Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Intel has this poll on their Solution Provider website.

It addresses a serious dialog which is complacency (I realize I just lost 99% of those reading this). The truth is decision makers identify needs and roll the project down the corporate ladder. The fortunate one that receives the project calls their vendor who scrolls through their product list and finds the most suitable product or service and provides the pricing.

What if there is something better? How would you know?

(The 1 % remaining) Now you're saying to yourself but I use the best manufacturer in the world so they are going to have exactly what I need. Are they?

LKC was built with this exact concept in mind, we utilize the best companies and we aide the process of selecting the right product or service that meets your needs and your company doesn't pay for our assistance, the vendors do. We do not wholesale, markup or otherwise influence additional costs. Once we have assisted with the selection process you buy directly through the OEM or service provider .

So, when was the last time you evaluated your vendors.


When was the last time you evaluated your vendors and adjusted your list of partners?
15 survey takers responded to this question
Six months ago, and we dropped several and gained others
6.67%
6.67% [ 1 ]
Six months ago, but our changes were rather minor
20.00%
20.00% [ 3 ]
One year ago, and we dropped several and gained others
20.00%
20.00% [ 3 ]
One year ago, but our changes were rather minor
6.67%
6.67% [ 1 ]
More than a year ago
13.33%
13.33% [ 2 ]
You evaluate your partners?
33.33%
33.33% [ 5 ]

Verizon, Savvis lead Europe's managed hosting market, says Gartner

FierceTelecom

June 26, 2013 | By 

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Savvis, CenturyLink's (NYSE: CTL) data center and cloud subsidiary, have taken leadership spots in the European market, according to Gartner's Magic Quadrant report on managed hosting providers.

Leveraging its global network and the assets it purchased from Terremark in 2011, a move that created its colocation and cloud business, the service provider immediately established itself as a global managed hosting player.
Gartner Magic Quadrant Europe managed hosting
Magic Quadrant for European managed hosting providers, June 2013. (Source: Gartner)
Out of the 25 data centers it operates in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, Verizon Terremark offers colocation and managed hosting on dedicated servers and private or public cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).  

"Customer service for the historical Terremark base has improved significantly since Verizon acquired Terremark," wrote Gartner. "Verizon Terremark is able to use its network as a differentiator for use cases where network access is a heavily weighted criterion, or where end-to-end service management with SLAs is required."

Verizon Terremark is not without its weakness. The research firm said that the service provider should look at improving its SLAs and improving its sales prospects with domestic European-based companies.

"While Verizon Terremark is rewriting its SLA for high-availability managed hosting solutions, its current SLA for 99.5% availability places it below those of its market peers," wrote Gartner. "Verizon Terremark's sales focus is mainly on multinational enterprises with a European presence. Verizon Terremark does not market widely to domestic organizations in Europe."

Like Verizon, CenturyLink immediately enhanced its presence in the managed services market when it purchased Savvis in 2011. The service provider offers a line of managed hosting services and a suite of cloud services via a number of data centers located in key domestic U.S. markets, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Savvis has continued to expand its capabilities through its own in-house initiatives and through strategic acquisitions of other cloud services providers such as Ciber, a move that enhanced its application support capabilities for its growing client base.

"Through its acquisition of the IT outsourcing business Ciber in July 2012, Savvis gained a broader set of enterprise application support skills, and could start bringing new application-centric services to customers," wrote Gartner. "Savvis has consistently had one of the best end-user portals, which generally covers every product that Savvis offers to customers, including hosting, network, cloud and colocation."

For all of its strengths, a number of Gartner's clients said that the series of acquisitions it conducted over the past two years had an effect on the "focus and quality of support within the business."

Other new potential customers considering Savvis will have to also deal with the reality that the service provider's data center capabilities are limited to two markets.

"Savvis only has European data centers in the U.K. and Germany, so it is unable to offer more regional data sovereignty than other managed hosting providers," wrote Gartner.


How are you documenting your calls today?


Organizations in nearly every industry conducting all or part of their business by telephone are faced with a complex web of legal, industry and service-level compliance guidelines. LKC provides the most comprehensive solution for voice compliance, offering an extensive array of exclusive features and functionality to meet specific business needs and requirements.


Today, convergence is creating a presence network that empowers your clients and associates to connect whenever, wherever, and however. It goes beyond integrating voice into your data network. Convergence adds email and chat to your call center; allows for instant, real-time conferencing, and collaboration; and saves money by utilizing existing investments with new technology to deliver results faster than ever before. LKC designs, implements, and supports application-rich presence networks and contact centers as an Avaya Gold Connect and Avaya SME Expert for businesses of all sizes nationwide.

