| This week's sponsor is AT&T. |  | eBook | Convergence of Mobility and the Cloud As BYOD and cloud computing gain traction in the enterprise, CIOs need to understand how the two relate and how they can be leveraged to improve enterprise services while maintaining security. This eBook discusses the challenges CIOs and IT managers face in the application of cloud synchronization, and what to keep in mind while keeping up with the trend of applying cloud-based storage in companies' day-to-day work. Download it today.
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Also Noted: Atos
Spotlight On... VMware puts its money where mobility is
Brocade quits network adapter business; Python eats Perl; and much more...  Follow @fierceentcomm on Twitter
News From the Fierce Network:
1. Half of IT workers ripe for recruiters?
2. Infographic: Understanding Responsive Web Design
| This week's sponsor is AT&T. | 
| Webinar: Maximize Workforce Productivity with Mobile Apps
Tuesday, January 28th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT
This webinar will explore how to deploy a mobility platform architecture to design, build and manage mobile applications across the enterprise; provide real-time access to critical applications and data; and support diverse mobile device types while extending back-end data integration to mobile devices. Register Today! |
Today's Top News 1. Netflix needs better operational monitoring tools
At our scale, humans cannot continuously monitor the status of all of our systems. Lots of large enterprises could make that claim. This particular quote, however, comes from a company that also claims its customers "account for nearly a third of the downstream Internet traffic in North America during peak hours." This company is Netflix--which also operates in 39 other nations. How, then, can Netflix keep track of system behavior and customer experience at such scale? Automation obviously has to play a key role, but according to a frank post last week on the Netflix Tech Blog, the company is quite unsatisfied with its current toolset. According to the post: "Many of our current insight tools are systems-oriented. They are built from the perspective of the system providing the metrics. This results in a proliferation of custom tools and views that require specialized knowledge to use and interpret. Also, some of these tools tend to focus more on system health and not as much on our customers' streaming experience." Therefore Netflix is working on its next-generation "operational insight tool"--aiming for robust visualization of real-time data, and support for lots of simultaneous, unique ad-hoc queries, without having to store all that data in perpetuity. The post offers a couple of sample visualizations (using fake data), and then concludes with a twist--Netflix is hiring engineers to help envision, design and build these monitoring tools. The Fierce Take: The post includes a profound observation that applies widely across network and IT monitoring tools: They tend to focus on metrics that are meaningful to the system itself, rather than the ultimate effect on the customer. That perspective can be useful and appropriate--but what metrics in your own operations do capture end user or customer experience? For more:
- read the blog post
- and check the company's job board
More on Netflix, automation and scale:
Google, Amazon engineers on dealing with massive scale
What does the demise of Net Neutrality mean for enterprise networks?
Inside Netflix's cloud-based content delivery [FierceCIO]
How complex is your network? Read more about: Network Monitoring
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2. Building--and supporting--the next generation 'customer interaction center'
Yes, customers increasingly expect a plethora of options for connecting to customer support. But while plenty of applicable technologies are swirling around in the Unified Communications pot, Art Rosenberg points out that there's more to customer interaction than just adding channels. Writing on UC Strategies, Rosenberg notes that more and more customer support interactions will come in via "click for assistance" buttons within mobile apps. And that fact has important ramifications for the apps themselves, and the enterprise workflows they connect with. Which communications technologies to use may be decided on an app-by-app basis, and the contextual information that should be immediately available to customer support personnel will also vary depending on what the customer is doing. An efficient and effective customer support agent interface can only be designed when you have a reasonably good handle on the range of channels and activities an individual rep will need to handle. So Rosenberg's recommended approach to building a next-generation customer interaction center includes these four steps: 1. Plan to integrate 'click-for-assistance' functionality into the necessary apps 2. Choose the appropriate communications channels for each app 3. Choose the data and processes agents will need as a result 4. Then and only then can you design the agent interface. For more:
- read Rosenberg's column
More on customer support and unified communications:
What's a next-gen contact center look like?
Will Amazon's Mayday button spark a video revival in customer service?
