Bigleaf Case Study: Fixing one customer's frustrating call quality issues with SD-WAN

The customer had moved from MPLS to fiber with redundant circuits at all sites. The carriers couldn't explain the voice issues, and the UCaaS vendor was seeing great MOS scores. No one could explain why the customer was experiencing call quality issues or how to solve the problem. That's when Tricia brought in Bigleaf Networks' Cloud-first SD-WAN to track down the problem.

Spotlight

Info-Link Technologies - Mt. Vernon OH

Info-Link Technologies has been a trusted name in information technology since 1995, providing complete computer solutions for businesses throughout Knox, Licking, Franklin, and surrounding counties. Info-Link's customers include large and small businesses, educational facilities and governmental agencies that rely on up-to-date, pertinent, and compromising information and technology.

OTHER ARTICLES
Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Infrastructure

CSP network infrastructure spend expected to see recovery in 2021

Article | June 16, 2023

The total network infrastructure spend is expected to grow in 2021 as we start to see further recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dynamics related to COVID-19 has spurred increased bandwidth consumption and as a result accelerated the need to provide additional capacity to meet those needs. We expect total network infrastructure spends to trend positively in 2021. As we have previously seen in 2020, CSPs were more cautious in the face of pandemic related challenges and uncertainty. The impact was felt more in the transport and core areas of the network, with operators still spending on access to meet immediate end-user needs. However, as early signs of recovery are more apparent, we expect investment on CAPEX to be in focus again.

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Network Infrastructure, Network Management

