WIFI Spectrum To Increase

The FCC is likely going to vote in the next few weeks to week to increase the available spectrum for wifi access in North America - primarily to increase carrier connectivity in significantly crowded areas like airports, resorts, parks and convention centers in large cities.  Broader connectivity means that corporate workers can do more and more while traveling away from the office.  That same connectivity allows those who want to illegally access that info more throughput as well.  One of the advantages of the ISVN approach is to allow your company's cloud based resources to be fully featured and well provisioned without having to sacrifice security or reliability in order to gain that increased connectivity.  While the FCC is expanding the spectrum, it is increasing the requirements on manufacturers to better secure their devices against potential unlicensed modification.  Corporate companies can't depend on device manufacturers to block cyber threats.  We are continuing to evolve our encryption methodology to help you in that battle.

          Update - this vote was held Monday, March 31st and passed.

Europe/Asia Changing Telecom Spending Patterns

Recently released spending forecasts say that telecom equipment investments outside of America will significantly outpace its domestic counterparts in 2014.  That’s partially due to the fact that so many of the major US carriers have largely completed the building of their 4G structures and will move to a much slower growth model that is driven solely by customer demand.  Now that mobile networks have generally stabilized, it’s a perfect opportunity for companies to review both their overall infrastructure spending and how they are provisioning services across those networks in order to provide maximum quality of service.

As professionals increase their desire to access company networks across a multitude of devices, and peripheral prices continue to drop thanks to pressure being brought by Chinese manufacturers, IT executives need to take a much more proactive stance on appropriately scaling their networks to meet that rapid advance.

You don’t want to be the one sitting in that office chair telling key decision makers you need 60 to 90 days to order new circuits just to try to keep up with demand.  You want to be the trusted resource that can respond with a quick, "no problem - we can certainly meet your needs."

Year In Review

It seems like every media outlet spends time talking about the highs and lows of the year at this time, as if a quick summary can encapsulate twelve months of activity in just a few minutes.  I’m not going to even attempt that.  What I would like to do, however, is to thank everyone working here at Cywest for all their hard work, their devotion to our mission of providing the best possible service offerings, and for everything they do to ensure we deliver unmatched customer service.  It may be corny and it may be slightly old fashioned but I’m genuinely awestruck at the commitment levels of our personnel.  I look forward to another exciting year of innovation with them and wish all of you a Happy and Peaceful New Year!

Telco Origins – Part 5

The year is almost over and, at this point, I’ll still be telling the history of telco well into 2014.  Bear with me though. It’s an interesting story and I think it helps to explain one of the reasons why the industry now moves so slowly.  It’s as if it has forgotten about its own roots and consistently rapid historical evolution and settled into a monopolistic rut that it can’t seem to shake.

One of the things I hear from customers all the time is about the cost of connections.  As the profit margins for businesses shrink, folks look for their suppliers to respond in kind to help meet the bottom line.  In the early 1900’s, as many of these small telephone companies would veer toward bankruptcy, AT&T would buy them out in order to increase their overall customer base but intentionally refuse to link them as part of its national network.

This increased the costs of an individual call and the company’s profits as well.  By 1914 the United States was the world leader in the number of installed telephones with approximately seven million units.  Only Sweden was anywhere close, finishing a close second.  By 1930 that figure had swelled to almost 20 million units.  Did you know that, in order to make a three minute call between the United States and England in the late 1920's, it required the services of at least eight operators and close to fifteen minutes in order to make the connection?  The true surprise occurred a month later when the caller received a $75 bill for making the call.

It’s hard for those of us with unlimited calling packages and texting to imagine such an expensive proposition and it clearly thwarted many a cross continent romance back in the day.  There's an immediacy in connecting in today's global market and that capability is possible thanks to the advances of telco that followed both the telephone and radio.  More to come….

Thanks Giving To Our Customers

We spend so much time monitoring the systems of our customers to ensure uninterrupted uptime, developing new technology advances, or working in marketing initiatives to develop new customers that it’s easy to forget the point of this week in our nation.  Black Friday sales and the onslaught of Christmas celebrations don’t help.

When the nation was still in its infancy, its citizens recognized the true gift that was freedom and the fact that, in order for independence to prosper and grow; it took the combined efforts of everyone.  That’s truly something to be thankful for.  2013 has seen our client base continue to grow in size while our customer retention rate has stayed steady.  That’s truly something to be thankful for as well.

We know that’s only possible because those of you out there trust Cywest with your telco and security needs.  We’re grateful for that trust and we work hard to continue to earn it.  THANK YOU and Happy Thanksgiving to you and those you hold dear.

Elect to Make a Change

On Election Day people make a choice as to who they want to manage the government’s infrastructure for the next few years.  They know that, if those leaders fail to do a good job, they can elect a new set of leaders during the next election cycle.  It’s always felt odd to me that companies don’t take the same idea of transition to their own infrastructures.

I think there are a number of factors why business leaders don’t elect change.  There’s a certain amount of job security in the idea that people seem happy so why rock the boat.  Change requires an organizational commitment that some leadership groups can never quite muster.  Leaders don’t take the time to research their options and realize they can often do much better than their current structures – especially in the telco industry where many large providers intentionally fight against change to keep their profit margins high by overcharging unaware customers.

If it’s been more than two years since you’ve actively looked at options for your telco infrastructure, I’d urge you to do so.  While I certainly hope you’d look at a Cywest offering as part of that process, that’s not why I’m suggesting you make the effort.  It’s because I know that, if you haven’t made that serious effort, you’re paying too much for what you’re getting and not getting nearly enough.

Elect to make a change!

What is a Hacker?

Just a reminder that we’ll be conducting our webinar about network security this week so make sure you join us Halloween morning at 11 am Eastern.  If you can’t make it we’ll be recording the content for anyone interested.  Just email us at sales@cywest.com for a link.  When you’re talking network security, one of the things people often fear is a hacker accessing their info.

A hacker, in my opinion, is not something to fear.  Hackers are, by actual definition, amateurs.  They’re people who live and breathe computers and actively try to get into things simply to see if they can, and to figure out how those systems work.  Sure, a hacker can get paid for their services and break into a company’s network to steal their secrets but that’s the difference.  That person isn’t a hacker.  That person is a thief – no different than any other criminal just because it’s a digital crime - and THOSE are the people you need to guard your network from.

Asking your company’s management to invest in resources to stop hackers does not make a compelling argument.  Asking for the means to stop thieves and other digital attempts to steal your company’s intellectual property or trade secrets is what you’re actually requesting.  Don’t mute that argument by using tech jargon that lessens the importance of the conversation.