Call center activity taking off, says Cisco's Hernandez Read more about: customer support
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3. OpenFlow embracing wireless, mobile
Open-source Software-Defined Networking program OpenFlow is putting more muscle into the integration and support of wireless and mobile technologies. Marcia Savage, on Network Computing, lays out the work being done by the Open Networking Foundation's newly launched wireless and mobile working group. ONF is the nonprofit organization that promotes SDN and OpenFlow usage. Serge Manning, chairman of the working group (and Senior Manager for Corporate Standards at Huawei by day), says the focus is on three specific areas: wireless backhaul, mobile packet core, and "enterprise unified wireless and fixed networks". A sample challenge he notes is that enterprise users already have other protocols in place for managing wireless access points; the group aims to identify how to unify these protocols with OpenFlow in a way that not only "leverages the strengths of existing solutions, but improves them." Savage also quotes Lee Badman, a network engineer and wireless lead for a large private university, who notes that wireless vendors compete on the basis of proprietary differentiation, unlike routing and switching vendors who have been dragged more toward openness. For more:
- read Network Computing's article
More on OpenFlow and wireless networking technologies:
Gigabit Wi-Fi arrives in 2014 (if you sit very close to the access point)
Software Defined Networking: Maybe you can't get there from her
What does VMware's purchase of AirWatch mean for enterprise mobility? [FierceMobileIT] Read more about: OpenFlow
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4. Verizon's Q4 enterprise revenues decline on slow public, private sector sales
Verizon reported in Q4 2013 that while next-gen strategic business services were up, legacy declines and slower overall business spending were a drag on enterprise revenues. During the quarter, strategic business service revenues grew 2.3 percent year-over-year to $2.14 billion due to strong sales of data center, cloud and security services. Strategic services now make up 59 percent of Verizon's global enterprise revenue. Cloud and managed services continue to be major priorities for Verizon. In addition to conducting a beta trial of its Verizon Cloud during the fourth quarter, the service provider has been expanding its cloud portfolio by establishing alliances with third parties such as Cloudera and Hitachi. However, overall business service revenues declined 5.2 percent to $3.6 billion, while CPE revenue declined 25 percent year-over-year. Two factors are to blame for the decline: slower enterprise and state and federal public sector spending. "Within security, cloud, data centers and our advanced communications arena, we are growing revenue year-over-year, even more significantly even strategic services overall," Fran Shammo, CFO and EVP of Verizon, said during the Q4 2013 earnings call. "So there are certain niches that are growing, but unfortunately have not enough to offset the other declines that we are seeing just form the public sector and some of these other pressures that we are getting from the large enterprise." Shammo added that they are seeing similar softness in the private sector where many large enterprise customers "are focused on improving their cost structure." Brian Washburn, service director, Global Business Network and IT Services at Current Analysis, told sister site FierceTelecom in an e-mail that even with the losses it incurred, Verizon is still doing better than its peers. "Verizon Enterprise Solution is still losing altitude, doing slightly better than the steepest 4 percent-5 percent year-over-year enterprise revenue declines we've seen from some network operators in the past several years," he said. "The good news here is that a large chunk of the declines came from Verizon dropping revenues in areas like CPE sales. Those one-off sales are not really strategic to the company's business--if you're an operator and are going to have a revenue decline, that's a good place to have them." Looking forward, Shammo forecasts that 2014 enterprise market growth will "be pretty much flat with where '13 was." From an overall financial perspective, Verizon reported that total Q4 2013 operating revenues were $31.1 billion, up 3.4 percent year-over-year, with 84 percent of revenue generated by Verizon Wireless, FiOS and strategic enterprise services. For the full-year 2013, total company operating revenues were $120.6 billion, up 4.1 percent, or $4.7 billion, compared with the same period a year ago.
For more:
- see the release
- listen to the webcast Related Articles:
Verizon bucks Q3 seasonal trend as FiOS drives wireline revenues to $3.7B [FierceTelecom]
Verizon's McAdam: FiOS drives up consumer wireline margins [FierceTelecom]
Verizon targets Cablevision subscribers with push for new FiOS franchise in Long Island [FierceTelecom] Read more about: Verizon
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Atos. |  | Data Center Infrastructure Management
DCIM weather station cools down costs and avoids rising temperatures in the board-room. Find out how ATOS can help you optimize and manage your next generation datacenter. Download Today! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... VMware puts its money where mobility is VMware's $1B-plus purchase of AirWatch gives the virtualization company a big step forward in mobile computing, according to industry watchers. AirWatch makes Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) software--although analysts call it "a pure-play Mobile Device Management company," which just goes to show that the market is so hot people can't keep up with the buzzwords. Sister sites FierceWireless and FierceMobileIT offer perspectives on the deal for customers and competitors alike. > Maximize Workforce Productivity with Mobile Apps - Tuesday, January 28th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT This webinar will explore how to deploy a mobility platform architecture to design, build and manage mobile applications across the enterprise; provide real-time access to critical applications and data; and support diverse mobile device types while extending back-end data integration to mobile devices. Register Today! > Closing the Deal with Mobile Apps for Manufacturers - Tuesday, February 11th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT This webinar will explore how the benefits of real-time information access for the sales and distribution channel, improved inventory management and resource allocation through instant visibility into the supply chain, and methods for providing secure mobile access to business applications across the enterprise. Register Today! > 360 Degree Mobile Security Assessment - Thursday, February 20th, 1pm ET/ 10am PT Devices, applications and content increasingly are at risk as today's workforce further integrates mobility into their work life. Listen as Charles Kolodgy, Research Vice President for IDC's Security Products, dives into the key areas of mobile security organizations should assess to protect its data while engaging its customers, partners, and employees. Register Today! > Next Generation Data Center - Innovation, Transformation, and Management - Now Available On-Demand! Engage directly with Atos and Intel team members and see a live demonstration in unique approaches to innovation and transformation within the Data Center. Register to watch now!
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