The Future of Wireless Broadband: CommunicAsia 2010

At the 2010 CommunicAsia event in Singapore this year, broadband and wireless technologies are likely to be hot-button topics. As manufacturers from all across the world gather to discuss the future of their respective industries, all attendants, regardless of how their companies earn their bread and butter, are setting their sights on advancements in communications technologies. As was reported by Light Reading, apps development, delivery and implementation are likely to be key issues. The article lists several companies making important announcements:

"Among the companies and organizations expected to announce new products and developments are Tejas Networks India Ltd., RAD Data Communications Ltd., and ZTE Corp, while National ICT Australia, Australia's IT and Communications Research Centre of Excellence, plans to make an announcement that, it says, will be of 'international significance, with particular relevance to the U.S. mobile telecommunications market'"

Many telecommunications enthusiasts are eager to find out what this earth-shattering announcement will be, while others are predicting it could merely be a more efficient way to implement 4g networks in the United States and worldwide. Other topics that will most likely be discussed at CommunicAsia 2010 are cloud computing, mobile marketing and advertising and the importance of wireless communications in industry. Stay tuned to Light Reading and this blog for updates on the latest networking and communications news!

Read the full article here:

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=193147&

New Strategies in the War Between Cisco and Juniper

(Statistics Represent the Fourth Quarter of 2008)

A recent article by Jim Duffy of PCWorld takes an interesting look at the history of the feud between Cisco and Juniper routers, as well as discusses the impact these two router technologies have on us today. Starting from the founding of Juniper in 1996 (Cisco had previously monopolized the market starting from its founding in 1984) and continuing to the present day, Duffy's article characterizes the back-and-forth battle that these two technological giants wage against each other today.

Of Juniper's recent attempts to oust Cisco from the number 1 spot, Duffy remarks,

"Juniper is taking the battle to enterprise data centers and cloud computing environments. Emboldened by its success in carrier routing, Juniper unveiled enterprise Ethernet switches two years ago in an attempt to become a credible alternative to Cisco's dominance in that market, too. The company believes it can carve a niche in the elite networking arenas of financial trading, high-performance computing and other demanding enterprise environments just like it did in service provider routing."

With other contenders in the market like Alcatel-Lucent also vying for dominance in this market, it seems evident that consumers can look forward to aggressive innovation and rapid expansion from all of the heavyweights in the router market. As Cisco tries to further cement itself as the leading company in these technologies, expect experimental strategies from competitors. With billions of dollars on the line, it is unlikely that any of these key players will be giving up any time soon.

Be sure to check out Duffy's article here:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/198147/cisco_vs_juniper.html

And to learn more about Cisco and Juniper routers, check out:

http://www.infinit-tech.com/Network-Routers.php

Motorola Making Wireless Smart Grid Solutions

Motorola is introducing an interesting new wireless product. Billed as a stripped down WiMax router, the CAP 36320 is a wireless 802.16e broadband access point that's meant to meter energy use in a smart grid application. The company has hit on this as a low-cost smart grid solution.

Motorola has stripped out much of the wireless overhead--including removing roaming capabilities and public spectrum operation--in order to lower product costs to around $500. The company estimates that it could help establish a national smart grid with as few as 350,000 routers. The move into smart grid technology is part of a larger corporate strategy at Motorola. The company plans to divide its operations into two: One unit will focus on industrial equipment, including products like the CAP 36320. The other unit will continue to create consumer technology, including home area networking equipment.

10 Ways To Get The Most From Your IT Training

Tech Republic has an excellent piece on how to get the most out of your IT training. It's worth reading in full, but here are the main points, briefly:

1. Take advantage of on-the-job training whenever possible
2. Go back to school for more extended learning
3. Learn from the experts
4. Use self-paced, online training for greater flexibility
5. Use training that includes online lab simulations for practical experience
6. Test yourself with practice exams to find out where you have knowledge gaps
7. Practice on physical hardware if it’s available to you
8. Use training that follows IT certification course requirements exactly
9. Use training that tracks every action and scores results accordingly
10. Overall, focus on the fundamentals
    

Cisco and Bank of America: Videoconferencing Giants

BusinessWeek has a great article about Cisco, HP, and Bank of America. It outlines the differences between Cisco's and HP's strategies for the fast-growing videoconferencing market, and it goes over details of a recent massive agreement between Cisco and Bank of America.

