The web is a highway; I wanna ride it all night long

Ok I don’t mean literally but, I would like to know that I can access the internet for content, services and socializing, wherever, however and whenever I want. Doesn’t everyone? However, this reality is under threat from the growing relationship between Content and Service Providers in the form of a discussion called Net Neutrality.

Net neutrality is a topic which I don't think is really going to go away and is something that almost everyone has an opinion on. Although, I don’t believe these views are really addressing the core problem. What I mean by that is, they are focused on demand for high capacity content exceeding the network’s monetary ability to supply along with its inability to dynamically scale to match the unpredictable nature of content. What we really need is a new approach, one which protects the customer experience in how they can access the internet both from usability, cost and prioritization, but doesn't get in the way of the education, commercial value and social aspects of the web.

Just recently I read again that video is dominating the web, but what is interesting is video downloads are still not used by everyone. Despite these downloads growing in demand, there are always different profile requirements. People could simply want to read the news, access their online services such as banking, government services or simply communicate with friends. However, with high demand services in the form of online video, gaming and content sharing growing this can place high strains on networks. Now, currently the content owners are happy as they have the ability to monetize their services either through direct payment or subsidized through advertising. You could of course ask the question why now is this a problem? The likes of Google, Microsoft and even Baidu, have been around for a long time. Yes, but it is the acceleration of demand, for high volume video content, that has changed the game and what is elevating the topic of who should have access to the multiple highways making up the web and ultimately who should pay for it?

Network providers would argue that everyone needs to pay for their content. Naturally, one would think, that it is a lot easier for an established player to pay an access fee on networks to reach their customers as compared with startup firms. As expected with startups, every dollar that leaves the company can detract from a dollar invested in their new solution or offering they have created, thus creating a canyon sized gap between the big players and those introducing new concepts and innovations. As you can assess, this then is not a viable option for the ongoing evolution of the web.

The OTT (Over The Top) players would say well let's open the network and force operators to treat all content equally. This of course would leave the operators in a dilemma of trying to balance the scale of required support for the volume of traffic, the costs for managing that network combined with the prices that customers are willing to pay. The OTT option is simply not viable. Either operators would eventually be run into the ground or be faced with expensive customer service costs as best effort becomes synonymous with not good enough.

I would therefore like to propose a third option. Associate price based upon the load on the network. We could do it the same way that many major European roads fees are, paid by drivers, based on the weight of their vehicles. By doing so, we will encourage the right behaviour, as they will all understand that I am getting what I am paying for. If a customer wants to watch something in real time, whether that is video or gaming, they either pay an incremental fee or the content owner allocates parts of its revenues to the operator carrying that traffic. This will encourage content providers to think with operators in solving the problems regarding how they can optimize traffic, avoid expensive replication of Internet live streams and ultimately think through the problem leveraging the creative force of the OTT community. Of course someone will say, there is already a mechanism to pay more when you want to download more, isn’t it as simple as paying a higher price for buying a faster broadband connection? This may be true when it comes to the local connection piece of the equation however, remember this is a mesh of highways and it is those who are pulling down the large files that can clog these highways. I believe we need to provide users with a choice, three choices actually. One, pick the slower lane and you will receive your file when it is ready (paying lower costs), or two, if you simply must have it now, pay for it be downloaded faster (pay higher costs). The third option is to have your content provider subsidize you for the download (costs vary). In the end we will all need to work out a model which protects the user experience whilst not inhibiting the access and personal choice on how to download content. This does not mean that network providers are let off the hook, network providers must be held accountable for the quality of the user experience to whomever is the paying party to ensure they are equally held accountable in driving innovation to improve the network experience for each customer, as well as maintaining healthy diversity in how we access content to ensure competition and therefore choice.

