Unified Communications, Network Security
Article | July 10, 2023
5G trends are shaping the future of various technologies, from the Internet of Things to Virtual Reality. Learn more about the top trends in 5G to stay ahead of the competition in this sector.
Contents
1 The Value of 5G for Businesses
2 5G Trends to Watch in 2023
2.1 Shift to Standalone 5G
2.2 Edge Computing for IoT
2.3 Adoption of Private 5G Networks
2.4 General Availability of 5G
2.5 Partnerships for Rapid Deployments
3 Conclusion
1 The Value of 5G for Businesses
The fifth-generation network technology, or 5G, promises to revolutionize the way businesses communicate and operate. It offers lower latency, faster data transfer speeds, more robust security, and new and enhanced experiences. These capabilities enable 5G to support high-quality video conferencing, real-time collaboration, immersive virtual experiences, and more. By investing in 5G, businesses can stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their employees and customers. With the growing adoption and use cases of this technology, keeping up with the technology trends in 5G is essential for staying ahead in today's business landscape.
2 5G Trends to Watch in 2023
2.1 Shift to Standalone 5G
The rapid deployment of 5G across the world has been made possible due to the existence of an already-established 4G infrastructure. This has allowed operators to concentrate on developing the radio access network components while relying on 4G networks as a failsafe. This approach has enabled operators to deploy 5G networks at a faster pace, thereby allowing the benefits of this technology trend to reach a wider audience.
The integration of a 5G core and radio forms the backbone of 5G infrastructure, enabling the 5G stand-alone network to achieve its full potential. Wireless providers have been actively promoting the key features of 5G, such as ultra-low latency and complete network slicing, which are exclusively available through the stand-alone version of this advanced technology.
By utilizing this emerging technology, businesses can unlock an entirely new level of performance, allowing them to deliver innovative and immersive services to their end-users. Stand-alone 5G is also a necessity for certain unique use cases, and many 5G trends in 2023 will rely on its capabilities. It is essential for businesses to understand the benefits of this advanced technology and adopt it to remain competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
2.2 Edge Computing for IoT
The convergence of 5G technology and IoT is transforming how businesses operate across industry verticals. This 5G trend enables edge computing for the IoT by providing low-latency and high-bandwidth connectivity. With 5G, data can be transmitted and processed at the edge of the network, closer to the source of the data, rather than being sent to a central data center for processing.
While extensive IoT fleets can operate on a 4G network, a 5G network will improve upon those capabilities with massive multiple-input, multiple output capabilities, enabling an increased number of devices to connect with the cell tower. This is especially useful in IIoT, where a large number of IoT devices are present within a small area, which requires this level of connectivity.
The low latency and high bandwidth offered by 5G infrastructure also support innovative IoT solutions, such as integrating artificial intelligence, by enabling real-time processing of data and faster response times. Edge computing allows IoT devices to perform complex processing tasks and make decisions locally, rather than relying on a centralized cloud server. Businesses that operate in industries that require real-time processing will especially benefit from the digital transformation through 5G.
2.3 Adoption of Private 5G Networks
Private wireless networks are suitable for many industrial applications, and the market for private 5G networks is set to expand rapidly. Private 5G networks offer greater cybersecurity, control, and reliability, making them ideal for mission-critical applications that require high levels of security and privacy. This is one of the key 5G trends because it is applicable to industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and finance, where IoT devices collect and share sensitive data that requires greater cybersecurity.
Businesses can also utilize private 5G networks to benefit from higher bandwidth, lower latency, and greater flexibility compared to public networks. Private 5G networks can be customized and tailored to meet the specific requirements of each application, making them ideal for specialized functions.
As more enterprises look to benefit from network-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and big data, the demand for private wireless networks will continue to rise. Network operators are also more willing to offer private 5G networks because they represent a new revenue stream and a growth opportunity while also allowing them to provide a more personalized service to their customers.
2.4 General Availability of 5G
The 5G trends have moved towards access to 5G across the world, with 5G now available in 95 countries and reaching to more than 1.2 billion people. 5G networks are becoming more widespread in 2023, and as a result, many 5G trends and technologies are expected to emerge. Furthermore, 5G has become standard across all premium devices and many mid-range ones, making it an attractive option for consumers.
For businesses, this means a whole new world of possibilities. 5G networks offer faster speeds, higher bandwidth, and lower latency, enabling businesses to offer more innovative products and services. With the increased availability of 5G, businesses can develop and deploy emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Remote work and related use cases will also rise in popularity as 5G becomes more common.
However, the distribution of 5G networks differs by region. 5G trends indicate that urban populations will likely be the first beneficiaries of public 5G rollouts and will benefit the most from 5G capabilities such as network densification and massive MIMO. With the deployment of 5G small cells for connectivity, 5G networks will support new use cases and faster, more reliable connectivity for the general public, especially in urban areas.
