4G, those Magnificent Seven target markets are:
* Unified communications products and services – Nortel’s leaning heavily on its alliance with Microsoft for desktop applications but is also targeting the back-office or business process phase, which links UC with SOA and Web services. Nortel expects to work with a broader collection of partners for this effort, Riedel says.
* Metro WDM – Developing products for carriers to expand fiber capacity in cities. One such product is Nortel’s OME 6500 metro core transport system.
* 40G/100Gbps metro and long-haul optics – Verizon and AT&T are two carriers going to 100G long-haul now and Nortel expects these bandwidths to reach down into metro areas before long.
* Carrier Ethernet – Lots going on here. Analysts have this pegged at about a $4 billion market now with substantial growth in the years to come. Verizon just selected Nortel’s ERS 8600 switch as a candidate to expand its Ethernet service footprint. And Nortel is pumping up its Provider Backbone Transport/Bridging implementations as complements or alternatives to MPLS for scaling metro Ethernet.
* Carrier applications – Voice call continuity, fixed-mobile convergence and others “agnostic of people’s hardware,” Riedel notes.
* Services – Integration, consulting, project management across the aforementioned product areas.
Related Content
“We think we have something distinctive to say in these spaces,” Riedel says of Nortel’s opportunity. “Whether it’s the strength of our technology, coupled with some of these partnerships, and an open view of how we add value or what layer we participate in vs. others; and the ability to do this in real-time” given Nortel’s heritage in voice. “We feel reasonably good about the ability to grow well into those segments.”
All contents copyright 1995-2008 Network World, Inc. http://www.networkworld.com
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Getting a CFO to Say Yes to IT Projects
Getting a CFO to Say Yes to IT ProjectsBy Elizabeth Millard2008-06-11
How to bridge the gap between the budgetary needs of technology projects with the funding decisions your CFO envisions for the business.
It's a contradiction that's tough to handle for many IT managers and CIOs: The budget is getting leaner, yet demand for more technology and services keeps increasing. Although new strategies and equipment can improve the situation, tech executives might find that when it comes to infusing their pet projects with budget resources, the CFO balks.
Most likely, getting a rejection isn't just a result of limited funds, but also the outcome of poor communication and badly handled proposals, notes Greg Baker, CFO of technology provider Logicalis.
The firm has developed a request rating calculator for its site, so users can determine how much weight a certain aspect of a project will be given by a CFO. For example, if the initiative is a directive from the CEO, it will rank high in terms of getting funded. But if the project has no timeline in terms of completion and is therefore not seen as urgent, it will have less chance of being seen as necessary.
In general, a CIO or IT manager should be able to articulate what type of effect an initiative will have on the security of the company's applications or operation, how much the initiative will increase productivity, whether customer service levels will improve, and what the impact could be on strategic, tactical or operational goals.
Over the past few years in particular, much discussion has centered around the issue of technology executives creating more alignment with other parts of the business, and most importantly, being able to describe projects and outcomes in "normal" language rather than tech-heavy jargon.
When it comes to getting CFO approval, this is especially important, since eyes tend to glaze over when complicated technical details are introduced. In other words, CFOs don't want to know how a new network switch operates or whether an appliance is well-suited for upcoming standards that are being put in place. They want to hear how it will save money, make customers happy and not add to IT headcount.
In today's economic climate, most projects that get approved won't be large, new projects, but rather smaller tweaks that can improve efficiency, says John Blyzinksyj, senior vice president at Patni Americas, provider of IT services, product engineering and infrastructure management.
"A major issue for CFOs used to be SOX [Sarbanes-Oxley] compliance," he says. "But, although that's still a concern, right now they're more focused on conserving cash, reducing inventory and looking at any IT project that helps improve the efficiency of the supply chain."
CIOs and IT managers who are seeking additional budget monies should also keep in mind that most budgets are not expanding, so any funding would have to be taken from other departments. If that's the case, Blyzinksyj notes, the technology executive had better be able to justify precisely why the initiative is needed, and what the outcomes will be.
