Comptel Prepares for Cisco Live! in London

Next week, the Comptel team is again heading to Cisco Live! in London, and we expect cloud to be a popular point of discussion at the show. Cloud services offer great revenue potential for communications service providers (CSPs), but harnessing that potential requires a comprehensive platform dedicated to a very different kind of business.

Our staff will be on hand to demonstrate how the Comptel Virtualization Charging Solution (VCS) for Cloud is tailored toward this new business model. It re-uses many of Comptel’s existing mediation and charging components that are already deployed with various CSPs worldwide, and enables them to create advanced and flexible charging models in a cloud context (e.g. Software-as-a-Service, Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Storage-as-a-Service).

The VCS acts as the mediation layer between a CSP’s cloud environment and billing system by collecting usage statistics of virtual machines managed via e.g. Vcenter, Xen or Hper-V, and then processing network bandwidth data from e.g. Nexus routers and rating the data according to active subscriptions, and finally delivering rated items for billing-based specified time intervals. We like to call this “concept to cash”.

If you’d like to talk with us about cloud services’ impact on BSS/OSS, how CSPs can best manage their network assets for managing cloud services and our VCS solution, come to the Comptel booth (#E3)—you’ll find us just next to the Cisco Industrial Network Solutions demo area. (Some of the demo areas have less technical names such as Bloodhound—unrelated to K-9s, Bloodhound SSC is the ultimate land speed record car!)

One other fun fact: After Cisco Live! in London is complete, the conference venue, ExCeL London, will play a big role in the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, serving as the host to seven and six events (or 80 and 74 medals) respectively. As my peer Andrew Gavin wrote during the FIFA World Cup in 2010, the network infrastructure must have greater capacity than those of previous sporting events based on the anticipated increase in traffic demand. This will be key to ensuring a high customer experience for the global audience the Olympics will bring to London. Cisco will be supplying the routing, switching, firewalls and IP telephony to approximately 100 venues across the U.K. to support the summer games, and they will be showcasing that during Cisco Live.

We hope to see you at the event!

In Search of IT Talents

Comptel is once again attending the TalentIT Career Fair on Thursday, 3 November in Dipoli, Otaniemi, near Helsinki, Finland. This is the very same location where we held our 14^th Comptel User Group earlier this year. Otaniemi is also the home of Aalto University School of Science and Technology where many Comptelians have received their Master of Science degrees.

The event is an excellent place to present our company and meet the future talent in information and communications technology. Last year, the fair brought more than 60 companies and 2,000 students together! While the competition for talented employees is fierce, Comptel has a lot to offer. For example, we are just the right size; Comptel is big enough to offer many global opportunities, but at the same time, we’re still small enough to be agile. And of course, we have been in business since the late 1980s (when most of the students were not even born!).

As a software house, Comptel offers a wide variety of jobs, ranging from software development to engineering to sales and customer services. And our flexibility makes it possible for employees to find the right fit for them. In fact, quite a few engineers have moved to business development and sales. As a truly international company, having delivered our solutions to 85 countries, Comptel hires engineers irrespective of nationality—non-Finnish speaking colleagues are rather the norm than the exception. We also offer opportunities to relocate to other Comptel offices, with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the most popular destination at the moment.

But first, we need to get students’ attention at our booth. This year, we are running a short, simple (that is not how I would describe it!) programming quiz. The lucky winner will return to his or her campus flat with a trampoline! After all, we are the people who like to reach new heights in this industry.

Back to Futurecom: 12-14 September in Sao Paulo

Comptel is again looking forward to attending Futurecom in Sao Paulo, Brasil next week. More than 15,000 attendees from 40 countries have attended Latin America’s key ICT event in past years, and the 2011 event is likely to be just as popular, with more than 240 exhibitors displaying their offerings at the Transamerica Expo Center.

On booth B14b, Comptel will be demonstrating our dynamic OSS solutions and policy control, mediation, fulfillment and charging expertise. In particular, we expect customer experience management to be a hot topic at the event, and are on hand to discuss this as well as other Caribbean and Latin American telecom trends and customer success stories.

In addition to the tradeshow area, there will be a three-day-long international congress, where speakers from Telefonica, the ITU, Oi and various communications ministers, among others, will discuss the connected society and the changing world. Comptel, with our strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent, will be presenting on femtocell fulfillment on Tuesday, 13 September 13. Comptel’s Thiago Bardosa Melles and Alcatel-Lucent’s Roberto Murakami Falsarella will cover how femtocells can benefit residential, business and public hotspots. We think there will be great interest in the topic, and hope that you will attend the session or meet us at our booth!

What are you most looking forward to at Futurecom next week: the expo hall or a particular congress track or presentation?