Basically, HP's videoconferencing solution is called is Halo Telepresence Solutions, which it developed with DreamWorks Animation back in 2005. DreamWorks has since then collaborated with HP on videoconferencing, including for creating the film How To Train Your Dragon. The HP Halo solution is geared more toward creative, fast collaboration. DreamWorld CTO Ed Leonard has said that HP's technology has allowed his studio to create films at its breakneck pace, three a year.

Cisco's videoconferencing products have also garnered high praise from high places. Proctor and Gamble Co. has stated that the company saved $4 for every $1 it spent on Cisco's TelePresence solution, which is good because the company installed 70 units. Each unite can cost more than $250,000. Proctor and Gamble said it saved money by reducing travel costs and increasing efficiency.

Now, Cisco is announcing its largest corporate partnership, yet. Bank of America plans to install 200 Csco TelePresence videoconferencing systems by the end of 2010. Presently, the banking giant uses 28 systems for employee meetings and training. Cisco's TelePresence solution will allow as many as 48 locations to collaborate simultaneously. As the workforce and economy spreads out on a global scale, this sort of massive videoconferencing solution will become more and more common. As for right now, it sure is exciting.

Cisco Borderless Networks Released in the Wild?

Back in October 2009, Cisco announced a plan to launch its Cisco Borderless Networks. Recently, the company announced the release of its Cisco Borderless Networks line. This new product direction is aimed at supporting increasingly mobile businesses with distributed, in-the-field networking needs. Cisco Borderless Networks is designed to securely connect business workers to anything, anywhere, and anytime. Cisco delivers on this architecture through video, energy management and highly secure networking services that are embedded across its routing, switching, wireless and security platforms to form a comprehensive borderless networking solution.

An interesting aspect of this new line of Cisco products is that the company is makings its prices. We mentioned yesterday that the competition between HP and Cisco is heating up. This could be a concession or a new salvo, in that battle.

Some highlights of the Cisco Borderless Networks products include a much expanded switching line. The Cisco Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X, the flagship of the Cisco fixed-switching portfolio. They are enterprise-class stackable and standalone these enterprise-class switches. The company also updated its router line.The Cisco Integrated Services Router G2 3900 E-Series was introduced last year in October. Cisco's latest announcement, though, includes the fact that they have tripled the performance of its ISR G2 router line. The line is now more than capable of handling challenging video applications and service integration.

These new Cisco products are an exciting addition to the networking marketplace. Competition is a good thing.

Cisco versus HP

Cisco and Hewlett-Packard are vying neck and neck for the valuable corporate data center market, but their leaders couldn't be more different. Whereas Cisco's John Chambers is known as a charismatic leader with a style similar to a southern preacher, HP's Mark Hurd is a by-the-numbers guy who excels at running operations. But obviously, both men have had a large amount of success.

Cisco dominates the market for networking and telecom systems. HP has a more diverse hardware portfolio, including computers, printers, servers, consulting, and software. The two companies, though, are starting to compete head to head as HP more fully enters the corporate market.

According to analysts, HP has seen its earnings grow over 22% per quarter on a year-over-year basis. Cisco has only seen 6% growth over a comparable period. HP's stock is also rising faster than Cisco's. Only time will tell which company assets its ultimate dominance.

Is every RFID tag like a snowflake?

A problem faced by the RFID industry is counterfeit RFID tags. Since most tags are just a sort of substitute for a barcode or magnetic strip label, and encryption is generally not a viable (or even desirable) option, RFID tags could be counterfeited and used for nefarious purposes, which you can entail.

However, a new company called Verayo (an MIT spinoff company) has formulated an at least partial answer to this dilemma. They have come up with a process for getting a sort of electronic fingerprint from individual RFID tags. Since there are small, necessary variations in the chip material and manufacturing process, no two RFID tags are exactly alike. Even if they meet the same specifications, there are small artifacts in the way that they process signals, which can be measured. Professor Srini Devadas, CTO of Verayo, says,

A signal traveling through a simple circuit will go faster or slower depending on these physical variations. By sending a series of signals through, and measuring how fast they travel, [one] can generate a string of numbers unique to each circuit.

