Demand for compute remains strong in 1Q21

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.

Spotlight

Wattsense

Wattsense is an Application Programming Interface service for software deployment in building management systems. It connects your app from the cloud to the building. YOU BUILD, WE DEPLOY Whether you create an air-conditioning system upgrade for your workspace as a night shift project, or a multi-million dollar end-to-end energy saving solution for a hotel chain, Wattsense is the API platform which enables you to collect data, measure energy consumption and control building management systems.

OTHER ARTICLES
5G

Singtel delivers a model for future 5G and edge connectivity

Article | May 18, 2023

Asia stands out as home to a handful of telcos busy building an international business out of selling their internally developed IT platforms. Leading the way are Jio in India, Japan’s Rakuten and Singapore operator Singtel. Having built their own businesses, they are now selling their platforms to support new 5G business models for enterprises and other operators. In the case of Singtel, this means its 5G multi-access edge computing (MEC) services, based on Paragon, its orchestration platform for enterprise services. Manoj Prasanna Kumar, Head of Enterprise Platforms at Singtel, who is responsible for the Paragon platform, discusses in this article the company’s enterprise service ambitions, how it’s partnering with global enterprise software vendors and the obstacles it still sees to 5G B2B service uptake. Paragon, which falls under the telco’s DigitalInfraCo arm, aims to give enterprises “a single pane of glass that provides an end-to-end view and control of the network, the edge and the application ecosystem,” says Manoj. “It opens up the edge to the enterprise world, allowing them to deploy either their own applications or applications from Singtel's ecosystem.” Launched last year, Paragon also lets telcos orchestrate end-to-end 5G enterprise networking services in combination with applications from software and cloud computing partners. Paragon’s application partners include Amazon Web Services, Intel, Microsoft and SAP, and the platform is available to every 5G enterprise user within the Singtel Group. Singtel’s bet is that a growing number of enterprises will need a tightly intertwined combination of 5G connectivity and cloud computing on the edge to run specific vertical applications. “Our strategy is to become a super aggregator of MEC,” says Manoj. “We focus on high throughput, low latency use cases, such as video analytics or streaming, mixed reality and virtual reality which pump data into the back-end applications and where the decision-making cannot afford even a few milliseconds of extra latency.” In addition to Paragon, Singtel Group’s investments in 5G infrastructure and service delivery include a national 5G standalone (SA) network, covering more than 95% of Singapore, and international investment in data centers to support cloud computing on the network edge. Today, there are signs that its investments in 5G enterprise services are starting to bear fruit. In the second half of the 2022/23 financial year, which ended on 31 March, Singtel reported that higher demand for technology solutions and 5G services contributed to ICT revenue growth of 11%, with ICT revenues contributing 23% of Singtel Group’s overall enterprise revenue. Singtel scored a notable win for the Enterprise 5G offering powered by Paragon platform last year when Silicon manufacturer Micron said it would deploy it and Singtel’s 5G campus network infrastructure to support its smart manufacturing operations. Micron is using Singtel’s solution to help manage and analyze its manufacturing processes for enhanced efficiency. Likewise, Singtel recently announced Hyundai as another customer for their Enterprise 5G offering powered by the Paragon platform to deliver digital twin for their electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Singapore for advanced manufacturing operations. Nonetheless, Manoj recognizes that challenges remain when it comes to growing the 5G enterprise business. “5G and edge in Singapore have had quite a good start. But I would say we've got a long way to go,” he says. Convincing customers One of the biggest obstacles is generating customer demand. After all, just because enterprises are able to set 5G connectivity parameters on demand or use MEC for 5G applications at the click of a button doesn’t mean they see a reason to do so. “Many customers don't have a lot of awareness of how edge computing can really transform their business and how a few milliseconds of latency can actually save money for them, make them more efficient, and reduce errors and so on,” says Manoj. This reality has shaped Singtel’s sales process. “We spend quite a lot of time in raising awareness amongst customers,” he explains. “We never start with what 5G can do. Instead, we focus on understanding their challenges, their current processes, what gaps there are, and…start with applications that can help solve their problems.” Another challenge is a lack of 5G-native devices. “This puts us in a very tough spot because when we go and connect devices to wi-fi hotspots, and then use 5G as backhaul, customers often ask ‘isn't this similar to wi fi? Why do I need 5G?’” He adds: “It will be a bit of a roadblock…for all telcos until the 5G-native device ecosystem matures.” There is also a need for software applications that can perform optimally on 5G and the edge, and switch between network slices with different payloads. “There is a little bit of hand holding required when we bring in an ISV to qualify their application so that it can benefit from all the capabilities of 5G and the edge,” says Manoj. And then there are the engineering challenges associated with orchestration. Paragon sets out to automate much of the orchestration and management capabilities that make it possible to request quality of service on demand for specific applications and use cases. But here again, success is dependent on close partnerships with third parties. “Strategic partnerships with Ericsson on the network side and with Intel, Microsoft and AWS help us boost the infrastructure and the application side to stitch together the network and the infrastructure capabilities,” explains Manoj. Choosing your vertical Singtel is currently targeting three strategic verticals: manufacturing, public safety and urban planning. Its choice reflects the opportunities in both Singapore and the domestic markets of members of the Singtel Group. “In Singapore, we are lucky because both enterprises and the government are very, very future-looking and invest quite a lot in adopting new technology,” says Manoj. In particular, “public sector customers are more motivated to explore something new because they carry the digital footprint of the country,” he says. And because governments operate public safety and urban planning systems at a national level, the promises are on enough scale to spur third parties to invest in developing devices and software applications. Typical public safety use cases include video analytics, surveillance systems and robotics applications; urban planning covers systems such as traffic management. Some of the enterprise applications Singtel sees gaining traction include immersive B2B2C content, such as delivering real-time analytics to gamers via a 360-degree video feed or mixed reality applications to train factory workers on how to troubleshoot to use complex equipment. “If they need an augmented overlay of information through the camera feeds then they need 5G and edge because a lag will make users nauseous,” explains Manoj. Other promising use cases include autonomous drones and robots. Singtel has drawn on standard APIs, including TM Forum’s Open APIs, CAMARA APIs to build Paragon. Manoj encourages both technology standardization and collaboration with hyperscalers and software vendors to grow the enterprise market. “Telcos should be embracing tech players as partners, seeing them as catalysts of more pull through on their services,” says Manoj. “When you partner with them, you expose your services on the hyperscale infrastructure, you naturally work with developers, which allows telcos to expand the services market.”

