Description Mid-code Crisis http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:16:00 GMT Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:16:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/big-data-plus-intelligence-=-smart-data.aspx Big data has generated a lot of excitement among mobile operators lately just as it has across almost all industries. But there has been a surprising lack of insight into the potential applications, use cases and benefits and also a lack of understanding that data is just the raw material for new processes. Intelligence is the missing ingredient that can convert big data into increased customer satisfaction, improved efficiency and new revenues.   Service providers need to be clear what big data is, new sources of information that potentially shed light on almost all aspects of the business. This will be data about traffic levels, network performance, and current customer experience among other things. The new data is usually unstructured and was often not originally intended to feed analytics systems, derived from client devices, web server logs, Internet clickstreams, social media activity reports, mobile-phone call detail records and sensors. This comes in addition to more conventional structured data generated in more orderly fashion by network probes and customer records for example. The big idea behind Big Data is that all this data, structured and unstructured, can be harnessed to drive both real time decision making and historical analysis that will enable new revenues and generate cost savings.   For mobile operators one of the major applications of Big Data will be in selecting when and what to offload onto Wi-Fi, determined by changing traffic levels and the quality of service requirements of different customer processes. This is a particularly urgent requirement for operators deploying 4G services that are throttled by data caps that have to be retained because of the lack of corresponding backhaul bandwidth.    While OTT (Over The Top) traffic not relating to one of the mobile operator’s own services can be diverted to the Internet, so called sticky applications designed to retain and attract customers should be routed over the cellular network and not be subject to WiFi offload. This is because for now operators have full control only over their own networks and not the broadband infrastructure accessed via WiFi. Such sticky applications might include a subscription online TV service provided by a third party such as Netflix under a contractual arrangement with the operator. The ability to selectively offload data generated by other lower priority services, making the decision in real time by applying smart data, will ensure that the mobile network has the capacity to deliver the required quality of service for sticky applications.   Smart data also offers opportunities for generating revenues directly from WiFi offload. Read Smart Chimps post Compelling: Birdstep’s economics of WiFi as a platform for examples.   The intelligent balancing of traffic between WiFi and 3G or increasingly 4G mobile networks is fast becoming a critical area of differentiation for mobile service providers. This is where real time analytics will make all the difference by making decisions on the basis of live information from the user’s device, current activity and the two networks concerned, WiFi and 3G/4G.   Going to CTIA? Meet with Birdstep to learn more about Smart Big Data and the Company’s SmartData solutions, please contact: Marie-Louise Nilsson Kanon Marie-louise.nilsson@birdstep.com Mobile: +46 70 2325998 http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/big-data-plus-intelligence-=-smart-data.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/big-data-plus-intelligence-=-smart-data.aspx Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:16:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/wifi-scores-both-above-and-below-the-line-for-mobile-service-providers.aspx This blog post was originally published at SmartShimps's website: http://bit.ly/14z3pLd     The 20-fold growth in data traffic between now and the end of 2017, coupled with consumer demand for continuity, will see operators increasingly depending upon WiFi for data offload. While the cost saving provided is the most immediate benefit, it is only half the story around the compelling economics of WiFi;  the second half of the story is creating a platform for revenue generation.   Hyper-location with WiFi WiFi and next generation applications can now hyper-locate users by exploiting the intelligence around individuals’ devices, including location and the current context of what is in the vicinity. This powerful information enables service providers to create truly personalised offers and promotions on the fly, especially indoors and in densely populated locations where, conveniently, WiFi provides the best quality of service.   Imagine then a team sponsor offering a certain groups of fans within a stadium access to limited edition merchandise during a football match, or a restaurant within a shopping mall creating individual offers to people as they pass by at certain times of the day. Service providers could also offer premium content at high quality of service while users are within a certain WiFi hot spot. The opportunities are endless.   