In our lives it’s always easy to learn actions to realize a favorable outcome. In our daily work as we gain experience we know that given a certain situation a resolution to the problem is as simple as doing this or doing that. It’s worked before. Maybe you understand why the problem occurred and why your action resolved the problem. Can anything be done to fix the problem so that it never occurs again?

When we think in these terms we are generally thinking about our interactions with a product. It’s good to know about products and to understand how components do what they do and fulfill their responsibilities in the network. There is an interesting change taking place in our networks. Major components are being replaced by smaller, more compact units. So what’s going on here? This is a change from hardware dominated devices to software dominated devices. Specialized circuits are being replaced by software oriented subsystems. What used to be a circuit board is now a chip. And actions that we used to see are now visualized by the competent engineer or tech.

Now more than ever before a complete understanding of the concepts and functions, processes and options now require a thorough knowledge of the network and the interactions of numerous software applications vying for bandwidth, processor power, and memory in a simultaneous attempt to support your network services.

Hardware devices are becoming commodity items with the functions provided by software. You don’t need to understand the code but you do need to understand protocols and software applications and in this network experience is built on a more thorough understanding of why things are what they are. Without this there is no hope of cleaning up a problem.

I’ve had lots of contact lately with companies who have partnerships with the large legacy switch vendors. The digital switch is the network component that defines the services and features for their subscriber base. Over the years function and reliability describe the operation of these products. There are however other phrases also associated with these products, expensive support, expensive replacement packs and expensive training.

Most of these digital switches almost 20 years old. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when these switches were purchased the telecom industry was a much different place than it is now. Most companies had little to no competition in terms of market share and price. Deals made at the time were based on sound financial analysis of metrics that held true in the past.

Over the years the market has changed dramatically. Competition from the likes of Vonage, other telecom companies and wireless have put price pressure on everyone. Add to this the prospect of companies losing the baby boomer work force and it is clear that companies are under a great deal of pressure.

Despite theses changes the large legacy companies continue to operate in the “old” economy. “A deal is a deal”, they say. But their customers feel like they are being ripped off. What can the legacy suppliers do? They should be evaluating new approaches to solve problems and communicating ideas and suggestions to help their customers. Instead they offer nothing but more of the same, expensive service contracts, expensive replacement packs and expensive instructor led training courses.

Customers feel like they are being squeezed by partners who just don’t get it. Makes you look forward to signing up for another 15 years, doesn’t it?

Progress in the telecom industry is slow. In the Past,  competition usually occurred one at a time and we had time to respond. Of course those were the days. The internet revolution changed everything. Our business models have turned upside down and the way we do business has changed dramatically. In this environment, you hold onto old ways at your peril. You need to review your assumptions and take a step back to examine your processes and available options. And you need to ask yourself this question; Am I advancing the cause or fighting a holding action? Are you waiting for the calvary to come over the hill? Better be weary, it just may be a whole new round of competition.

I was talking to a person in a large telecom company yesterday about their plans to migrate their network to support IP services. I asked a couple questions about the technical nature of their strategy and it soon became apparent that this person, who was pretty high on the management chain, did not understand some of the basic issues. In conversation of non-technical issues he said all the right things but you wonder is this done from memory, having heard someone else answer a similar question? Years ago,  people could escape scrutiny by simply saying that they were not technical. Well, those days are gone. Everyone in the industry should understand the basic concepts and functions and be able to talk intelligently about the issues. Years ago technical information was limited to those whose specific job was involved with network operations. Now,  this information is available to all and can be delivered in a variety of ways. It’s very simple. If you don’t know what you should know then learn it.

I was listening to a debate the other day and they were talking about taxes. I had been reading some information about NAFTA and it occurred to me that the two things were connected. The proposal to keep the tax cuts is to keep money in the hands of wealthier individuals to encourage investment in capacity to existing companies and the formation of new companies. The argument to roll back tax cuts is to make investments in our education system.

To me this is a fundamental difference in the way we approach our economy. Do we favor having someone else developing industries and jobs or do we favor empowering the individual to make their own decisions by educating them to identify and react to opportunities.

