My dear friend Ralf Stolte is an happy man today. His company, Adaptif Photonics GmbH, will be acquired by Agilent Technologies. Press release here. The funny thing : Ralf has spent most of his career at HP/Agilent Technologies, before leaving during the downturn back in 2001. He's now back home, going to work with the very same people at the Agilent' Photonic and Network Test Division in Böblingen, Germany, than 6 years ago. Never say never again.
" More bandwidth is always beneficial, but it is no longer a networking panacea. If we want to add complex network-based applications, we better be ready with an appropriate network architecture."
My take on that : once the FTTH Fiber To The Home networks will be largely deployed in every major city of the World, the whole Telecoms industry will move for a giant overhaul. New fibers for wireline infrastructures, ubiquitous Wifi/WiMax everywhere, and mesh archictecture as the standard.
When asked what the greatest misunderstanding about their relationship was, Steve Jobs says "We've kept our marriage secret for over a decade."
A joke maybe, yet most probably a pretty smart hint what's coming next at Apple : the takover of Microsoft. Hey, have you ever seen a win-win marriage those days ?
Bruce Webster recently updated his " The Art of ‘Ware " originally published by M&T Books in 1995. As the title suggests, this interpretation of Sun Tzu's Art Of War is about creating and marketing IT products & services. Since the Art of War can be applied to numerous if not countless domains, Bruce also invites people of other industries to send him their own insights and observations. Go here if you want to participate.
post-scriptum #1 : you may want to look who's the smart reader on the photo. In the meantime, you can visit sonshi.com for everything Sun Tzu.
post-scriptum #2 : here is the comment I left on Guy's blog.
Back in late 1999, Agilent Technologies, the T&M Test & Measurement spin-off of HP Hewlett-Packard, decided to become a key player in the Telecoms Networks I&M Installation & Maintenance market segment. #1 T&M vendor, leader in the Lab & Production testing business, Agilent was still a small challenger in the I&M field : no brand recognition, no significant marketshare, no visibility at all except with some loyal HP customers here and there.
In less than 3 years, Agilent became #1 Fiber Optics Test Equipment vendor, according to a Frost & Sullivan' s report published in 2002. Even better, a product which was of interest for a very small portion of the Telecoms industry at this time - remember the Bubble ? - got a tremendous press coverage for its launch in March 2002 (by the way, in our case PR worked pretty well ;-). In parallel, Agilent's I&M test markeshare almost doubled in the US by the end of 2002.
How did Agilent achieved such outstanding results ? Sun Tzu. We simply applied the Art Of War.
As a challenger, we acted as a challenger - which was quite interesting in the context of Agilent, provided that the whole company was (is still) set to act as a leader (you know what I mean...). For instance, we overcomed our rivals by applying the strategy described by Bruce in the Chapter 3: "Sizing up the Competition".
Since I left Agilent back in 2003, I've got to learn many other markets outside telecoms, working with several companies in different areas : the only ones who win are the ones who apply the Art of War. That might seem dumb, but it's the very truth.
Last week, I've spent 30 minutes discussing through Skype with a French guy living in Ottawa, Canada. " Okay, so what ? ", that's probably what you think now. Well, the fact is that we just got re-connected after... 30 years or so. He and I went to the same high school, somewhere in Paris, back in the mid 70's. Since 1979, no more contact, until last week. The strange thing here is that since then, he and I can call on each other by just clicking on a simple button. Even better, he and I can almost see when we're at our computer or not. I knew Skype helps avoiding distances, I didn't know until last week it also helps shrinking time ;-)
Searching Google for " user-generated-content ", found this awesome website : trendwatching.com. A must-bookmark for every creator, entrepreneur, marketeer, whatsoeveer (no typo here ;-) You can subscribe to TrendWatching monthly newsletter here. Read the report " Customer Made " for the UGC stuff. [tags : consumerscustomer-madeentrepreneurshipmarketingtrends]
French TV production firm 2T Productions (well, the site still under construction as of today 05/25 26/07) is to launch kazados.tv its first television channel next week. As the iCTO, I have had the chance to participate to the adventure for a while. Kazados.tv is supposed to be the very first InternetTV station for Teenagers, made by Teenagers.