Viva Las Vegas! Comptel Goes to Cisco Live!

Comptel is attending Cisco Live!, taking place 10-14 July in Las Vegas. In 2010, our partner’s U.S. event had 12,700 registrants; this year, Cisco is expecting to have more IT and communications professionals travel to Las Vegas (four of which will be from Comptel) than ever before.

For those of us not attending the actual show, we can always follow the event virtually. In 2010, the virtual event had more than 4000 visitors—it will be interesting to see if these figures will surpass those of last year as well.

Whether in Las Vegas or in front of their computers, attendees can choose from more than 500 technical sessions or attend several keynote sessions, the first of which CEO John Chambers will lead today. Then tomorrow, two dynamic ladies, CTO Padmasree Warrior and CIO Rebecca Jacoby, will take the stage and give their views on Cisco’s technology vision, including the impact on Cisco’s IT and business strategy.

Comptel is exhibiting (booth #2080—next to the Cisco Live! Lounge), and is available to demonstrate our fulfillment and cloud chargeback (based on Comptel Convergent Mediation) solutions, which are key to our Cisco partnership.

If Cisco Live!’s technical sessions, keynotes or World of Solutions expo hall, as well as the event’s evening entertainment, are not enough, and you are not keen on gambling, why not dive with the sharks! Dive-certified Mandalay Bay guests will now have the opportunity to scuba dive in the 1.3 million gallon, 22-foot deep Shipwreck Exhibit, surrounded by sharks, rays, sawfish, green sea turtles and schools of fish. Viva Las Vegas!

Reflections from the IBM Business Partner Forum

IBM is a long-standing partner of Comptel, and last week, I attended the IBM Business Partner Forum in sunny Cote d’Azur (while my peers were attending Management World 2011 in not-so-sunny Dublin).

There was still plenty of evidence of the film festival from the week before, e.g. tents, other temporary buildings, billboards, etc. Unfortunately, the red carpets had been rolled up, and the film stars had already left town, so I had to instead spend my time in Cannes with IBM and its partners. That said, I had numerous fruitful discussions with IT professionals from various industries (including finance, pharmaceutical, etc.).

During the first day, there were a number of really interesting presentations about IBM’s future visions and views on  industry trends. Most of the presentations touched on the subject of business analytics and how companies should anticipate customer needs by analysing data in real time instead of looking back to reports, thus ensuring a great customer experience.

Having said that, the event also looked back to IBM’s 100 years; the history was really inspiring and put many things into a new perspective. IBM has been a pioneer in many fields, and it shared some proof points on the following day.

"Think!" in La Gaude

More surprises were to come on day 2 when we visited the IBM Innovation Center in La Gaude. The first was being introduced to “Watson”, a recent star of U.S. TV-show “Jeopardy”. “Watson” is actually a computing system designed and built by IBM, and it rivals a human’s ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. The same technology that powers Watson could soon power many useful solutions in healthcare, finance and telecoms.

After more talks about the importance of business intelligence, smart metering and smart cities, we got a hint of what really intelligent retailing might look like. In La Gaude, IBM staff demonstrated a display screen for shops that can detect which market segment you belong to and fit the marketing messaging according to it!

We look forward to having IBM as the gold sponsor of the Comptel User Group, which will be held in Espoo, Finland from 14 – 16 June.

Management World Goes Green

Traditionally held in Nice, France, Management World is going green this year—to Dublin, Ireland that is! The conference also looks to largely be focused on the communications revolution and how it’s impacting CSPs’ green (or revenue)—the “Optimizing Customer Experience” and “End-to-End Revenue Management” Summits, for example, will discuss strategies for maximizing profitability and tapping into new business opportunities.

In addition to attending these informational presentations, connecting with customers, prospects and partners, and discussing hot topics like 4G/LTE, cloud computing and the customer experience, we’re thrilled to explore the new location. And to get attendees better acquainted with Ireland (beyond Dublin’s traffic jams and so-so weather), we uncovered some fun, little-known facts:

• The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway.

• The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease on its property, at a perpetual rate of 45 Irish pounds per year.

• Catherine Kelly, who died in 1785, was allegedly the smallest Irish woman ever. With a total height of just 34 inches and a weight of 8 pounds, she was known as “The Irish Fairy.”

• A single day of good weather that pops up in a long stretch of bad days is known in Ireland as a “pet day.”

• Bram Stoker was working as a civil servant in Dublin when he wrote “Dracula” in 1897.

• Historians believe St. Patrick’s real name was “Maewyn Succat.”

• The national symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, not the shamrock.

• Killyleagh Castle, in County Down, Northern Ireland, is the oldest occupied castle in Ireland. Built in the 13th century, it is still in use as a private home.

