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Tag: market-data

  • Interxion To Expand London Data Center


    Carrier-neutral data center expert, Interxion, is to expand the capacity of its London City data center for the second time this year.

    Growing customer demand for high power density infrastructure is behind the expansion.

    The new 400 m² of equipped space, scheduled for completion in Q1 2009, will have access to the data centers 13 megawatt power supply, allowing it to deliver exceptionally high density power configurations of up to 17.5 kW per cabinet position.

    In April, Interxion completed a 1,250 m2 build-out. The Interxion London data center also hosts a Point of Presence for the London Internet Exchange (LINX).

    Greg McCulloch, MD of Interxion UK, said the mix of City of London location, power and connectivity was proving highly attractive to customers.

    “The site is served by some 28 carriers and network partners in total, giving a wide range of connectivity options, and customers can reduce latency while enhancing network resilience and availability by peering directly to LINX.”

  • IT Decision Makers Unclear About Unified Storage

    Unified storage has yet to make an impact on IT decision makers, with few even able to define what it stands for and even less aware of the business benefits of implementation, according to a survey.

    The study was conducted by Gartner and ONStor among 1600 IT and business decision makers from four continents and over 37 countries who attended the recent Gartner Data Center Summit and SNW Europe.

    It found that only 58 per cent of those questioned were familiar with the term unified storage.

    Unified storage has been defined as a single integrated storage infrastructure that functions as a unification engine to simultaneously support Fibre Channel, IP Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) data formats.

    Despite this, of the 50 per cent who said they could define it, 43 per cent thought it referred to virtualised storage and 56 per cent believed it was a combination of back up and storage.

    Narayan Venkat, vice president of corporate marketing at ONStor, said more had to be done to ensure IT professional were better briefed about unified storage.

    “What is absolutely clear from these top line survey findings is that the market needs more education on the benefits of unified storage, and that is where the vendor community needs to join forces with analysts to drive this message home," he said.

    Other key findings highlighted:

    • 21 per cent of the same who had heard of unified storage believed it would deliver a lower total cost of ownership

    • A further 21 per cent believed it would provide a more flexible network moving forward

    • The ability to protect the current investment in infrastructure was only cited by 8 per cent and only 6 per cent felt it would reduce operating costs and capital expenditure

  • Advertisers Need To Adapt To Mobile Internet


    Internet advertisers will need to create campaigns that work with multiple devices and display sizes if they want to benefit from growing mobile advertising revenue.

    That’s according to telecom analysts Berg Insight, who say a significant proportion of mobile advertising revenues will actually derive from mobile Internet users accessing conventional web sites.

    Smartphones will be the key device used to boost traditional Internet advertising revenues.

    Other predictions for the mobile advertising market included in Berg Insight’s report are:

    • Ad-funded business models will become a new paradigm in the discount MVNO segment of the mobile communications market. Price sensitive young consumers with low income will be most inclined to accept ads in exchange for voice minutes or text messages. Incidentally this group is also highly interesting for major advertisers.

    • Idle-screen will eventually become the largest mobile advertising channel. Virtually all consumers carry a mobile handset wherever they go and check out things on the display many times per day. Embedded advertising on the idle-screen and in the user interface would provide an unmatched exposure.

    • The current economic downturn will hold back revenue growth but not innovation. New unproven channels such as mobile media will see a negative effect from cutbacks in marketing budgets. However there is still going to be much innovation in the mobile space that will create new channels for advertisers to reach out to consumers.

    • Size will matter in the race for market leadership. Financial strength will be especially important if the market develops more slowly than previously anticipated. Existing digital and mobile industry players will have a major advantage over venture capital funded start-ups, many of which will have difficulties to find financing.

  • VoIP Solutions Used By Nearly Half of IT Firms


    Almost half of the IT organisations around the world have a VoIP network, according to a British Telecom study.

    BT’s survey of 267 global IT professionals showed that 48 per cent have a VoIP network at their work, up from 31 per cent in 2007.

    The UK telecoms company also found that a further 20 per cent are in the process of deploying VoIP solutions, with 71 per cent of these expected to be operational within two years.

    While most firms gradually replace their existing telephony systems with VoIP hardware, some install VoIP products or PBXs to replace ageing traditional PSTN systems.

    The survey found that the most important factors for firms considering a VoIP system are security, quality and reliability – a similar finding to surveys in 2005 and 2007.

    Demonstrating the ROI of moving from a PSTN system to VoIP services was listed by the highest percentage of respondents (27%) as the biggest hurdle to adoption of VoIP systems.

