Businesses Think Cloud Computing is "Immature"

Cloud computing remains a developing science, a new survey has found. The poll included responses from 250 participants in nearly 50 countries, representing a global group of cloud users, providers, consultants and integrators from 15 industry segments 

Nearly one in four (24 percent) survey respondents indicated that there is no or limited levels of innovation in the market. Nearly all respondents said they felt cloud computing was far from reaching maturity, with only software as a service (SaaS) cautiously placed at the earliest state of growth level.

Among the top problems are:

1. Government regulations keeping pace with the market (1.80)
2. Exit strategies (1.88)
3. International data privacy (1.90)
4. Legal issues (2.15)
5. Contract lock in (2.18)
6. Data ownership and custodian responsibilities (2.18)
7. Longevity of suppliers (2.20)
8. Integration of cloud with internal systems (2.23)
9. Credibility of suppliers (2.30)
10. Testing and assurance (2.30) 

Mobile Network Optimization Can Increase Capacity 43%

[Source: Dialogic.com]

FreedomPop Launches 4G Service in Public Beta

FreedomPop, the U.S. 4G provider using a "freemium" pricing model, has launched its public beta offering, though initially only as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot service. The "sleeves" for iPhones and iPods will be available in a month or two. 

FreedomPop is offering 500 megabytes of free monthly 4G service provided by Clearwire on two devices, a wireless hotspot and a USB stick. Both devices will technically be available for free, though you’ll have to put down a refundable security deposit of $49 for the USB stick and $89 for the hotspot.

FreedomPop is also offering monthly plans starting at $17.99 for 2 gigabytes of data and $28.99 for 4GB.

Windows 8 Users Prefer Windows 7, Which is Trouble for Microsoft

More than half of early users of Windows 8 seem to prefer Windows 7, a poll finds. That could portend trouble for Microsoft. 

Forumswindows8, which claims to be the web's largest Windows 8 help and support forum, says it conducted a poll of 50,000 people using Windows 8 and found that 53 per cent voted Windows 7 as their favorite Windows operating system.

Windows 8 came second, with 25 per cent, polling just ahead of Windows XP on 20 per cent.

The new  Windows 8 user interface, sometimes referred to as "Metro" or "Modern,"  is one of the least appealing features, with just 22 per cent of those surveyed saying they liked Windows 8's touchy rectangle interface. 

Those results are not necessarily indicative of what the general base of users might think, but it isn't a good sign. Remember "Vista?" By most estimates, early Vista adoption by enterprises never exceeded 10 percent. Adoption later increased, most estimates would suggest. 

But Windows 7 arguably has been a more successful operating system than Vista ever was. So the issue is whether Windows 8 is more like Vista, or more like Windows 7, in terms of adoption. Visually, it is a sharp break. 

How Big a Problem is Growing Mobile Data Demand?

Replacing declining legacy revenues with new sources is a key strategic challenge for service providers. So a key practical issue is whether new broadband access, video entertainment or managed services will grow fast enough to match voice revenue diminution.

In fact, Rupert Wood, Analysys Mason principal analyst, warns “there were already signs two years ago that the shifting balance between smart phone and mobile broadband would result in lower growth of mobile data traffic.” 

In other words, the problem is not "exploding growth," but not enough growth. 

Wood predicts mobile data revenue growth in Western Europe, for mobile service providers, will drop in 2012, for example. And though it might have seemed an improbable development, Wi-Fi has become a virtual default network for most smart phone and tablet traffic.

That doesn’t mean untethered mobile devices are best served by Wi-Fi when users are on the go, but the most data-intensive traffic will tend to get consumed indoors, because that’s the natural place to consume it, not because it is the only place with good enough connectivity, says Analysys Mason.

the problem is that demand will not grow enough. 

“Pipe” Services Will “Always” Drive Most Service Provider Revenue

Communications service providers dislike the phrase “dumb pipe” for obvious reasons, since it implies–often falsely–that a telecom supplier is “just” a provider of low-value, commodity access services. The notion is partly accurate, but has nothing to do with profit margin on “dumb pipe” services.

What, after all, is “best effort” Internet access but a “dumb pipe” service? The access is one thing, while nearly all the content and services are provided by third party suppliers. But profit margins on U.S. high-speed access are in the 40-percent range, hardly a low-margin, commodity service.

There are threats, but those threats are potential future threats, such as ever-increasing amounts of supplied bandwidth, for the same, or less, revenue. But service providers already are moving to tie consumption to revenue in a more-logical fashion, so the potential danger is unlikely to surface as a present danger.

Also, very few service providers are “just” Internet access providers. Video, voice, security, business services and managed services are applications with lucrative revenue streams that use the access network. 

The point is that pipe services always will drive most access provider revenue. 

Questions About Investment Return for IP Networks as PSTN Shutdown is Pondered

As policymakers and service providers ponder the implications of a future “shut down” of the public switched telephone network, they will face a new series of questions.

Since the robustness of investment in new networks will hinge on expectations about profits, many of the questions will flow directly from the more challenging business model. As the regulatory framework had to change in the shift from a monopoly model to a competitive model, so the framework arguably will have to change again with a shift to all-IP networks.

When service providers worry about the implications fo “dumb pipe” or “over the top” business models, they simply acknowledge a key change in the foundation of the networks business, namely that network access and applications now are logically distinct.

Whatever else might be said, it is obvious that “certainty” is not a key feature of the fixed network business anymore. That’s a problem since uncertainty is the enemy of investment.