Time to Travel - 7 Weeks, 8 Stops

And so it begins…

I’m not a super-frequent flyer, but Fall is the busy season for industry events, and I’ve never had a run like this before. Planning for these events has been in the works for quite some time, and it’s just about time to go.

Starting on Sunday, I’ll be travelling to 8 events over the next 7 weeks. Not continuously - phew - so I’ll be home in between each trip, but it’s going to be quite the ride. First stop is Shanghai, followed by New York, London, Machu Picchu, Dubai, Raleigh, Anaheim, and finally NYC again.

There will be lots to talk about at each stop, and I’ll blog as time allows - same for posting on social. I’m just about done now with X, so that basically means Linkedin. Next task - put in delivery stops for the newspaper. I’m so analog, huh….

Next Event - UC Expo UK, London

Am returning to UC Expo - pretty much same place and time as last year - October 4-5. Best I can tell, it’s the top event in the UC space in the EU, and they sure draw a big crowd.

Aside from attending, I’ll moderating two panels, along with being on the ask-the-analyst session during Day 2. Banner below showcases one of the sessions I’m moderating, and I’ll add the other one when it’s ready. If you haven’t registered, here’s the link, and maybe I’ll see you there!

Next Speaking Slot - Digital Transformation, CX and AI

I can talk a long time about this mix of themes, but for this session, we only have 45 minutes, and there will be three of us. No matter - am happy to be there - and worth noting this will be a new event for me.

The event is called Digital CxO Summit - it’s a one-day virtual event on Wednesday, September 13, at 1pm EST. I’m new to this group - Techstrong - and they have several other events that may fall into my orbit later this year.

Let’s see how this one goes first, and if you want to attend, registration details are on their site. For more detail about the panel session, here’s the Agenda link, and if you scroll down to 1pm, you’ll see it there.

North Carolina Electric Cooperatives Conference - Quick Take and Pix

NCEC - that’s the acronym of the day, and it’s for the North Carolina Electric Cooperatives. That’s a mouthful, but they speak my language, and represent 26 co-ops across the state - basically the customer base that Duke Energy doesn’t serve directly.

You may not know that I have a long history in the smart grid space, including my own Smart Grid Summit event some years back, and a good run being quite involved with Zpryme’s Energy Thought Summit - which is still going strong in Austin. With a bit of searching on my blog, you’ll see all kinds of posts and videos about that, but for this post, I’m just talking about where I was last week.

That would be Myrtle Beach - first time there for me - where I was invited to speak at NCEC’s 2023 Technology Conference and Expo. Turns out this was their largest attendance to date, and as a speaker, it’s always great to have a full house. I did presentations for two sessions, and the rooms were full each time - with lots of audience engagement. That checks a lot of boxes for me.

I’ll just share some high-level takeaways here - mainly because it was a closed event - no media, and I was the only analyst there. I could go on at great length about the parallels between telecom and energy providers, and while both are utilities by nature, they’re at different stages of adopting all the new technologies that are in my orbit. Energy providers have lagged here, and what happened with telcos is happening here now.

This event was a great way to learn about the current state of energy, along with what’s on tap technology-wise. There is definitely a lot of new tech being adopted here, mostly for operations, and AI is very much in the mix. The exhibit hall had plenty of that on display, including vendors who would be familiar in the comms world, such as Fortinet, Cradlepoint, Cisco, Carousel, Calix and SAS.

Cybersecurity is a big deal here, as utilities are very attractive targets, both for network-based and physical plant attacks. Pretty scary stuff, actually, and comms technology has a big role to play in protecting all this.

AI is starting to carry the day here, and the use cases for smart grid are similar - and complementary - to what’s needed in adjacent spaces like smart home, smart factory, smart cities, smart vehicles. All things considered, this is actually a great time for energy providers to leverage these technologies to re-think the whole value chain. These co-ops definitely see the opportunity, and just need some support to help catch up and make a similar transition to what telcos have gone through.

In case you’re wondering - as I now put on my contact center/CX hat - yes, customer service is a big pain point here, just as it is in other sectors that have lagged with cloud and AI adoption. I see this being a huge part of the value chain that needs innovation, not just because the bar for CSAT is low, but also because supply-demand dynamics have changed so much. Energy customers - both residential and commercial - do have some choice now in providers, and with the rise of renewables, they can actually be both buyers and sellers of energy. Lots of opportunity here to uplevel the customer experience.