5G Enterprise Private Network: 9 Ways to Scale Your Business

Article | July 27, 2023

Something revolutionary that solves problems becomes a product or service with many trade secrets you cannot afford to let loose in the market. All small, medium, and large businesses worry about how vulnerable they are to threats as far as data sharing within the organization is concerned. This is where a private network comes in. Every business wants to take a technological leap for scalability. Two of the factors that private networks address are independence from commercial carriers for the network and maintaining the privacy of trade secrets. This helps achieve long-term goals to scale your business. Powering your enterprise private network with the futuristic speeds of 5G can help your business achieve two goals at once. Take a look at why 5G has now started to matter even more. Why 5G? By 2026, the 5G market will reach $667.90 billion, with a CAGR of 122.3% from 2021 to 2026. It is estimated to go beyond $1.87 trillion by 2030. This massive technological transition will forever change how we communicate, process information, and connect with the cloud. A boost in turnkey research and development is one of the vital benefits of 5G that will help your business be one step ahead in the market. What Makes the 5G Enterprise Private Network Ideal for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses? A private enterprise network is VPN, LAN, WAN, or cloud-based. High-speed internet and low-latency data sharing or transfer are achieved using fiber optics in a 5G EPN. Expect superior service security, network slicing, enhanced service quality, and no risk of network congestion. Design your 5G EPN as per the software integrations required for your small and medium-sized business. This will allow seamless integration for present and future needs. 5G is about 100 times faster than 4G, leading to incredible speeds and unlocking many never-seen-before possibilities accelerating the speed of research for your enterprise. The network efficiency and the traffic capacity it can handle are 100x. Connecting and sharing data in almost real-time is made possible with 5G. This means, a private 5G network can reduce the infrastructure needs of relatively more demanding managed wired networks for small and medium-sized businesses supporting 5G ecosystems. But it will keep up with the most advanced wireless technologies of the future and stop supporting older ones. In addition, 5G supports lower power consumption than 4G during data transmission. This means enterprises get better battery life on devices running 5G, including 5G IoT devices. How Secure is a 5G Enterprise Private Network? The 5G enterprise private networks are integrated or hybrid EPNs (enterprise private networks) and independent EPNs. It depends on whether your business wants to lease 5G spectrum from the government or a mobile network operator (MNO) and whether you will use a hybrid or independent EPN. • Integrated 5G EPN: A small business can lease a private 5G line from an MNO. A public 5G network backs a virtual private network (VPN) for medium-to-small businesses. On the other hand, MEC and UPF from a public 5G network are used to set up a local network for large businesses. • Independent 5G EPN: This is the most secure type of 5G EPN, the independent 5G EPN. It is independently built for your enterprise, owned, operated, and managed by you. You will be handling the RAN, core, edge computing nodes, and the wireless spectrum reserved for your use. These are mostly the goals of a large business that sends and stores data that needs to be very secure. An independent 5G EPN is the best solution for large enterprises looking for the most secure private network. Also, it applies to businesses dealing with massive amounts of data. Why Use the Cloud for Storage and Retrieval of Data in 5G EPN? Access computing resources, data storage, development tools, and applications across the internet with the help of the cloud. The combined features of 5G and a private enterprise network create a healthy environment to implement cloud infrastructure. When thinking about using the cloud to store and get data in a 5G EPN, keep in mind the good things about it. Interconnected, shared resources 5G speed Improved reliability Increased data accessibility Better privacy and security Efficient connectivity Now that we have learned networking fundamentals for a better 5G EPN are resolved with the help of the cloud, let us discover how it can help your business scale. How Can Your Small, Medium, or Large Business Scale up With a 5G EPN Network Easily? You can use a 5G enterprise private network, or EPN, to get the most important benefits for a small business. Speed to promote an industrial digital transformation IoT readiness Better control over digital assets. Improved security Reliable coverage Network slicing Ultra-low latency Improved bandwidth Improved quality of service (QoS) You will have complete control over configuring and customizing your EPN, managed independently by your in-house 5G networks. Explore the future avenues of 5G private networks in detail. The Future of 5G Private Networks and Wi-Fi with Industrial Use Cases: According to a study by RAN Research, by 2028, private 5G networks will generate about $23.5 billion, with 19% usage in the manufacturing industry and 12% of the network in the healthcare industry. The deployment of the 5G network and upgraded Wi-Fi standards will likely be saturated by 2024. Most of the investments would be towards upgrading the infrastructure and maintaining the network. The goal of fierce competition among telecom network operators will be to gain rapid market share, bringing down the cost of usage. The new service providers will garner competition from telecom giants, while 5G private networks from different enterprises will still be dominant and mainstream in providing security, privacy, and data isolation. Leading Industrial Use Cases Healthcare: A revolution in healthcare benefiting from 5G technology is bound to happen with their transition to a cloud-native architecture. The need for high-speed and reliable connectivity will arise sooner or later, and 5G private networks will perfectly meet the requirement. The driving forces for healthcare to adopt 5G private networks include the shift to demographics, value-based and patient-centric care, and emergency healthcare. In addition, the use of big data analytics, the internet of medical things (IoMT), better wearable medical technology, hospital remote monitoring systems, e-Health and more will need the speed that 5G offers. Manufacturing: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) uses private 5G networks. Depending upon the software-defined implementation of the 5G network, 5G does not just allow remote monitoring of production lines; it also regulates maintenance and device lifecycle while powering industrial automation. 5G is also finding its way into implementing augmented reality for troubleshooting electronics, additive manufacturing and 3D printing, automated guided vehicles, camera-based video analytics and more. Collaborative robotics, supply chain optimization, and maintenance using a digital twin are a few other things that are worth mentioning. Supply Chain: Due to near-shoring, manufacturing and distribution will decentralize. Due to Internet of Things (IoT) devices with sensors, supply chain and shipping logistics companies will be able to reduce delivery times, have better control over warehouse and transportation environments, and offer great asset management services. Final Thoughts Finding the right 5G private network type for your enterprise is easy. It offers enhanced security while connecting to the cloud, IoT and more. This would allow the development of futuristic products and services, touching multiple industries, with healthcare, manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics among the top. Keeping trade secrets and the latest research and development secure and enhancing the capabilities by integrating future technologies will improve with a 5G EPN. With a 5G private network for your enterprise being used on a large scale, the future of networking looks bright. FAQs: What is the difference between a public 5G network and a private 5G network? A single location or several locations of the same institution, business, or organization are the focus of a private 5G network. On the contrary, the public 5G network is nationwide with millions of subscribers without being dedicated to serving a single entity. Because of this, 5G EPN infrastructure solutions will probably be used on college campuses, in factories, hospitals, military bases, transportation hubs, and other places. What is a private 5G network and what are the benefits of a private 5G network? A 5G private network offers low latency, high bandwidth and multiple connections with access control, which are perfect for business applications for small, medium and large enterprises. Furthermore, 5G private networks allow you to tailor them to your business requirements, making them an excellent investment for your business. Again, while diversifying your business as per customer and market demand, it is crucial to have a networking infrastructure that can adapt to your changing needs. Therefore, a private 5G network becomes even more critical. How does EPN help in centralization and business continuity? When implementing business continuity planning and centralization of your organization, a 5G EPN can provide several benefits over a public network. It makes integrations easy, provides high-quality services, improves access control and reliability, and lets your business share resources in the best way for its current and future needs.

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Network Infrastructure, Network Management

Demand for compute remains strong in 1Q21

Article | July 10, 2023

Demand for data center compute continues to be strong and we believe 1Q21 would have been even stronger had it not been for the semiconductor supply shortage. We learned from vendors that the flow of server CPUs out of TSMC and Intel’s fabs was steady in 1Q21 but supply of other components necessary to build a server was tight, including power semis, BMC and PCB substrate.