When I started working with 2T Productions as advisor in late January this year, the WebTV or InternetTV * world was still in its infancy. Kazados was one the of very few projects aimed at real TV ** experience : live streaming, as opposed to the classic progressive download technic used by the YouTubes, the vPods, and the likes. Launch your web browser, go to kazados.tv, and boom, you watch TV. You get the idea.
Based on a UGC User-Generated-Content concept, Kazados is also run by seasoned medias professionals, from producers to directors and journalists, all featuring 10 to 20 years of presence in the Television/Radio/Press industry. That means the audience will be watching contents which will be moderated by people used to create and broadcast TV programs, whilst the teens willing to create their own programs will get help from professional journalists and producers. Doesn't look like usual YouTube stuff, right ?...
We spent most of February and March to find out the best solution for the technical infrastructure : basically speaking, 2T is a ' Content ' provider, not a Web hosting/broadcasting platform. So, we have investigated several options, from creating 2T's own infrastructure from scratch to calling on established firms - ooops, read : existing startups - offering Video Publishing platform and services. The first option wasn't the ideal one for a company a) based in France and b) targeting a french speaking audience : investors putting money into the so-called Web 2.0 arena are mostly based in the US, and it's hard to convince them with a french-only project. Plus, I prefer integrate an existing solution rather than reinventing the wheel (at least as long it's not about creating a true disruptive propositiondisruption ;-)
So, 2T decided to go for the second option : collaborate with an existing firm. Enter ipercast, a multimedia services provider based in Paris, vPod, the famous startup lead by Rodrigo Sepulveda Schulz, Gilles Babinet' Eyeka, and a few other smaller players. Issue #1 : those very talented and smart guys still didn't get it. They all offer Progressive Download and/or VOD Video-On-Demand services, whilst Kazados is a real television channel, meaning it's broadcasting a live video stream. On top, kazados.tv is a full-Flash website, featuring Flash video files. Hosting it onto their respective platforms wasn't an easy task, requiring too much development work for their sw teams in regards of the tight schedule.
In the meantime, we took a look outside the french borders. Democracy was an interesting option, but the folks out there seemed to be too busy to answer my calls properly. Nevertheless, the concept is interesting. Then came Joost, which we couldn't test on time for the launch of kazados.tv next week. Veodia, which is an outstanding platform for real professionals, was just starting when we had to take a decision, and Mogulus, which seems to be the perfect solution to test new online TV concepts, was operating in private beta.
Finally, at the end of April, 2T decided to partner with the Britany-based TV production firm VO-Productions, which do internetTV since a while. That's why I'm no longer in charge of the launch of kazados.tv, by the way : most of the time, merging two projects together means you need only one project manager. In the business, 1 plus 1 often equals 1 ;-)
However, over the last month the landscape has changed quite dramatically. InternetTV and UGC become mainstream, see the numerous recent announcements. Justin.tv is the hot stuff at the moment. Always surprising to see what teenagers are watching on television, no matter it's on the Net or not !
Last, I wish kazados.tv would have been made of mixercast, vPod, and Joost for all the user interface stuff, Mogulus for the features set, and Veodia for the flexibility. I also wish someone will soon come with a solution for live text caption for disabled people : those among the population who can't hear properly can't certainly not jump on the WebTV bandwagon. Plus, once you can insert text caption, you can also insert text translation. See the video below for a better understanding (joke).
More info on Flash Video here and here (Adobe' DevCenter is a fantastic source for self-training), and video webcasting technologies here.
Chris Tew of WebTVWire does a tremendous job watching the internetTV trends, read for instance " Online Video No Threat to Television says YouTube " here. Chris has published a very detailled review of Mogulus here.
* I still don't know how to say, because the two words are in use today to describe the very same thing : watch a TV channel on the Web. See dictionary here for more details, and read the impressive list of internetTV services already available.