Can this be that easy? If you give me a fish I’ll eat today. If you teach me how to fish I’ll eat tomorrow.

As I said this is a fundamental issue. It’s about training and re-training the work force. From my vantage point, there is no way we can out-work the Pac Rim countries. But we do have the capital resources and institutional expertise to re-develop the world class work force.

Let’s get on with it.

I had a discussion the other day about the affects of Vonage on the business model of telecom service providers. Some companies are losing upwards of 80,000 lines per month to IP Telecom service providers and many of these are to Vonage. The discussion around the table seemed to focus on whether the Vonage business model is going to stand and as to whether Vonage will be around a year or two from now. From my perspective whether or not Voanage is around is a mute point. The fact of the matter is that companies are losing customers and the possibility of the customers returning to their former service providers and actually paying for services as they did prior to Vonage is slim to none. The market has defined an opportunity and if Vonage doesn’t make it work someone else will pick up the pieces and develop a strong business. You can count on that. In business one thing is for sure, the market reacts - Whatever happens the market reacts.

With the new year upon us, it’s the time for us to look at what we have to do in the coming year and get it done with the projected resources. Think about how things were done in the past. Can you accomplish what needs to be done, with the resources you have, in the coming year?

Let me mention a term from the past that even makes me cringe…re-engineering. The idea was to think about what we’re doing and rethink it in terms of what we want to accomplish use new tools and processes to be more efficient and relevant. What a mess that was! But the concept was good, just about 12 years ahead of it’s time.

Typical training budgets involve the number of people to be trained times the number of courses at a specific price. Not much to that. The question is do you really get what you want? Things are changing so rapidly and the competition being what it is, it’s difficult to bite the bullet and do the training. It’s time to think about a new approach to get what we want; a trained and well informed workforce.

We think it’s a better approach to consider how this will be accomplished in the near future. We think courses are a great way to bring someone up to speed quickly on a subject, say for new employees, but thereafter does it make sense? Technology jobs require constant learning. Companies need to provide employees with a learning environment where resources are available to educate, update and inform on a wide variety of subjects at the desired level for access on a daily basis. It should be an expected part of the job to access information and understand what you need to know to get the job done.

In this new economy it’s people that distinguish one company from another. As the Gatorade commercial on TV says, “Do you have what it takes to pay the toll?”

 I’ve always been amazed at the lengths technology companies have gone to in order to build systems to support their products. Years ago, I started my career in telecom switching by reading circuit descriptions and schematic diagrams about step and 5 crossbar switches. Trouble recorders would print out a card with holes punched at various locations and the tech had to interpret the progress of the call to the point of failure which was your clue to fix the trouble. And by the way, to show you how things have changed, my boss expected me to read this stuff on my own time and not while I was supposed to be “working”.

With the advent of 1A and digital switches things got easier with detailed printouts and diagnostic routines to help test and solve the trouble. You would isolate to a pack and change the pack.When you think about it, there is a huge difference between this environment and the new IP environment we are entering. On the telecom network the tech was more hardware oriented. You isolated a component and changed the component. If it was software oriented it was a provisioning problem; this or that information was incorrect, or not provided, causing trouble. In the IP network this all changes. As companies roll out IP network components, many of the hardware devices are pretty basic. A server is a server, a router is a router. The detail and value of the component is in the software. Almost 95% of the new services will be defined in software. Most of the new troubles will be in the service implementation and interactions with other software defined services, options and functions. Changing the router or server will not fix the trouble. What does that mean? It means that the new techs have to understand software architectures, database structures, file systems and such things as rpc’s, enterprise java beans and rails. Service oriented archtectures define network capabilities and provide the platform on which new services are supported. 

