Saturday, June 18, 2011

Telecom Trends in Cloud Computing

Ericsson, the leading Telecom vendor, has recently included Cloud Computing in its formula for Success:
Success = (device*innovation) + (cloud computing*innovation) + (mobile connectivity*innovation) + (application*innovation)
Our view at wedran.com Consulting is that Telecom operators and vendors that manage to reposition correctly to the cloud will be the most competitive. Those who fail might become “dumb pipes”, providing only connectivity.

IaaS leaders relevant for Telecom

What are the Market leaders within IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)? The red dots are Tier-1 operators providing IaaS. The blue dot, Amazon, is the leading Visionary and the leading cloud provider.
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Ericsson’s partnership with Akamai

In 2011 Ericsson announced an “Exclusive  partnership with Akamai”. (SonyEricsson had a cooperation with Akamai already in 2001.) The details of the exclusivity are unclear. However, Ericsson products will be prioritized and other vendors should therefore partner with other CDNs, preferably one of the vendors in the above Magic Quadrant.

Ericsson also announced that they are working on a Patented solution. Akamai and Ericsson are committed to bring to market joint products:
        • Ericsson is building a machine-to-machine wholesale Cloud platform and will lease access to it i.e. provide an IaaS and/or SaaS solution.
        • The solution will increase speed by offering a CDN, through Akamai. The target customers are network operators, content providers and high-traffic Customers like eCommerce sites, banking sites, premium content sites and B2B sites.
        • Content will be delivered to any device at any time, at a faster speed. Mobile subscribers will have the same experience as on the fixed network.

        Speed improvement with a CDN

        Speed is the most important factor for end users and Speed is the major motivation for Ericsson choosing Akamai.  Akamai is a world leading CDN with 84000 servers and delivers 15-30% of all Web traffic. Akamai doubles the speed of many Services. The static data can be cached on more than 80000 servers located close to the users. The following case study from Akamai shows the speed improvement.
        image

        Recommendation to Telecom Operators and Vendors

        Some operators see Cloud Computing and new services as a huge threat. They are currently losing money from users with smartphones using VoIP clients, Apps instead of SMS etc. Other operators see new possibilities and receive Revenues from new products.
        Ericsson recommends a 3-step strategy for Operators:
        1. Control e.g. deep packet inspection
        2. Innovate new services beyond Phone and SMS
        3. Move up the value chain.
        We think that blocking traffic is no way to go forward. Operators should not control what services users can access. Operators should utilize Cloud IaaS and SaaS to decrease operational costs and then develop innovative services. Operators should start thinking more in the terms of IT and hire the right people if they aim to compete with traditional IT services and IT companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple.

        Ericsson claims that “In telecommunications, cloud computing is essentially outsourcing information” .  Cloud Computing is a lot more than that, even in Telecom. It is possible to combine Akamai CDN (or other CDN) with Amazon Ec2, the leading cloud provider. Doing so, you will get an extremely scalable infrastructure where you can install any type of software, including Telecom Software.

        The yellow servers are Akamai’s edge locations, close to the user That optimize static content such as HTML, Pictures and Video. The grey servers are Amazons edge servers that deliver Distributed Virtualized servers and are able to host most Software Systems. Together they provide extremely cost efficient, fast and scalable infrastructure and provide opportunity to build innovative services to huge amount of End users.

        image
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        Sunday, May 22, 2011

        Transform IT from Cost to Revenue

        Transfer IT from Cost to Revenue

        Today, IT work is often equated with costs, e.g. development, operation, hardware, and maintenance. Cloud Services redistribute these costs, and other hidden costs, to more valued work, which will generate revenue.

        Cloud Services enable companies to put time, focus, and resources on the right things. By outsourcing the operation to the Cloud, a companies IT resources no longer has to maintain servers and clients. Instead they are able to focus their time on activities that improve business and increase sales. The Cloud also releases resources to actively work with process improvements, support, and developing the flow of business models throughout the company. An efficient and correctly set-up business flow can generate large revenues in time.

        A Corporation will have shorter Time to Market (TTM) with Cloud Services since the user can have a service or application uploaded, installed, and ready to be used in a couple of hours. The return will therefore also be swifter.

