Managed Network Mashup

http://www.networkmashups.com/Mashup.aspx
 
Business drivers for any new architectural initiative would have to be strong to get buy-in from all related stakeholders. This is true even in case of SOA, mashups and Web 2.0. Article in this URL outlines some of the business drivers for these architecture and are summarized below (but with Microsoft going out of its service delivery platform (SDP), it is a pradox now on whether Microsoft realized that these business drivers are not strong enough to continue supporting these architectural principles).
 
- SOA is not just an effective methodology to implementing enterprise application integration (EAI) but also a means to rationalizing cost. However SOA helps in bringing the network effect, it can take advantage of The Long Tail phenomenon to improve top-line of an organization. But will the organziation wants to embrace network effect is something that organization will have to decide as part of its strategy (also in the long tail it is important to identify niche products/services that can move up the demand curve with certain catalysts).
- Mashups – advertising based revenue models and plan for sticky content and services. How disintermediation & margin rationalization that helped Internet’s near-zero marginal cost of distribution, can also help business to adopt these models?
 
Now how a service provider take cue from above business drivers to monetize components for which they are the custodians. These components are subscriber location/presence information, security, identity management, quality of service, troubleshooting, customer care, centralized bililng/metering and service provisioning. These can be key offering from operator and can be useful in creating managed network mashups.
 
This article also highlights some of the key differences between an enterprise based mashup application v/s communication service provider network based applications. Couple of key differences that I can pick are:
- asynchronous invocation in case of communications based application – which compared with synchronous nature of invocation in enterprise applications (like monthly/daily processing of records in an ERP system) makes it a system to be ready 24×7 with required response time
- high frequency of events handled in communication system
- rapid creation and deletion of objects
- multiple data source based decision, often memory database based access
 
Most striking difference mentioned is profit center v/s cost center i.e., each communication element needs to be managed service element with customer being charged for their usage. However in case of enterprise application, their operation cost tend to get treated as part of IT cost center. But since in communication services, many elements get involved in delivery of a service e.g., voice or data or content, separating usage for these elements for services would be necessary to make a certain service as profit center. However I do think that this is a very good approach that an operator can take to create profit centers out of each services and make the network infrastructure as a shared center.

Business Strategy Adjustment at Samsung

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212300429&cid=NL_eet
 
Excerpts from interview with Mr. Jun-Hyung Souk, EVP of Samsung’s Display R&D Center
 
History has shown us that companies with good vision and R&D can withstand the downturn. This fact is reinforced after learning how Samsung is extending its R&D and manufacturing capabilities of flat-panel TV to solar and immersive displays. Also shifting LCD business into survival model for the downturn with a focus on cost effective products. The decision to get into the new product line has been triggered through the analysis of the flat-panel TV industry growth as well as its own sales. Based on this data analysis, management team has come out with a long term plan to grow and sustain a business that would go beyond 2010.
 
Strategic activities that could be seen are:
- putting an R&D team together for solar panel
- invest on developing new type of solar panel
- till new type of solar pannel is developed, continue using existing bulk crystalline panel
- use its strong brand, vertical integration (sales, support infrastructure, distribution structure, production facility etc)
 
Other key notable point in this article is Samsung’s attitude towards accepting downturn as survival game and involve employees for discussions and workshops to seek new growth drivers, quick move from profit plan to survival plan (e.g., better utilization of production methods to reduce cost, develop new methods to reduce cost of producing a product, developing single platform). However focus on new technology, materials for its product development has not reduced but it has increased to create advantage for Samsung.