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Network Management, Network Security

Ericsson’s 5G platform adds unique core and business communication capabilities

Article | July 17, 2023

To leverage the full benefits of 5G and cloud native investments, orchestration and automation are now a critical matter of business. Ericsson’s 5G platform is now being strengthened with new solutions that enable smarter business. David Bjore, Head of R&D and Portfolio, Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “Through our core networks, service providers can get to market faster and can capitalize on new services, through leading consumer and enterprise communication and monetization solutions, enabling them to stay ahead in the race for 5G business, today and tomorrow.”

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5G

Ericsson researchers top 4.3Gbps downlink on 5G millimeter wave

Article | September 28, 2023

With a technical specification comprising 8 component carriers (8CC) aggregating 800MHz of millimeter wave spectrum, Ericsson engineers achieved delivery rates of 4.3Gbps – the fastest 5G speed to date. Ericsson Radio System Street Macro 6701 delivered data with downlink speeds of 4.3Gbps over-the-air to an industry partner test device during interoperability testing. The commercial solution, including network and terminal support, will be available to 5G consumers during 2020.

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Intelligence Brief: How is 5G changing network ownership?

Article | February 12, 2020

5G necessitates a different network strategy. Unlike previous generations, 5G deployment is not only about adding more sites and increasing backhaul capacity. In fact, it is more about rethinking the whole network architecture to make it agile. The high capacity requirements of 5G will necessitate the use of small cells in cities and areas of high footfall (such as airports) to complement national macro networks. Private networks (for example to sell into enterprise customers) and the concept of a neutral host (such as for sports stadiums) are further examples of diversification.

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Spotlight

Wattsense

Wattsense is an Application Programming Interface service for software deployment in building management systems. It connects your app from the cloud to the building. YOU BUILD, WE DEPLOY Whether you create an air-conditioning system upgrade for your workspace as a night shift project, or a multi-million dollar end-to-end energy saving solution for a hotel chain, Wattsense is the API platform which enables you to collect data, measure energy consumption and control building management systems.

