With so many new technologies on the horizon, how do resellers know where to invest their time and money?
In an IT world full of media hype and hard-nosed marketing campaigns, it’s hard to know what will fly — and what will flop.
One thing is certain, though — there continues to be a never-ending
stream of innovation taking place, according to Gordon Sissons, vice-president of products and technology with Sun Microsystems of Canada.
“”Things like radio frequency ID tags, pervasive wireless access and new technologies for building high-throughput microprocessors will continue to expand what can be done with information technology,”” he says. “”These technologies will continue to open up new opportunities for Canadian VARs and systems integrators.””
One area that’s taking off is wireless. Sissons expects to see widespread use of Subscriber Identification Modules in North America similar to what has evolved in Europe on GSM networks for both cellular and wireless PDAs.
“”A SIM module provides an assertion of my identity and also convenient local storage of my preferences for a range of devices,”” he says. “”We will likely see some sort of USB-based solution become the equivalent standard for mobile laptops.””
He also expects that, over time, we fewer people will carry laptops around. “”I think that as public access terminals, kiosks, network access and PDAs become more pervasive in hotel rooms and airports, we will simply carry smart cards with us, and use these cards to authenticate ourselves via our own portals to our own personalized views of relevant network services.””
We will live in a world where wireless access to the Internet is pervasive and available on a range of devices, he says. This means most corporate and government institutions will continue to look for ways to securely access their network resources through the Internet and reduce their investments in private networks. This will continue to drive demand for technologies such as portals and associated network security technologies such as VPNs, he says.
Doug Cooper, country manager of Intel Canada, says the deployment of 802.16 for metropolitan wireless networks will simplify connecting location access points to the backhaul or carrier networks.
“”Intel is developing technologies that will put wireless in almost every device,”” he says. “”These devices will have the ability to build a network among themselves in an ad hoc fashion facilitating monitoring, data gathering and control applications.””
Roaming remains a challenge. For wireless to reach the mainstream, he says, service providers have to come together on a robust roaming plan.
He says we can also expect to see an increasing trend toward computing as a greater component of communications devices.
“”Imagine a GSM/GPRS phone with the performance of the new Tungsten C or the iPAQ with Pocket PC,”” he says.
“”This trend is allowing business to push the line of business applications out to handheld and handset devices.””
He says resellers need to use common sense when considering emerging technologies.
“”Things that look like they will benefit a broad industry — and are supported by multiple players — are generally on the right path and have moved beyond hype,”” he says. “”Things that are championed by one and are the sole benefactor may be either brilliant and ahead of their time or trying to create a new reality.””
WLAN adoption has also taken off in the past year and voice over IP (VoIP) has reached a stage of momentum in the marketplace.
“”You’ve got a wireless local area network and you’ve got voice over IP phones,”” says Gavin Fick, national channel sales manager with 3Com Canada. “”Why not add wireless VoIP phones? For some companies, it’s a move that makes sense.”” 3Com has teamed up with Telesym, which uses software to turn a PDA into a wireless VoIP phone supported by 3Com’s NBX 100 phone system.
“”Wireless and VoIP solutions are hot technologies that represent ground floor integration opportunities for the Canadian channel,”” says Fick. As voice and wireless continue to gain momentum in the marketplace, he says, the merger of the two technologies is inevitable — and, he adds, the market in Canada is showing great interest in implementing VoIP over wireless.
“”We’re beginning to see demand for wireless voice from verticals such as education, health care, retail, manufacturing and logistics,”” he says. “”In the near future, these are definite opportunities for the channel.””
Today, the channel opportunity in wireless voice is highly consultative, he adds. Customers require the assistance of knowledgeable partners to understand their requirements, align their expectations with the reality of the technology limitations and manage the process from technology decision through to solution support.
Several Quality of Service (QoS) issues still need to be addressed, such as contention, authentication and encryption. Channel partners will have to gain expertise in navigating the labyrinth of issues that arise from coupling voice and data systems with a technology that lacks standards-based QoS.
“”Certification, training and learning about new standards in voice and wireless are key,”” he says. “”As well, the channel should pilot a voice and wireless solution in their own office.””
Rod Weir, national manager of advanced technologies with Cisco Systems Canada, says the IT industry is changing and, more than ever, its partners need to make decisions on where to invest in training, talent, systems and support services based on their customer expectations.
Emerging networking technologies such as wireless, security, telephony and IP applications are driving customers’ buying and selection criteria, and channel partners need to continue to adapt and invest accordingly, he says.
“”Hype and reality around emerging technologies is best distinguished by linking how the technology can meet a particular need, and then determining whether the customer perceives value in the resulting solution,”” he says. “”When they do, that’s reality. When they don’t, or they don’t yet, that’s hype.””
Sun’s Sissons says one of the most obvious ways to distinguish between hype and reality is to simply ask the question: Would I buy this for my business if I were my customer?
“”In my experience our channels are led by smart entrepreneurs who have likely invested in things like Web sites and fax machines, but who also likely took a pass on things like DCE and X.400 mail over the last decade,”” he says. “”I think that if the channel can understand the value proposition of a new technology and make it relevant to their customers it will sell.
“”If you really cannot get a handle on the applicability of the technology to yourself or to your customer, then more than likely it is just hype.””
Jordan Chrysafidis, Windows Server business group lead with Microsoft Canada, says that although personal computing has enhanced our lives, it has yet to become truly indispensable in our everyday lives.
Ubiquitous computing — also called pervasive computing — is the next-generation computing environment where integrated, connected computing devices are embedded in almost any type of object, including cars, tools, appliances, clothing and various consumer goods.
“”We can already see technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, Web services, handheld PCs and smart mobile phones becoming essential to everyday life and the intelligence of the PC finding its way into more and more devices,”” he says, “”from personal gadgets such as pagers, mobile phones and PDAs to embedded systems in business tools such as kiosks and point-of-sale systems.””
In another decade or two, he believes we’ll no longer think of the PC as a tool to carry out a specif