2.5 Partnerships for Rapid Deployments
By connecting disjointed B2B and B2C networks with ecosystems, service providers can become service enablers, working with businesses, consumers, and even competitors to create unique 5G offerings. Digital transformation is possible through new approaches to partnerships, through which service providers manage commoditization pressures and a hyper-competitive market.
Partnerships also provide businesses with access to industry skill sets that are in high demand, such as cloud, cybersecurity, and automation. By partnering with players who are already experts, cellular network providers offer specialized solutions to their customers that they may not have been able to provide otherwise. Hosted labs also help to speed ecosystem validation of use cases and new technology, ensuring that solutions are effective and efficient.
Furthermore, partnerships enable service providers to create products with global scale, as demonstrated by SAP, IBM, ServiceNow, and Deutsche Telekom, which have collaborated to create global connectivity offerings ranging from 5G to software-defined networks.
In the race to increase revenue and control costs in the 5G industry, collaborating with industry experts and integrating solutions will become one of the key 5G technology trends. Through collaboration, service providers can offer unique solutions to their customers, access necessary industry skill sets, and create products with global scale. These partnerships are necessary for businesses to remain competitive in an ever-changing market.
3 Conclusion
The ongoing rollout of 5G networks is set to transform businesses across all industries, bringing faster speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect more devices than ever before. As technology continues to evolve, businesses need to stay up-to-date with the future trends in 5G in order to take advantage of its full potential. The growing demand for low latency and massive connectivity due to new use cases such as edge computing and the IoT is driving the growth of 5G networks. These trends will enable businesses to create new products and services, increase efficiency and productivity, and ultimately transform the way they operate. As 5G networks continue to mature, businesses that invest in this technology will have a competitive advantage over those that do not. They will be able to deliver faster, more reliable services to customers, streamline operations, and reduce costs. With the right approach, organizations can capitalize on the latest trends in 5G and unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation in the years to come.
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Network Management, Network Security
Article | July 17, 2023
If you are clued into IT, then most likely, you are aware of the latest trending technology, edge computing data centers.
Edge Computing ensures exceptional speed, with firm privacy and security compared to the conventional cloud methods, thus making edge data centers an imperative option for everyone.
The world is undoubtedly moving faster, thereby perpetually pushing the power of next-generation innovation.
Edge computing data center has emerged as a substitute to cloud computing, that keeps the data processing power at the “edge” of the network.
But, it also comes with a set of challenges to the network.
Edge computing devices that have processing functions are expensive and to operate the older version, additional equipment is required, which incurs extra expenditure.
Despite the challenges, edge computing has turned out to be the biggest technology investment.
So, let’s break it down here with comprehensive details to understand how this latest trending technology is all set to shape the future of the data center.
A Brief on Edge Computing
The word edge refers to the literal geographic distribution that brings computation and data storage nearer to the data sources.
It improves the response duration and saves bandwidth as it runs fewer processes in the cloud and shifts those processes to local destinations such as on a user’s computer, an edge server, or an IoT for that matter.
In a nutshell, edge computing is a topology that enables data to be analyzed, processed, and transferred at the edge of a network, It helps diminish the long-distance communication that takes place between a client and server.
A significant advantage of using edge computing lies in its high speed and better reliability. In addition, it offers improved security by distributing processing, storage, and applications across wide-ranging devices and data centers.
What’s more, it paves the way for a budget-friendly route to scalability as well as versatility, enabling organizations to expand their computing capabilities through an amalgamation of IoT devices and edge computing data centers.
Edge Data Centers and Their Usage!
There isn’t any specific explanation that would describe the idea of an edge data center, considering it isn’t one consistent style of the facility. It instead consists of smaller facilities that serve both edge computing and larger-scale cloud services.
Since they are located closer to the population, they could easily extend the edge of the network to deliver cloud computing resources and cached content to end-users. Typically, they connect to a larger central data center or multiple computer data centers seamlessly.
Latency has forever been a matter of concern for cloud data center managers. In recent times, it has emerged as a key obstacle due to big data, the Internet of Things, cloud and streaming services, and other technology trends.
Moreover, in today’s time and age, end-users and devices demand access to applications and services anytime and anywhere, which leaves no room for latency. Consequently, companies across the spectrum are establishing edge data centers to ensure cost-effective and high-functionality ways to provide customers with content and performance.
A great way to learn more about the data center would be to understand its usage. The following are some of the services that primarily rely on edge computing:
Internet of Things
Internet of Things tools essentially require low latency and reliable connections to the data center to function with high intensity. IoT devices add up a vast number of edge computing utilities; thus using edge computing makes it simple and effective.
Streaming Content
Streaming content is one of the most consumed form of infotainment. Users today want their video to get started with a single click that edge facilities help achieve.