We need to remember that the Internet has become a utility. It is one of our most important commodities and it requires, OTT players and network providers alike, to figure out how we can not only continue to ensure its survival, but also leverage it as a source of innovation and service creation. It is an innovation and resource that everyone can and should benefit from. Bottom line is it shouldn't matter whether you want to read a newspaper, watch a live football game or socialize content with friends. For all of us, the web has become the all important highway for information, collaboration and fun. The web is a highway and well, if you are like me, then you’ll want to continue to ride it all night long too!

Driving Change in 2014

The internet as we once knew it is no more

The worldwide web used to be a “go to” location for all our information needs, where we would consume online content and play games has now become a recognised utility no different to electricity, transport infrastructure or water. Over time however, the internet has also evolved to become a critical delivery platform enabling a raft of new services. Where we once read news or simply sent emails, we now use this “utility” to bank, shop, access business applications hosted in the cloud, watch the latest TV shows and listen to music, as well as interact with our friends, family and peers (ok and for me play the occasional online game!)

APAC is experiencing rapid growth of connected devices. This proliferation of devices – such as smartphones, tablets and laptops – allows us to connect to our networks remotely, highlighting the fundamental alterations in how we use and interact with technology. So much so, many of us haven’t even noticed it has taken place. For instance, consider the younger generation (yes it seems I am no longer part of that group!) who no longer refer to “going online”, they are simply accessing applications and services with little or no regard to how they get there or where they exist.

Given our changing relationship with the online world and its growing importance to our general day-to-day lives, businesses are increasingly looking at how they can maximise its value and the consumer insight it delivers. This is driving significant technological change within IT platforms.

As organisations across APAC embrace the IT transformations that are underway – particularly in cloud, big data and mobile – and embark further along their journeys, there is a significant opportunity for businesses to better serve their customers through technological change while growing the bottom line.

A New Era of Cloud in 2014

We’re entering a really exciting era for cloud technology. Over the past year alone, cloud providers have increasingly discovered their individual and unique cloud plays – whether it’s supplying to specific industries or public, private or hybrid platforms – and have expanded their services accordingly.

One-size no longer fits all, and in 2014 businesses can expect to realise the benefits tailored cloud platforms deliver as providers begin to offer solutions designed to individual customer needs. As providers recognise their strengths, they will also identify partnership opportunities with vendors offering complimentary technology to their existing portfolios.

The progress we’re seeing in the cloud will also filter into the business network itself in 2014, where we’ll increasingly see networks being defined by dynamic needs of business functions and the introduction of business process service level agreements (SLAs). For instance, cloud platforms will be linked with traditional on premise applications, such as a CRM or SCM environment. This will enable the network to reshape itself and categorise its applications based on current activity levels so that network traffic and the needs of remote workers can be easily managed and prioritised.

Innovate in the Cloud

This year we’re also going to see a growing number of applications developed by businesses, a trend enabled by the fail-fast culture of cloud. Today, businesses are more willing to develop their own business applications as they are educated on the flexibility offered by the cloud.  They simply need to buy the relevant computing space to test an idea, and then shut if off again when the idea has run its course. This means less risk and the cost of exposure for the business is greatly reduced when compared to the previous options and methods available.

With the cycle of applications being delivered and created gathering momentum in 2014, the Enterprise App store will arrive on the scene as CIOs provide employees with a selection of applications endorsed and supported by the organisation. Until now this has had limited success, but with widespread adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and publicly hosted secure applications it will be an increasing focus for businesses seeking to enhance productivity.

Collaborate and Share

Businesses that deploy application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing developers to design products based on an organisation’s services, will also achieve success this year. For instance, businesses can build their web conferencing capabilities into another web-based application, such as instant messaging, enabling seamless collaboration and communication between individuals.  

The reality is that organisations rarely use applications in siloes, meaning those vendors offering API solutions this year that increase collaboration with complementary products and markets stand to benefit from increased sales with their customers.