Making this all possible is smart data. Carrier grade WiFi will work just like 3G or 4G services, with full support for roaming and handoff, as well as seamless integration with the cellular networks themselves. Allied to smart data we see carrier WiFi becoming a crucial platform for service providers as hot spots become ubiquitous and inbuilt intelligence gives the operator full control over routing of data between WiFi and 4G LTE.   Designed for flexible configuration Finally WiFi is also much better suited than 4G LTE for setting up temporary mobile service at major sporting events or concerts, where there are many people in a small area wanting to communicate at once. WiFi was designed from the outset for flexible configuration inside the workplace and costs far less to set up than for the equivalent capacity through 4G small cells. Operators can monetise these temporary set ups by providing functions like instant replay and related information about the event.   Taken together these gains in capacity, cost per megabits per second, and configuration flexibility mean that WiFi will score both above and below the line for mobile service providers, generating new sources of revenue as well as cutting the cost of data transport.   By Lonnie Schilling, Birdstep CEO Birdstep Technology is a provider of smart mobile data and secure mobility for operators, enterprises and governmental organisations. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/wifi-scores-both-above-and-below-the-line-for-mobile-service-providers.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/wifi-scores-both-above-and-below-the-line-for-mobile-service-providers.aspx Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:38:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/prime-time-for-wifi-offload-at-mwc.aspx WiFi Offload announced its arrival as a major issue for cellular operators at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). As always there was plenty of chatter about new devices, and it was little surprise to see that cloud, small cells and big data analytics were the three other major themes, but the emphasis on offload onto broadband at the network access level was a welcome development because of the big capex and opex savings it will bring. It was also welcome that the large infrastructure vendors were proposing WiFi offload be implemented at the network access level. This is because by executing offload at the end device, operators will not only alleviate constraints imposed by the cellular backhaul infrastructure but also by the RAN (Radio Access Network). This is important because WiFi is sometimes seen by operators as merely a vehicle for getting data off their backhaul network to benefit from the superior economics of fixed broadband networks, forgetting that WiFi itself is more efficient for carrying all that video that is driving mobile traffic growth. This would leave 4G/LTE and the associated cellular backhaul infrastructure to fulfill the role it is best suited for, to provide coverage for data outside the WiFi hotspot footprint.   The other three major themes at MWC are all part of the same narrative relating to rapid mobile data growth. The trend towards delivery from the cloud is enabling mobile devices to access common video and data services and is itself a major driver of cellular data growth. This is because mobile users can increasingly access video content that they have subscribed to via pay TV services over the cloud, and there are plenty of surveys indicating that are doing so. Smaller cells are then required to share finite radio spectrum between ever fewer numbers of users to sustain the traffic growth.   Then big data analytics is all about improving the quality of experience, partly by enabling better monitoring of service performance. However this exposes one of the somewhat surprising omissions from MWC 2013.  While there was plenty of buzz around big data, most of it concerned data sources distributed around the network, with very little focus on the device itself. Of course quality of experience is largely determined by the network and so analyzing data originating from touch points within it will make an important contribution to end service quality. But the device is the best place to measure network performance, the impact it has on apps running there and therefore on the ultimate customer experience. Some of the analytics vendors at MWC were really missing a trick by failing to recognize the importance of big data at the device level.   The other significant omission at MWC 2013 was discussion about how to monetize WiFi. This was perhaps understandable given that WiFi has only quite recently climbed high up the agenda for cellular operators, but the time has now come for them to recognize that WiFi is not just about offload, but is a major source of added value for their customers that they should be looking to capitalize on. As well as capex and opex reduction WiFi extends and improves their indoor coverage and above all enables a higher Quality of Service than they can deliver over a congested 3G / 4G RAN or backhaul network.   