This is a great step toward building more secure RFID systems. Each RFID tag would, essentially, be personally trackable on an almost meta-level. Of course, this added layer of security would cost more money, so it would have to be employed in only a cost-effective manners. But if you're tracking things like medicines or very expensive consumer goods, it may be a good step. Maybe Lilly Drugs could have avoided this latest embarrassment!

Cisco Now Requires CCNA Certification For CCSP Certification

Some news about Cisco certification has recently come out. In order to gain a Cisco CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional) certification, an IT professional will have to have already CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification as a prerequisite. CCNA and CCSP classes may be taken back-to-back.

The thinking behind the decision seems to be that the CCNA ensures an IT professional has basic, entry-level knowledge of Cisco systems. Its curriculum highlights installation procedure, core security practices, troubleshooting, and network monitoring. It also gets into the basics of network security, such as data confidentiality. The CCSP certification represents a more advanced stage in an IT professional's career. It is supposed to demonstrate advanced knowledge, including network threat mitigation and infrastructure protection. Further, the CCSP certification emphasizes Cisco Router IOS (ISR) and Catalyst Switch security features, Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), secure VPN connectivity, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Cisco Security Agent (CSA), Security Enterprise and Device Management, and Network Admission Control (NAC).

The iPhone and Verizon: Rachel and Ross or Juliet and Romeo?

A pretty funny post from the Faster Times makes a startlingly apt analogy: The iPhone is the Rachel to Verizon's Ross. If you've never seen Friends (has it really been 16 years since the show debuted?!), Rachel and Ross were the perfect-for-each-other but always-missing-each-other couple that created a lot of the show's romantic tension during its ten year run. The analogy, while silly, holds up.

The iPhone is the 2,000 pound gorilla of smart phones (and phones, in general): Hate it or love it, you have to admit that its fast, steady adoption rate shows people are attracted to it. Whether it's the App Store, the phone's slick user interface, or the coolness factor, people are seduced by Apple's penultimate gewgaw. So why shouldn't the most popular phone be on the most popular network? You'd think it's a marriage made in heaven.

Brown, author of the article, posits that AT&T has simply continued to outbid Verizon. As (Fake) Steve Jobs himself points out, AT&T is certainly not spending its increasing profits on growing its network. Rather, while the company has been (since 12/2007) enjoying evenly increasing revenues since becoming the sole carrier of the iPhone, capital expenditures have remained stagnant. Operating income has remained level, as well. All this extra revenue is going somewhere--either into executives' pockets or into paying Apple back for the providing it an exclusive relationship with its iPhone (and now its iPad, as well). This relationship built around monetary kickbacks and exclusivity seems to contradict Brown's prediction that the iPhone will eventually hook up with Verizon. If Apple continues to receive the lion's share of AT&T's profits, then the increased sales it would see on the Verizon network may be rendered moot. After all, Apple has shown that its modern incarnation is pretty darn savvy. The iPhone and Verizon could be less Rachel and Ross and more Juliet and Romeo--seemingly destined for each other, but star crossed lovers all the same.

Don't forget about VoIP!

I know we're all waiting breathlessly (you can breath! remember to breath!) for the Apple iPad/iTab/table computer announcement, but we thought it would be good to remember that a lot of the tech we take for granted is still looking for mass adoption and refinement. Chief among them is VoIP telephony. Danie Crowther, a partner at consulting firm Deloitte, sees mobile VoIP as a big gainer in 2010.

“The rising adoption of mobile VOIP services could cause a fundamental rise in expectations as to what mobile voice can do.”

Google Voice has been kind of backended onto the iPhone, and Android (in Nexus One and Droid flavors) seems poised to keep mobile telephone technology in the forefront of people's minds. According to Crowther, mobile VoIP could be a $30 billion global business within three years. I'm willing to bet that's a lot more money than the Apple iTable is going earn. It's just something to keep in mind: Our core technologies--email, voice, Internet--may be delivered via ever and more impressive technologies, but they're still the star of the show. VoIP isn't as sexy as it used to be, but it's still a growing technology.