Drones
While Drones are increasingly getting popular, their features are also massively advancing. For example, with edge computing, drones could be controlled even from far-flung locations without any hitch.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is one of the most thriving technologies that have taken over the world with its magnificent scalability, To make AI advantageous to the system, it should be able to access data, process it, and communicate with the end-users effectively and quickly which an edge data center allows.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality needs to get updates as quickly as possible to create an immersive world for the users. Though primarily associated with gaming, VR has also gained recognition for different paradigms such as communication, education, and several other significant uses.
Edge Computing and Data Centers – The Future!
A dedicated 5G Provider
Edge Computing is underway, building mammoth telecommunications capabilities into data center growth trends. These facilities could change the dynamics of 5G providers for enterprise brands and emerge as the dedicated 5G providers for organizations.
Support sustainable business goals
Edge data centers are being looked to as a periphery that can help build more efficient solutions to enable the sector’s sustainability. Edge computing is specifically designed to keep applications and data closer to devices and their users. Therefore, there is little doubt over the impact that edge computing will have on sustainable business goals.
Making way for Robot Security Guards
Evolution in AI and IoT has drastically changed the human staffing needs inside the data centers and made way for Robots. Currently, Robots have been deployed in some of the hyper-scale data centers for specific tasks. Whether it is the automated inspection, faulty disc locating, or disc charging, with Robots at the helm of affairs, everything can be completed seamlessly.
Many data center and robotics professionals are predicting that the next couple of years will be big leaps when it comes to placing more robotics in the data center environment.
Bill Kleyman - now Switch EVP of digital solutions - wrote in 2013.
How Does One Choose a Location For a Data Center?
Data centers are a critical part of any business enterprise operations. Hence, decisions regarding its locations cannot be relegated to an arbitrary choice.
In the past, companies used to set up their edge data centers closer to their offices to maintain the proximity. However, that is swiftly changing now as the equipment administration and monitoring can be achieved remotely.
With the data center industry transforming, performance is no longer the sole consideration.
To create a defining success of the data centers, companies are now looking for different sites for their data centers, primarily focusing on factors like economic, political, social, and geographical.
The current scenario highlights the significance of considering Energy efficiency, business continuity plan, and resource optimization. With so much at stake, the edge data centers should be effortlessly accessible.
Conclusion
Edge computing and data center growth has garnered a lot of interest among the users over the past few years. It will continue to thrive for many more years to come as it meets the eye of the global tech demands and the current and future needs of the users worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of edge computing?
One of the top benefits of edge computing is its quick response time and low latency period across all devices. It also simplifies the bandwidth and creates less risk in corporate security.
What are the drawbacks of edge computing?
A significant drawback of edge computing is the need of a huge storage capacity. The security challenge is also relatively high due to the massive amount of data stored in it. Moreover, the expensive cost factor is also a disadvantage of it.
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Network Infrastructure, Network Management
Article | July 27, 2023
According to the GSMA 2020 report, 600 million people do not have mobile network coverage and 3.4 billion people do not have mobile Internet access. Most of these areas are remote, difficult to obtain site transmission and power, and high infrastructure costs. As a result, the return of investment (ROI) of traditional solutions is usually as high as 8 to 10 years. Operators are not willing to deploy networks.
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Network Security
Article | October 27, 2021
Digital liberation has opened up several avenues for businesses. The current scenario is a bright example of how a remote or hybrid work model seamlessly became a norm, establishing digital workspaces, including laptops and PCs.
But this has also led companies to deal with a lot of challenges in managing their enterprise mobility.
Whether it is the security or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to the user experience or migration, Mobile Device Management (MDM) plays a significant role in digital transformation.
PROTECTION VS. PRIVACY: THE PROBLEM WITH (MDM) – INTRODUCTION
Mobile device management pertains to software solutions and reliable practices that enable companies to easily manage and obtain wide-ranging mobile devices in compliance with corporate guidelines.
In addition, the MDM functionality addresses the security of devices and data, management of devices, and configurations.
Essentially, MDM as security is an element of an enterprise mobility management solution that integrates a clustered set of tools to secure and manage mobile apps, BYOD devices, content data and access, configurations, risk management, software updates, and application management.
MDM allows a single-interface control over all connecting devices, enabling each device registered for corporate use through the MDM software to be easily monitored, managed, and controlled as per organizational policies.
“It’s clear that our network is better protected. We have solved our BYOD issues and can rely on great support via e-mail, phone, or Skype.”
- Raymond Bernaert, IT Administrator at ROC Kop van Noord, the Netherlands
However, when it comes to an understanding, this technology is of utmost importance to consider the key challenges that companies face regarding protection vs. privacy of mobile device management.
Key Challenges
MDM solutions are built to improve visibility and secure better control into an end user’s mobile device activity. However, unrestrained tracking of the device’s activities poses a huge threat to the end user’s privacy.