by Lonnie Schilling, CEO of Birdstep Technology http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/prime-time-for-wifi-offload-at-mwc.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/prime-time-for-wifi-offload-at-mwc.aspx Thu, 14 Mar 2013 06:25:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/true-vs-effective-offload-what-really-matters.aspx WiFi offload has emerged as the leading candidate to relieve increasingly congested cellular networks in the face of unprecedented mobile data traffic growth. This has led to a debate over exactly what “WiFi offload” is and in particular what percentage of WiFi traffic originating from mobile devices is “true offload” and what is “user driven” WiFi offload. The distinction is that “user driven” traffic is generated by home and office applications that have been using WiFi for years and has never been destined for the cellular network. The greater interest has been in “true offload”, involving data traffic that would otherwise have travelled over 3G or 4G networks, but can be diverted to WiFi when the user is in range of a hot spot.   Currently user driven WiFi offload greatly outweighs “true offload” in total data volume, but this is changing fast given the explosion in new services involving increasingly high resolution video. But in any case this is all a false distinction for the operator. What really matters is not some vague notion of “true offload” which is partly a matter of definition, but “effective offload”. This is the traffic that you can take off congested base stations during peak times.  Typically only a small fraction of operators’ base stations experience congestion at all. Most never see it, and even those that are congested typically only suffer from it for brief periods.  So the “effective offload” WiFi traffic is a small percentage of total WiFi traffic from mobile devices, but it is extremely valuable since it is that traffic that saves CAPEX.  It is this traffic that should be the target of WiFi offload strategies.   At the same time, given the common practice of zero-rating WiFi traffic, offload during non-busy periods may be detrimental to the operator’s business, at least in the short term, since this means users will consume their quota more slowly and will have less need to upgrade to a premium subscription or buy additional capacity.   Fortunately there is now software available that can help operators identify “effective offload” data and significantly reduce traffic on congested base stations by automating the connection experience, all without loss of revenue for the operator.   by Gunnar Almgren, Senior Product Manager of Birdstep Technology http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/true-vs-effective-offload-what-really-matters.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/true-vs-effective-offload-what-really-matters.aspx Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:57:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/the-end-of-the-road-for-3g-data-capping.aspx By Lonnie Schilling, CEO Birdstep   One prediction that can be made with great certainty is that the end of indiscriminate data capping over 3G and emerging 4G/LTE cellular networks is near. This should give a clear message to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that they should therefore start planning now to ensure that they can handle the fast growing volume of cellular data that doubled in size during 2012, and is set to increase by almost as big a factor in 2013.   Cellular operators, like their broadband counterparts, resorted to data capping in an attempt to regulate traffic and ensure that their services did not fall over. In some cases they have charged for bandwidth extensions to gain extra revenue although at the risk of alienating customers who feel they are paying twice, given that they had the expectation of accessing the service whenever they wanted at a certain bandwidth.   The situation arose with the arrival of smartphones and with them applications, especially video, that generated more sustained bursts of data so that subscribers actually utilized their full access bandwidth or at least a large proportion of it for longer periods of time. This destroyed the original statistical assumptions that operators had used for planning backhaul and core network capacity, on the basis that at any one time only a small proportion of the subscriber base would be loading data into the network at anywhere near peak access bit rates.   But the market has changed significantly since the time when data caps were introduced, as products of a noncompetitive broadband marketplace. With more services moving to mobile networks, such as streaming music and video, operators are becoming hesitant to apply data caps through fear that this will reduce the quality of experience and cause users to churn. It has become obvious that data caps are counter-productive.   At the same time MNOs still argue that the licensed spectrum required to sustain massive data growth is finite, and often simply not available. Even if it is available, the costs are prohibitive. In a greenfield case the cost of building a new cell site at microcell density, or worse still even greater picocell density, may well be required to meet the demand from users for radio spectrum, would be prohibitively expensive.   