Are you old enough to remember “Y2K”? If so, you can recall predictions of technological and business disaster when the calendar clicked over from 1999 to the dawn of the 21st century. You also know that everything turned out just fine. That’s the risk of looking into the future and making claims. But since we’re in the business of providing technology consulting, we can’t quite help ourselves. Here’s what we expect to see in 2019….  MORE

Every few years a new technology comes along that alters the landscape for service providers. In the not-too distant past it was something called the Internet. Then came the smartphone. Today it’s Artificial Intelligence (AI). But although most service providers clearly see how AI improves their overall business operations, they may not realize how it can specifically enhance the customer experience. If you haven’t yet seen the light about AI and customer service, it’s time…  MORE

We all understand that technology constantly changes. Interestingly, it’s not only that old tools get swapped for new ones, it’s that our initial perceptions of, and uses for, a specific technology evolve as well. Take SD-WAN. When we first became aware of SD-WAN, it was considered as a smart replacement for legacy WAN solutions. Think of MPLS and you’ll understand where I’m going. But this approach has shifted with the rise of enterprise-level digital transformation….  MORE

1960 may seem like a long time ago, but an article written by Theodore Levitt that year still influences almost every business on earth. Levitt, who was a professor of marketing at the Harvard Business School, wrote the piece “Marketing Myopia”, which can be summed up like this: Companies can get too focused on production when they need to spend more time understanding customer needs. Failure occurs when they focus too much on selling and…  MORE

In the world of telecommunications, you tend to see a lot of predictions. Some never match expectations, while others eventually live up to the hype. The latter is the case for Software-Defined Networking (SDN). Many companies are beginning to see the value of this networking architecture technology. For those of you not completely familiar, SDN facilitates network management and enables programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring. SDN addresses the…  MORE

When Amazon bought Whole Foods for billions, it wasn’t because they lacked access to organic kale and cage-free eggs. Making the deal turned Amazon into a true omni-channel retailer. In the simplest terms, omni-channel retail is how business-to-consumer companies are adapting to 21st century customer behavior. Wherever they are, whatever they’re doing, consumers expect the same personalized experience online, via mobile devices, and in-store. Omni-channel provides that multi-prong set of options. Just a few years ago,…  MORE

If you’ve been in the telecommunications or technology industry long enough, you’ve likely witnessed partnerships that didn’t quite work out. That’s the nature of the beast. On paper, a joint venture or strategic collaboration can seem like a great idea with a mutually beneficial future. Then in the real world the stars don’t align how you imagined. That’s why it’s critical to cover all of the details and ramifications before formalizing the partnership agreement. Not…  MORE

While springtime is mainly viewed as a time for renewal, it’s also a season for reflection. That’s because every new thing that comes into your life makes you consider what it replaced. Don’t worry – we’re not going to be overly philosophical here. It’s just that with one-third of 2018 almost completed, I wanted to share our assessment of the shifts occurring in the world of cloud computing. For starters, we’re still seeing a vast…  MORE