The industry reflects, looks ahead

Collis Loh, country general manager for Singapore, AT&T Business

	Collis Loh, AT&T
	For any sort of business, good planning is an essential part of management. It is absolutely critical for businesses to run efficiently and effectively.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Loh: I think the following pieces of news have had the biggest impact in the telecoms space in 2007: We saw mobile network operators getting excited about the potential of enhanced revenue streams through mobile ads as well as the onset of mobile TV. These service offerings will bring up the average revenue per user in mature markets where operators have been struggling to make the most of their high bandwidth capable networks.

For AT&T specifically, we've had tremendous success with the exclusive launch of the iPhone in the United States this year in collaboration with Apple. This must-have device on the cutting edge of consumer technology is still going to be a successful product for us right through the holiday season.

Finally, the availability of IPTV in several markets in this region has really opened up the home entertainment experience for consumers. Cable and even traditional fixed-line telecoms companies are moving into this space to deliver feature-rich content right into the homes of their customers, making the most of their infrastructure investments.

What leaves to be seen is how this competition between the cable and telecoms companies will play out and how it will benefit the end-users.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
For any sort of business, good planning is an essential part of management. It is absolutely critical for businesses to run efficiently and effectively. In light of this, many organizations and businesses are deploying technologies to streamline their operations so as to ensure and maintain a proper work-life balance for their staff. These different technologies are able to cater to different business needs and for various types and nature of business.

Moving ahead in 2008

 

 

1.	Socializing goes big in 2008
2.	The urge to merge in 2008
3.	New chips on the block
4.	Web threats dominate security landscape
5.	Battle for the mobile platform space in 2008
6.	The industry reflects, looks ahead

Looking back on 2007

 

 

1.	Looking back at 2007 with envy
2.	Predictions that went right and wrong
3.	2007's movers and shakers

Despite this, it is fundamental to choose the appropriate technology in a prudent manner, one that is relevant to the business and not just the "flavor of the month" that might not translate to measurable benefits for one's organization.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The issue of data/voice convergence. Increasingly, corporate networks are migrating from traditional IPLs, Frame Relay/ATMs to IP-based MPLS VPNs. This allows an organization the opportunity to optimize their WAN by converging its voice and data requirements onto a single network.

However, many companies are still unable to realize the cost-saving benefits of this convergence. Traditionally, IT departments manage only data requirements. Voice/PABX assets are owned and managed by a separate department. To fully exploit the benefits of convergence, these departments first need to be reorganized and existing resources have to be retrained to manage the complexities of a converged network.

Another key challenge is balancing costs versus security requirements, particularly in organizations where IT budgets rest with business units. For example, when provisioning for network security, IT departments need to convince their end-users that cheap, low-cost domestic broadband solutions may not meet corporate network security requirements. Migrating them to carriers' MPLS networks would satisfy their security needs, but it would also cost more.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
•  Fixed/Mobile Convergence (FMC). With the increasing interest and developments in unified communications. FMC will enhance workforce mobility and reduce voice costs for organizations.
•  Ethernet WANs. This flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution is able to meet the rising bandwidth requirements across corporate WANs.
•  Videoconferencing. This is going to be the next step in the network convergence evolution, after data and voice. We can expect more cost-effective solutions and offerings from providers in this area.

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