CFO Input, Long Before the ProposalIn addition to being able to speak clearly about an initiative's benefits, there should also be a complete lack of surprise, says Logicalis' Baker: "If a capital expenditure hits my desk, it shouldn't be the first I've heard about it. Too often at companies, there isn't enough informal dialogue about what issues are coming up in the near future. And that's why good opportunities get missed."
Baker suggests that CFOs and technology executives meet at least once each quarter to chat about specific concerns, such as a potential lack of data storage space, or higher-than-expected labor costs with IT employees. Involving the CFO early and often can help to shape initiative proposals, and get them approved.
The areas in which IT and CFOs can work together most effectively are security, regulatory compliance, business continuity, storage management and service management, according to Patrick Zelten, vice president of professional services at Forsythe Solutions Group, a technology consulting firm.
"Understanding business needs surrounding an area like storage management can have dramatic effects," he says. "The two groups can work together to set priorities and get the maximum value out of the IT spend."
Another important aspect is an abundance of detail, which doesn't mean technical information, but rather, an explanation of how the project will proceed through numerous phases. "One of my pet peeves is seeing a capital request that completely lacks justification for the numbers, with no clearly painted financial benefits," notes Baker.
Details about disk features or software upgrade advantages also leave him cold, he adds. Like other CFOs, he'd rather see case studies of other companies that have spent the money and benefited from the results, or a survey of customers about what type of technology-fueled changes they'd like to see.
Another advantage in a proposal is an articulation of outcomes at various stages of a project, not just as the ultimate goal. "A fatal flaw can be trying to wrap too much into one large outcome," Baker says. "Instead, there have to be milestones and measurable phases."
Pressing for a fast decision and putting a sense of urgency into the project is also a sure way to get the CFO veto, Baker says. He finds fast-track requests to be suspicious, particularly if he hasn't heard about the project in the past.
Finally, a large part of informal and formal discussions should center around general expectations, with a healthy amount of realistic goal-setting, Zelten adds. This includes thoughts on how a project might fit in with others already in progress, or with goals in other departments, such as sales and distribution.
"There's much that can be done [to help] a CFO to understand technology's role and for IT to understand the business," he says. "You can't talk enough about risk, cost and outcomes on both sides."
http://www.baselinemag.com/index2.php?option=content&task=view&id=4892&pop=1&hide_ads=1&page=0&hide_js=1
How to bridge the gap between the budgetary needs of technology projects with the funding decisions your CFO envisions for the business.
It's a contradiction that's tough to handle for many IT managers and CIOs: The budget is getting leaner, yet demand for more technology and services keeps increasing. Although new strategies and equipment can improve the situation, tech executives might find that when it comes to infusing their pet projects with budget resources, the CFO balks.
Most likely, getting a rejection isn't just a result of limited funds, but also the outcome of poor communication and badly handled proposals, notes Greg Baker, CFO of technology provider Logicalis.
The firm has developed a request rating calculator for its site, so users can determine how much weight a certain aspect of a project will be given by a CFO. For example, if the initiative is a directive from the CEO, it will rank high in terms of getting funded. But if the project has no timeline in terms of completion and is therefore not seen as urgent, it will have less chance of being seen as necessary.
In general, a CIO or IT manager should be able to articulate what type of effect an initiative will have on the security of the company's applications or operation, how much the initiative will increase productivity, whether customer service levels will improve, and what the impact could be on strategic, tactical or operational goals.
Over the past few years in particular, much discussion has centered around the issue of technology executives creating more alignment with other parts of the business, and most importantly, being able to describe projects and outcomes in "normal" language rather than tech-heavy jargon.
When it comes to getting CFO approval, this is especially important, since eyes tend to glaze over when complicated technical details are introduced. In other words, CFOs don't want to know how a new network switch operates or whether an appliance is well-suited for upcoming standards that are being put in place. They want to hear how it will save money, make customers happy and not add to IT headcount.