    "Cost is a critical factor when building a VoIP business case, but other criteria must take higher precedence when evaluating various implementation strategies and solutions," BT noted in its report.

    "Make sure you understand what your top requirements are, be they network reliability, voice quality or security, before committing to a strategy."

  • Indian VoIP Market Ripe For Growth

    The Indian market for VoIP is second only to China amongst the Asia Pacific countries and, with ever increasing numbers of broadband users, has vast potential for growth.


    biz-news.com blogger correspondent Jolsna Rajan gives her perspective on the internet communications outlook for the nation.

    The VoIP market in India is growing phenomenally. It has picked up and is all set to become the second largest market in the APAC countries after China.

    According to research by iLocus the carrier VoIP equipment market, softswitch and media gateways generated combined revenues of $2.2 billion in 2007, which represents about 24 percent growth over previous year.

    And 1,079 billion minutes of VoIP traffic carried by service providers worldwide was reported as in 2007.

    Of these minutes, 382.3 billion was local call volume, 614.4 billion was national long distance (NLD) call volume, and 82.6 billion was the international long distance (ILD) call volume.

    "India’s telecom market is one of the most dynamic telecom markets in the world, presenting high revenue potential for equipment vendors," said Jahangir Raina, an analyst at iLocus.

    "As carriers in India build next-generation networks that compete globally, we expect very rapid adoption of VoIP services not only in ILD but also in the domestic long distance segment. VocalTec is poised to meet the explosive growth expectations forecasted in our study."

    Competition

    The big players in the market like Skype, Jaxtr , Jajah continue to do well while it is interesting to note that entrants like Phonewala and TringMe have already begun to do exceedingly well.

    The growth of these new companies is very evident:

    • While Phonewala’s promoter Net4 recently got listed at BSE, TringMe is all set to capture a part of market share through its unique offering. Tringme has an embeddable flash widget that allows users to entirely get rid of their phone and call though a landline or even GTalk. Users only need a microphone connected to their computer. Calls are entirely free, and users can choose to keep their phone number private. It is already embarking onto expansion plans and is adding two more products in their portfolio, one of which is in the beta stage and the other will be a first of its own kind video product.

    The Booming Potential

    Lower cost is the most compelling reason to switch to VOIP service.

    It is one among the deregulated markets in India. Hence competitors are increasingly finding ways to cut costs.

    Also, consider the fact that CISCO alone has already shipped in excess of 200,000 IP phones to India. It also recently set up a pilot facility through their global manufacturing partner Foxconn for the production of internet protocol (IP) phones in Chennai.

    According to the Telecom Regulatory Authorty Of India (TRAI) document by 2010 India will have 20 million broadband users. This may give VoIP just get the right boost it requires.

    The Underlying Myth

    Perhaps the biggest misconception about VoIP is that it is illegal in India. Recently TRAI has been providing measures to tackle this misconception among users and hence has recommended removing earlier restrictions by appropriate licensing fees or service tax as captured.

    The second other assumption is that “low cost calls usually face problems with sound quality and reliability”. This misconception is yet to be tackled which would give a wide opportunity space especially with the corporate.

    All these disadvantages will be overcome in time and by 2010, India will witness a much better consumer acceptance.

  • Price Deals Fuelling Surge in HDTV Sales

    Sales of high definition plasma TVs have risen by 37 per cent in the third quarter compared to last year’s figures.

    A survey by DisplaySearch has shown that consumers are being enticed to buy plasma sets by sweeping price cuts, especially on 32-inch sets.

    The leading brand is Panasonic, with around 40 per cent of revenue on plasma TVs, followed by Samsung (29%), LG (22%), Pioneer (5%), and Hitachi (4%).

    The clear favorite in terms of screen-size for plasma is 42-inch sets (49%), although 50-inch sizes are increasingly popular (29%).
    Shipments of 32-inch screens accounted for 12% of the market.

  • Shoppers To Be Tempted With Reduced Price HDTVs And Bundled Blu-rays


    Greatly reduced HDTV price tags and packages bundling sets and blu-rays are among the retailing treats likely to be on offer to US shoppers this holiday season, according to DisplaySearch.

    With the US economy ailing, Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch’s director of North America TV market research, said stock market declines have impacted on people’s investments and consumers weren’t generally saving very much money.

    Paul Gagnon, director of N.American TV market research,DisplaySearch

    He said this could impact on their purchasing decisions during the Thanksgiving weekend and Black Friday holiday period, traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the year for the US CE and PC industries.

