Infrastructure is core to every solution you sell, making it critical to solution success. In our networking and connectivity breakout sessions we identified and discussed how new avenues and partnerships can accelerate your growth.
Oh, and here comes AI to further add complexity, interest and most important, business opportunity. Studies show that most technology executives say, “Should their companies fail to achieve their AI goals, data issues are more likely than not to be the reason.” Data is the key to ensuring AI can be scaled. IoT/machine learning use cases that create value are a top priority of the enterprise data strategy for many. This presents you with a significant opportunity.
Connectivity
It’s more critical than ever. Connectivity is the foundation for enabling applications and reaching all users as the online world shrinks and demands inclusivity, whether a worker is rural, working remotely, traveling, or in the office.
Expectations for performance were a prevalent topic, assuming 100 percent SLAs and availability, resulting in diversity and redundancy evolving from just critical locations to be the default standard for all locations.
Your customer requests for connectivity should lead you to larger discussions about solving business challenges, be it UC, IOT, SDWAN, cybersecurity, and cloud. Panelists noted that you shouldn’t overlook full-service providers, as they can not only help with opening up those opportunities but can fulfill all the requirements. Networking and connectivity suppliers can now offer many, if not all, services globally.
Another trend discussed was the type of connectivity being used to transport traffic. Panelists noted that it is becoming more agnostic as cellular bandwidth and availability continue to increase, multiple fiber providers are available now in most metro areas, the ability to recognize and prioritize quality of service (“QOS”) becomes universal, and global cable and fiber buildout continues.
This has allowed latency, throughput, jitter, and overall performance of applications to approach “Next Door” status and the ability to enable private and public cloud hosting to continue trending. Even with mobile and IoT applications, the audience discussed how it sees less reliance on geographical hosting and more on networking performance and resilience.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is here. It’s being applied even in basic networking to assist in optimal routing solutions to maximize performance, predict circuit maintenance schedules, and provide insight analytics for network traffic and application routing. Its impact on all things related to customer service is being felt.
As we mentioned above, it’s all about the data. This point dovetails nicely into the IoT conversation.
IoT Deals
From a business development perspective, panelists suggested you find and speak with the personas suffering from the pain points that networking and connectivity solutions solve. They suggested ditching the complicated technology acronyms and framing the conversation on the business issues. For example, in terms they understand, explain what you can track, what you can detect, how you can report on conditions, etc.
Another business development suggestion that was discussed, panelists suggested you zero in on the “telco closet.” They noted this is a surefire and simple route to get a foot in the door with the IT team. Explaining how SaaS helps alleviate concerns about capex will immediately pull on their heartstrings.
Again, the topic of AI popped up frequently in this discussion about IoT. One of the fundamental components of an IOT solution is an analytics platform, in which AI plays a key role. This platform aggregates and stores all the data gathered from IoT devices and turns that raw data into actionable insights.
Enhancing the Customer Experience at Public Venues
The market opportunity related to technology’s impact on the customer experience at public entertainment venues continues to grow exponentially. Technology’s impact on ease of entry, staff and guest connectivity, and all things related to security all add up to a successful and memorable guest experience.
One of the trends discussed was the integration of separate networks into a single, converged network. The panelists noted the impact of this migration would support venue safety. For example, as patrons walk through an entry point, they see and experience detectors, security monitors, personnel, and much more. But what the patron doesn’t see is the facial recognition technology at work or a Security Operations Center monitoring elaborate reports in real-time.
Another example was demonstrated through the lens of the patron experience. Video data captured by cameras can be pulled through an AI filter to send an alert to open a new register if a concessions line reaches too long. Or Wi-Fi offloading, which can be used to ease the burden on the local cellular network, thereby increasing the performance for the user.
Want to learn more? Check out the assets below.
Continued Learning
- 2023 Channel Connect Breakout Sessions Slides at Intelisys University
- IoT Journey at Intelisys University
- IoT & Connectivity: How to Win Deals
