Many modern enterprises in sectors such as hospitality, tourism, and retail are service-driven. Franchising models allow those with the talent and flair to create and develop a brand to expand nationally and internationally. These individual branches are often quite small and require small-scale IT deployments, however, the overall picture may extend to 100’s or 1000’s of sites. These deployments must support both the business and the customer network access requirements, with secure enterprise connectivity and easy guest access. How often have you chosen a coffee shop not solely based on the quality of the food and beverages, but also on the ability to get a seat to work, a power outlet and good Wi-Fi?
Subscription-based
models
What about goods and services on a
subscription basis? It is predicted that in the future there will be autonomous,
electrically powered vehicles that can be summoned at a few minutes notice, at
very competitive cost, negating the need to own or even lease a vehicle for
exclusive personal use. We’re all already enjoying the benefits of music and
video streaming services that give immediate and cost-effective access to a near
limitless library of content (although I still love my CDs and vinyl records!).
Considering these trends in consumption models, why wouldn’t a fast-moving
business embrace a similar offering to deliver a network infrastructure service
on a subscription basis, scaling the network as and when demand calls for it?
These same businesses are already signed up to cloud hosted application and
storage delivery, allowing them to flex their capacity in line with incremental
growth or seasonal peaks in their business operations.
Ease
of use
Apple didn’t invent smartphones or tablets,
but demonstrably aided mass market adoption with intuitive and easy to
understand user interfaces and an app development ecosystem. With the latest announcement
of the new Apple TV+ service, there is recognition of the need to diversify in
an increasingly competitive device market.
The market for cloud-controlled network
infrastructure, in particular Wi-Fi, isn’t new. However, some early to market
solutions are arguably becoming weighed …