Cisco Networkers Live 2010

If you're looking to sharpen your Cisco training, network with leading IT professionals, and learn a heck of a lot, then you should check out Cisco Networkers 2010. The event is being held in Barcelona! You can check out some registration information here.

The Cisco Keynote will be delivered by Marthin De Beer, Senior Vice President, Emerging Technologies Group. Marthin was one of the main creative minds behind development of technologies such as Cisco TelePresence, TelePresence Exchange Services, Digital Media Systems, Media Processing, Video Surveillance Systems, and Converged Building Systems.

There will also be a Guest Keynote from Professor Bruce Thomas. Thomas is the Director of the Wearable Computer Laboratory at the University of South Australia. His talk will focus on augmented reality technology, including head-mounted displays and virtual retina displays.

It's probably a long trek for most readers, but if you're company has a fresh training budget, you might want to get away to Barcelona from 25 January to 28 January and enjoy a change of scene and some great Cisco training.

The Changing Face of Cisco Training

Companies looking to cut costs and increase efficiency are turning toward software virtualization in order to cut down on hardware and increase their versatility. For the IT professionals that work on virtual machines, this development has been a turn of good fortune. Businesses are hiring aggressively for IT professionals with virtualization expertise, as this CNN Money article points out.

As businesses continue to hire virtualization specialists, network certifications are also popping up. Both VMware, a world-leading virtualization company, and Cisco are offering new certification courses. A senior manager at Learning@Cisco, Marcello Hunter, has said that

"Network virtualization is a key component of next-generation datacenters, and it is clear that virtualization skills are essential to ease the adoption of these networking technologies and maximize the return on enterprise investments. We now incorporate VCP training into two of our Cisco Data Center Unified Computing certification programs. Teaming with top organizations in virtualization like VMware to develop authorized training, education and career certifications underscores our commitment to providing organizations and individuals with the technical knowledge and expertise needed to capitalize on the evolution of networking technology."

The certifications available from VMware, VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX), are growing in popularity throughout the IT industry. They are designed for system administrators, system operators, systems engineers, consultants, architects, and enterprise designers. IT professionals with a VMware certification are thought to earn from 15% to 19% more than non-certified IT professionals. Presently, there are approximately 40,000 VCP-certified IT professionals. The rest of the article has lots more interesting information. If you’re interested in virtualization and Cisco IT training, you should check it out!

Cisco Training Resource

Here's a great article about Cisco training and certification courses. It offers some sound advice, such as beginning with the CCNA and gaining some experience before going after the CCNP. They also advice not using an online-only training course due to the sometimes unpredictable nature of Internet access. The article also goes into why you would even want to participate in a Cisco training course, which is always a good question:

A lot of trainees presume that the school and FE college route is still the most effective. So why then are commercial certificates becoming more in demand? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs climbing ever higher, together with the IT sector's general opinion that vendor-based training is closer to the mark commercially, there has been a large rise in Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe certified training programmes that educate students at a much reduced cost in terms of money and time. Academic courses, as a example, clog up the training with a lot of background study - and much too wide a syllabus. This prevents a student from getting enough core and in-depth understanding on a specific area.

If you're thinking of getting Cisco certified, keep in mind that you can always visit Cisco's own Support Community Forum.

For The Set of All People Who Enjoy Tattoos and Cisco

Look at this ardent Cisco fan's tattoo! (via Geekologie)

Cisco To Add Two New Certifications Soon?

There is a recent story about Cisco waffling over completing an acquisition that will have an impact on the existing state of Cisco training and certification. Cisco is unsure whether it wants to complete a deal to acquire Tandberg, a leading video conferencing technology supplier. Tandberg has over 40% of the global teleconferencing market. Cisco wants to complete the deal only if it can secure 90% acceptance from the Tandberg shareholders for the deal.

If Cisco does complete the acquisition, it would bolster significantly its collaboration technologies offerings. Additionally, two new certifications would be added to validate the skills that IT professionals need to implement and support Cisco TelePresence deployments.

