International Orange Outlook

Metro Ethernet Vendor – Riverstone Networks – In Demand

2006-03-20T20:05:02Z

Lucent Technologies has its eye on Riverstone Networks for its sophisticated Ethernet-over-Fiber and Ethernet-over-MPLS core backbone network solutions and technology. Riverstone would complement Lucent’s optical solutions for the metro which are based on SONET/SDH and DWDM. Flat networks which Ethernet-over-Fiber and Ethernet-over-MPLS represent have made good traction and will remain another way of constructing data service networks. As my previous blog has mentioned, Japan Telecom competes in a market where Carrier Ethernet services are mainly offered over flat Ethernet networks (in additional to those over SONET using next-gen solutions). In this case, the need to be nimble and very price competitive –which flat Ethernet networks offer - is very important.

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Grid Computing Services – Utility Computing For Enterprises

2006-02-10T02:15:50Z

More on innovative Japanese communications services, Softbank’s subsidiary, Japan Telecom, has a Grid Computing service for medium to large enterprises. Instead of adding servers, storage and database licenses, a customer can add computing capacity on the Japan Telecom network. The carrier sells as its smallest package a 1 CPU service (running of a blade server), with Oracle 10G database and 10 Gigabytes of storage at a price of $2,000 per month. Access to the Computing Grid is ideally through a 10 Mbps Carrier Ethernet service. Japan Telecom delivers these services to support customer needs in the automotive, healthcare, financial services and publishing industries

]]> The motivation to supplement general data bandwidth and internet access services comes from competitive pressures. With 100 Mbps Carrier Ethernet service now available at $300/month, a carrier would need to move up closer to the application layer to reap financial rewards. The availability of software solutions that can partition database processes to demarcate customers allows such a service to become possible. Customers can sign on or turn computing services on a per CPU basis. I am eager to see such services thrive in the US market. This is not general storage, this involves a slice of the data center with processing capacity and database functionality in addition to storage to be available like a switch.

Carrier Ethernet Services in a Highly Competitive Market - Japan

2006-02-10T02:14:49Z

As a class of service, Carrier Ethernet is enjoying robust growth in the US market. Designed to augment or replace existing private line (PL) or ATM services, Carrier Ethernet from ring-based Ethernet-over-SONET to point-to-point Ethernet-over-Fiber services allow financial service firms, hospitals, higher educational institutions, the public sector and manufacturers to expand their communications capabilities to support business needs.

]]> Where the US is relatively new to adopting Carrier Ethernet, enterprise customers in Japan appear to be savvy users, to the point where competition has created very attractive price points. A leading Japanese carrier pointed out to me that their customer base is satisfied to use Layer 3 based Ethernet services provided service level agreements in the backbone are available. The upshot, a 100 Mbps service within the general metropolitan area of Tokyo have dropped to roughly $300/month for a 100 Mbps service per end or $600/month per connection - $6/Mbps/month. Putting this in context, in the US market, a DS3 service is $2000/month for a connection - $44/Mbps/month. Even the lowest priced Ethernet service on a per Mbps basis costs $6/Mbps/month for a 1 Gbps wavelength service within a city area.

Keys to Custom Research Success

2006-01-19T08:00:01Z

OK, so you have decided to do some custom research. What now? Achieving valuable research results depends on the quality of the sample source, a well-defined questionnaire and efficient project implementation.

]]> To ensure high-quality results, be sure to:

Recruit sufficient respondents that closely fit the target customer profiles – Only results from recruits who fit the criteria should be included in the study.
Enlsit enough recruits to conform to statistical targets – To reach a certain level of confidence in results, a certain sample size is required. Ensuring a sufficient sample size is a key to obtaining meaningful results.
Reach knowledgeable, willing recruits – Participants with recent, deep experience regarding the research subject provide the most useful data. Extracting relevant data requires experienced interviewers who can put participants at ease.
Ensure the completeness of each response – Long questionnaires lead to incomplete responses. The upper limit for on-line surveys is 20-30 minutes. For telephone or one-on-one interviews, 60-75 minutes is the upper limit.

A well-executed research project can yield valuable survey responses. By grouping data into industry segments you can get superior insights.

The payback for a well-executed research project is an accurate reading on what customers your are thinking, what is important to them, what they are focusing on and what their challenges are. Then you can use these insights as inputs to the definition of marketing programs or as a steering direction for the marketing organization in competitive scenarios.

Get Close to Your Customer

2006-01-19T02:57:21Z

All customers – whether they are end-user consumers or enterprises – respond to messages that indicate that a product or service fits their needs – for example, solving a specific problem, advancing their lifestyle or improving a business situation. By uncovering these customer “hot buttons” and crafting marketing initiatives based on them, marketing executives can dramatically boost marketing effectiveness.

]]> To get to this “holy grail” of customer preferences and opinions and jumpstart marketing effectiveness, you have to become closer to your target customers – and now, by taking advantage of customized research, you can.

Today, experts provide services in a broad range of markets areas and techniques to deliver unique insight on customers’ preferences, objectives, and plans. With the availability of on-line tools and the growing use of custom marketing research by technology-based enterprises, a wide variety of recruits – the customers whose opinions are so valuable – particiapte in custom research studies.

This combination of the availability of experts and potential target customers enable you to discover customers’ “pain points,” perceptions, and purchase thresholds. With this information, you can develop more effective business strategies, deliver successful customer-facing programs and boost bottom line results.

Enhancing Marketing Results

2006-01-17T21:06:06Z

Clients and customers have approached me on how they can sell more product or service. The issue is framed as a problem with a desired outcome - "I want to sell these new line cards that have been commercially-released; how can I do that most effetively?"

]]> At International Orange, we have steered clients to adopt a marketing framework based on customized market research. The objective is to get to your target customers quickly and survey them to identify "pain points", buying thresholds, perceptions and needs. It used to be an expensive effort to do this well. Recently, specialized panels have become available from leading research firms to enable high tech companies to conduct qualitative research. Such research is ideal for market studies of early adoptors or new markets and segments.

I am always impressed with the type of results we get when we conduct telephone interviews of well-targetted recruits - the people you interview who fit the target market of your study. We have received return-on-investment calculations for networking products that vendors would love to see.

The upshot is, high-tech companies can now be more effective in developing customer-facing programs by incorporating customized market research results. Actually, the results drive the program which increases its chance of success.