Notable Tech Start-ups

1. Advanced track & trace – marking & tracking – allows companies to verify whether their shhipments are where they are supposed to be in real time. Company’s vector seal technology stamps each product package with a unique, digitally created ID mark and track it via scanners during its entire journey to the end user. Codes are stamped in visible and hidden form on packages to prevent thieves from repacking fake goods in the original containers
2. Brightcover – Online video platform empowering video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television. It is a SaaS business model and I presume it is similar to IPTV franchisee model pioneered by Indian Govt telco operators
3. Etsy – online handmade market place where everyone from professional artists to occassional crafters can sell their wares
4. Gameforge – independent supplier of browser and client based MMOG (massively multiplayer online games). It offers more than 12 games in over 50 languages. OGame a strategic space simulation game with thousands of players across the world is one of the best known browswer-based MMOG
5. JiGrahak’s ngpay mass market mobile commerce service. It offers mobile banking services to bank’s customers
6. Mint.com – free web application that allows users to automatically track and analyze their financial transactions, set budgets and even send balance updates in text messages to cell phones. Once the user register using valid email address, it securely downloads transaction data from more than 7500 US financial institutions on a daily basis. Users never need to import or synch their financial information. Provides a unified view of all account activity, alert users to low balances, bank fees, upcoming bills, and even potentially suspicious account activity and give users personalized suggestions for significant savings opportunities (would this be similar to SSO client that can log into different bank accounts and summarize information?)
7. mPedigree – allows consumers to instantly verify the source of pharmaceuticals at no cast at the point of purchase using mobile phones. Service is free for users, drug manufacturers pay for the text messages.
8. Nivio – first online windows desktop. This allows a full virtual windows desktop that can be accessed through any internet connected to the computer/internet connected device. Developed an online service bundled with a device – small, affordable ($100) which can be substituted as a CPU. One need to buy a monitor, mouse, keyboard and device that substitutes a CPU. All data is tored on the Internet in the virtual environment.
9. Qifang – using P2P lending, helps poor students find funding for higher education. It has launched an online, P2P lending service that gives students means to find friends, employers, or philanthropists willing to help fund their educational goals. (Similar to “Varanna” in olden days. P2P lending can be extended for raising funds for NGOs)
10. Slide Inc – online personal media network. Enables users to create photos and videos in slides.com as well as view them on web or desktop. Also operates as an application provider on Facebook
11. SpinVox – new category of communications called Voice-to-Screen. Provides products to capture spoken messages, convert them to text, and deliver the message to a desitnation or group of destination.
12. Tideway systems – provides data center search software that continuously consumes and transforms IT data into intelligence, including identifying applicaiton software components and inter-relationships and mapping them to physical and virtual infrasturcture
13. Ubiquisys – provides zonegate femtocell system, a small plug-and-play device that plugs into home or office broadband connection and provides 3G coverage in the home and office.

Importance of Orchestrating Subcriber and Network Data

http://downloads.lightreading.com/wplib/openet/
WP_UsingSubandNtwkData_US.pdf
 
With the convergence of information, communication and entertainment industry, operators are looking at combining network capabilities with 3rd party applications and content to create new propositions. And also are looking at delivering services to business and consumers seamless across different network and devices. However service provider will have to understand customer experience and usage pattern to optimize existing service and introduce new services. Offering of this new service can be dynamic service offering through understanding of real time transaction or offline service offering through the network usage. Each of these options have their own challenges.
 
Increased dynamic offerings for differentiation and revenue growth can be achieved through usage of real-time transaction intelligence (like types of services people use, how they access, network status, service experience (mainly how many service consumption aborts might give an insight in this) and consumer preferences for service). Operator can accesses this real-time transaction intelligence through mediation or through an edge DPI enabled service enabler. Data collection (from network) and correlation (from IT) through mediation can be an option for the operator to have access to the complete view of subscriber activity. With this view also operator can plan sales programs, loyalty plans, data integration, revenue assurance and cost management.
 
Whether it through mediation or through DPI enabled real time service enabler, operator will have to use the following assets to deliver a better service to the end user (broadly they are network, service and subscriber related assets)
- Network capabilities – subscriber and session aware access, throttling, qos, charging, rating, promotions, bundles, thresholds, notifications
- Device capabilities – downloadable apps, camera browser, multimedia, network single/dual channel
- User context – location, device on/off, session status, weather, current content being viewed
- User identifiers – phone number, MAC, IM, e-mail
- Basic user data – name, address, geneder, credit payment history, preference, location
- User content – pictures, videos, bookmarks, address book, calender
- User profile – historical usage and profile based on usage
 
But to access these assets, there are certain challenges that operator will have to be aware of:
- Central availability of the data – from different network elements, from IT
- Sanity test of the data consistency across different silos
- Limited set of data sources – increase number of service elements that provide data, is billing only the source of data
- Making analytics functions available for those decision makers who are responsible for customer acquisition/retention, service introduction and marketing (some of these analytics functions are: customer profiling for identifying cross-sell /upsell opportunities, customer value management to determine total value of a customer (map between ARPU and other activities of the subscriber like number of calls to customer care etc), advertising & promotion with specific customer segmentation, product management through usage pattern.