In today's economic climate, most projects that get approved won't be large, new projects, but rather smaller tweaks that can improve efficiency, says John Blyzinksyj, senior vice president at Patni Americas, provider of IT services, product engineering and infrastructure management.
"A major issue for CFOs used to be SOX [Sarbanes-Oxley] compliance," he says. "But, although that's still a concern, right now they're more focused on conserving cash, reducing inventory and looking at any IT project that helps improve the efficiency of the supply chain."
CIOs and IT managers who are seeking additional budget monies should also keep in mind that most budgets are not expanding, so any funding would have to be taken from other departments. If that's the case, Blyzinksyj notes, the technology executive had better be able to justify precisely why the initiative is needed, and what the outcomes will be.
CFO Input, Long Before the ProposalIn addition to being able to speak clearly about an initiative's benefits, there should also be a complete lack of surprise, says Logicalis' Baker: "If a capital expenditure hits my desk, it shouldn't be the first I've heard about it. Too often at companies, there isn't enough informal dialogue about what issues are coming up in the near future. And that's why good opportunities get missed."
Baker suggests that CFOs and technology executives meet at least once each quarter to chat about specific concerns, such as a potential lack of data storage space, or higher-than-expected labor costs with IT employees. Involving the CFO early and often can help to shape initiative proposals, and get them approved.
The areas in which IT and CFOs can work together most effectively are security, regulatory compliance, business continuity, storage management and service management, according to Patrick Zelten, vice president of professional services at Forsythe Solutions Group, a technology consulting firm.
"Understanding business needs surrounding an area like storage management can have dramatic effects," he says. "The two groups can work together to set priorities and get the maximum value out of the IT spend."
Another important aspect is an abundance of detail, which doesn't mean technical information, but rather, an explanation of how the project will proceed through numerous phases. "One of my pet peeves is seeing a capital request that completely lacks justification for the numbers, with no clearly painted financial benefits," notes Baker.
Details about disk features or software upgrade advantages also leave him cold, he adds. Like other CFOs, he'd rather see case studies of other companies that have spent the money and benefited from the results, or a survey of customers about what type of technology-fueled changes they'd like to see.
Another advantage in a proposal is an articulation of outcomes at various stages of a project, not just as the ultimate goal. "A fatal flaw can be trying to wrap too much into one large outcome," Baker says. "Instead, there have to be milestones and measurable phases."
Pressing for a fast decision and putting a sense of urgency into the project is also a sure way to get the CFO veto, Baker says. He finds fast-track requests to be suspicious, particularly if he hasn't heard about the project in the past.
Finally, a large part of informal and formal discussions should center around general expectations, with a healthy amount of realistic goal-setting, Zelten adds. This includes thoughts on how a project might fit in with others already in progress, or with goals in other departments, such as sales and distribution.
"There's much that can be done [to help] a CFO to understand technology's role and for IT to understand the business," he says. "You can't talk enough about risk, cost and outcomes on both sides."
http://www.baselinemag.com/index2.php?option=content&task=view&id=4892&pop=1&hide_ads=1&page=0&hide_js=1
Monday, June 2, 2008
Trying to test my Google Analytics
It's showing 1 hit but there has been many hits from different computers. Trying to figure out what's going on... If you have any clues let me know.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Working on RSS and Blogger
I have added a few Blog gadgets to my iGoogle home page along with some RSS feeds. I'm trying to figure out how these technologies work and to determine if they are really useful.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Entering Phase 3 @ GWU
Well,
We have all made it to phase 3 of the GWU EMIS program! That's great news to me and hopefully all of you too.
Of course the best news of all will be finishing in December. ;-)
Any thoughts about Money's class? Structured or Unstructured?
We have all made it to phase 3 of the GWU EMIS program! That's great news to me and hopefully all of you too.
Of course the best news of all will be finishing in December. ;-)
Any thoughts about Money's class? Structured or Unstructured?
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