Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) are two terms that have garnered a great deal of attention in the Telco market over the last couple of years. However, before actually adopting SDN/NFV, several challenges have to be mastered. This article discusses those challenges and explains why StableNet® is the right solution to address them. SDN and NFV are both very promising approaches. The main objectives are to increase the flexibility of the control and to r...

With high profile attacks from 2014 still fresh on the minds of IT professionals and almost half of companies being victims of an attack during the last year, it’s not surprising that security teams are seeking additional resources to augment defenses and investigate attacks. As IT resources shift to security, network teams are finding new roles in the battle to protect network data. To be an effective asset in the battle, it’s critical to understand the involvement and roles of network professi...

When equipping a Sapling synchronized time system a customer has many choices to make. Sapling offers four systems, each with a multitude of options to choose from. After choosing a system the next step is to decide whether you want analog clocks, digital clocks, or a combination of the two. Analog clocks are an excellent choice for many different types of facilities. Sapling offers analog clocks in different models for each of our reliable systems. The variety of systems equates to a need for d...

Canadian quadruple-play operator Rogers Communications reports that its consolidated revenue increased 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015 to CAD3.175 billion (USD2.599 billion), reflecting revenue growth of 4% in Wireless, 1% in Cable, and 26% in Media, with stable revenue in Business Solutions. Wireless turnover increased as a result of higher network revenue from the continued movement of customers to LTE, and the adoption of higher average revenue per user (ARPU) generating ‘Share E...

I was recently at a conference where the topic of network security came up again, like it always does. It seems like there might be a little more attention on it now, not really due to the number of breaches—although that plays into a little—but more because companies are being held accountable for allowing the breaches. Examples include Target (where both the CIO and CEO got fired over that breach in 2013) and the fact that the FCC and FTC are fining companies (like YourTel America, TerraCom, P...

Are footprint size, price, scalability and ease of deployment causing disruptions in your monitoring strategy? Then you need to join Marius Heuler, CTO Infosim for a Webinar and Live Demo on the "StableNet® Embedded Agent (SNEA) Cloud Solution". We will introduce the StableNet® Embedded Agent which has the smallest footprint in the market. We are talking about a device that will literally fit in your shirt pocket! We offer it at the best cost-performance ratio in the market! One of our...

SDN - A Promising Approach for Next Generation Networks Recently, Software Defined Networking (SDN) has become a very popular term in the area of communication networks. The key idea of SDN is to introduce a separation of the control plane and the data plane of a communication network. The control plane is removed from the normal network elements into typically centralized control components. The normal elements can be replaced by simpler and therefore cheaper off-the-shelf devices that are only...

Although there are many alternatives available, some facilities are still using battery-powered, individual wall clocks. While it may not seem necessary to change a facility’s entire clock system, many of the features of Sapling’s IP clocks may make you reconsider. The obvious benefit of making this switch is the convenience of having synchronized, accurate time throughout your entire facility. However, our IP clock system does more than just tell time. Below are 5 of the unique features that di...

Canadian regional operator SaskTel will invest CAD313 million (USD249 million) in CAPEX in Saskatchewan province in 2015, with CAD177 million dollars being allocated towards its core Saskatchewan network, while CAD45 million is earmarked for its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network (‘infiNET’) to connect 18,000 additional fibre homes in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and Swift Current. In 2015, SaskTel will invest CAD37.8 million in wireless network enhancements, including CAD18.2 m...

Business is a fluid thing; the past 30 years have seen innovation after innovation and with it, a shift in culture. The 1980s saw a focus on quality products. The 1990s illustrated enterprises centered on branding. In the 2000s what differentiates companies? Customer Service. Customer service has climbed the list of priorities, and today one can see companies putting money where their mouths are by investing in a quality customer experience. Russ Zilles, CEO of IQ Services took some time to talk...

We work with majority the top carriers worldwide, as well as many of their largest customers and the companies who provide infrastructure technology for their networks. We’re the “application performance and security resilience” company – we help you make sure technology works the way you expect it to out of the gate, and keeps on doing it throughout the deployment lifecycle. Today’s mobile subscribers are what we call “tough customers”: they expect instant availability and high performance, all...

Telecoms industry regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is embarking on a wide-ranging review of what exactly constitutes a ‘basic level of telecommunications services’, with a particular focus on whether high speed broadband internet should now be included in the definition. Via a two-phase public consultation in 2015, culminating in a public hearing in April 2016, the CRTC intends to examine thoroughly the issue of whether or not broadband should be c...

Expanding Services Monitoring to Small sites has always been a challenge, especially in environments where there are large numbers of relatively small sites. While these sites may be physically ‘small’ they are all very important to the overall business service delivery. This model includes enterprise businesses like retail, branch based financial organizations, educational institutions, as well as providers who deliver services to home and small office. Some of the challenges to monitoring thes...

Facility management can become an enormous task for anyone. There are so many factors to consider when having to manage the equipment in a venue. Facility managers are associated with many different types of facilities, including schools, stadiums, convention centers, offices, shopping complexes, hospitals and many more. One of the major issues that facility managers undertake is making sure the equipment, in whatever venue they are managing, is working properly. Facility managers and their staf...

Two recent studies that look at the state of mobile and fixed networks show that while networks are getting ever faster, security is a paramount concern that is taking up more time and resources. Akamai recently released its fourth quarter 2014 State of the Internet report. Among the findings: In terms of network security, high tech and public sector targets saw increased numbers of attacks from 2013 to 2014, while enterprise targets had fewer attacks over the course of the year – except Q4, whe...

Imagine a world without cloud computing. For some of you reading this blog it’s easy to imagine as only a few decades ago this was a reality. This was a time where smoking in your office was the norm, you typed all of your documents on the type writer, and calling the landline telephone wasn’t considered strange. The work time to complete a task back then compared to now was almost double if not tripled. Fast forward a couple of years later to the mid 80’s and the internet was born, starting the...

Visibility Is an Urgent Challenge Lack of visibility is behind the worst of IT headaches, leaving the network open to malicious intrusions, as well as compliance, availability, and performance problems. Today’s soaring traffic volumes are bringing greater complexity, proliferating apps and devices, and rising virtual traffic—in fact, “east-west” traffic between virtual machines now makes up half of all traffic on the network. Virtual traffic is the culprit that spawns unmonitored "blind spots," ...

The top priority in any hospital is the care and safety of their patients. Healthcare facilities strive to give their patients the best possible care while under their supervision. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who are working in the facility do their best to make sure the patients are well taken care of and have a comfortable stay. With so many different events going on simultaneously at a hospital, the staff must remain vigilant. Critical situations are seen on a daily ba...

Rogers Communications has switched on commercial voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) services across Canada, available initially on the Android-based LG G3 Vigor smartphone, the country’s first VoLTE-enabled handset, with more VoLTE-ready devices expected this year. VoLTE allows the user to make voice/video calls over the all-IP LTE network whilst simultaneously browsing the web or streaming video at LTE speeds. In a press release, Rogers says its 4G network customers ‘will be the first in Canada to complete...

Many Enterprises today are making the switch over to “The Cloud” for a variety of applications. The most popular cloud based (business) applications include CRM software, email, project management, development & backup. It’s predicted that by 2015, end-user spending on cloud services could be more than $180 billion. Some of you may be asking “Why the cloud?” or “is it really worth it?” The answer to these questions are both simple and compelling. If an Enterprise decides to use a cloud based...