Cushing Anderson, the program vice president of IT Education and Certification for IDC, a Cisco certification and training company, is quoted in the story as saying,

Market-focused education and certification programs for new job roles such as video, voice and telepresence specialists are essential to assure the return on enterprise investments in these new technologies is fully maximized.”

Sri Lanka's IT Industry Needs Training, Growth

Sri Lanka is experiencing some growing pains in its burgeoning IT industry. Since 1962 when the country passed a special act inviting IBM to establish a local branch to increase its data processing power in its government-run Insurance Corporation. Since then, many leading government companies have widely adopted IBM IT solutions, including Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the Department of Census and Statistics, and the Department of Examinations.

There have been some problems, however, that accompany fast growth. There are questions surrounding whether the IT tools have been used well for management, whether they fit into a robust Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) strategy, and whether they are being well implemented by well-trained IT professionals. This last concern has trumped many, since without properly-trained IT staff, expanding computing and networking power lays fallow.

The Sri Lankans liken themselves to the Indians, who also entered late into the IT field. India has become a center of business process outsourcing, including call-center operations and computer support networks. Sri Lankans are aware of a need to expand its IT operations in order to keep pace in the global economy. The Daily News proposes a few steps to stay in the game.

• IT education and training institutions must understand the country’s needs and develop professionals to meet market challenges.
• Our institutions must formulate prudent IT visions follow-up with IT strategies of practical nature.
• The commitment of senior management and the involvement of operational staff are essential in IT investments.
• IT investment should not be merely a profitable business for the vendor, but also, it should give the required competitive edge to the user’s business.
• Integrated software connecting different databases/ a centralized database of government institutions will improve the efficiency of public sector decisions.

Clearly, IT training and technological development needs to continue for Sri Lanka to stay competitive. It is important to maintain an emphasis on IT training and infrastructure development with an eye toward improving the country as a whole and not simply as a for-profit enterprise.

Cisco Rolls Out New Cisco Training Program To Help With Unemployment

Cisco has started a pilot program to train for free out-of-work individuals interested in working in the IT field. The program is currently centered in Vallejo, CA. These Cisco training classes are an attempt to lure government investment in the idea in the hopes of scaling it up. On the free market, such Cisco training classes can cost up to $3,000.

Company spokesman David Everette has said, “We could train up to 50,000 people,” and that Cisco simply wants to demonstrate that such training can be done and is effective. Cisco hopes to roll out the program nation-wide by next year.

Vallejo County has an astonishing 11.5% jobless rate. Cisco hopes to impress California Congressman George Miller and gain money from the federal Workforce Investment Act. The Solano Employment Connection, which is a jobsearch and employment resource center, is hosting the classes. Prospects look good on paper for the program. Given a $3,000 cost for the classes, students can better hope to gain employment in the IT field, where average salaries are about $65,000 annually. The program has so far been hugely popular with a second session boasting thirty-seven people on a waiting list.

Hopefully, this pilot program can gain national attention and funding, thereby increasing the number of qualified IT professionals, who are needed in a variety of industries and employment sectors.

Coffee and RFID?

I've heard that coffee and cigarettes go well together, but I've never heard of anyone making a film about coffee and RFID. But an ingenious inventor has found a way to make the pairing nearly as sublime. Chris Hallberg has created an insulated travel coffee mug that houses an RFID tag. The RFID tag allows would-be coffee purchasers simply to wave the cup to pay for that morning cup of joe.

Hallberg’s invention is called the Smug Mug, and it being tested in limited trial by the London Underground and some other coffee shop chains. There are hopes for the Smug Mug to find use by next year in Milwaukee at the coffee chain Stone Creek Coffee, as well. The suggested retail price for the Smug Mug is $15, and that includes a $5 credit for use in the store at which it is purchased.

This seems like a brilliant idea. It promotes re-using your coffee mug, which is good for the environment. And it precludes the need to dig bleary-eyed through your pockets, purse, or wallet to pay for that morning wake-me-up.

Mind-Blowing RFID Video

Check out this video from Timo Arnall of the Touch project and Jack Schulze of BERG. It depicts a technique they've devised to show the functional range of an RFID reader. It is very cool.

Immaterials: the ghost in the field from timo on Vimeo.