I got to play a small part in raising their knowledge base via my two sessions talking about AI. The content is for attendees only, so all I can say is that there’s a strong appetite for this, and my role was to provide an industry-based perspective on the trends and use cases. One session was focused on Generative AI, and I made it interactive, using an ask-me-anything format. I had three of these platforms running, and we input various questions and requests, both from me and the audience to see what responses would come back. It was a fun way to experience Generative AI first-hand, and if you want to do this with me at your next event, drop me a line!

That’s my quick take, and will close by sharing a few photos - mostly mine - from the event.

Below - Don Bowman from Wake Electric kicking things off. What you don’t know is that he’s the bandleader for their community, and his group played to close out the event - very much like the SIPtones, yeah. Didn’t work out for me to be part of their gig, but maybe next year. Next - full room for my presentation about the impact of AI on future of work and opportunities for utilities. Photo credit for me speaking - Katie Hochstedt from NCEC.

Exhibitors from the show floor - NCEC, Fortinet and Cradlepoint.

Some of the event sponsors, then a colorful shot from a fiber exhibitor. Last photo - sure looks like a switchboard - it’s a training tool used for linemen. If you’re of a certain age, you’re probably smiling, thinking hey, this is just like the Operation game we used to play as kids. Correct! I was not alone in thinking that, and it probably says a lot for the age demographic of this industry.

MWC Shanghai - Quick Take and Photos

Had my first trip to Asia recently, and I was part of a media delegation from the West to attend MWC Shanghai (and pretty sure I was the only attendee from Canada or the US). The delegation was sponsored by Huawei, so we also had some tours of their various campuses, all of which was very impressive.

Time was limited at the conference itself, and the stars have finally lined up to share a quick take here. MWC ran during late June, but with limited access to Internet platforms - not to mention the 12 hour time difference - I didn’t do any real-time posting while there. I have a few articles in the works about my trip - and tons more pictures - but for now, I’m going to share some of my photos and high-level takeaways.

I don’t think a lot of Westerners were at MWC Shanghai, as many of the sessions were in Chinese, but audio translating devices were available to follow along in English. Couldn’t get the full gist of what was being said, but the overall themes were clear. 5G is definitely happening, and looks to be at a much faster pace in Asia.

Many of the talks were about industrial and IoT applications, and the benefits are easy to see. From what I can tell, though, these innovations are happening mainly in Asia - and a bit in the Middle East. As such, I took this a preview of things to come in the West, so there’s a lot to pay attention to here.

Was great to see so many use-case driven examples - mining, exploration, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics to name a few - these vendors and carriers are not just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. Much of what I saw was B2B, but there were a few B2C citings, so the 5G story here isn’t really about getting consumers to post more videos on social media.

I’ll explore some of those use cases in upcoming posts, and for now, will leave you with some photos for a flavor of being there. Disclaimer - speaker attributions may not be 100% accurate. Wasn’t easy to track all the details while there, and corrections are welcome.

Below - weather was very hot and humid, so much more comfortable once inside. Not quite the crowds for a Beatles concert, but it kinda looked that way with the early morning rush to get in. Third photo - one of many reminders why it’s different in China. Checkpoints everywhere - this one segregates attendees from mainland China and everywhere else.

Everyone and everything is on mobile here, but had limited access to my go-to apps/platforms. Eventually, I got on WeChat - it’s great - but not til after MWC. All those folks with sign cards - I guess they’re guides to get people around - 5 exhibit halls, so it’s a lot of ground to cover. Last shot - the palace guards keeping watch over the food - soooo cute!

From the show floor - pavilions for Huawei and China Unicom. Middle - one of many demos from Huawei - Naked 3D. Very cool - one of the few consumer-type offerings there - the baseball seems to be jumping off the screen, coming right at you - 3D effect without the glasses - really need to see it.

Many recurring themes across the talks I saw, but reinforces how far along these companies and carriers are with 5G. Sabrina Meng from Huawei, Xu Ziyang from ZTE, Jemin Chung from KT.

Dingjin Liu from SINOPEC (great review of using 5G for exploration), Henry Ge from GTVerse (using 5G to bridge the worlds of gaming, live sports and AR/VR - very cool), Chaobin Yang from Huawei.

Avaya ENGAGE - Act III - My Takeaways on BCStrategies

This isn’t really an ICYMI post, and if you’re still wondering about what Avaya’s prospects look like, I think you’ll find my analysis a good read.