Intelligent Insights Deliver Results

In recent times, big data has been more akin to trying to drink from a fire hydrant - we can access a lot of it but have little time to digest it. In 2014 however, businesses will start applying different lenses to data sets so that they can identify what is relevant to them or impacting upon their business. By focusing on the data that is relevant to them, businesses will be well placed to optimise their services and customer experience, similar to that same fire hydrant being attached to a water dispenser allowing us to choose what type of water, colour, and temperature we are interested in extracting at any point in time.

Looking further ahead into 2015, businesses will start to use the data they are collecting to predict future activity or the impact of unforeseen circumstances.  This will be driven by the ability of Smart Data platforms assessing patterns and delivering forecast and trending data enabling improved business planning. For example, if a customer pays for their movie tickets via near field communication (NFC), the mobile operator could identify the most frequent days the user visits the cinema, and send them discount codes for these dates. Over the coming years, this approach to data analytics will become an extension of who businesses are and their operations.

Drive Change

Today, businesses across APAC have access to an unprecedented amount of tools and services from a variety of IT vendors, which is driving greater confidence in identifying innovative ways to address business challenges. Additionally, businesses are being forced to understand and adapt to the way consumers use and interact with technology from the devices we use to the ways in which we choose to engage with vendors and service providers.

Encouragingly, businesses are being very proactive and the next 12 months will be telling as more and more companies come to grips with the technologies making a real difference to their operations. Ultimately, the approaches being adopted will introduce increased business elasticity which will aid in addressing the two biggest ongoing challenges of business today: risk mitigation and bottom line profitability.

Well that's my view on the world, what's your's? Feel free to share by commenting on this blog!

The reality of privacy

Recently I had the exciting opportunity to meet Retired General Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was discussing some of the trends he is seeing, as well as, the global developments that are taking place with regards to security. There were a lot of questions from the audience regarding privacy and espionage; whether state/governments or corporations were responsible; in addition to a discussion around understanding the evolution towards cyber security. Ultimately, an interesting discussion, however I left the event asking myself one simple question – “Who is now responsible for our privacy?”

 In the good ole’ days, before the time of the Internet and social media and “cloud services”, we were confident that our governments could and were protecting our privacy, whether that was our home address, phone number, or banking details. All of this information was under strict government policies to ensure a countries citizens were protected.  Of course, in many of these instances, we had to opt in, i.e. to remove our phone number from the directory or to ensure our address didn’t appear in the phone book.  But, it was definitely a simpler time and one in which we felt secure in the geographic boundaries that our country protected.

 Fast forward back to today and oh how the world has changed. Our home phone and home address have become the least of our concerns as our online identities are increasingly coming under threat. The knowledge that is available on each of us today is like nothing we have ever seen - your credit card details, your email address, your social media contacts and even what you store in the cloud.  All of this information is now worth much more than our home phone number ever was.

 It is interesting then that the responsibility of our Privacy is moving away from our respective governments and into the hands of local and global corporations.  When we contemplate what that means for each of us we may feel a shiver of fear or doubt, I know I did. Consider for a moment your purchases online or simple sharing of your hobby’s or interests with your friends in social media gatherings… Where does that data go?  Who sees it? Do you use a tablet or smart phone - guess where you’re phone numbers and any personal data is backed up? Certainly your local government has no involvement in the storage and safe keeping of this data.   So, at what point did we start relying on corporations – or in many cases “Over The Top” providers – to ensure our privacy and protect our identities? What do you think happens to that data?  Where does it go?  Who can see it?  What can they do with it?  What will they do with it?  I could go on, but I think you get the point.

 I am not sure about you, but I don’t recall being provided a location as to where all of this information was going, or being assured it was even remaining in my country of origin…  We need to remind ourselves that these are businesses, not governments.  There has been no signing of a memorandum between our governments and these businesses to officially hand over responsibility and accountability for the maintaining of our privacy.  Therefore, there is no assurance that any of our data is not being used to create profiles or not being shared with others – ever heard of people’s photo’s being hijacked for other uses? 