Best of Breed Solution Design

http://downloads.lightreading.com/wplib/enea/Enea_WP_ArchIntegrPlatform.pdf
 
Integration approach requires architecturing the system with an approach to support multiple technologies from multiple vendors. This is a powerful statement and it outlines the basic attitude required in going for an integration of the solution. With each vendor bringing best of their products, for integration to be successful it is important to have the mindset to work together with each of them and bring out a competitive solution (e.g., SDP alliance).
 
Tier 1 NEPs have known for delivering high available network equipment solution handling hardware and software development in house. However to reduce cost & TTM, they are looking at bring-in standard based open COTS building blocks. Value proposition from COTS vendors has been low-cost, low-risk and fast TTM compared with the prioprietary middleware developed by the tier 1 NEPs. But none of these would work if there is a lack of well considered integration paradigm for architecting and executing new network equipment programs. However one can loop up to industry bodies like SCOPE alliance for the inputs and best practices in defining these integration paradigms.
 
SCOPE alliance (scope-alliance.org) defines scope and requirements of a carrier grade platform (CGP) and it has 7 building blocks – hardware, OS, middleware, application server, O&M and tools. Typically NEPs provide 1 or 2 components of this building block and look to  the COTS eco-system for the rest. Here the integration architecture should provide abstration for the proprietary building blocks. However there are certain requirements that the COTS component will have to satisfy before being included in the integration architecture. Most noteable are: redundancy, discovery & inventory management of resources, fault tolerance, component level controls/independence, upgrades & backward compatibility, security and management interfaces.
 
Pattern for defining integration architecture
- Use 5 parametes – modularity, manageability, interoperability, availability and testability as the 5 key attributes to design architecture
- Clearly define functional, non-functional requirements and integration points at the begining of the integration
 
Some of the challenges in integration architecture:
- uniform RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability)
- Ensuring each building block has predictable and well defined behavior in terms of timings/latencies, error codes, memory usage etc
- multiple vendor working together to resolve issues during development and in live network
 
Case study:
- One of the case given by Enea (enea.com) is how a deployable integrated architecture would look like where specialized processing engine (with DSP and NP running applications CODEC, IP forward or VLAN) can work with COTS hardware. This is a classic pattern in most of the telecom applications

mCommerce Solution

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Telecom/
Mobile_commerce_sets_cash_register_ringing_for_companies/
articleshow/3146754.cms

mCommerce market trends:
- The Internet and Mobile Association of India estimated that the m-commerce market in India was worth Rs 9,500 crore in 2007. India currently has some 270 million-mobile subscribers.

- players provide solutions across sectors or vertical-specific mobile commerce services

- Ngpay, the mobile commerce solutions brand of Bangalore-based JiGrahak, on Wednesday announced that it had crossed one-lakh registered users in under three months, a clear indication that the nascent Indian mobile commerce market is taking surefooted steps to maturity. Ngpay is akin to a virtual mall on the user’s handset that helps book tickets, top up phones and pay bills, apart from standard bank account services. Ngpay focus has been to provide a convenient, secure and easy-to-use experience. Ngpay, which inked a deal with HDFC Bank last month for mobile banking, is already the leading mobile sales channel for IRCTC and Fame Cinema. It already accounts for 4% of sales in major markets for Fame. The solution has certified financial-grade security and works on entry-level mobile handsets, allaying two of the main fears among consumers: lack of security and complexity of use.

- Paymate has alliances with Tata Indicom and Kingfisher Airlines for mobile-linked payments. And its latest initiatives include utility bills and LIC insurance premium payments through one’s handset.