Analyzing FiberGeneration' visitors stats is always a delight to me. On top of the normal *readership feedback gathering* stuff, I travel the World On The Seven Seas in the blink of an eye, for free.
Here are the Sitemeter stats as of this afternoon 1:30PM CET, for the last 20 visitors. I have to admit that I do prefer the table version rather than the graphic (i.e. the map) one : discovering new cities, new countries, by reading the names is just a wonderful feeling. How about you ?
In my snail-mail box this morning, this flyer from... well, don't know. Just that it's for the next ECOC conference and exhibition on optical communications. See by yourself : no mention on the venue at all. Only solution to get the actual location of the event, go to the website. No phone number to call, no email address to reach. Even better : no word on the actual organizer. On top : if you're a novice, you can't tell what the heck " ECOC " means... Funny enough, Guy Kawasaki has posted one of his famous 10-Questions-With last night : " The Top Ten Reasons Why PR Doesn't Work ", an interview with Margie Zable Fisher of theprsite.com. If I was Nexus Media Communications (the so-called organizer) I would definitely ask Margie for some advices !
ps : ECOC stands for : " European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication ". Since the first time I attented the conference a decade ago, I wonder where the " E " of " Exhibition " is gone !
Direct from the Telemanagement World 2007 forum in Nice, France, LightReading' International News Editor Ray Le Maistre posted an interesting article about the forthcoming changes in the Test & Measurement industry, starting with the networks Operations Support Systems (aka OSS). Read here.
Chambers 2.0 LightReading reports the recent speech of Cisco' s CEO at the Interop show in Las Vegas earlier this week. Not so surprisingly, when one knows what Cisco is all about, Chambers said : "For the first time in my 17 years in the industry, I said there's a killer app, and it is video." [tags : Web2.0NetworkingVideoProductivityJohnChambers]
Fifteen Things We Wish Someone Would Invent Over the last two years, Elisabeth Eaves and Michael Noer, journalists at Forbes, interviewed a hundred of CEOs and other executives, about their dreamed invention. As Elisabeth writes in the introduction : " The results range from the highly imaginative to the mundanely useful. " Read the special report here. [tags : inventionschangetheworldchangesinnovations]
Blogosphere iconic heroe Michael Arrington of TechCrunch has a quite interesting perspective on the actual times in the Silicon Valley. Excerpt of the conclusion :
" Silicon Valley is no longer any fun. In fact, it’s turned downright nasty. It may be time for some of use to leave for a while and watch the craziness from the outside again. In a few years, things will be beautiful again. The big money will be slumbering away, and the marketing departments will be a distant memory. We can focus, once again, on the technology. "
Very similar to what happened with the Telecoms downturn back in 2000...
Beginning of this year, I've asked my dear coach Hal Stitt of DeltaNet Consultants for his advices on how to engage Verizon for a client of mine, who is to deploy FTTH Fiber-To-The-Home networks in the country. I thought getting some inside perspective on the FiOS roll out would help my client to better understand the issues of fiber testing in case of a massive deployment. I'm glad to share with you some excerpt of a conversation we hold through Skype' chat on that Verizon :
Hal Stitt: 05:22:04 You asked some time ago for connections at Verizon. If I were you, working with a company planning to install an optical access network, I would not use Verizon as an example. Verizon was very early in the game, and they made some choices then that they would not make now.
Hal Stitt: 05:24:46 I would recommend researching active FTTP networks, and the companies driving that--Mainly Cisco. Current thinking is acive access networks will have a higher bandwith limitation, making them useful over a much longer time. The additional cost is small compared with the additional throughput active networks can deliver.
Hal Stitt: 05:29:27 In Verizon's experience, about 80% of the cost of installing a passive access network is in the installation of the fiber itself. The active system would have about the same cost for installing the fibers. The additional cost for the active stuff, mainly routers and power system, may double the overall cost, but it raises the bandwith ceiling by one or two orders of magnitude.
