A cure for telecom depression

By Ira Brodsky
Network World, 02/04/02

Is there anything we can do to pull ourselves out of this telecom depression? Yes, if vendors and companies focus on solutions offering short-term payback and long-term strategic value.

I suggest the industry redouble its efforts in two key areas: storage networks and 3G wireless. These are two of the hottest growth segments. Together, they promise to put information to more effective use in crucial customer service, business planning and workflow automation applications.

Storage networks let organizations create vast information repositories, which can be used to capture data about products, customers and markets. Putting a company's information in one virtual storage bin makes it easier to share, manipulate and distribute. Consider the typical hospital, where too often information is gathered and stored separately by the clinical, diagnostic, pharmaceutical and business departments. Bringing information together improves efficiency, reduces errors and saves money.

Storage networks also will play a role in the Internet's evolution into a global, digital-content library and on-demand delivery system. The key to making this happen is storage management software. Virtualization software is used to allocate storage space dynamically and efficiently, and to file and cache data.

Vast information repositories will come into their own once they are integrated with high-speed wireless communications. This is because the value of information is directly related to its freshness, availability and context. Wireless is the only technology that can ensure real-time connectivity wherever information is collected or applied.

Reports that 3G wireless has been delayed are simply not true. There are already 3 million 3G users in South Korea, and 3G networks will come online this year in Japan, the U.S., Brazil and several other countries. These networks offer data throughputs starting at 144K bit/sec with planned evolution to speeds in the million bit/sec range.

There are about 800 million mobile phone users globally, and more than 90% of them already use digital service. With the migration to 3G services, the mobile phone industry will accomplish what local telephone companies promised 30 years ago but never delivered: ubiquitous and affordable high-speed data services.

The combination of 3G wireless and storage networks will enable new applications for database access and digital content sharing. The first crop of applications will deal mainly with field force automation, location-based services and customer/supplier relationship management. Each of these areas is ripe for development, because each addresses real needs.

There is no magic cure for telecom depression. But storage networks and 3G wireless can help us work smarter, and that is the only path to the next round of growth.