Fortunately a solution has been growing alongside the operators in the form of an emerging global WiFi infrastructure comprising a mixture of hot spots in public places such as airports and private networks available for sharing. This has led to growing conviction that what is generally termed Service Provider WiFi (SP WiFi), will provide the cost, capacity and economies of scale that will support the rapid expansion in mobile traffic. SP WiFi will comprise highly reliable, highly scalable and highly robust WiFi infrastructure taking on many of the desirable traits and characteristics of global cellular networks, notably automatic discovery, device authentication, roaming and handoff, but without the high capital and operating costs generated by fast data volume growth.   It is expected the costs associated with WiFi will increase as the infrastructure acquires those cellular like capabilities. Currently, SP WiFi is roughly an order of magnitude less expensive per megabit, a significant reason being that cellular networks have not come close to matching WiFi’s economies of scale in products and deployments, which can be likened to the factors that enabled Ethernet to take over the world for data link transmission over carrier networks, far beyond its original role as a local area network technology.   The fundamental question is when operators will begin to proactively offload data to WiFi in a way that provides their subscribers an equal, or better experience, while also ensuring that the operator maintains visibility into the subscriber’s session experience, even while on WiFi. This way the operator remains in the subscriber’s value chain and can offer services and better compete with the OTT players. This transformation is well underway and it is now an issue of understanding the new business models and understanding much better the subscriber’s behavior when using data services. This will enable the operator to more precisely develop new tariff structures that address the subscriber’s perception of value by taking into account application type, location, peak and off-peak times, on-net and off-net, etc. Much as they have done with very differentiated and dynamic telephony tariffs. In many ways WiFi today is where cellular was a generation ago in the early 1980s at the dawn of the mobile telephony era. Services were then highly fragmented, very unreliable, while handoff and roaming virtually didn’t exist. But there are some important differences between now and then, above all that WiFi already has a global footprint, and can benefit from all the expertise and technology gained from cellular deployments. So we are now getting hand off, roaming and security, with standards such as ANDSF (Access Network Discovery and Selection Function) and Hot Spot 2.0.   This leaves one crucial ingredient that we did not need for cellular services alone, and that is intelligent offload and handoff between the licensed and unlicensed spectrum services. It will make no sense to hand off all the data, any more than it did to apply indiscriminate capping. This is where we at Birdstep contribute, with our exclusive focus on secure, scalable and cost effective transport of mobile data, allowing operators to apply business rules to decide when and which data to offload to WiFi. It will be through proactive, intelligent offload capabilities that will enable MNOs to meet the growing demands and expectations of their customers while leveraging the capital efficiencies afforded by SP WiFi when used to augment their significant investments in 3G and 4G networks.   For a demonstration of our Smart Mobile Data and Secure Mobility Solutions during Mobile World Congress 2013, please contact: Marie-Louise Nilsson Marie-Louise.Nilsson@birdstep.com Tel: +46 70 2325998 http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/the-end-of-the-road-for-3g-data-capping.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/the-end-of-the-road-for-3g-data-capping.aspx Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:12:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/consumers-beat-the-drum-for-wifi-offload.aspx The case for WiFi data offload has been made compellingly by recent events on the ground as cellular customers vote with their wallets and vent their frustration over data caps in surveys. Media research firm  Strategy Analytics has just reported how cellular operators in both the US and UK are lifting the lid on data caps to gain and retain customers, who in turn are expressing a desire for greater flexibility and speed guarantees in data plans. The report notes that in the UK, Vodafone is touting three months of unlimited data to get smartphone customers hooked, ostensibly for them to work out what tiered, capped plan they will subsequently need. The likely outcome though is that having got a taste of mobile broadband freedom, Vodafone’s customers will accept nothing less, so that this “Data Test Drive” as it is called could end up spinning out of control. There will only be one solution, data offload onto WiFi. In the US we have