I was offline all last week, and actually wrote this right after Avaya’s ENGAGE event in Orlando, so it was done before most of the subsequent writeups came out. For reasons unbeknownst to me, BCStrategies couldn’t get my writeup published until last Friday - right before the holiday weekend, when everyone is heading to the beach or a bbq. Doh! That’s how it goes sometimes, so this is very likely the first you’re hearing about it.

There are many good stories to be told about what I’m calling Act III for Avaya, and my writeup on BCStrategies is just one of them. This week, my July Watch This Space podcast comes out, and there will lots more there about Avaya, so keep an eye out for that as well.

Writing Roundup for June

Back-to-back months of hectic travel, so writing has been on the light side. Lots of new work in play, though, and over the next few days I’ll catchup on the backlog and get all of that posted. Until then, here’s a digest of my public writing from June.

Avaya ENGAGE - Takeaways for Act III, BCStrategies, June 30

SIP Trunking vs. VoIP - What’s the Difference?, TechTarget, June 15

Campaign Registry - a Higher Bar for A2P Messaging, Aizan Blog, June 9

Next Stop - Orlando and Avaya ENGAGE

Travel schedule has been light lately, and all of a sudden, there are three good ones all happening next week - go figure. I can only do one, and my pick is Avaya ENGAGE, so it’s back again to Orlando.

As we all know, the stakes are high for Avaya these days, and so far, they’ve done a great job righting the ship. Under Alan Masarek’s leadership, things are looking promising, so I’m quite keen to attend and see where things are going from here. With a solid balance sheet and renewed market focus, there’s a lot of opportunity to capitalize on, and over the next few days, I’ll share my thoughts on how well they’re executing.

Enterprise Connect Redux - 4 Recap Interviews

Enterprise Connect seems like a long time ago, but still plenty of buzz from what I can tell. If you follow my blog, you’ll know that I managed to post some photos just after the event, but have not had time since to write up my thoughts.

In lieu of that, I’ve been part of four different interview spots related to Enterprise Connect - one podcast and three video segments. So, if you want to hear/see my thoughts on the event, you’ve got a lot of reference points to work from here. They’re all different, and if you get through all of them, let me know, and I’ll give you a gold star shout-out! Here goes…

First - I was a guest on Doug Green’s Telecom Reseller podcast, which was recorded onsite at Enterprise Connect. Click on the visual below for the replay - and same for the next two.

Second - I was a guest on Zeus Kerravala’s ZKast video series, so this is a 1:1 segment where we discussed our takeaways from the event.

Third - the latest segment of Big UC News, where I was one of several guests sharing our thoughts with hosts David Dungay and Rob Scott.

Fourth - this is for the SCTC, where last week’s Fireside Chat was about Enterprise Connect, and I’m one of many members talking about the event. We do these chats live, and they’re all archived on the SCTC website, but you need to be a member to access them.

Extreme Networks Influencer Summit - Quick Take and Pix

Another week, another event, but I’ll be home now for the rest of April. This was my first time attending an Extreme Networks event, and this was their first one just for “influencers”, which includes analysts, consultants and media. To varying degrees, each of these groups are influencers, but that topic is best left for another time.

Just have a short window at the airport now until my flight goes, so this will be quick. My first impressions were very positive, and kudos to my hosts Tom Fitzpatrick and Wes Durow for putting on a great event. We were a small group - by design - and the time was well-spent. I may not be a networking guy, but I follow it well enough to understand how it drives business value, and as digital transformation marches on, the possibilities really open up.

In due time, I plan to write a few pieces to explore that, both overall, and for specific use cases, such collaboration and hybrid work. There are strong parallels between what they’re envisioning in terms of outcomes with all this hyper-connectivity, and Future of Work, which is one of my cores areas of focus. More coming on that soon, and until then, here are a handful of my photos.

CEO Ed Meyercord talking about how the network has become strategic now - definitely - and what really turned Extreme around was shifting from being engineering-focused to being customer-focused. Good plan. Next - Amy Aylward, VP Corp. Marketing (off camera, sorry), moderating a panel with Extreme execs about how the market has changed with exponentially more data now to manage - “new ways, better outcomes”. Last - demo session on opening night.