    “It’s an interesting time we’re in now," he said. “To combat this, retailers are expected to pull out all the stops this holiday season—lowering HDTV prices, offering bundled electronic packages with HDTVs and Blu-ray disc players, using ‘creative’ financing deals when possible such as in-store credit or ‘pay when you get your tax return’ options with the hopes of achieving their sales targets this holiday season.

    "Keeping shopper traffic high for the holiday season will be a priority for both retailers and TV manufacturers.”

    Speaking in a webinar exclusively for DisplaySearch clients, Gagnon detailed several potential TV scenarios for the 2008 holiday season:

    •   Consumers will become increasingly conservative in discretionary holiday spending, despite discount and promotion opportunities—leading to negative Y/Y Q4’08 shipment growth.
    • Consumers will take advantage of the best bargains and low price points—causing retailers to hit their unit sales targets, but miss revenue goals and negatively impact margins.
    • Consumers will continue to spend as they have on larger sizes and better featured sets—taking advantage of dramatically lower prices and sggressive retail promotions.
    • Consumers will turn to discount stores such as Costco and Walmart in greater numbers for electronic purchases this holiday season, in order to save money and get more shopping done in fewer trips.

  • Logitech Snaps Up VoIP Startup SightSpeed


    Logitech International has announced the acquisition of VoIP and videoconferencing startup SightSpeed for around USD $30 million.

    The deal is expected to close in early November, following completion of standard closing procedures and conditions.

    In a release, the Swiss manufacturer of PC peripherals said the addition of SightSpeed’s video technology and research and development team would allow it to develop new video solutions for the home market.

    SightSpeed’s software has received widespread praise and sits at the core of Dell’s Video Chat application. The service allows people to make video calls, computer-to-computer voice calls, and calls to regular telephones, with free and paid versions.

    Logitech claimed the merger would produce "future video calling initiatives that can enable cross-platform video communications with an intuitive, lifelike experience, for people sitting in front of a personal computer or with their family in a living room".

    Logitech, perhaps best known for computer mice it makes, already sells high-end video cameras for online video conferencing and chat, and some VoIP equipment as well.

    Junien Labrousse, executive vice president of Logitech’s Products group, said: "With this acquisition, we are significantly augmenting our current video R&D resources to help us move more quickly toward our goals for video services that complement the way people socialize, communicate and enjoy entertainment."

    SightSpeed’s 25 employees currently work out of offices in Fremont, California, where Logitech’s US HQ is situated.

  • Digital-data Explosion Requires New Tools


    By 2011, the digital universe will be ten times the size it was in 2006, according to research from IDC.

    This digital-data explosion will require IT organizations to adopt new tools and standards to ensure an efficient information infrastructure.

    The study points out that existing relationships with business units will have to be transformed.

    It will take all competent hands in an organization to deal with information creation, storage, management, security, retention, and disposal.

    Importantly, the researchers said the problem is not just a technical one, but requires organization-wide policies.

    Titled The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2011, the report highlights several findings that will affect individuals and business around the world in the years to come, including:

    • At 281 billion gigabytes (281 exabytes), the digital universe in 2007 was 10 percent bigger than originally estimated.

    • With a compound annual growth rate of almost 60 percent, the digital universe is growing faster and is projected to be nearly 1.8 zettabytes (1,800 exabytes) in 2011, a 10-fold increase over the next five years.

    • Your "digital shadow" — that is, all the digital information generated about the average person on a daily basis — now surpasses the amount of digital information individuals actively create themselves.

    • The digital universe in 2007 was equal to almost 45 gigabytes (GB) of digital information for every person on earth — or the equivalent of more than 17 billion 8 GB iPhones.

    • About 70 percent of the digital universe is created by individuals, yet enterprises are responsible for the security Relevant Products/Services, privacy, reliability, and compliance of 85 percent.

    To deal with this explosion, IDC says IT organizations must:

    • Transform existing relationships with business units. It will take all competent hands in an organization to deal with information creation, storage Relevant Products/Services, management, security, retention, and disposal. It’s not a technical problem alone.

    • Spearhead the development of organization-wide policies for information governance: information security, information retention, data access, and compliance.

    • Rush new tools and standards into the organization, from storage optimization, unstructured data search, and database Relevant Products/Services analytics to resource pooling (virtualization Relevant Products/Services) and management and security tools. All will be required to make the information infrastructure.