The question is , “Do these new job requirements match what it takes to support the current network?” In my opinion, there is not a match. To be sure, you still need to have good logic skills, but that’s just a start. The new tech has to be intellectually aggressive. Someone who can understand complex structures and drill down to understand a particular issue and relate it to the overall system. The new tech needs to know more than, ‘if you do this then that will happen’. They need to have a solid understanding of the fundamental concepts and functions. The new tech needs to also know, ‘when you do this and that happens’; why does it happen? It keeps getting easier doesn’t it? It used to be a 5E switch with lots of great products from Nortel, Cognitronics and others set the tone for who you were as a company. In a more software oriented industry,  your people are the number one asset. Those companies with smart, motivated and well-trained people will do well. How do you know if your company will make the grade? You’ll find out real quick. This is more than a technology change, this is a cultural change as well.

There is a difference between learning something and understanding something. When we learn something we comprehend the relationship between one fact and the other or one action which corresponds to a certain response. In the telecom industry, everyone understands the predicament of the telecom service provider. The world is moving from the traditional telecom network to an IP network which supports telecom functions but also much more. For many, this is a learned response. The telecom market is hot because telecom companies want to purchase IP products to migrate their network to the all services IP network. So what’s their to understand?To understand you need to comprehend the root causes for this technology and cultural shift in the telecom industry. An understanding will enable your company to do business in this new environment and leverage new opportunities to ease the burden on your company and clients. A case in point has to do with product support and technical training for your staff. In years past, telecom standards were issued every 4 years as in the ITU red books and blue books. Product training for clients and staff was instructor led where the students traveled to the training which usually lasted 1 to 2 weeks. These days standards are published when they are complete and in-fact most companies are developing new processes into their products using draft standards. In this business time to market is everything.So if you are an equipment manufacturer how do you keep up with your training? Are you still developing instructor led courses where your customer is required to travel to your site for classes?If you are a telecom operator, does your supplier require you to send staff to their location? Even if your supplier delivers on-site training, how hard is it to be without key people for a week or two? There has to be a better way…and there is.If you understand the rationale for IP networks and understand the capabilities of the Internet, then you can see where this is all heading. Just as the business plan for telecom services has changed, so to has the business of training customers and staff.Why is this important? Because the economics are so compelling.Quality online training can educate, update and inform your customers and staff with the latest information, while they are on the job. No travel, no need to backfill those away at training, it’s quicker and yes it is much less expensive. A good online training session can deliver the content of a one-week instructor led course in 12 to 14 hours. And here’s the best part. Online training courses can save you 70% of what you are used to spending. As mentioned earlier, technology is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Course developers will struggle to keep content current. How can product companies possibly provide all those road warrior instructors to deliver the message and how can the telecom operator pay for all of this training?Understanding the issues and opportunities and the rationale for the transition to an Internet model of service delivery will enable you to plot your course wisely. I like to think of technology like an airplane. Something new is on it’s way to you. You can be first on the plane and jump into the pilot’s seat, in which case you can decide where to fly the plane or you can wait for others to determine where you are going. But one thing is for sure. We are all going to the same destination. And the more you understand, the easier the journey will be.

According to industry analysts, switching and routing spending is up and should continue to exhibit strong growth for the next several years. Of course, much of this has to do with telecom migrating from TDM based networks to IP networks. As changes are made to the network infrastructure to support data, new services will be defined which will eventually include the core infrastructure for voice services as well.

The other area of continued growth is the build-out of the access network. Broadband services shift the emphasis from high speed data access to increased bandwidth required to support IPTV and other multimedia content.

This growth is expected to last for the next few years. Then what?
With the hardware infrastructure in place, the activity will shift from hardware to software. New features and services are created, and implemented on existing hardware platforms with a minimum of network reconfiguration.

The equipment companies will shift their focus to become more services oriented. This is where the technical diligence spent on product selection pays off. A huge item in product selection is your comfort level with your system vendors. Assess their engineering expertise and their ability to support their product. Are they available? Are they up to date with the latest innovations. Do they listen to your thoughts on the road ahead. Do they provide insightful input to your plans? These are issues we should be examining now and setting the standard for support expectations.

Technology will not slow down but rather continue to change rapidly. Are your equipment suppliers geared up to provide support and training in this rapidly changing environment? It will be difficult to develop relevant training to keep pace. What are their plans to deliver the training to where it’s needed? I hope it’s not an instructor. They don’t have enough people and you don’t have enough time (or money).