May 10, 2021
I'm Just the Middle Mile Man
We're going back to the middle. The middle mile, that is.
Like many telecom terms, this is one that you might have to follow up with, “what exactly do you mean by that?”
Apr 27, 2021
What Role Will MPLS Play in the Future of the WAN?
The average enterprise network had MPLS running at 82% of sites in 2018. That fell to just 58% in 2020. About one-third of those networks have active backups for their MPLS service—a quarter of them have passive backups.
Looking at these numbers, we have to ask: what role will MPLS play in the WAN moving forward?
In September 2020, U.S. telecom giant Verizon announced the surprise takeover of prepaid MVNO TracFone Wireless. The deal is worth a whopping $6.25 billion.
Verizon hopes that the transaction will help it compete in the prepaid space, where T-Mobile U.S. and AT&T rule the roost with their Metro by T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless brands.
Despite the expanding role satellite providers have in delivering connectivity, the vast majority of intercontinental capacity is carried by submarine cables.
This will likely always be the case, but new constellation projects are poised to reshape how broadband is delivered to end users.
In today's episode of the WAN Manager Podcast, Greg is joined by Analyst Elizabeth Thorne to dig into our latest WAN Manager Survey data.
From SD-WAN adoption stats to network configuration preferences and MPLS trends, the pair covers a lot of ground.
Apr 5, 2021
The Art of Zen and Network Monitoring
The latest episode of the podcast is all about network monitoring.
Most of the enterprises we interview are running dozens or more SaaS applications. And most of our WAN Manager Survey respondents have moved their data centers off-premises—the majority are connecting to multiple IaaS providers. Further, enterprises are increasingly more likely to piece together networks from multiple vendors.
Mar 29, 2021
SmartNICs, Explained
Most of our listeners are probably familiar with network interface cards (NICs, if you're savvy). But what about SmartNICs?
Earlier this month, Australian telecom group Vocus accepted a $2.7 billion (AUD3.5 billion) takeover offer from a consortium comprising Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and the pension fund Aware Super.
The deal is the latest in a series of Oceania-focused telecom takeovers.
It's a case study episode! Greg is joined by Johan Ihse, product owner of global connectivity at H&M.
As with previous WAN manager interviews, we'll focus on the story behind the network. This includes learning about H&M's network set-up, the transformations they've undertaken, and some goals for where Johan would like to see their network go.
Mar 5, 2021
What is Internet Middle Mile?
With the middle mile emerging as one of the next major topics of interest for global enterprises, we thought it would be useful to develop a comprehensive explanation of this new market segment.