Because the network has become embedded in every step of the business process, protecting and preserving it is more important than ever. As a CompTIA Security Trustmark accredited business, LKC has the expertise to help organizations determine their risk mitigation posture for both Unified Threat Management and Backup and Recovery. LKC also offers off-site secure backup vaulting for clients who need network recovery redundancy as part of their business continuity plan.

In addition to Unified Communications, Network Infrastructure, Unified Threat Management, and Backup and Recovery, LKC delivers a full suite of Managed Services for organizations of all sizes. Our certified engineers will work with your team - or as your team - to resolve issues, monitor performance, and maximize uptime.


Monday, June 24, 2013

Google Fiber adds Lee's Summit, Mo. to its FTTP build out list

FierceTelecom
June 24, 2013 | By 


Google Fiber (Nasdaq: GOOG) has named Lee's Summit, Mo., as the next target community for its 1 Gbps fiber to the premises service after gaining city council approval.

Since launching the FTTP initiative in 2011, Google has laid out plans to bring service to a total of nine Kansas City-area communities.

Google Fiber, as usual, did not specify a timeline when it would announce service.

"As soon as we have more information about when fiber will come to Lee's Summit residents, we'll share it on this blog," said Rachel Hack, Google Fiber community manager.

In related news, Google Fiber said that it currently offers service in 16 "fiberhoods" throughout Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., and that it's closer to bringing service to an additional 11 "fiberhoods." Eligible customers in Kansas City have until July 25 to pick their fiber plan.

Google announced in May that it would bring 1 Gbps to Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah.

While Google Fiber continues to be criticized by traditional telcos and cable operators as an experiment, some analysts say that Google could have a deeper impact on the overall broadband market.

Ken Sena, an analyst with Evercore Partners, forecast that Google could sign up 3 million customers in the next seven years, adding that to reach 8 million homes would cost the Internet search giant about $7 billion.




21.6 million geeky Americans want Google Glass right now


Contributing writer-Silicon Valley Business Journal
Email



If you find yourself wishing you had gotten your hands on Google Glass when you had a chance, you’re not alone. Analysts at Forrester Research estimate 12 percent of the population—roughly 21.6 million Americans—would buy Google Glass if it were available in stores right now.
Who are these 21.6 million geeks? Forrester says on average, they are under the age of 50, have higher-than-average income and find themselves perpetually connected to their smartphones, relying on them for everything. Sounds like pretty much every person in Silicon Valley.
Sensor-laden, wearable computers are emerging as a big trend. Forrester estimates nearly a third of Americans would buy a wearable clipped to their clothing or attached to their wrist, such as the FitBit or Jawbone UP. Other popular form factors include devices clipped to shoes, embedded into clothing, jewelry, headphones and glasses.
The least popular wearable? A device tattooed onto your skin. Just 3 percent of the country’s hardest hardcore geeks would be up for getting a computer installed under their skin.
The report validated the idea that Americans are hungry for Web-connected smartwatches. Apple and Intel are two big names reportedly working on watches.
Wearables perpetually gather data in the background, allowing people to quantify their lives—tracking steps, calories, location, elevation, speed, heart rate and more. Sophisticated wearables like Google Glass or the rumored Apple smartwatch are capable of connecting to the Internet and displaying live information.
In related news, pro tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 28, will wear her pair of Google Glasses on the court at Wimbledon next week. She’s the first pro athlete to wear Glass during a game.
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AT&T seeks to patent self-destructing email

StaffAtlanta Business Chronicle

AT&T is seeking to patent self-destructing email.
A U.S. patent application by AT&T that was made public today notes that once you send an email, you can't control what's done with it: it can be forwarded, printed, saved or copied.
"Conventional e-mail systems may also be inappropriate for sending confidential or proprietary information because these systems do not allow the sender of an e-mail message to control the lifespan of the e-mail message," the patent application notes. "E-mail messages may, therefore, languish in a recipient's e-mail 'in-box' or on an e-mail server computer for months or even years. Some e-mail systems will allow an e-mail recipient to specify that messages should be deleted after a certain amount of time. However, these systems do not allow the sender to specify a time for destruction of the sent e-mail message. Therefore, an e-mail sender cannot be certain that a sent e-mail message containing time sensitive information will ever be deleted."
AT&T says its new technology can create self-destructing e-mail messages that allows a user to specify a time for the destruction of a sent e-mail message and that will destroy all instances of the e-mail message when the specified time arrives. It also can restrict the number and type of things that may be done to a sent e-mail message, thereby restricting the ability of a recipient to replicate it.
"The e-mail message will be destroyed by the e-mail client application whether or not the message has been read," the patent application says. "Alternatively, if the e-mail message specifies that it should be deleted after it has been read, the e-mail client application will destroy the e-mail message once it has been opened and closed by the recipient. All instances of the e-mail message are deleted from the recipient's computer."