Yes, it’s true - everything is old in Boston - well, almost. The ballpark may be well into its second century, but there’s lots of cool innovation happening here. We got a great tour of the stadium, but also a closer look at the technology Extreme provides; and to tell us about it, we had Randy George on hand, VP Tech Operations with the Red Sox. More specifically, fellow SCTC colleagues Scott Murphy and Tom Brannen pointing out one of the 800 access points Extreme has running at Fenway to provide incredibly rich data about everything going on there via our mobile devices. A bit scary, but a data geek’s playground.

Purple is the color scheme here - nice touch. Things never stand still in our world, so during the briefings yesterday, I managed to work in two video spots - both to review highlights from last week’s Enterprise Connect. First, Steve Leaden, hosting his regular live Fireside Chat - Wednesdays at noon - so being onsite, I joined him for the segment. This is for SCTC members - Extreme is one - and replays are available for members on our website. Finally - I did a segment with Zeus Kerravala for his ZKast video series, where we also talked about Enterprise Connect takeaways. Here’s Zeus setting up the camera before doing our chat. If you don’t follow Zeus, you really should, and I’ll share this once it comes out.

Enterprise Connect 2023 - Takeaways (sort of) and Photos

Was quite a week at Enterprise Connect, and still trying to process all the conversations and updates. Normally, I’d have time to consolidate my thoughts, but it just hasn’t happened yet.

In lieu of that, however, I’ll be sharing my takeaways via three different video segments, with the first one recorded yesterday for Big UC News. Am attending an analyst event this week, and have two other video segments lined up then, so it won’t take long to get those done and shared here, and on my social channels.

Until those come out, am sharing some photos below from the conference - all are mine unless credited otherwise. If you want to chat further about Enterprise Connect, feel free to drop me a line. It’s not usually this hectic after an event, but that’s how things are lining up right now.

Below: Dave Michels hosting the Innovation Showcase (I was a judge), Blair Pleasant’s panel on bringing UCaaS and CCaaS together, and the super-interesting UCaaS vendor breakdown session with Kevin Kieller and Brent Kelly.

My session on enterprise use cases for AI-driven speech tech (photo: Dan Miller - thanks!), panel session on Thursday about how IT will adapt to the future of work, Vonage analyst breakfast, with Savinay Berry speaking

Long-time tech journalist Doug Green - I was his guest for an episode of his Telecom Reseller podcast - coming soon! Next - very cool demo from the most interesting thing I saw at the show - from Alan Lepofsky (another Canadian!) of Mobeus. Look closely at the right screen at his hands looking like a ghost image, and as he gestures, the outline of the hands show up on the left screen, in real time. Hard to explain, but Airglass adds a virtual layer to what’s on your screen that helps make meetings more interactive and immersive. Out of the box for sure, and very cool. Last photo - Paul Ginn speaking at Mitel’s analyst update.

Hey, I got photo-bombed by “no kisscam” Zeus Kerravla - surprise! I was briefing at the time with Joe Burton of Telesign - thanks for the photo, Joe. Cool signage here as you walk into the event space - it reflects perfectly below on the marble floor. Another fun shot, with another Canadian and long-time colleague, Darryl Wilson from Kyndryl (Darryl’s selfie).

More social stuff - with my SCTC and SIPtones brothers - Rick Hathaway, Steve Leaden and son (thanks Fran Blackburn!); with Lisa Martin from Five9 (her selfie), and Carlos Cano from Talkdesk (his selfie).

Enterprise Connect after dark - very fun whiskey tasting with Talkdesk, firing up a smokey and very delicious Old Fashioned at NICE, and a very glam welcome sign from Twilio’s reception.

Future of Work Expo Redux - Press Coverage Digest

Just a quick coda to my earlier post about last week’s Future of Work Expo, with my photos and a link to a review article I wrote about it.

Time to flip the script, and share what others had to say about the event. One of TMC’s many publications is Future of Work News, and they covered several of our sessions - here are the articles they’ve posted to date:

ChatGPT session - The Reach of ChatGPT: A Discussion at Future of Work Expo

Quiet Quitting session - Engaged Employees Ward Off Quiet Quitting

Agent Experience for FOW session - Contact Center Agents Need Strong Support

AI and Workforce Management session - AI-Enabled Systems Complete Repetitive Tasks in HR

Managing Hybrid Workforces session - Navigating FOW: Successfully Managing Hybrid Workforces

Future of Work Expo Recap - Review and Pix

Last week was my fifth go-round as Chair of the Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, and given my travel schedule, this is the first chance I’ve had to get this recap done. As good as the 2022 edition was, this was even better, and am expecting nothing less for 2024. Speakers are already asking about coming back, and am keen to start mapping out the program.