already seen how WiFi offload can translate into huge commercial success for the operator Republic Wireless with its ‘all the data you can eat’ for $19 a month. This was considered too good to be true when launched last year and it is in that in practice it requires WiFi access. Republic Wireless is cutting a path that other operators will quickly have to follow. In this case Republic Wireless is able to offer such good value because effectively it is hitching a free ride over Internet Service Providers’ broadband networks, but that is somewhat beside the point. The question remains, who pays for data offload? Whatever happens, WiFi will be by far the most cost effective solution. This is because of the economies of scale within the broadband infrastructure as compared with cellular backhaul networks that have been assembled piecemeal, often through a patchwork quilt of technologies such as microwave, DSL and fiber. There are also management issues to resolve, notably what traffic to offload and when, which will require the sort of intelligent software offered by vendors such as Birdstep. This was starkly illustrated by the experience of Apple iPhone users in the UK after just upgrading to the latest version 6 of the operating system iOS, who found that their mobile bills rocketed five fold up to 3GB a month in some cases, busting their data caps. This happened because of a bug in the iOS software that meant music downloads via Apple’s Apple's iTunes Match service that started in a WiFi zone continued, much more slowly, over 3G if the user left the hot spot. This was despite users setting the phone to download over WiFi only. This simple example highlights the importance of software that mediates between the WiFi and cellular networks for all sorts of reasons, especially meeting service guarantees. WiFi offload will also be essential to sustain the ever denser cell deployments that will be required to reuse spectrum effectively under 4G/LTE deployments. Research by BT found that 4G/LTE does not magically create radio spectrum out of nowhere, and only delivers 1 Mbps at 1 Km away from the base station in an urban environment, exactly the same as with HSPDA (High Speed Downlink Packet Data Access) in 3G networks. The real message is that customers will be driving up mobile data consumption at a dizzy rate, as was acknowledged by  UK regulator Ofcom in its 2012 broadband survey in its 2012 broadband survey. It noted that average fixed broadband consumption was still rising fast, up 35% over the year from 17 GB to 23 GB driven chiefly by increased video consumption, but that was trumped by mobile, which had doubled to 250 MB. Over the next few years Ofcom anticipates this currently wide gap between fixed and mobile narrowing rapidly, eventually disappearing altogether. Offloading data to the fixed infrastructure via WiFi will be the essential mechanism enabling this transition to occur. Lonnie Schilling CEO Birdstep Technology ASA   Attending Mobile World Congress? Find out more about Birdstep’s Smart Mobile Data offload solutions by visiting stand 7E 80. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/consumers-beat-the-drum-for-wifi-offload.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/consumers-beat-the-drum-for-wifi-offload.aspx Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:33:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/getting-the-full-download-on-dataoffload-pre-mwc13-exclusive-with-birdstep-technology.aspx Published on Tuesday February 12th, 2013 , by Vanessa Vigar in Blog on http://www.ctoic.net.   In the run-up de MWC 2013, we interviewed Lonnie Schilling, newly appointed CEO of Swedish software company Birdstep Technology , that provides smart mobile connectivity and security solutions.   CTOIC: What do you see as the key theme for MWC in 2013? Lonnie: Well as in previous years, there are going to be many themes in 2013, but a reoccurring theme, and perhaps the greatest challenge for operators is keeping up with subscriber demand, staying ahead of the bandwidth curve driven by more video rich content and ensuring a compelling user experience for a wider demographic customer base.   CTOIC: How have operators been responding? Lonnie:  Not always in the best way! It seems that data caps have come back into play, but this is wholly counterproductive and fails to take account how customers want to use their mobile phones. Mobile subscribers are consuming more and more data and watching longer forms of video but these caps are self-defeating in such that customers believe that consuming data implies incurring punitive charges or data throttling which make the service non-compelling. So the real challenge for operators is to come to grips with complementary technologies like Carrier WiFi and Smart Data Offload solutions, and align this with their business needs to meet the requirements of their subscribers.   