Hal Stitt: 05:32:19 Cisco is pushing a system of 3 classes of routers: Access, aggregration, and core. I believe you can imagine where they would reside. Subscribers would be connected to a nearby access router, the access routers would feed the aggregation routers, which would in turn feed the core routers.
Hal Stitt: 05:34:30 Cisco and others are pushing the active active network. Several companies, including Agilent, are pursuing test concepts to ensure quality content delivery. The are pushing the active paradigm because it reduces many error sources inherent in the passive access links.
Hal Stitt: 05:36:38 I would recommend starting the research with Cisco and branching out from there. Your client could make a different decision than Verizon made because the situation is different than it was when Verizon chose the passive approach. Your client would surely thank you for that. -----------------------
The rest of the discussion being confidential, I won't post it here ;-)
post-scriptum : I'll come back on Verizon later this week, with their learnings on the first FIOS deployments.
I have been looking around the cyberspace, to find the best collaborative workspace for a small team in a professional environment. The business case : as new product introduction manager, supervise the whole Dev. team, which is made of people located in different parts of the country. The product is an InternetTV website that will be launched in beta; being still under development, it is mandatory to track each and every change and modification, according to the project schedule. Mandatory as well is the possibility to store all relevant files into on single location, instead of using email and ftp. Last, ease-of-use and simplicity are key factors, because the workspace will be used by non tech-savvy people.
For sure, the "Web 2.0" offers plenty of solutions, from wikis to project management online tools and storage sites. Last month, I spent almost a week to review all options, using Web2Logo.com, Webware.com, and TechCrunch as information resources. The outcomes : - it appears that wikis are not so easy to use for novices in a project management environment, although some platforms such as PBwiki are pretty simple (I will use it myself, but for my own project). - collaborative platforms are diverse, from those featuring a rigid user interface à la Web 1.0 to those right into the user-generated content trend. - my choice : Socialtext. Says the short description on Web2Logo : " Socialtext captures the best features of web-native tools called "wikis" and "weblogs" and brings them inside your enterprise to create a collaboration and knowledge tool that works the way people do. " I do agree 100% : it works the way you do. Setting up your home page takes less than 3 minutes all together, including your registration on the main site. Sending the invitations to the members of your team is a one-click operation, as all basic stuff such as file upload. The user interface is pretty smart, Socialtext being a multi-language platform : in our case, French was mandatory provided that some team members don't speak english - which is quite a problem those days ;-). Detailled reviews of Socialtext here, here, and here of course.
The Venturi Eclectic has been introduced last year by the Monaco-based luxury car maker . The very first autonomous energy vehicle gets its power from a wind generator and from solar cells atop its roof. 3-seats, 50-km autonomy, the Eclectic is the ideal car for city transportation, and short drives in the countryside, like to pick up the kids at school. First series of 200 units to be sold next month, at the quite high price tag of 24k euros. The next generation, using a new type of batteries, is scheduled for release in 2009, at 15k euros. Press release here - pump up the volume, and click on the green arrow ;-)
Market Research & Consulting firm IIR Telecoms is organizing the FTTx* Summit, to be held June 18-21 in Munich, Germany. The event covers four main areas: Operator business strategies, FTTx deployment strategies, Content, applications & media, and Operations & municipal networks. In addition, two technical briefings for building content-based businesses within a company: Triple Play business development, and Deploying and optimising hybrid fibre and fibre networks to deliver IPTV, VoD, HDTV and interactive services. More information here. You may also contact Dan Collins, Business Dev Manager @ IIR here.
* FTTx : Fiber-To-The-Something. Curb, Building, Pedestal, Home, Desk, you name it. No matter the letter, it is your future, and it happens today ;-)
I am a Cycling Freak, Tennis Fan, and Fiber Broadband Evangelist.
Among other things, I am currently managing the deployment of the World's largest Public Fiber-To-The-Home network aka "SarkoFiber".
*** Disclaimer : this is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, no matter who he is. ***
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