 I recently shared with a group of people the fact that it is easy to find out a whole raft of information about someone’s profile.  They were a little surprised at the ease with which I could get the data and one of them said that is why he doesn’t have an online presence – well at least one that he wasn’t aware of! These online businesses we are now relying on to protect our privacy, are in fact providing some privacy services (some of these we even pay for) however, you will actually find that many of them, in their fine print, inform you they are not responsible for your data and if this information is stolen or “lost” they will attempt to retrieve it but cannot promise anything.

 There have been some interesting cases recently where regulatory bodies have attempted to reign in these businesses, either in terms of how they are using our information, or how they were trying to access more.  But ultimately, what do you do when that business operates on a global scale? Given today’s environment, I am not surprised that we are hearing more and more about governments trying to tap into the Internet to listen and read what is going on. As I am sure you all know, we are really no longer sending letters via post office or making fixed line phone calls, in fact almost everything we use in terms of communications is somehow connected to the Internet.

 Interestingly, one business has recently been talking about the “connectedness of everything”, where we expect there to be some 50 billion devices connected to the “internet” in the next 5-7 years. Consider for a moment, 50 billion devices, which would include your car, refrigerator, TV, home security, washing machine, even our children (this actually happens today where a Sim card, combined with GPS, is used to track a child’s movements).  Do we really think all of this data will simply go onto a storage device in our homes? Of course not! Many of these devices being connected to the Internet will be incredibly useful to us.  Just think about it… knowing what to buy at the supermarket when you have forgotten your list or knowing when your car needs service –without worrying that something might break before you service or repair it. So, with the convenience and help that all of these devices can bring us, the concern still remains - what else would this data be used for?  Where will it go?  Who will see it?  What will they do with it?

 This is where I come back to the original question, who is responsible for our privacy? Well ultimately we are.  We need to ensure we are always checking the policy of the online providers we are using and understand what the fine print means. We need to ensure we are lobbying regulatory bodies and governments to ensure they only issue business licenses for online services to those providing clarity on what our data is used for and more importantly, for those who are intending to share our data that they MUST have an “opt-in” clause so we know what we are getting ourselves into. I don’t know exactly when governments became no longer responsible for our privacy, but ultimately we need to be aware of what we are signing up to and using the Internet for.

 Now some of you will be thinking – ok Nathan, so what are you saying turn off the Internet and resort back to mailing letters and using the landline phone for communication? Not at all! We are already far down the path to an Internet enabled world, and there is not much we can do about that. What I am saying though, is that we need to be aware of the risks, understand what we are signing up for, read the fine print and always think about what we are posting online or sharing with our online communities.  At the end of the day, we are now responsible for how we interact with our online world more so than ever before, and we need to ensure we do not assume that someone will protect our privacy or our governments will come riding in on white horses to save the day.

Our information has moved online and we must define our own individual policies.  We choose how to interact with “the net”.  We protect ourselves.  This is the new reality of privacy.

The Power of one ... It's all about me!