For instance, the mobile device management solution may track real-time location and browsing detail. The information exposes employees’ data and usage habits beyond the employer’s device management and security needs.
Moreover, as the mobile device market expands, employees choose devices from various brands and platforms, which companies extend support and manage; nevertheless, unanticipated security issues with a specific platform and software version could emerge at any point. Thus, executing the entire process without compromising the end-user convenience.
Now, let’s check out some of the most common mobile device management challenges.
Security
Using numerous devices and endpoints could potentially increase the risk of hacking. This is because, for hackers, it would be a lot easier to exploit the endpoints.
And, no wonder mobile device security is one of the fastest-growing concepts in the cybersecurity landscape today.
Incorporating mobile devices under the umbrella of mobile device management would be helpful to bridge the vulnerable gaps and prove to firmly manage the entire digital fleet, including mobile phones and PCs. In addition, this will increase up-time significantly and containerize the personal data from corporate data.
The Privacy Issue
Though MDM solution helps organizations obviate data breaches, they also open up doubt and questions regarding employee privacy. This is because various MDM tools allow employers to monitor the entire device’s activities, including personal phone calls and web activity, at any point.
Subsequently, this empowers the IT team to command control in corporate security, whereby they perform many such remote actions, which harm the employees’ privacy.
Organizations over the years have used mobile device management solutions with the intent to put BYOD in place. When an enterprise enables BYOD, employees use their devices to access data to help achieve the tasks.
With the intent to secure the endpoints, companies choose MDM as their key solution and take control over the entire mobile device, but with that comes the potential for abuse. So, naturally, there is an unwillingness among employees to get MDM installed on their devices.
Network Access Control (NAC)
The sudden surge in digital workspace culture has also brought in additional complications with varied mobile devices.
It is crucial to ensure the team has access to all the apps and corporate data they need. However, it is also important to note that there should be a check on direct access to the data center.
One of the core elements for enterprise mobility is network access control (NAC). NAC scrutinizes devices wanting to access your network and it carefully enables and disables native device capabilities distinctly.
With designated devices getting connected to the network as per resource, role, and location, it is relatively easy for NAC to ascertain their access level based upon the pre-configured concepts.
User Experience
It is essential to consider the end-user experience while managing mobility as it often becomes a big challenge. Therefore, a successful mobile device management structure lies mainly in creating a satisfying user experience.
A company that uses various devices and has extensive BYOD users may find VMware Workspace ONE or MobileIron effective.
However, if the enterprise is all Apple iPhones, the ideal enterprise mobility management would be Jamf Pro, an Apple-only EMM.
A single sign would be a perfect method to get into the virtual desktop to ensure efficiency for the remote workers. Moreover, it won’t ask you to sign into different applications separately.
Sturdy enterprise mobile device management is an absolute necessity to have a hassle-free experience.
Let’s cite the example of this case study, where ‘The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’ (S&T) initiated the Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) Apex program to assist tomorrow’s first responder in becoming protected, connected and aware.
DHS S&T held a series of NGFR Integration Demonstrations to incrementally test and assess interoperable technologies presently at the development stage.
These demonstrations have changed from tabletop integration to field exercises with partner public safety agencies incorporating increasingly complex technology.
The NGFR- Harris County OpEx included 23 varied DHS and industry-provided technologies involving six Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, five situational awareness applications and platforms and live-stream video feeds.
Additionally, Opex technologies also integrated body-worn cameras and real-time data aggregation and access across numerous agencies.
In a nutshell, this case study identifies and explains the mobile device management (MDM) solutions that provided an application-level cybersecurity evaluation and remote device management. The Opex addresses how nationwide public safety agencies could utilize MDM to enhance the operational deployment of new devices and applications.
Final Words
There are surely both pros and cons involved in mobile device management.
Over the years, the BYOD program has turned out to become a norm in corporate culture. In addition, the use of personal devices has significantly surged due to the gradual increase in remote and hybrid work models. Thus, many believe that the MDM solution is naturally aligned with BYOD.
However, the fact is, a perfectly planned BYOD policy is the only way to ensure clarity. Having no policy in place will expose a firm to the so-called ‘Shadow IT’ as users will circumvent the IT infrastructure working from their mobile devices.
Though the breach of privacy is likely, the policy can be tailored based on the company’s needs. The IT security is adequately maintained and protected and strikes a balance between protections vs. privacy in mobile device management.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can mobile device management do?
Mobile device management keeps business data safe and protected and secures control over confidential information. MDM also exercises its power to lock and remove all data. This is the capability that sustains the device’s security.
What are different mobile management tools?
With the introduction of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), several enterprise mobility management tools have also been inducted into MDM.
To name a few, some of the prominent MDM tools are Miradore, Citrix Endpoint Management, and SOTI Mobicontrol.
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