Welcome to Ask the Experts, brought to you by CloudServicesUniversity.com. In this video, Intelisys’ SVP Cloud Transformation Andrew Pryfogle breaks down the advantages of business class cable coax services with Time Warner Cable’s Ethernet Product Manager Dan Barlow. Find out more about increasing customer routing prioritization with business class cable from Dan and the Time Warner Cable team here: http://twc.cloudservicesuniversity.com/
| Andrew: | Okay guys, welcome to our next Ask the Experts session. We’re bringing in Dan Barlow. Dan Barlow is the Ethernet Product Manager for Time Warner Cable. Dan, welcome to the session, my friend. |
| Dan: | Hello. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. |
| Andrew: | All right, all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio. Dan, I wanted to dive into this conversation about business class cable services. We’ve just completed a session here talking about cable, and how cable’s changed so much, and how it’s delivered and the advantages of it, but I want you to break down for us the three or four key differences that separate business-grade cable coax services from consumer cable coax services. There are some very, very significant differences from what we’re used to at our houses for entertainment verses what we’re running business-critical applications on. Talk to us about that. |
| Dan: | Sure, sure. You know, when we really talk about the difference between how we refer to as residential versus business, there’s a couple key things. One, you get a prioritized queue—so if you do have an issue, there’s someone you can call and they can handle that very quickly. We also have a dedicated service and repair team. You also get a dedicated account team. If you have, say, you want to upgrade, you can call that person. They’re going to be back in touch with you. You’re going to develop a relationship with them. |
| Andrew: | Cool. |
| Dan: | Once the information—your information—is on our core network, we give it prioritization over our residential service. |
| Andrew: | Interesting. |
| Dan: | Therefore, we try to make sure that it gets through our network to its destination as quickly as possible. |
| Andrew: | Got it. That’s cool. The first thing you mentioned was that if I have a customer service issue or I want to upgrade, or expand or change my services, I have a dedicated support number to call, a dedicated account team that’s going to know me by name, that I’m going to have a relationship with—that already is a dramatic difference versus just being thrown into the general queue for residential customers. I get that, that’s big. That’s really interesting. The prioritization of traffic—if I’m a consumer and I get to the core of your network versus if I’m a business customer and I get to the core of your network—if I’m a business customer, my traffic is going to get higher routing prioritization across the core of your network than residential customers. |
| Dan: | That is correct. |
| Andrew: | Excellent. The residential, the consumer, that’s streaming Netflix is not going to have the same priority as the business applications I’m running that are kind of the “money engine” of my business. |
| Dan: | Right, right. Your credit card transaction is going to go before a Netflix. |
| Andrew: | Love it. Great example, great example. The other thing that is a little nuanced—as a residential customer, it’s harder for me to get things like static IP addresses, yet that’s kind of part of the standard offer for your business grade offer. Is that true? |
| Dan: | Our standard offering is a dynamic, but you can get a static. In our residential offering, you cannot get that. That being said, if there is a consumer that works from home and needs a teleworker package that is actually run through business class, so you get the advantages of business class with service at a residence and you also get that static IP address. |
| Andrew: | Got it, which makes sense. |
| Dan: | Which is really important for VPN and things like that. |
| Andrew: | Yep, yep, makes sense. The other piece that is fascinating: say I’m a regional bank, I’ve got three or four locations all within the Time Warner Cable footprint—you also have the ability on coax at each of those locations to knit together, in essence, a wide area network to have point-to-point connections across your network. That’s obviously a business class offer. Talk to us about that real quick. |
| Dan: | Well, yeah, that’s called our ethernet services offering. The great thing about that is it’s a Layer 2 or a flat Layer 2 network, or a point-to-point connection over our private network. Therefore, you’re not having to go out and compete with all the internet traffic. We’re creating a tunnel between your two locations and transmitting the traffic between it. Think of it like a long garden hose: whatever you put in one side comes out the other. |
| Andrew: | Yeah, good. Good analogy. Hey, this is perfect Dan; exactly the information we wanted to capture in this short segment. Clearly, it’s not your grandfather’s cable company anymore, huh? |
| Dan: | No, no. We’re striving to keep, you know, stay at the forefront of technology and make sure everybody has the access that they need. |
| Andrew: | Good deal. Well guys, that is Dan Barlow, the Ethernet Product Manager for Time Warner Cable, and one of our members of our faculty here at the Cloud Services University. Dan, thanks for popping in here and sharing some of the wisdom here. |
| Dan: | Sure, any time. Thanks. |
| Andrew: | Guys, hey, check out Time Warner Cable’s learning center and look for more insights from Dan later on. Good selling. |