There is an amazing transition of who is defining the internet user experience. The significant influence that content owners, use to have, is now moving towards the average person/user. Everyone is beginning to recognize that they can now choose their own content and services, and with this development, there are implications for an industry you might not have thought of at first– Advertising.
In the past, advertisers love(d) content owners. When there were only a few of them (relatively), they had the unique opportunity to define what content would be viewed by an end user.  Think of the influence they could wield, their ability to track patterns of interest and through the grouping of similar customers be able to create user profiles.  Like any enterprising group of businesses, the content owners would then, in turn, share this incredible insight with advertisers to help the advertisers create relevant ads for specific groups.
Okay, now move to today, where we have an incredible 3- 4 billion web pages of content for people to access either through websites or other platforms … that is roughly 1 unique content source for every two people on earth (this is compared with some 3.5 million web pages that were active just 15 years ago!). Based upon this development, it is increasingly difficult for the content owner to create profiles which are accurate.  Think about it… How in the world could you create a unique profile, of every person, based on the unique combination of content they may each choose to access, let alone adapt that profile based on their mood, time of day and location in the world for each individual website?
In walks the Over the Top (OTT) player who is able to provide us with a new approach.  This new model monitors all webpage’s, applications and media, through cookies and operating system tools. The content providers and advertisers have had to adapt to the OTT’s and ensure they had the right arrangements in place to promote their online content or their relevant ads. Naturally this is a situation which neither the content owners, nor the advertisers, should be or are very satisfied with.
For this reason, it is no longer the content owners or the associated advertising providers who have the best visibility and analysis of the dynamic nature and changing profiles of each individual users given the enormous diversity of content to choose from. This ultimately means they have now become dependent on the OTT for data on customer profiles. Meanwhile, it is the OTT’s that have been increasingly dominating the ad space purely through volume of end users they have visibility of.  There haven’t been any alternatives or any noticeable limitations on what OTT’s could or couldn’t view. Until recently, OTT’s could capture all data, from all users, without any concerns on the public’s perception on where or how this data was being collected.  In essence OTT’s were the “All seeing eye”.
Despite the far reaching capabilities of OTT’s, there are now more regulations and increased savviness from internet users to block out cookies and ultimately decide what information they want to share about themselves.  This in turn, is making it harder for OTT’s to provide accurate profiling of end users, which leads to advertisers again looking for alternative means to present relevant ads to internet users. It is these changes which I refer to as the Power of One.  Me, you, all of us, now have the ability to decide how much data about ourselves we want to share (whether that is our location, our interests or even our friends).
Enter stage left, the one remaining group who should be building relationships with advertisers, and until now, have not been fully leveraged– Internet providers. What if you could sign up for ads that were relevant to you based on your interests, location and time of day, without worrying about someone gathering all of your personal data? Ok … I hear you saying I don't like ads, I understand and agree with that but, they are a fact of life, so let’s use the “Power of One” to see ads we want to see rather than ads they get the best deals for.  Signing up through your internet provider, whether at home, or in a café, or a shopping mall, to define your areas of interest can be mutually beneficial. We trust internet providers not to store all of our data through the internet, and know that they have a customer service model that if we see any ads that we don’t think is appropriate we can ask they can act on it, something which OTT’s tend to propose they only facilitate and therefore can’t be held accountable for.
There are some interesting companies out there like Adztream, Jiwire and Urban Airship who are seeking to help advertise firms - and businesses seeking to advertise directly. They understand how to help advertisers adapt their approach to reaching out to individuals, through various solutions which are targeted at the changing profile at any time on any day. It is important for advertisers to maximize the changing landscape and rebalance their focus of engagement.  Move from the content owners to those providing access to the internet, whether in the form of operators (fixed and mobile) or private wifi owners such as malls, campuses, hotels and sporting events.
These companies are the early adopters in introducing alternative models which drive more of a symbiotic relationship between the advertisers, internet providers and most importantly the end users. It is now up to the internet providers to look at how they can best leverage these platforms and start shifting the traditional source of advertising from those pushing ads based on the “all seeing eye”, to pulling relevant ads for the end users which they have chosen to see or are relevant based on where they are at that point of time. So now what? Well, to advertisers, I would say start looking at alternative avenues and platforms to introduce relevant ads that avoid the discussion around privacy. To Internet Providers – it doesn’t matter whether you are a ISP, Mobile Operator, coffee shop or university, your private network gives you an opportunity to look at engaging partners to create a positive user experience subsidized by end user relevant advertising. For all of us, as end users, the internet experience is no longer about what we are told it is, but more about what we want it to be and most importantly about how much data on ourselves we are willing to share.
We, as the Power of One, need to remind ourselves that we define our own experience and the market will continue to evolve to the point where we will see ads more customized to our specific situations at any given time or location versus what OTT’s think we should see. The Power of One is not only alive and well, it is now clearly having an influence on the internet industry and the advertising revolution.

