NExT TIMES: a new experience in telecom services (8th edition)

We hope you enjoyed reading the eighth edition of NExT TIMES.

Below are some links relating to the articles in the current edition which provide additional information in the form of either downloadable pdf documents or links to other web content.

It is also possible to access a pdf version of the previous issues of NExT TIMES via the “Archive” section on the right.

collaboration is the mother of invention

Key Points:
- Innovation in the future will depend increasingly on extending the business to include a wider community, including partners, suppliers and customers
- Enterprise social software helps innovation thrive by providing a third way to collaborate between direct peer-to-peer interactions and more a formal approach
- Technology alone is not the answer: for businesses to get the most out of an open collaborative approach, many of them will have to change their organizational culture

Most companies continue to view social networks as a drain on productivity and a major security risk, but analysts are convinced that the technology behind them can help businesses harness their human networks for innovation. Anthony Plewes, a regular contributor to Telecommunications International and leading industry publications investigates.

calm devices

One of the biggest problems with computers today is that they constantly vie for our attention. They deliver huge amounts of information but do so in a way that requires us to focus on the data, distracting us from the task at hand.
Instead of tapping us on the shoulder every time our stocks move up or down or an email arrives, shouldn’t computers work around us?
To read more about calm technology, please click on the links below

The whole picture:

optimization through consolidation

In an astonishingly short period of time, IT has become pervasive; every enterprise depends utterly upon their IT systems to compete and survive.
Paradoxically, however, now that every business has it, its value as a competitive dragon-slayer has diminished. So it’s not surprising that todays’ boards take a different view of IT. Now it’s about providing those vital IT services while minimizing risks to the business, which can arise from poor governance, inadequate protection against mishap or excessive and unpredictable costs.

The next step in Gartner’s maturity model is the “integrated” level, at which businesses have centralized control of systems and single applications, properly integrated with the business management, supporting all main business functions.

Future Technologies:

Vision of the future

Attendees at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas caught a glimpse of the future when Sony revealed its long awaited Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) TV.
Priced at $2500, the 11-inch screen is just 3mm thick and can produce very deep blacks because it has a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.
Sony was not alone at CES in showing off fruits of OLED research: others included a Samsung notebook featuring an OLED screen, and an OLED keyboard developed by Art Lebedev Studio. Each key displays the function currently assigned to it.

to find out more about Sony's OLED TVs

Customer case study:

The Star of India

Satyam Computer Services, one of India’s leading IT service providers, was being held back by a complex unmanaged legacy network, aggregated through years of inorganic and organic growth. The solution was a fully-managed global IP network that could take the headache out of network management while also guaranteeing availability and application performance.

Orange really understood our business and our need to focus on availability and latency

more about "The Star of India"

Improving connection times:

a priority for 2008

At Orange we value the significance of keeping our word to our customers. Our Outstanding Customer Experience program, covering all dimensions of customer relations is continuing to progress, and we have improved our overall customer satisfaction by 22% since the beginning of 2006.
Some of our achievements in the areas of service delivery include the implementation of the carrier performance dashboard, through which we are sharing with customers our service provider performance and improvement plans.
“2008 the year of service delivery excellence”

more about "Connection times"

application management

Application performance management is one of the key drivers to satisfying end-user response time and increasing business productivity.
NExT Times speaks to Orange Consultant Jean Critcher about how application performance management can help companies gain visibility and control over their networked applications.
Jean Critcher has over 13 years experience in telecommunications and IT consulting developing and delivering services and solutions for multinational customers. Since 2005, she has been Head of the Application Management Competency Center, managing a specialized consulting portfolio for application performance management...

* Enterprise mobility hive of activity:

According to Current Analysis, the European
enterprise mobility market has become a hotbed of activity as it moves away from simple voice and data solutions.

* North America enterprises lag behind in green stakes:

A new study by Info-Tech Research Group finds that enterprises in North America lag behind those in Asia and Europe in taking action on green initiatives. Respondents from North America are also less concerned about their carbon footprints than those in the rest of the world...

* The end of generic IT:

Eighty-five percent of CIOs believe that IT has to
make more of a difference to business performance over the next three years. This is the conclusion of a worldwide survey of 1,500 CIOs by Gartner Executive Programs (EXP). “CIOs recognize the importance of IT in ‘making the difference’ by changing business processes, attracting customers and developing new products and services,” said Mark McDonald, group Vice President for Gartner EXP.

print this page