Everything Wireless: Topics

Planning for Pervasive Mobility

With wireless from mobile devices now becoming the preferred form of communications and application access for many users, there’s a powerful incentive for developers, product designers and manufacturers, network operators and others allied to the field to push wireless broadband to parity with --- and beyond -- wireline networks and applications. Despite dropped calls, lack of coverage, and the limited bandwidth for data that characterize many current wireless services, mobile broadband communications continue to improve at a rapid pace.

This topic area will cover not only the major technologies, systems, services and devices that are enabling wireless LAN and WAN broadband, but perhaps more importantly to most enterprises, the impact of untethered communications on applications, devices, and security. Consumer (employee) choice of wireless devices and services is creating many new management challenges. Planning for pervasive mobility is expected to affect nearly every aspect of enterprise application development and deployment.

• Deploying 802.11”n” WLANs: Are wired access LANs obsolete?
• Enterprise rich mobile applications and development
• Ownership and control strategies for mobile devices
• Dual-mode handsets and fixed mobile convergence
• New mobile operator services and content
• Securing mobile devices, data, and communications
• Empowered mobile users and their ability to circumvent enterprise IT controls

WANs and Telecom: Services and Providers in Transition

The specific WAN service choices available to enterprises continue to be affected by disruptive telecom industry developments, such as carrier megamergers and acquisitions. Many WAN service providers are struggling to support new business models (such as delivering their own video content), but concerns this will lead to “walled gardens” puts pressure on regulators to establish new telecom public policies promoting ’net neutrality” -- so that enterprise and residential network users will still have the freedom to access competing third-party network applications and content.

New service provider technologies such as IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems) and 3G/4G wireless, combined with next-generation residential broadband service offerings (such as those based on fiber), are creating new transport and service alternatives for enterprises. Public Internet services are often becoming acceptable substitutes for MPLS, ATM, or frame relay virtual-circuit-oriented services. In the near-term, many enterprises have realized significant value from their WANs from deployment of WAN performance optimizers/accelerators.

• Network operators: bit haulers vs. content providers?
• Smart vs. Dumb networks: are smart networks dumb?
• Net neutrality and regulatory/public policy update
• Internet substitution for private WANs
• WAN accelerators: dead in 2 years?
• IPv6: (when) is it going to happen?

Unified Communications: Real-time Enterprise Collaboration and Networking

Media coverage of unified communications (UC) exploded in 2007. But how are organizations progressing on their journey towards converged real-time communication services, including voice, videoconferencing/telepresence, instant messaging (IM), and presence? Fixed and mobile devices, systems, and services will need to be consolidated, and security issues must be considered.

However, unified communications is much more than just technology consolidation. Undertaking such efforts will have dramatic impacts on organizational roles, responsibilities and structures. Unified communications also has to provide greater business relevancy than simply deploying a fancier phone or IM client. Adapting work practices to better integrate real-time communication within process activities are design and development skills that are not very mature. The evolution of call centers/customer contact centers is also part of the equation. This topic examines the current state of unified communications, challenges impeding adoption, and prospects for success.

• The business case for UC
• New work models enabled by UC
• The impact of rich communicating mobile device proliferation on UC
• UC as the follow-on to the IP-PBXs
• Vendors delivering UC platforms, their strategies, and prospects
• UC security and compliance issues