Friday, June 21, 2013

Securing the Enterprise: Inside AT&T's Network Disaster Recovery Exercise

AT&T Mobile Workplace Know How Video Series - Service Components present...

Maimonides Medical Center Leads Healthcare IT Transformation

Machines Are Becoming More Connected and Getting Smarter

Verizon Cloud

Cisco IPS and Symantec SEP Proof of Concept Demonstration

Get Connected with Windstream Data, Voice, Network & Cloud Solutions

Steve Jobs explains the rules for success

212 degrees - The Extra Degree

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Cloud computing continues to drive IT growth, shapes industry


Paul Korzeniowski, Contributor



The IT industry is undergoing a paradigm shift -- with cloud computing easily being one of the main drivers. Industry analyst firm IDC has coined this shift as the "third platform," following on its previous two technology shifts. And while questions remain about whether this platform is anything new, enterprises that choose to ignore it might not properly evolve.
So, where did the third platform come from? IDC's "first platform" consisted of mainframes and terminals; the "second platform" included the client-server model supported mainly by PCs. As these computing platforms emerged, enterprises were forced to gradually replace their computing infrastructures to flow with the times.
"Mainframes were centralized systems," said Agatha Poon, research manager at 451 Research. With the client-server model, businesses decentralized IT purchases. "Now they are reining them back in with the move to cloud computing," Poon added.
The definition of the third platform is a bit broader than the previous two platforms, covering software as well as hardware developments. It is built on mobile computing, cloud computing services, social networking and big data analytics. From 2013 through 2020, these technologies will drive around 90% of all growth in the IT market, according to IDC.
Cloud computing plays a primary role in transforming enterprise IT's system design. Cloud software development will become increasingly important and will free up developers from tedious infrastructure procurements. This change reduces cycle times and provides programmers with more time for creative development, allowing them to build compelling new business models and improve end-user experiences.
Cloud's growing importance will cause seismic shifts. IDC expects the market will see an explosion in industry Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings in 2013 as the market moves up the software stack. But horizontal PaaS will become commoditized as more platforms will be built on open source infrastructures. In response, cloud services tailored to the needs of specific industries will emerge.

Consolidation also looms on the horizon.

In 2013, the merger and acquisition activity of the past 20 months will actually accelerate, according to IDC. In fact, the firm expects more than $25 billion in acquisitions over the next 20 months as cloud services become the centerpiece of more vendors' offerings. Packaged application providers, such as IBM, Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp., will develop Software as a Service offerings, forcing them to battle with SaaS pure plays, like Salesforce.com and Workday, for leadership in some of the major application software markets. Consequently, traditional market delimiters will blur.
So if a paradigm shift truly is occurring, it's important for enterprises to recognize and embrace it. Companies that are not putting the majority of their energy into keeping up with the changes in the new market will be trapped, and will grow even more slowly than the global GDP, concludes IDC.
Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer who specializes in cloud computing issues. He is based in Sudbury, Mass., and can be reached at paulkorzen@aol.com.

Monday, June 17, 2013

FierceTelecom

EarthLink bolsters IT services play with $22 million CenterBeam purchase


EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK) has signed an agreement to acquire CenterBeam for $22 million, a move that will enhance its growing base of IT solutions for its growing middle market business customer base.
After meeting customary closing conditions, EarthLink said that the deal, which is structured as an asset purchase, will close early in Q3 2013.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based CenterBeam has developed its business around providing managed IT services mainly to the multi-location mid-sized businesses. It also runs a 140-person IT Support Center where it provides help desk, desktop technical support and application support services.  

"CenterBeam's advanced set of products, tools and processes will enable us to quickly bring a robust set of remote managed IT Services and collaboration services to market," said Rolla P. Huff, EarthLink's chairman and CEO, in a release about the acquisition. "Additionally, CenterBeam's IT Support Center will provide expertise, scale and redundancy to our existing EarthLink TechCare remote help desk."
Upon completion of this acquisition, EarthLink said it will offer CenterBeam's 365+ Enterprise Cloud service, which provides a full suite of collaboration services, along with its nationwide Hosted Voice platform, through its existing distribution channels. In addition, EarthLink will integrate CenterBeam's service control portal with its myLink next generation control portal.