Related News

Network Infrastructure

Kyndryl and Nokia Announce Global Network and Edge Computing Alliance

Kyndryl & Nokia | February 18, 2022

Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) and Nokia announced a global network and edge computing alliance aimed at helping enterprise customers accelerate their digital transformations with industrial-grade reliable and secure LTE and 5G private wireless networking.The partnership builds on a successful private wireless connectivity project that yielded an innovative solution combining Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform with Kyndryl's consulting, design, implementation and managed services. The solution is designed to support the move to Industry 4.0, which is transforming how companies manufacture and distribute their products by interacting with IoT, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other advances to their environments and operations. The collaboration has already resulted in private LTE and 5G real world deployments and several proof-of-concept (PoC) applications for Dow Inc. to support Industry 4.0-enabled worker safety and collaboration, asset tracking, and other capabilities using a blueprint that it plans to expand and deploy across its sites worldwide. Kyndryl and Nokia share a vision that private wireless networking over both LTE and 5G will enable new levels of operational flexibility and adaptability across a wide range of asset-intensive industries, with manufacturing as a primary market segment. "As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing are growing so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies, By collaborating with Nokia, we're taking another step forward in helping our customers unlock the power of LTE and 5G through a secure, private environment that helps them deliver tailored enterprise-grade edge solutions that drive new value for their bottom lines and next gen customer experiences." -Paul Savill, global practice leader of Network and Edge computing for Kyndryl. By collaborating to provide solutions over LTE and 5G standards, Kyndryl and Nokia are addressing the marketplace opportunities that already utilize the strong industrial ecosystem available now with LTE, while paving the way for significant 5G enhancements in future 3GPP releases, with existing Nokia DAC 5G stand alone-ready private wireless solutions. "By combining Kyndryl's world-class services expertise and global reach with Nokia's mission-critical, industry leading private wireless and industrial edge computing solutions, we will enable even more organizations to transform their operations, accelerate their digitalization journey and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0." -Chris Johnson, head of the Global Enterprise Business at Nokia Nokia DAC is a digitization service platform featuring high-performance, industrial-grade private wireless connectivity and edge computing, strengthening the company's global footprint, industry expertise and end-to-end customer solutions – from ideation to implementation and management. Kyndryl and Nokia also plan to explore and develop new, integrated solutions and services for Edge Cloud, IP networking, Optics, Fixed Access, 4G and 5G Core and Network Operations software technologies that can address growing demand for mission-critical, industrial-grade wireless networking to capitalize on the transformational benefits of digitization and automation. Asset-intensive industries are adopting smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning to improve agility, productivity and efficiency. In particular, private wireless connectivity is a key enabler to adding new data sources and analytics layers, for real-time process management and to facilitate automation, robotics, AI, augmented and virtual reality use cases. About Nokia Private Wireless With more than 420 large enterprise private wireless customers, Nokia was recently named private wireless market leader by analyst firm GlobalData. Nokia's customers span manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, energy and utilities, transportation and smart cities, enabling them to take advantage of hyper-fast data transfer speeds, low latency, data insights and encryption that protects sensitive information. About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world. About Kyndryl Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider. The company designs, builds, manages, and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. Kyndryl's nearly 90,000 employees serve over 4,000 customers in more than 60 countries around the world, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.

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Network Monitoring Plays Important Role in Cloud Migrations

networkcomputing | March 11, 2019

New research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) has found that the network team is a key player in the migration of applications from data centers to the public cloud. In particular, network monitoring tools are important to assessing the network requirements of cloud-bound applications. EMA recently published “Network Engineering and Operations in the Multi-Cloud Era,” a research report based on a survey of 250 enterprises and telephone interviews with a half-dozen IT leaders. The research found that 99 percent of network teams are responsible for discovering and assessing the networking requirements of applications before and after they migrate to the public cloud. Eighty-nine percent of network teams do such assessments for every application, and only 10 percent limit these assessments to critical applications.

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Best practices for global enterprises moving to multi-cloud environments: How SD-WAN can help

cloudcomputing | March 07, 2019

Whether they set out to use multiple clouds or not, large enterprises today end up with several cloud suppliers. In fact, it’s probably hard to find a company that isn’t using some mix of Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, IBM Cloud, Salesforce.com, Oracle, Google G-Suite, ServiceNow or Box. The list goes on and on. This is more pronounced with enterprises that have a global site footprint.The cloud, after all, gets you out of the business of hosting applications and worrying about upgrading hardware and software constantly. It also enables you to sidestep the capital commitments otherwise required. However, the more clouds you use, the more complex connectivity becomes. Security concerns skyrocket as it becomes hard to figure out who is accessing what, from where and how. In addition, the network becomes central to application performance across the organization.

