The Service Management Soapbox

OK, so this is not directly related to IT Service Management, but it will, and maybe soon. The rumor mill is reporting that Cisco is about to acquire a WiMAX vendor! If this happens (I would be stunned if it did not), it means WiMAX will vault from relative obscurity to a market-changing disruptive technology.

I am openly enthusiastic about WiMAX. I have been since its inception. It’s clear how wireless communications has altered our entire global society. I view WiMAX as being the next major step in this progression, one that holds promise far beyond anything we see today. Besides, any wireless innovation appeals to me, since my real intellectual passion in life is amateur radio. It’s a shame I can’t make a decent living off “ham” radio!

<WARNING: Political Hat On>
While I’m on the amateur radio topic, I must confess to a bit of a self-interest in WiMAX. I see it as a viable alternative to the flawed broadband-over-power-line (BPL) networking that uses the electrical power grid for distribution. I won’t whine about BPL here, but physics dictates that the power grid is a terrible high-speed communications medium and the radio pollution that results is the bane of amateur radio enthusiasts and many others. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has lots of information on its organized BPL opposition, including an article I wrote for its monthly magazine QST. I am an ARRL Life Member.
<Political Hat Off … WHEW!>

WiMAX is a wireless networking technology that is a bit similar to the ubiquitous Wi-Fi that we’ve all come to know and (mostly) love. It does have some very different characteristics, though, the kind that make it attractive for longer distance communication than Wi-Fi. If you would like to learn more about WiMAX, Intel has a great tutorial on its web site. If you would like to know why the Cisco effect is so important to an upcoming WiMAX explosion, read on.

WiMAX is a cool technology. It appeals to geeks like me because of its sheer technological elegance. It will appeal to more people, especially common, everyday people and most importantly, Wall Street, if it becomes transparent and widespread. Market forces will determine if this latter scenario plays out. If the following three forces converge, WiMAX will explode:

1. Demand exists
2. It can live up to its technical promises (WiMAX appears to)
3. Major innovators with enough clout can compel change

These points represent a disruptive technology triad. You always begin with market demand. If it exists, the innovators will make sure the technology is refined. If enough demand exists, the big dogs will join the battle and then the world changes in a more impressive way. As the innovators continue to refine the technology, demand increases. It’s a feedback loop that creates billionaires when conditions are right. They are right for WiMAX!

Cisco is certainly a big dog, arguably the biggest dog in networking. If Cisco enters a market, the news is bound to reverberate well beyond Silicon Valley. Cisco’s strategy is interesting to study. It rarely enters a market as the conceiving incubator of a technology. Instead, it prefers to let the startups assume the early risk with a technology. If it proves successful, Cisco takes a closer look at the incubators. If it has potential to be a Cisco-scale market (billions in revenue), Cisco pulls the trigger and acquires somebody in that market. Many are puzzled why Cisco has remained on the sidelines while WiMAX hype grew. It is just their normal business development process playing out. WiMAX has Cisco-scale potential and Cisco has finally taken notice.

Cisco will be yet another communications behemoth to put its mass behind WiMAX. Intel has invested heavily to supply the silicon and subsystems and Sprint launched the first large-scale WiMAX network, called Xohm. I applaud Sprint’s bold move to create what should prove be the catalyst for WiMAX on a huge scale, although the Xohm brand needs to grow on me! With Cisco entering the game, the supply chain from silicon to services will be complete. Let the games begin!

Much of the hype around WiMAX has been its potential to bring broadband to rural consumers who are too far in the boonies for DSL or cable modem services. This is not the only market, however. Expect WiMAX to become popular in the enterprise also. It is well-suited for wireless campus networks or even to link offices across town. If mobile WiMAX takes off, as Sprint is already proving, remote workers and road warriors will almost certainly be linked into the enterprise over some WiMAX services.

When WiMAX hits the enterprise, it then becomes a big issue for service management. As an underlying infrastructure component of the services, its effective management will be critical to any ITSM initiatives. Proper management tools do not yet exist for WiMAX and it may be at least two years before we see such tools.

There is no need to panic because there is time to plan for this. Existing network management tools can be leveraged if they are flexible enough to adapt to new network devices. Ultimately, however, additional development on WiMAX-centric tools is needed. Watch the market for such developments and plead with vendors to innovate here. Purchasing trends drive innovation. Remember the disruptive technology triad I listed earlier? It’s all about the money!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 17:42 and is filed under Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.