CenterBeam represents the ongoing trend in EarthLink's buying patterns. Over the past two years, it has bolstered its managed IT services portfolio with other purchases such as Business Vitals and Synergy Global Solutions.

Supporting its growing base of cloud and managed IT services, EarthLink has been expanding its fiber network and data center presence into new markets, including the recent completion of its new data center in San Jose. It has also completed data centers in Chicago, Dallas, Rochester and its Miami data center is going through the final system turn up and testing process.





FierceTelecom

CenturyLink slaps $1 Internet cost recovery fee on DSL users


CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) DSL subscribers are going to find a new $1 "Internet Cost Recovery Fee" fee on their bill beginning this month, according to Broadband DSL Reports.

Users in DSL Reports' CenturyLink forum said they just got word of the new fee this month. It comes after the telco announced last December that it would raise DSL rates by 10 percent beginning this January.

CenturyLink justified the fee as necessary to support the capital it takes to support service expansion and customer support.
"Internet cost recovery is a new monthly recurring charge which is applied to all consumer and business HSI lines in service," CenturyLink said about the new fee. "It helps cover the costs associated with building and maintaining the internet network."
Not surprisingly, forum users expressed frustration over the new fee being tacked onto their monthly bill.

One user said that "raising prices in itself doesn't bother me; what bothers me is when companies try to sneak in additional costs by calling it a fee so they don't have to increase the base price."

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Tier 1 incumbents AT&T, Verizon, others meet wireless backhaul demand

June 11, 2013 | By 


If the advent of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone is any indication, the proliferation of easy-to-use smart phones and tablet computers is driving a host of new bandwidth-hungry data and multimedia services. The rise in bandwidth-hungry traffic that users are accessing from their phones means that wireless operators require a higher speed wireless backhaul network.

In our new feature, AT&T, Verizon, others hone their wireless backhaul skills, we discuss how the demand for higher speed bandwidth backhaul is creating a new opportunities for Tier 1 wireline service providers to help their wireless customers migrate from legacy copper-based T1 facilities to fiber and Ethernet.

So just how big is the wireless backhaul opportunity? According to a study by iGR, the demand for U.S. wireless backhaul will grow at "a CAGR of nearly 58 percent between 2011 and 2016" while fiber-based backhaul will reach a compound annual growth rate of nearly 85 percent during this period.

For traditional ILECs--all of which have seen their traditional copper-based voice revenues plummet as consumers move to IP-based solutions or ditch their wireline phone for wireless--fiber-based backhaul has become a big wholesale revenue opportunity. To stay competitive in the wireless backhaul race, all four of the largest telcos--AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), and Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN)--continue to build fiber to cell towers within their wireline footprints.

At these fiber-based cell sites, service providers offer a set of Ethernet-based services that can more effectively scale to support higher speed data rates, particularly video, that users are accessing from their phones and tablets. However, some providers like Windstream also offer hybrid TDM/Ethernet and even TDM backup for traditional voice services.

The ILECs' fiber-based wireless backhaul opportunity comes with various challenges. For one, the replacement of legacy T1 circuits with fiber and Ethernet cuts into their quarterly revenues. The incumbents also face a growing threat from a number of competitive providers such as Level 3 (NYSE: LVLT), DukeNet and Zayo, which started from clean, all-fiber slates.

Regardless of the challenges they face, the reality is that the telcos had to build a FTTT business to not only support their own existing backhaul customer base while maintaining their competitive footing in the ever-evolving wholesale services space.--Sean


Google buys Waze in bid to improve mapping services


The acquisition, for which terms weren't disclosed, will leave Israel-based Waze operating separately for now.
Waze's mobile navigation app.
Waze's mobile navigation app.
(Credit: Waze)
Google has acquired Waze, the Israel-based company behind the mapping app Facebook was also reportedly vying for, according to blog posts from both Google and Waze .
The deal, for which terms weren't disclosed, follows months of speculation about who would land the startup. Reports in recent days said Google was close to a $1.3 billion deal and that Facebook talks had fallen apart.
The acquisition could help Google improve its own mapping services and put a bigger moat around them against the likes of Facebook and Apple. Monday, Apple promised to bring iOS maps and messaging integration into cars.
In its post about the takeover, Google said it planned to enhance Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and bolster Waze with its own search capabilities. The Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now.
Waze leverages a growing community of drivers to find the best routes through traffic. It said joining Google's ranks, rather than moving toward an IPO, will keep attention focused on its community of drivers, rather than shifting it to lawyers and Wall Street.