Read More

Network Infrastructure

Kyndryl and Nokia Announce Global Network and Edge Computing Alliance

Kyndryl & Nokia | February 18, 2022

Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) and Nokia announced a global network and edge computing alliance aimed at helping enterprise customers accelerate their digital transformations with industrial-grade reliable and secure LTE and 5G private wireless networking.The partnership builds on a successful private wireless connectivity project that yielded an innovative solution combining Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform with Kyndryl's consulting, design, implementation and managed services. The solution is designed to support the move to Industry 4.0, which is transforming how companies manufacture and distribute their products by interacting with IoT, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other advances to their environments and operations. The collaboration has already resulted in private LTE and 5G real world deployments and several proof-of-concept (PoC) applications for Dow Inc. to support Industry 4.0-enabled worker safety and collaboration, asset tracking, and other capabilities using a blueprint that it plans to expand and deploy across its sites worldwide. Kyndryl and Nokia share a vision that private wireless networking over both LTE and 5G will enable new levels of operational flexibility and adaptability across a wide range of asset-intensive industries, with manufacturing as a primary market segment. "As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing are growing so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies, By collaborating with Nokia, we're taking another step forward in helping our customers unlock the power of LTE and 5G through a secure, private environment that helps them deliver tailored enterprise-grade edge solutions that drive new value for their bottom lines and next gen customer experiences." -Paul Savill, global practice leader of Network and Edge computing for Kyndryl. By collaborating to provide solutions over LTE and 5G standards, Kyndryl and Nokia are addressing the marketplace opportunities that already utilize the strong industrial ecosystem available now with LTE, while paving the way for significant 5G enhancements in future 3GPP releases, with existing Nokia DAC 5G stand alone-ready private wireless solutions. "By combining Kyndryl's world-class services expertise and global reach with Nokia's mission-critical, industry leading private wireless and industrial edge computing solutions, we will enable even more organizations to transform their operations, accelerate their digitalization journey and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0." -Chris Johnson, head of the Global Enterprise Business at Nokia Nokia DAC is a digitization service platform featuring high-performance, industrial-grade private wireless connectivity and edge computing, strengthening the company's global footprint, industry expertise and end-to-end customer solutions – from ideation to implementation and management. Kyndryl and Nokia also plan to explore and develop new, integrated solutions and services for Edge Cloud, IP networking, Optics, Fixed Access, 4G and 5G Core and Network Operations software technologies that can address growing demand for mission-critical, industrial-grade wireless networking to capitalize on the transformational benefits of digitization and automation. Asset-intensive industries are adopting smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning to improve agility, productivity and efficiency. In particular, private wireless connectivity is a key enabler to adding new data sources and analytics layers, for real-time process management and to facilitate automation, robotics, AI, augmented and virtual reality use cases. About Nokia Private Wireless With more than 420 large enterprise private wireless customers, Nokia was recently named private wireless market leader by analyst firm GlobalData. Nokia's customers span manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, energy and utilities, transportation and smart cities, enabling them to take advantage of hyper-fast data transfer speeds, low latency, data insights and encryption that protects sensitive information. About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world. About Kyndryl Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider. The company designs, builds, manages, and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. Kyndryl's nearly 90,000 employees serve over 4,000 customers in more than 60 countries around the world, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.

Read More

Network Monitoring Plays Important Role in Cloud Migrations

networkcomputing | March 11, 2019

New research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) has found that the network team is a key player in the migration of applications from data centers to the public cloud. In particular, network monitoring tools are important to assessing the network requirements of cloud-bound applications. EMA recently published “Network Engineering and Operations in the Multi-Cloud Era,” a research report based on a survey of 250 enterprises and telephone interviews with a half-dozen IT leaders. The research found that 99 percent of network teams are responsible for discovering and assessing the networking requirements of applications before and after they migrate to the public cloud. Eighty-nine percent of network teams do such assessments for every application, and only 10 percent limit these assessments to critical applications.

Read More

Best practices for global enterprises moving to multi-cloud environments: How SD-WAN can help

cloudcomputing | March 07, 2019

Whether they set out to use multiple clouds or not, large enterprises today end up with several cloud suppliers. In fact, it’s probably hard to find a company that isn’t using some mix of Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, IBM Cloud, Salesforce.com, Oracle, Google G-Suite, ServiceNow or Box. The list goes on and on. This is more pronounced with enterprises that have a global site footprint.The cloud, after all, gets you out of the business of hosting applications and worrying about upgrading hardware and software constantly. It also enables you to sidestep the capital commitments otherwise required. However, the more clouds you use, the more complex connectivity becomes. Security concerns skyrocket as it becomes hard to figure out who is accessing what, from where and how. In addition, the network becomes central to application performance across the organization.

Read More

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