- Airtel had announced the launch of a range of mobile commerce solutions, including mobile money transfer (MMT), post-paid bill payment and pre-paid recharge on the handset. Airtel is partnering with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Corporation Bank and VISA to enable these payments using a solution that has been developed Bangalore-based firm mChek.

- makemytrip.com announced that it has launched a mobile travel product — again developed by mChek — that helps searching, booking and paying for flight tickets without needing a GPRS subscription.

- Obopay Payment Services, the India arm of California-based Obopay, is planning to offer global remittances as another service, apart from the vanilla fund transfer. Unlike what Western Union, the most popular service provider for such transactions, typically does, Obopay is planning to remit money from overseas directly to the bank account linked to the phone.

- Tanla Solutions’ acquisition of Openbit gives it a clear edge in terms of enhancing its offering in the on-device mobile payment segment. It could also help Tanla expand operations in newer geographies and create a sustainable revenue stream. Openbit has strong tie-ups with players such a Nokia and has its software products installed in 20 million Nokia phones. This deal can help Openbit extend its relationship with Nokia in countries such as China and India, where mobile subscribers are being added on a monthly run-rate of 8 million.

Business models:
- how does the payment brokers gets the money
  – whether subscriber pays?
  – payment receiving companies pays as it avoids usage of their expensive human resources/handling
  – advertisement
  – can some of the mcommerce players start leasing out their capability to interconnect with the payment gateways? That means the folks who are interacting with the customer will have to offer unique proposition like payment mechanism, cash back/loyalty program reach, reliability, customer care

Technical solution:
- On device either as an application or as SIMTK option, bearer either GPRS or SMS/USSD
  pros and cons?
- Server side – can handle as a WAP URL request or as SMS/USSD application
  – WAP URL – WAP server handling the request and connecting to the external payment gateways
  – SMS/USSD – gateway to connect to different operator SMS network and from then on connecting to the external vendors payment gateways
  – connecting to payment gateways is a challenge as it will involve complying to the other party’s security and connection setup the debit/roll back procedures
  – payment either from the credit card or from the operator’s prepaid or calling cards, also virtual money cards like ITZ cash card can be looked at
  – loyalty platforms for end users to “stick” to their service
  – customer care
- small bluetooth based printer to print the receipt

Voice Delivery Platform

http://tringswitch.com/

An interesting concept proposed by TringMe where it allows an user to use voice service offered by different VoIP service providers. This service is built using the TringSwitch a platform for providing the web telephony. But in my opinion this platform is an ideal candidate for a “voice delivery platform”. This voice delivery platform is an integral element in the overall service delivery platform and would focus on the voice as a service in the all IP network (or IMS network). Having such a voice delivery platform would enable the operator to offer voice as a service from different Internet provider as well as offering their own premium voice service. Since such a platform offers operators to manage the VoIP services (even it can be made prepaid or pay-as-you-use service), this could be a platform that also provides access to their charging engines like 3GPP online charging system (OCS).

So here are the components in TringSwitch voice delivery platform (note the differentiation on whether a component is a mandatory or optional is not given by TringSwitch, this is my assumption. Also I have not considered telephony gateway component as this may be useful only if it is used as web telephony switch and not as a voice delivery platform)

 
Mandatory elements:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- Voice application server interface – interface to the voice application services that send voice over IM – both from Internet as well as operator’s own voice service
- Enablers (these can be just interfaces as operator would be already having these enablers) – TTS & ASR Engines, VXML Server, Voice Mail server
- Device rendering engines – flash server for connecting with the flash client on the mobile device

Optional components:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- Protocol components (mainly if some voice services are developed by 3rd party) – SIP for signaling and voice processing engine supporting various Codecs (G711, G723, G729, GSM etc). However it should also be possible to have access to the operator’s infrastructure elements like media gateways and in my opinion these components need not be part of the voice delivery platform
- Customer usage analytics and ad engine also their interfaces with external VAS enablers like SMSC

However I guess following components are also mandatory to be included as part of this voice delivery platform.
- QoS enforcing and monitoring element
- Identity federation i.e., single identity to log into multiple voice service accounts
- Interface to presence, location
- Interface for the operator’s IN/billing and OSS components
- Interface with OTA as device configuration will have to be managed for the voice services

Now when the operator wants to integrate the premium voice service offered by them, then it can either integrate using voice over IM or provide some kind of service brokering functionality to include operator’s voice AS.