Sorry to say that the sessions were not recorded, so you kinda had to be there to take it all in. A few speakers, though, did shoot smartphone video, and have shared snippets on social, but I don’t have direct access to their clips.. Otherwise, the next best thing will be this post, where I’ll share some of my photos (and shots from others), along with a review article that I wrote, and was just posted today on EM360 (log-in required there, but it just takes a moment).

Finally, kudos and thanks to my long-term partners at TMC, for all their support to make FOW Expo happen. If you don’t know - their flagship event, ITExpo, ran its 40th edition last week as well, so clearly, they must be doing something right. If any of this stokes your interest in speaking or sponsoring for 2024, just drop me a line any time!

Managing the endpoints session, with Poly, Sangoma and CDW (photo: Ashley Battle); Making hybrid work session - moderated by David Jodoin, with Cisco, Jeff Pulver and Vizetto; full room during the ChatGPT session.

Barbara Steel from EY - new study on AI and workforce management; AI in the contact center session, with IntelePeer, Quantanite and Twilio (photo: Nadia Ciaravino); Chris Fine moderating quiet quitting session, with Mission Cloud, Premier Virtual, Focus Global Talent, Instawork.

Glenn Goldberg moderating the managing hybrid workforce session, with Vizetto, United Office and me - as a panelist for a change (photo: Barbel Wetenkamp); Agent experience session, with Upstream Works, Genesys, Five9; David Jodoin moderating the employee engagement session, with CDW, Avaya and Prodoscore.

Agenda for Day 1; group photo with some attendees and speakers (photo: unknown, but thanks Jennifer Hotai!); David Jodoin

Enterprise Connect Update #2 - Roundtable Session on Enterprise Speech Tech

Last week, I posted my first Enterprise Connect shout-out - am one of the judges for the Innovation Showcase, so if you’re a rising star in this space, you should check out my post.

Now it’s time to get my Enterprise Connect session on your radar. If you don’t know, this is the 5th year doing my update talk on the state of speech technology applications for enterprises. This time around, we’ve varied the format, now going to a roundtable.

Previously, I’ve done a standalone 45-minute talk, but now it will be a short update talk, followed by a roundtable discussion with three speakers. Joining me will be Dan O’Connell from Dialpad, Mahesh Ram from Zoom, and Edward Miller from LumenVox. By design, it’s a varied mix of voices, and I hope you’ll join us - Wednesday, March 29 at 4pm. I’ll update this post when I find out which room we’re in, but all the other details are here.

Also, below, feel free to use my special code to get $400 off your registration fee!

Enterprise Connect Update #1 - Innovation Showcase

Calling all innovators! This is the first of two updates for Enterprise Connect 2023, and it’s shaping up to be pretty big. Another post is coming about my panel session, but this one is for the Innovation Showcase, which has been hosted by colleague Dave Michels for a few years.

I’ve been invited to be a judge for the submissions, so I have a small role to play here, albeit behind the scenes. The theme for 2023 is “Collaboration Reimagined”, so if that’s you, your application needs to be in by March 1. To learn more, here’s the link, and if you apply, I’ll be quietly assessing your entry along with the other judges. :-)

Otherwise, as the banner below shows, I’ll be speaking - and moderating - and details are coming on that in my next post. And… if you haven’t registered yet, feel free to use the code showing there to save $400.

Future of Work Expo, Feb. 14-16 - Updates

Another update for my upcoming Future of Work Expo, taking place in Ft. Lauderdale in just a few short weeks. FOW Expo is one of the sub-events with TMCnet’s long-running ITExpo. This is my fifth go-round as Chair, and the speaking roster is just about done.

Still a handful of open panel spots, so if that’s of interest, you can review the full agenda here, and get back to me if you see a particular topic - thanks.

Since my last update, we’ve done some tweaking to the program, and there are two new topics we’ll be exploring:

• ChatGPT - FOW implications - is there anything hotter right now?

• Contact Center Evolution - is this a model for FOW?

If you haven’t attended before, here are some highlights from the 2022 event, and here’s the latest e-blast from TMCnet to help promote the show.

Future of Work Expo, Ft. Lauderdale - Feb 14-16

Another shout-out for my upcoming Future of Work Expo, one of the sub-events with TMCnet’s long-running ITExpo. This is my fifth go-round as Chair, and the speaking roster is rounding out nicely. Still room on some sessions, though, so if that’s of interest, you can review the full agenda here, and get back to me if you see a particular topic - thanks.