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How service providers can unlock the coveted SME market

Article | May 8, 2022

For communications service providers, questions still loom over how 5G will be monetized. Many have voiced the view that the enterprise segment is where 5G will make its money, with potential use cases across a breadth of verticals including the automotive, manufacturing and utilities industries to name a few. However, if service providers focus more on delivering 5G business use cases to small and midsized enterprises (SMEs), this market segment could prove to be a fruitful source of revenue. As 5G deployments continue to roll-out globally, CSPs are focused on deriving value from projects and partnerships with large multinational enterprises. And they are eager to do so quickly to assure payback from their $1trillion investments in the next generation network. However, are CSPs blinkered in their approach to generating ROI from 5G? Are they limiting themselves by focusing too much on a small segment of the enterprise market, that to date has limited CSPs' involvement in early 5G projects, reducing them to mere providers of connectivity?

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Spotlight

Info-Link Technologies - Mt. Vernon OH

Info-Link Technologies has been a trusted name in information technology since 1995, providing complete computer solutions for businesses throughout Knox, Licking, Franklin, and surrounding counties. Info-Link's customers include large and small businesses, educational facilities and governmental agencies that rely on up-to-date, pertinent, and compromising information and technology.

Related News

Wireless SD-WAN Provider Cradlepoint Raises $89M in Series C

Cradlepoint | March 10, 2017

The wireless technology provider Cradlepoint raised $89 million in a Series C funding round led by TCV. Cradlepoint develops wide area network (WAN) solutions based on 3G, 4G, and LTE networks. “We were the first company to introduce an LTE-based routing solution – for Verizon,” said Cradlepoint CEO George Mulhern.

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Ericsson Launches 5G Software Plug-Ins

Ericsson | June 17, 2016

Ericsson has created some software plug-ins for networks to evolve toward 5G, perhaps in an effort to generate some buzz around 5G while it goes through the sluggish process of spectrum deals and standards work. The software-driven plug-ins aim to bring 5G-like capabilities to existing networks with commercial availability targeted for 2017.Ericsson touts the plug-ins as a way to serve 5G use cases from mobile HD video, to driverless buses, to feedback-enabled drones. Ericsson’s marketing machine has been touting the use-cases angle of 5G. At Mobile World Congress in February, Ericsson CTO Ulf Ewaldsson, talked about network slicing as a way to use the same network infrastructure but create slices for particular industry verticals and their specific use cases.

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Customer care on a par with network quality for subscribers – Nokia

Nokia | June 09, 2016

Nokia said that as network quality improves, mobile subscribers are placing more importance on customer service and value when choosing an operator, with clarity of contract terms also an important factor. According to the company’s 2016 Acquisition and Retention study, customer care has a greater impact on loyalty than it did previously, with respondents stating that “better general services, self-service capabilities and effective complaint handling are increasingly important to them”. “Customer care is now basically on a par with network quality as a deciding factor to stay with a mobile provider,” the company said.

Read More

Wireless SD-WAN Provider Cradlepoint Raises $89M in Series C

Cradlepoint | March 10, 2017

The wireless technology provider Cradlepoint raised $89 million in a Series C funding round led by TCV. Cradlepoint develops wide area network (WAN) solutions based on 3G, 4G, and LTE networks. “We were the first company to introduce an LTE-based routing solution – for Verizon,” said Cradlepoint CEO George Mulhern.

Read More

Ericsson Launches 5G Software Plug-Ins

Ericsson | June 17, 2016

Ericsson has created some software plug-ins for networks to evolve toward 5G, perhaps in an effort to generate some buzz around 5G while it goes through the sluggish process of spectrum deals and standards work. The software-driven plug-ins aim to bring 5G-like capabilities to existing networks with commercial availability targeted for 2017.Ericsson touts the plug-ins as a way to serve 5G use cases from mobile HD video, to driverless buses, to feedback-enabled drones. Ericsson’s marketing machine has been touting the use-cases angle of 5G. At Mobile World Congress in February, Ericsson CTO Ulf Ewaldsson, talked about network slicing as a way to use the same network infrastructure but create slices for particular industry verticals and their specific use cases.

Read More

Customer care on a par with network quality for subscribers – Nokia

Nokia | June 09, 2016

Nokia said that as network quality improves, mobile subscribers are placing more importance on customer service and value when choosing an operator, with clarity of contract terms also an important factor. According to the company’s 2016 Acquisition and Retention study, customer care has a greater impact on loyalty than it did previously, with respondents stating that “better general services, self-service capabilities and effective complaint handling are increasingly important to them”. “Customer care is now basically on a par with network quality as a deciding factor to stay with a mobile provider,” the company said.

Read More

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