BYOD – Two Ears One Mouth IT Consulting

5G or not 5G- What, When and How it Affects IT and Cloud

February 13, 2019 by Jim Conwell, posted in Business Practices, BYOD, Cloud and IT Consultants, Cloud Computing, data center, disaster recovery, Edge Computing, IOT

Before entering the cloud and IT business I spent more than a decade working with wireless technologies for business. During this time, I saw the advent of data to cell phones and the transitions of the generations of data offerings that have been delivered. Generation 2 (G2) brought very rudimentary data to cell phones such as text messaging. G3 brought the internet and its many applications such as mobile email. G4 brought us the high-speed internet we use today offering instant access to applications such as real time video. With each transition of the technology, corporate marketing and spin became more extraordinary creating more time between the introduction and the practical delivery of the new product. Now comes 5G and I expect this trend to continue. Although we hear of the current availability of 5G from wireless carriers the products are not fully developed for practical use and are likely years away for business applications.

What is 5G and who will provide it?

The latest technology of 5G wireless data will be provided to us by the same carriers that delivered wireless service in the past, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Although the primary standards for 5G have been set there is still much to be developed in the technology and will likely be introduced as different versions. This will be similar to 4G when it was first launched with its distinct alternatives of WiMAX and LTE. 5G has already been split into different delivery types, 5G, 5GE, and 5 GHz. Verizon’s first introduction to 5G is designed for the home and small office while AT&T is focused on mobile devices in very limited markets. Most believe there will be fixed wireless versions for point to point circuits for business. At this point, it isn’t clear what versions each provider will offer in 5G as it matures and becomes universally delivered.

The technology of 5G

Similar to all previous generations in the evolution of wireless data 5G offers greater speeds as its primary driver for acceptance. What may slow widespread deployment of 5G is the fact that 4G technology continues to improve and provide greater speeds for users. However, the wireless spectrum available to 4G providers is running short so the transition to 5G is imminent. Most of the 5G technology will be provided on an alternate wireless spectrum, above 6 GHz, and not provided to wireless consumers previously. This new swath of spectrum will offer much greater capacity and speed but won’t come without its own challenges. To achieve these higher speeds the carriers will need to use much higher frequency transmissions called millimeter waves. Millimeter waves cannot penetrate buildings, weather, and trees as well as the previous frequencies. To overcome this wireless carriers will need to implement additional, smaller cell sites called microcells. Many wireless carriers have already implemented microcells complementing the macrocells used in previous offerings of wireless service. Building out additional data network and cell sites such as microcells is expensive and time-consuming. This will add to the delay of a fully implemented 5G offering from the carriers.

Business advantages of 5G

To say that one of the advantages of 5G are greater data speeds would be true, but there is much more to it for business applications. The following are the primary advantages, related to speed, that 5G will provide for businesses for cloud computing.

Lower latency – Wireless 5G networks will decrease latency, the time it takes data packets to be stored and retrieved, greatly. This will benefit many business applications such as voice, video and artificial intelligence (AI)
Multiple connections- The base stations, or cell sites of 5G, will handle many more simultaneous connections than 4G. This will increase speed for users and capacity for providers.
Full duplex transmission- 5G networks can transmit and receive data simultaneously. This full duplex transmission increases the speed and reliability of wireless connectivity enabling new applications and enhancing exiting ones.

Cloud and business solutions enhanced by 5G

It is difficult to say exactly how businesses will benefit from 5G service since it is still being developed. However, the advantages listed above lend themselves to several applications which are sure to be enhanced for business.

The increased speeds and decreased latency 5G offers will expand options and availability for disaster recovery (DR) and data network backups for businesses. When speeds previously only offered to business via wireline can be delivered without wires business continuity will be increased. Many businesses outages today are caused by accidental cable cuts and power outages that wireless 5G will eliminate. It is also possible wireless point to point circuits could replace traditionally wired circuits for the business’s primary data and internet service.

The technology and increasing number of the internet of things (IOT) applications will be enhanced by 5G. The increased speed and connectivity capacity will allow this ubiquitous technology to continue to grow. Similarly, the trend for more and faster edge computing connectivity will benefit. This will enhance applications such as autonomous vehicles that require instant connectivity to networks and other vehicles. Content delivery networks like the ones used for delivery of Netflix will be able to deliver their products faster and more reliably. These are just a few examples of the technologies today that are demanding 5G’s advantages and will expedite its availability.