I’ll have more updates soon, including previews for some of the panel sessions, and hope you can join us. If you haven’t attended before, here are some highlights from the 2022 event, and here’s a recent e-blast from TMCnet to help promote the show.

My Next SCTC Fireside Chat - Dec. 14: "I've Been Everywhere, Man!"

We all know how that song goes, and it’s the theme song for this week’s SCTC Fireside Chat. I’ll be in conversation with the host, Steve Leaden - and fellow SIPtoner - where I’ll share highlights from my recent run of travel to various industry events. This should be fun, and after the chat, you should check out the SCTC for yourself.

Here’s the 5 second trailer on Youtube, and details are here to sign up. Our Fireside Chats are from 12-1 ET most Wednesdays, and hope you can join us then!

Next Webinar - with Five9, Canadian Contact Center Market Trends

On Thursday, Dec. 1, Five9 is running the 2022 edition of their CX Summit Canada, and I’ve been brought back again to provide an overview of the contact center market. I’m part of a larger program running through the day - all of it virtual - and later, I’ll be joining an in-person reception in downtown Toronto. The Five9 folks will determine who can attend, and to find out more, here’s the registration link.

Mavenir Analyst Event - Quick Take and Pix

Trust the Future - that’s Mavenir’s current tag line, and I really like it. This isn’t just any future they’re talking about - it’s mainly about 5G, but also Open RAN. 5G has yet to live up to the hype, especially in North America, but both carriers and wireless vendors seem all-in, including Mavenir.

While most see the future of wireless networks being 5G, Open RAN is an open question. Mavenir looks to be out in front with cloud-native Open RAN, and while the rationale is clear to them - and now to me - their competitors seem to like things the way they are, and mobile operators don’t seem ready for it - yet. Mavenir believes it’s just a matter of time, and if they’re right, they could own this space.

The mobile infrastructure space isn’t a core focus for me, but it’s adjacent to a lot of what I follow, and when thinking of VoIP, and possibly UCaaS and CCaaS, I’ve seen this movie before. Mavenir is a pretty healthy company, and a bit of an anomaly compared to the giants who dominate this market - namely Ericsson and Nokia.

This actually puts them in a great position to push the envelope and be disruptive, and that’s exactly the persona they’re projecting. Sure rings familiar to me, at least with the early days of VoIP, when the first wave of startups brought disruption, and posed a real threat to a well-entrenched status quo - that for the most part have come around to VoIP.

Given Mavenir’s global customer base, they have found plenty of mobile operators willing to adopt more open, more flexible and less costly infrastructure. Without naming names, they have 19 Open RAN deployments across 17 countries, and 4 trials going with Tier 1 carriers, one of which gave a full presentation as to what they’re doing with Open RAN.

Carriers have taken on a lot of debt to finance their 5G buildouts, and to counter that, they need innovation and new services to monetize these networks. Mavenir isn’t in the business of building applications, but with Open RAN - along with the rest of their extensive wireless network portfolio - they provide carriers with a nextgen platform to support programmability so they can develop their own apps instead of relying on third parties.

Just as important, BSS is another key piece of their cloud-based portfolio, as legacy BSS cannot really support these new services, and without a proper billing platform, carriers won’t be able to monetize these new 5G networks. Speaking of 5G, Mavenir did a great job outlining all kinds of use cases, and they have a pretty good handle on what carriers are missing to be successful with 5G.

I tend to view things through the lens of communications and collaboration technologies, and there wasn’t much talk about UCaaS or CCaaS. Instead, the use cases were framed around Industry 4.0 and Enterprise 2.0. These terms may sound generic, but Mavenir provided pretty good use cases and monetization scenarios for each. I’d need a separate post to illustrate all this, but in short, these use cases are in line with my Future of Work research, and I think they’re on the right track here, for sure.

That’s my high-level take for now, and to close out, here are some of my photos.

CEO/Pres. Pardeep Kohli, EVP Stefan Canteralli, Q&A session

Test equipment, anechoic chamber (very cool), OpenBeam radio demo

Event was held at the HALL Arts Hotel, in the center of Dallas’s arts district - my kinda place - high end for sure, but very artsy vibe, and after the sessions - when in Texas, you gotta look the part (hat tip, Carlos Aragon, no pun intended!)…