Those attending Management World 2011 are invited to the Comptel booth, #49, to learn more about our suite of OSS solutions.

Keeping a Finger on the Telco Pulse of Eurasia

Russia, Turkey and all of Eurasia have great potential for growth, especially in the area of mobile broadband. In general, mobile penetration is significantly lower here than in Western European markets. Since fixed networks are often less developed in these countries, they are depending more heavily on mobile networks. As a result, mobile broadband has the potential to surpass fixed broadband as soon as this year,  and CSPs in the region are looking for solutions for convergence, new revenue streams from value-added services and how to adopt LTE.

One interesting Eurasia telco fact to note: the markets of Central Asia and the Caspian region are often lumped together as “the stans”; however, there is a striking difference between these countries. According to the CIA World Factbook, mobile phone penetration in Kazakhstan is as high as 96 percent, while in Turkmenistan, it is only about 40 percent.

The exciting opportunities in this region have not gone unnoticed. In fact, as a result, Comptel has integrated a new operating structure and divided our European business into two areas, Europe West and Europe East. This move will allow us to focus our efforts on new growth areas, especially in Eurasia, while actively maintaining large customer accounts in Western Europe.

To further immerse us into the Eurasia market, we will be attending this year’s EurasiaCom, Eurasia’s only commercially focused telecoms event, in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29-30. Comptel is looking forward to being a part of this changing environment, as well as learning from and sharing ideas with other leaders in the industry at this year’s EurasiaCom. Will you be attending?

Cisco Live! London, 31 January to 3 February

I am attending the Cisco Live! event in London this week. For the first time in three years, the event is organised in London rather than Barcelona. Upon my arrival to ICC London ExCel today to set up our booth and demos, I found that the venue is showcasing Cisco’s technology and offering the “ultimate venue experience” by running on top of Cisco Catalyst® 6500 series, which supports data, wireless local area network, VoIP and IPTV services.

Some interesting things to note about the event as it gets underway:

• This year’s World of Solutions Expo has more than 100 exhibitors registered—compared to 64 last year and 53 in 2009. There should be a lot more traffic in the exhibition hall—even before the show starts.
• It is expected that nearly 4,000 IT professionals will attend this year’s Cisco Live! from 31 January to 3 February, along with 2,000 participating virtually.
• Cisco Live! is featuring hundreds of workshops—from breakout sessions to networking activities—relating to communications networks and service providers. And Cisco’s CEO John Chambers will present the keynote speech Tuesday morning.

Comptel is exhibiting (booth #E31) and demonstrating our fulfillment and cloud chargeback (based on Comptel Convergent Mediation) solutions, which are key to our Cisco partnership.

Lessons in Dynamic SIM Management from Kimi Räikkönen

In Finland, as part of our school traditions, every first grader gets his or her first mobile phone at the age of seven. That is when our award-winning school system begins to educate our offspring in order to meet OECD and Pisa test requirements—one factor contributing to Finland recently being named the world’s best country by Newsweek. The battle for these new mobile subscriptions is harsh, with communications service providers offering a wide range of options to parents and their kids.

This July, I received a surprising package from Kimi Räikkönen—that was exactly how it was marketed to my target group and how my daughter told it to everyone she met during the following weeks. Finnish mobile operator DNA Finland sent a prepaid SIM card to every Finnish mom (including me) who had a child that was born in 2003 and entering the first grade.

As a marketer, I had to admit that this campaign was extremely clever! A photo of the coolest guy in the universe covered a bright pink package containing not only the pre-paid SIM card but also a Kimi poster, a set of removable tattoos and a reflector—all of the things that first graders simply adore. For moms, DNA included a nice letter explaining how mobile phones are important for protecting kids and giving peace of mind to worrying parents. (In Finland, most of the kids walk or cycle to school and back on their own or with schoolmates or older siblings, and return home hours before their parents.)

After I had recovered from the amazement of Kimi sending me a package, I started to think about the pros and cons of DNA’s offer. First, I have never been a fan of pre-paid subscriptions, even if this one had feature that allowed kids to call two selected numbers, even if they run out of balance. Secondly, I was wondering what the pre-selected number was. Could I change it if I did not like the number? And what about the services? Could I modify the subscription? This might be a good option for a first grader but not so great for an older child a couple of years down the road.

These thoughts brought me back to the same issues I had tackled few months earlier when Comptel was planning the Comptel Dynamic SIM Management launch. And now I needed one–a SIM card management solution.

A month later, Kimi Räikkönen’s charisma faded. One Sunday morning, my daughter said, “Mom, let’s go to the Elisa shop and buy a phone for me!” And that is what we did. Along with a pink Nokia 7020, we purchased a Saunalahti subscription, I selected a phone number that included her date of birth and excluded a couple of unnecessary services.