Carrier Win-Win
As mobile carriers continue on the M2M land-grab for more connected devices, it brings back memories of the TDM Wild West a technological generation ago. Before The Cloud, virtual machines, and managed hosting there was the voice and data revolution beginning with the FCC’s 1996 Telecom Act; I fondly remember being part of the frenzy and excitement of an exponentially growing business.
Today, operators are looking down the barrel of the same kind of growth opportunities with M2M connected devices; very reminiscent of TDM’s exploitive grown in the late 90’s. How the carriers will start to measure up domestically and globally, will largely depend on how quickly they react to market forces, and vet products that clients will readily deploy.
Quickly becoming a well known use case for M2M is Cellular Wireless Out-of-Band (OOB) management. Out-of-Band Management is primarily utilized as a method of last resort; by definition seldom used. Clients realized that paying for TDM networks that may or may not ever get used is a necessary evil. Since a business needs secondary access (or the provider is required to provide the SLA) OOB has typically been a need to have, not, a want to have. Cellular Out-of-Band makes sense, since the (network) connection is often a core piece of a larger “insurance policy”. Clients want the maximum return on investment for the minimal cost
With the pervasive use of cellular wireless connected devices, network costs for OOB have decreased dramatically. Network cost savings, especially for underutilized assets, is a major buying incentive for customers (as well as an area where carriers see tremendous opportunity).
Adding to the palatability of this use, cellular wireless OOB works when TDM infrastructure may not (storms and flooding), is very easy to deploy, and is available with incredible levels autonomous security
The final adornment on proverbial cake is the ability to provide the OOB “insurance policy” while reducing operational expenditures and moving towards a more progressive and forward-thinking technology platform.
Cellular Wireless Out-of-Band management, when done properly is the proverbial win-win for the service provider.