        Developing a company in this manner increases both the Competitive Edge and Market Shares. Since the Cloud enables fast development and a quick redistribution of resources to the right type of labour, both large and small organizations can quickly gain new business areas.
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        Friday, May 13, 2011

        Let others pay for your IT-systems

        Låt andra betala för dina IT-system

        Getting started with Cloud Services does not take long at all. All systems are already installed and in operation by the supplier. All that is required is registration of a new client, configuration of the new account for your business, and, possibly, a transfer of data. A task that previously took months to complete, now only takes a few days.

        The Multi-Tenancy concept reduces IT-costs tremendously, since several companies will share the most expensive aspects like system development, operation, and maintenance. Traditionally, companies invest in hardware and software to increase productivity and reduce administrative costs. The tightened competition and the price pressure have resulted in more and more IT-systems, which in turn render bigger costs. A transition to the Cloud is therefore the next necessity to grow and remain competitive.

        Read more about the advantages of Cloud Services in the next post...
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        Friday, May 6, 2011

        Press the button for Global Growth

        Cloud Services enable Global Growth because the systems are built for Scalability. Those companies, big and small, that successfully manage to reposition themselves in the Cloud will become the most Competitive and thereby have the potential to become Market Leaders.

        The Scalability is significantly improved through Cloud Services. As businesses grow and change, Cloud Services can be configured to fit your business need at this precise moment. Traditionally, it was necessary to assign expensive IT and Management Consultant to analyse and adjust the organization's IT-Systems as the business changed. With Cloud Services, all you have to do is to 'turn-up' the capacity, the number of users and/or the access to additional functions.

        Security is also improved. The underlying systems are carefully monitored by security experts, who quickly implement security measures to all customers simultaneously. Cloud Systems also have a built-in Redundancy, which contributes to the increase in Reliability. This guarantees safety in case of power failure or server crash. Therefore, Cloud Services are especially suited to secure a Business Continuity.

        Cloud Services are an Environmentally Friendly Alternative, since capacity and consumption is supplied from one location to all users, and server capacity is utilized to the max. This can be compared to using public transportation instead of driving a car.

        Become inspired by the below informational video from USA's CIO, who explains how the government of USA has transitioned to Cloud Services, and the advantages that can be obtained.



        Read more on the Amazon Cloud AWS in the previous post.

        wedran AB in Stockholm, Sweden delivers consulting services such as Consultation, Pre-Studies, requirement Analysis, Project Management, Migration, Implementation, Customer Adaptations, Integration, Education, and Support. Contact Us for a presentation regarding benefits for your company, demonstrations, and consultation.
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        Thursday, April 28, 2011

        Amazon AWS (EC2, S3, CloudFront)

        Amazon Web ServicesAmazon AWS (EC2, S3, CloudFront) is a Market leading supplier of IaaS. You can rent Servers, Server Capacity, and Data Storage. The benefits with this solution are, among others, that it is a Quick and Cost Efficient way to acquire a Scalable Infrastructure.

        Data Storage on Amazon S3 has exploded during 2010 (se graph), i.e. a great number of companies have already migrated their data to the Cloud.

        Amazon S3 tillväxt

        Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a service family of different Cloud Services where the most important are Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, and Amazon CloudFront.

        Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)
        This service allows creation, start, and maintenance of virtual servers (Windows Server, Linux etc), through one web interface. The servers can thereafter be used for many different applications, from public websites to phone switches. The name "Elastic" comes from the fact that it is easy to adjust server capacity during e.g. conjunction and traffic peaks. The cost for the service is also elastic, i.e. you only pay for the capacity that is needed, for example for the time that the servers are running and for the amount of data transferred.

        Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
        This service concerns only data storage in the Cloud.
        It can be used for several purposes:
        • Internal file storage and document sharing
        • Secure Backup and Archiving in the Cloud
        • Web server to store static web content such as HTML pages, images, videos, documents, JavaScript, and CSS
        • CDN (Content Delivery Network) in combination with CloudFront with the purpose to optimize response and download time.
        Once again the price models are flexible, i.e. you pay for the amount of data stored and transferred. Prices are usually perceived as low.

        Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
        This is a service to optimize response and download times on high-traffic global systems and websites. This is achieved through replication of the data from S3, EC2 or another server, to Amazon's great network of servers that are spread out throughout the world. For the end-users this entails a quick response time and a pleasant user experience, regardless of where in the world you are. Thereby, Amazon CloudFront offers the possibility for Global Growth. Once again, there is no fixed subscription fee, rather payment only for the quantity of data transferred.