While the technology to deliver 5G is mostly completed, the timing of widespread implementation for business is still unclear. This is attributed in part to the improvement of 4G speeds in its ability to satisfy today’s consumer’s needs. More importantly, new technologies are not accepted in the marketplace because the technology is ready but rather because the business applications demand them. 5G technologies will be driven by many business applications but widespread acceptance won’t occur for at least another two years. If you want to consult with a partner that has expertise in all aspects of telecom, wireless and cloud technologies, give us a call and we will be glad to find the right solution for your business.

Contact @ Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131 jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net

www.twoearsonemouth.net

we listen first…

Should We Eliminate or Embrace Shadow IT?

March 19, 2018 by Jim Conwell, posted in BYOD, Cloud Computing, IOT, IT Regulation, IT Security

With cloud computing’s acceptance in business coupled with the ease of entry and setup with public cloud offerings, the terminology of Shadow IT has reemerged. Wikipedia defines Shadow IT as “a term often used to describe information-technology systems and solutions built and used inside organizations without explicit organizational approval”.

If the cloud initiated this reemergence, the Internet of Things (IOT) and the Bring Your Own Devise (BYOD) phenomenon’s have exacerbated it. When employees started bringing their mobile phones and tablets to the office they began integrating applications they used in their personal life to business. Likewise, Machine Learning (ML) applications have influenced corporate IT and its guidelines throughout the enterprise. Opponents say Shadow IT challenges the IT governance within the organization. What may appear to be a disadvantage to the IT department may be advantageous to the company. To follow are some of the advantages and disadvantages of shadow IT.

Advantages

Increased agility – departments within an organization can create their own IT resources without depending on the lag time and processes of the IT department.
Empowering employees – employees will be more productive when they feel they have the power to make decisions, including IT selections, on their own.
Increased creativity – putting the process of creating IT resources in the hands of the user often creates a better product and experience for that user.

Disadvantages

Security – Employees outside the IT department rarely consider security when implementing IT services.
Cost- When IT resources can be implemented at the employee level, as opposed to being purchased centrally, there will be wasted resources.
IT governance and compliance –Outside of the IT department, purchasers will not consider the regulatory concerns and governance. Processes and rules for IT need to be in place regardless if the resources are centrally implemented.

IT departments are not wrong to have contempt for the concept of Shadow IT. However, we believe they can learn to work with aspects of it. If a business can communicate across all departments and overcome the disadvantages listed above, we believe Shadow IT can be a win/win for the entire enterprise.

If you need assistance designing your evolution to the cloud or data center

please contact us at Jim Conwell (513) 227-4131 jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth.net www.twoearsonemouth.net

Wireless Account Optimization

March 7, 2018 by Jim Conwell, posted in BYOD, IOT

Where IT Departments Look to Save Money

There are tasks in which large enterprises can engage that can have a huge financial impact on their communications cost. Few are as financially rewarding, yet incredibly mundane, as Wireless Account Optimization (WAO). This is a prime example of a service that is better for the enterprise to outsource. First, it is time consuming and tedious, typically the business would not want their people on this type of project. Secondly, it is a service that the WAO provider will have a much better toolset and expertise to handle. To optimize a large wireless corporate account properly you need to be aware of all the available plans offered by the wireless vendor such as Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. Available plans would include not only current plans but also legacy plans that even your vendors account representative wouldn’t recognize. These legacy billing plans may have been abandoned by the carrier years ago for various reasons such as technology or pricing changes. Seldom do wireless carriers remove these legacy plans from their billing platform, they are just “retired” and assumed unavailable. A WAO consultant will be aware of these plans and have them included in their automated account optimization system. This provides financial benefits well beyond what can be obtained with an analysis from the internal staff of the company.

The primary benefits of a WAO partner are:

Optimization – cost savings from a rate plan analysis.

Procurement – includes ordering all new devices and upgrades from existing wireless carrier(s).

Inventory Documentation – Includes all device information (i.e. phone, model, ESN, IMEI, current rate plan, daily usage data, contract expiration and upgrade eligibility dates)

3 Things to Look for in a WAO Partner:

Near real-time optimization technology – up to the minute monitoring of plans optimized prior to the billing cycle. No surprise overages with at least a 30% savings over current billing.
Friendly and easy to use helpdesk and customer web portal.
100% ROI pricing model – performance based fee with no up-front cost.

If you’re looking for this type of service and have over 100 corporate liable wireless lines, we can help you with selecting the right partner.

Please contact us at (513) 227-4131 or jim.conwell@twoearsonemouth,net.