Michael Gilfix Online

Incorporating Web 2.0 principles into application and service design is all the rage these days. A lot of people are still trying to wrap their head around what the whole Web 2.0 movement means. The short version is that Web 2.0 refers to a collection of technologies, architectural principles, and business principles. Some of the hottest items on the technology side seem to be Asynchronous Javascript (AJAX) based interfaces, Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture, Wiki's, blogs, and syndication. On the business side, the notion of combining existing assets in novel ways through Mashups, user driven content, and new models of product development. Still this hodgepodge that is Web 2.0 means many things to different people.

While online startups have adopted this model with great success, traditional businesses are still looking at defining and implementing their Web 2.0 strategy. Things just move a bit slower. The telecom service providers seem to be aggressively joining the fray. The problem is that amidst the shmorgasboard of things that are Web 2.0, it's difficult to find a simple, succinct explanation for what problems Web 2.0 really tries to solve that go beyond just the technology and just user driven content.

Fixed (to) Mobile Convergence (FMC) solution is a hot strategic item in today's telecommunications industry. Fixed Mobile Convergence refers to providing uninterrupted, continuous service while users switch between mobile and fixed line infrastructure access. The ability to offers converged fixed/mobile services is the key to conquering the increasing proliferation of 802.11 enabled mobile devices, hunger for high-bandwidth applications, ever-continuous demand of consumers for fair and efficient pricing, availability of communication services over plain old IP, etc. Basically, it's about enabling service delivery irrespective of location, access capability, and end device.

From a business perspective for the service provider, it's about keeping control of a customer's entire communication experience. The longer the service provider maintains control over that experience, the more revenue opportunity. While this may sound a bit alarming for the customer at first, the customer also stands to gain in terms of convenience through seamless service and more flexible pricing (typically, based on the economics of the access technology). Here are some observations along those lines:

• Emergence of 802.11 enabled devices: 802.11 is really only the tip of the iceberg, since WiMax and other larger area wireless technologies are on their way. This puts pressure on mobile operators and traditional fixed line providers, who now could be bypassed through pure data channels.
  

In the past few years, there has been a booming interest in appliances as a strategic delivery vehicle for software products. Appliances offer a shrink wrapped, single purposed blend of software and hardware that can be quickly deployed and configured. This offers customers simplicity; appliances reduce the installation overhead and cost associated with general purpose software stacks. The single purposed nature of the appliance also leads to better performance and simpler management. The hardware and software platform can be tuned to the meet the needs of the appliance application domain, with potential for deep integration (Linux has become very popular as a platform such integration). Management also tends to be simpler for a few reasons: the functions of the appliance are well scoped. Customer expectations are either that they drop down the box, configure it, and never think about it again, or that there will be so many appliances as to necessitate proper management infrastructure.

A strong attraction of the appliance model as a delivery vehicle is customer perception around the pricing of appliances. Bulk software sales are often deeply discounted in order to meet price points and the continuing maturation of the software industry has raised fears of shrinking profit margins. Add in the necessity for lower margin professional services to supplement the knowledge and skill required to extend/build/deploy/etc. and the problem is exacerbated. The appeal of the appliance model is predictability: customers know exactly what they're getting and the price valuation tends to reflect that. In addition, the cost of deployment is greatly reduced as there's no need to customize/re-purpose the generalized software stack to meet specific customer needs.