Customer Experience: Is it Time for the Mobile CDN?

Customer Experience: Is it Time for the Mobile CDN?

Changing consumer behaviours and the transition to 4G are likely to bring about a fresh surge of video traffic on many networks. Fortunately, mobile content delivery networks (CDNs), which should deliver both better customer experience and lower costs, are now potentially an option for carriers using a combination of technical advances and new strategic approaches to network design. This briefing examines why, how, and what operators should do, and includes lessons from Akamai, Level 3, Amazon, and Google. (May 2013, Executive Briefing Service).
CDN Traffic as Percentage of Backbone May 2013

Software Defined Networking (SDN): A Potential ‘Game Changer’

Software Defined Networking (SDN): A Potential ‘Game Changer’

Software Defined Networking is a technological approach to designing and managing networks that has the potential to increase operator agility, lower costs, and disrupt the vendor landscape. Its initial impact has been within leading-edge data centres, but it also has the potential to spread into many other network areas, including core public telecoms networks. This briefing analyses its potential benefits and use cases, outlines strategic scenarios and key action plans for telcos, summarises key vendor positions, and why it is so important for both the telco and vendor communities to adopt and exploit SDN capabilities now. (May 2013, Executive Briefing Service, Cloud & Enterprise ICT Stream, Future of the Networks Stream).
Potential Telco SDN/NFV Deployment Phases May 2013

Digital Commerce: Time to redefine the Mobile Wallet

Digital Commerce: Time to redefine the Mobile Wallet

The ‘Mobile/Digital Wallet’ needs to evolve to support authentication, search and discovery, as well as payments, vouchers, tickets and loyalty programmes. Moreover, consumers will want to be able to tailor the functionality of this “commerce assistant” or “commerce agent” to fit with their own interests and preferences. Our report and analysis of the Digital Commerce 2.0 Executive Brainstorm, 20 March 2013, part of the New Digital Economics Silicon Valley event. (April 2013, Executive Briefing Service, Dealing with Disruption Stream.)
Who is best placed to win in local commerce April 2013

Digital Economy: who will prosper in ‘The Great Compression’?

Digital Economy: who will prosper in ‘The Great Compression’?

Value is squeezed out of industries as they become increasingly digital – i.e. accessed by mobile and online, driven by data and defined by software. We call the collective economic impact of this pressure ‘The Great Compression’. But which companies will survive and prosper – and how? 90% of the Execs at our Silicon Valley brainstorm identified ‘management mindset’ as a key factor in Telecoms, Media, Finance and Retail. Our analysis and a detailed report of the findings of the Digital Economy session at the NDE Executive Brainstorm, Silicon Valley, held at the InterContinental Hotel, San Francisco on the 19th March 2013. (May 2013, Executive Briefing Service, Transformation Stream).
Scale of Transformation Needed April 2013