        Read about Facebook as the leading PaaS platform in the next Post...


        wedran AB in Stockholm, Sweden delivers consulting services such as Consultation, Pre-Studies, requirement Analysis, Project Management, Migration, Implementation, Customer Adaptations, Integration, Education, and Support. Contact Us for a presentation regarding benefits for your company, demonstrations, and Free-of-Charge consultation.
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        Friday, April 22, 2011

        Reduce Costs with Google Apps

        More than 33 Million companies and 30 Million users have chosen Google
        Apps, and 3000 new companies join every day! The figures below are
        from Forrester Researcher, and demonstrate that solutions from
        Google are 10 times cheaper than competing solutions. The systems
        from Google are also easier to use, and thereby generate
        greater time and cost savings.

        Kostnadsbesparingar med Google Apps

        Google Apps consists of Packaged and Integrated Business Solutions that (1) contain over 60 Standard Systems, (2) can be expanded with additional 200 systems from Google Apps Marketplace.

        Most companies start by implementing the Basic Package, and thereafter continue to add systems as their company grows or their needs increase. The basic package costs about $50 per year and user. Below is a list of Key Functions and Functional Benefits:

        Email

        • 25 GB storage space, which is about 50 times more than the Industry Average.
        • The excellent search function renders mail-sorting obsolete.
        • Very well developed support for Mobile Units such as iPhone, Android, etc.
        Calendar
        • Shared Calendars.
        • Possibility to invite to meeting and book meeting rooms.
        • Accessible through Web or Mobile Phones.
        Intranet
        • The possibility to Create and Edit Internal or External websites
          for your company, different departments, partners or customers.
        • Different Permission levels to e.g. Show or Edit Content.
        • Access to use Thousands of full-fledged Gadgets.
        Document Sharing
        • Accessible from Web or Mobile Phone.
        • Easy sharing and editing of Office documents.
        • High Security with HTTPS and 2-Step Verification.
        Other Benefits
        • Low Total Cost with Flexible Standard Systems.
        • The systems are accessible from all Web Browsers and Mobile Phones.
        • It is Easy to Administrate Users and Data.
        • High Security with HTTPS, Encryption, 2-Step Verification, and Patented Spam-Filter.
        • SSO (Single Sign On) = Sign in only once.
        • Continuous and Free-of-Charge System Upgrades
        • Customer Support 24x7
        • Expandable with more than 200 systems from Google Apps Market Place.
          E.g. sytems for Customer Management, Invoicing, Case Management, Accounting etc ...
        wedran delivers consulting services such as Pre-Studies, Requirement Analysis, Project Management, Migration, Implementation, Customer Modifications, Integration, Education, and Support. See our Business Cases and Contact Us for a presentation and analysis of the business value for Your Company, demonstration of the systems, and Free-of-Charge consultation.
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        Sunday, April 17, 2011

        Zoho CRM



        wedran implements solutions from Zoho, which has over
        3 Million users across the World. The technology is Integrated
        with Google Apps and available from both Web Browsers
        and Mobile Phones.

        With the Zoho CRM Solution you will have access to an excellent
        Customer Management System which will help you Sell More,
        Optimize Sales Processes, and make Administration more Efficient.
        Key features are:

        • Sales Automation
          Track leads, prospects, business opportunities,
          and sell more in less time.

        • Customer Support & Service
          Integrate Customer Support Processes with
          Sales, Invoicing, and IT.

        • Reports & Analytics
          Visualize the task pipeline, business performance,
          trends and schedule reports to the specified user.
        Additionally, with Zoho Invoicing, you will also be able to:
        • Manage Invoices Online
        • Track Expenses
        • Accept Payments Online
        • Generate Reports and Analytics
        • Easily handle Taxes and Discounts
         Read more here http://wedran.com/en/zoho.html
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          Saturday, April 9, 2011

          Reach Success With Cloud Services

          Cloud Services enable Global Growth and significant Cost Savings. Those companies, big and small, that successfully manage to reposition themselves in the Cloud will become the most Competitive and thereby have the potential to become Market Leaders. This post will give you an brief overview to get you started.

          Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)Amazon AWS
          Amazon AWS (EC2, S3, CloudFront) is a Market leading supplier of IaaS. You can rent Servers, Server Capacity, and Data Storage. The benefits with this solution are, among others, that it is a Quick and Cost Efficient way to acquire a Scalable Infrastructure.

          Software as a Service (SaaS) Google Apps och Zoho Apps
          Google and Zoho deliver Leading SaaS Solutions; a great number of flexible and packaged standard systems. A few advantages with these systems are High Quality for a Low Price, access through Web and Cell Phones, and the fact that they are integrated with each other.

          Platform as a Service (PaaS)Facebook PaaS
          Facebook is currently the largest PaaS platform. Here, companies can create applications or integrate functionality from Facebook. The greatest benefits are access to Available User Data and to Facebook’s large Membership Base.



          wedran AB in Stockholm, Sweden delivers consulting services such as Consultation, Pre-Studies, requirement Analysis, Project Management, Migration, Implementation, Customer Adaptations, Integration, Education, and Support. Contact Us for a presentation regarding benefits for your company, demonstrations, and Free-of-Charge consultation.



           
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          Friday, January 7, 2011

          The Cloud Blogging Experiment - Blogging matters

          I started this blog as an experiment during 2010 and here are some thoughts.

          Most posts are about Cloud Services, most Tweets are about Google Apps and most blog articles are about Google. Following tag clouds summarize the posts.


          I wrote 5 blog articles during 2010 and about 50 tweets, in other words very few. The blog has about 50-100 page views daily and 60 followers on Twitter. The blog is far away from being popular, yet more people read it Daily than when I give a presentation to a group of 20 people gathering in real life, an event that requires coordination, preparation, marketing etc.

          Page View stats for 2010 for blog.wedran.com
          Most visitors are from the United States, UK and then other english speaking countries. Firefox and Chrome webbrowsers are both more popular than Internet Explorer. Not suprised considering the blogs target group and article content. About 80% use Windows OS. Most visitors come from Google and then from Getsatisfaction.com (A site where I posted a link to one of my blog posts).

          The most popular article is "Sync LinkedIn, Facebook, Outlook, CRM and iPhone Connections to Google Contacts (including the Profile Photo)" and the least popular article is "What is a Cloud Service and why should You care?"



          Conclusion
          Vedran Arnautovic
          http://twitter.com/wedran

          • If I have something to say and I want to say it to maximum  number of people it is well done using a Blog and Twitter. The blog subject i.e. Cloud solutions seems to work.
          • If I want to attract new business relations and meet people its better done with real life presentations, especially considering most readers are outside Sweden.
          • If I want more readers I would need to write more and shorter posts with popular subjects and solutions. It is also a  good idea to link to the posts from other websites (See Google Backtracking algorithm).

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          Cloud hosting advantages

          Even some CEOs of leading IT companies ware initially confused about
          Cloud computing. It was mistaken to be a new buzzword for ASP, SaaS or
          just web service? Well, most know today it's not. Cloud Services are
          web services built upon a cloud infrastructure like Amazon CloudFront,
          Microsoft Azure or Google Apps Engine. A web service optimized for and
          hosted on a cloud infrastructure will perform better than a web
          service hosted on a web server. It will also be more scalable and in
          many cases less expensive.

          1. Success with supreme Performance
          Performance or speed of a website or web service is one of the most
          important success factors for a web service. Performance is also the
          main difference between a website hosted on a cloud infrastructure and
          a website hosted on a web server. A cloud based service will perform
          supreme, especially regarding a large number of simultaneous users
          from different geographical locations around the world.

          2. Growth with huge Scalability
          Scalability is very important since a successful web service must
          perform well even when it gets popular and hit by millions of users
          around the world. Cloud infrastructures are flexible and adaptable
          from a growing number of simultaneous users during the day or longer
          period of time. Only web services built on cloud infrastructure will
          be market leaders, and they will be global, in other words eventually
          wiping out local competition.

          3. Price and Environment friendly
          Cloud providers utilize a pay as you use price model that can be less
          expensive than running own servers or even using shared hosting. The
          computing usage is maximized and therefore also environment friendly.
          The price and environmental benefits are the main factors the US
          government is promoting and switching to cloud infrastructure.

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