Challenges before New BT CEO

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2967201,flstry-1.cms

The article outlines some of the challenges that BT’s new CEO Mr. Ian Livingston faces as he takes on the reins from Mr. Ben Verwaayen. Some of the major points noted are:

- top line growth – how to increase top line growth of a “fixed only business”
- customer & services – evolve portfolio to suit its customers, not technology e.g., younger generation are compulsive communicators that uses direct (voice, email, IM) and indirect (social networking sites, on-line message boards, second-life etc). This kind of service is also required for new workers who enter college to workplace
- marketing – “central to achieve greater understanding of customer needs is marketing” – brand association with communication services
- networks and technology – whether spending billions of dollar for 21CN project and whether it is in the right direction
- strategy & structure – strategy of BT has been to defend traditional services, grow new wave and transform the business through 21CN and IT) – does it require any modification to see terms like customers, services and customer services. Also give equal importance for investing in people along with system & processes.

My observations:
- Fixed only business of BT – this would be a challenge for any of the fixed line operators. With declining trend in usage of the fixed line telephony it would be challenge for any fixed line operator to improve the top-line. However I guess new services like IPTV, content access over broadband, prepaid broadband service etc, should help BT to improve their top-line. But unless these service differentiates from the existing competiting services, how can they become popular? Looks like BT also ventured into mobile TV but not sure whether it became profitable
- Strategy for a company would have formed based on the feedback from what customers want. So is it necessary to have customer specific targets in the strategy or the technology that enables such a transformation?

Airtel – Rural Service Initiative

Following is an interesting model that Airtel has come out with. I guess the SIM card given out under this scheme would have an on device portal (SIMTK) customized to provide the services specific to farmers and even the tariff associated with these cards will be special… I wonder what kind of services would be there in “exclusive service platform” meant for farming community (apart from information/alert services on weather, food price, govt policies etc and m-payment)… With rural penetration being focus for in next 2~3 years, all the operators would be interested in this initiative…

==============================
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd (IKSL), a fully owned subsidiary of IFFCO, and telecom service provider Airtel will jointly launch mobile marketing services across Tamil Nadu before September.

The services include selling premier brand handsets at concessional prices, issuance of dedicated sim cards under the caption IFFCO Airtel Green Card , which envisaged voice messages on agro-development inputs in vernacular media, A Jinnah, State Manager, IKSL, told reporters.

It also attract two-year warranty service for the handsets, fully backed up after sales service for the farming community, elaboration of the connectivity network by installing adequate number of towers in remote villages by Airtel.

He said that already districts of Villupuram, Erode, Cuddalore and Salem have been covered and the remaining districts would be covered before September-end.

“It is a nation wide venture by IFFCO and Airtel by creating an exclusive service platform meant for farming community. Already people in 14 states enjoy the services,” Jinnah said.

The joint venture of the fertiliser major and the mobile service provider envisaged a growth of 20 per cent year over year and with this trend it was hopeful that about 150 million customers would be enlisted by the year 2010-2011, Jinnah said.

IKSL through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Banks (PACB), will cover Tamil Nadu. With the introduction of the scheme in five districts in Tamil Nadu, already 1,000 PACBs have been covered in the network. In the second phase, the scheme would be extended to 2,000 PACBs, he said.

Currently models ranging from Rs 1,500-4,000 by Alcatel, Samsung and Philips were sold under the scheme. The scheme included informative inputs meant for agriculture,horticulture and animal husbandry activities for rural folks through SMS.

Key Attributes in a Service Delivery Platform

Key attributes to be managed in the network which will be accessed by different services…
- Presence
- Identity
- Authorization
- Location
- Device capability
- Per application QoS
- Per subscriber QoS
- Security
- Service brokering

In order to use these attributes in a service delivery platform, the infrastructure should be:

- Application aware & Support service differentiation
- Deliver targetted service for subscriber based on usage pattern
- Faster & low cost application creation technology platform
- Integration of the open source platform