ALERT – Internet is full! – Or is it?

Now that I have your attention, had to share this great discussion with you that I heard on Belgian radio a month ago … yes that’s right, Belgian! J … The News Reporter was talking about how the world was coming to an end because the Internet was full and an expert on the topic suggested that without drastic action businesses and consumers alike would start to see they were no longer able to connect to the internet or for new businesses even worse might not be able to establish a web presence at all!

What am I talking about? Every device that connects to the Internet requires an IP address, sort of like a unique identifier so as when communicating with web pages and other web based services the end point your computer is contacting knows where to send the data back to that you are requesting. At the moment we are hearing more about how the Domain registries no longer have IP addresses to allocate out to new businesses seeking to establish a presence, instead suggesting they establish a smaller web presence or speak to a provider about a managed service where they can bundle IP address space with other services.

So why is this an issue, well simply put when we accelerated into the big bad world of the internet, everybody thought we would have more than enough time to manage the growth of IP enabled end points. Today we all register onto the Net with a platform known as IPv4, which has a pre-determined set of IP addresses based on variants of 255.255.255.255. However the acceleration of businesses requiring visibility on the internet (because let’s face it, if you don’t have a web presence these days as a business, then don’t bother starting a business!), the number of worldwide users which have exploded over the years and last but not least the rapid expansion of IP enabled mobile devices and services all requiring IP address space in order to manage. So we can all acknowledge there has clearly been an enormous increase in the demand for IP address space, but are we really full?

Much like the early days of the Olympics when we were told that all tickets were sold you can see empty seats (I know this was quickly resolved – before anyone thinks this is an article on that happy topic!), similarly is it for the Internet. Although we are told internet addresses are all used up, we have to ask the question, if that were the case then how is it we are still seeing the growth of businesses and additional mobile devices being added? Well if you look behind the curtains you will see that although Domain Co-ordinators have run out of IP addresses to allocate – or nearly, there are a large number of Telecom, IT and even businesses that have kept a large number of IP addresses “in case they need them later” to support the expansion of their businesses. Hence in reality we still have a large number of IP addresses which if released back into the pool could allow the various organizations to manage the allocation in the most optimal way. Similar to the way airlines over book flights, if you don’t turn up to use your seat it will be allocated to someone else.

Of course those familiar with discussions around IP addresses will know that the industry has come up with a solution to the problem in the form of IPv6, which among greater functionality and flexibility will meet the growing needs of our increasingly digital world in the form of considerably more IP address space. However I would challenge the industry to look at other industries where the assumption of simply adding more capacity will solve the problems of accessibility and continue to cope with the growing demands of volume – which usually results in only accelerating the problem. Ultimately a different approach is required, as occurs with all growth industries, it can no longer be about simply adding more.

We need a new model which allocates IP addresses based on actual demand (i.e. active utilization), every single device doesn’t need its unique IP address merely those that are active. Because IP addresses do not have a price they normally are not viewed as an incremental cost by businesses acquiring them. Unlike all other aspects of infrastructure that a business would have to pay for IP addresses are not one of them, if a business had to pay for them then all of a sudden we would see a more efficient utilization. I am not suggesting here that we turn IP addresses into a profit item, but merely to derive a value and change the approach to how they are utilized.

Perhaps one way to approach this would be to have any revenue made from the sale of IP addresses to go to an Innovation Forum targeted at introducing new solutions which will enable businesses and consumers to realize the ongoing benefits of the Internet and how it can contribute to collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing.  The Internet is one thing which connects us all, and will be a crucial vehicle for businesses and consumers alike to engage with each other, but we must give it the breathing room to continue to evolve and treat it like any other asset – Simple! … Right?

This blog is dedicated to a friend who likes to keep things simple – hopefully this is simple enough! J