CTOIC: But hang on, I thought LTE/4G was supposed to solve this bandwidth crunch? Lonnie: Yes LTE does bring efficiencies over 3G and certainly more bandwidth, but the business case for the necessary coverage and density is prohibitively expensive. Here too Carrier WiFi is being used as a cost efficient solution for offloading. MNO’s are now beginning to take advantage Smart Data Offload solutions to selectively offload non-premium data, perhaps a YouTube video, to WiFi while keeping premium data, such as a video subscription service like Netflix or Webex on the cellular core to leverage existing Subscriber Management services. In addition to smart selective offload, the MNO is interested in using subscriber analytics to better understand the Customer Experience from the perspective of the handset. The analytics give insight into what services are being consumed over WiFi and cellular, where the subscriber is when they consume the services and the quality of the service is, both objective and subjective. This resolves a key concern MNO’s have had with WiFi; the operator now has complete visibility of the subscriber and service whether the user is on cellular or WiFi.   CTOIC: Presumably you agree LTE/4G does at least scale to the higher bandwidths required for emerging services, even if the costs are high? Lonnie: I would argue that LTE has not kept up with the bandwidth curve. Just look at how smartphones are being used to consume more video. Did you know that it is expected that 2/3 of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2016 or that globally, the average mobile connection will generate 1,216 megabytes of mobile data traffic per month in 2016, up 1,221% from 92 megabytes per month in 2011, a CAGR of 68%! This trend shows that the rate at which data consumption is growing, continues to outpace the rate at which mobile technology, including LTE, can deliver bandwidth. So here’s the telling data point, LTE gives us roughly 12x increase in bandwidth over 3G, but bandwidth growth over the period since LTE began development has gone up 30x. And, according the Cisco, the problem further exacerbates over the next few years. LTE is behind the curve when the market is demanding greater bandwidth.   CTOIC: So what is the answer? Lonnie: I believe MNO’s must be more pragmatic about augmenting their mobile service offering with Carrier WiFi, in conjunction with Smart Data Offload solutions. By deploying an intelligent offload solution, the MNO can become much more innovative in how they package and tariff the service and effectively compel their customers to consume more instead of less. By associating network policy with the intelligent offload solution, the MNO decides which applications will be transported via cellular or WiFi determined by time-of-day, location, quality of connection or user policy profile. The point is that the MNO can be completely agnostic to the access medium for a greater aggregate RAN capacity, or develop innovative business models for maintaining premium traffic on the cellular and non-premium traffic over WiFi. Standards such as Hotspot 2.0 and ANDSF enable the automated network discovery, selection and security, as is done today in cellular networks. Then link this to the ability to have real-time active / passive analytics for the MNO to maintain a very clear perspective of the customer experience, even when using WiFi, and the MNO maintains the control of the experience associated with their brand and offering. It is not a huge leap in faith to foresee in the very near future that a customer can globally roam and handoff between cellular, WiFi and back to cellular based on a defined network policy.   CTOIC: How quickly do you anticipate this happening? Lonnie: It’s already begun! But fact is that it will happen much faster than it did for the cellular industry, which took 30 years to get to where we are today with transparent international roaming where subscribers are unaware of all the transactions between operators taking place in the background. All that complexity is completely shielded from the user even though their own handsets are participating in the transactions. I believe the “Law of Accelerated Returns” tells us that it may be up to an Order-of-Magnitude less time than it took for cellular. Besides, the hot spot infrastructure is already there or under construction, and of course the industry understands well how to develop and negotiate roaming agreements.   CTOIC: Presumably cellular operators will not offload all their data. What data will they keep on their own infrastructures and how will that decision be made? Lonnie: That will vary between service providers. But one thing they will all want is the ability to make intelligent decisions in real time over what data to move according to business rules and perhaps traffic conditions. Those decisions will be made by policy and executed in Smart Offload software that understands the subscriber, the data, the location and time-of-day and can offload according to specified rules.   CTOIC: What might those business rules be? Lonnie: A service provider network might be getting a lot of You Tube traffic that is filling up the cellular network, and that could be offloaded to Wi-Fi. But say that operator has a contractual relationship with another OTT provider like Netflix that requires guaranteed QoS and the ability to monitor the activity. Then Netflix traffic would be kept on the cellular network and use the subscriber management capabilities there.   CTOIC: How will Wi-Fi be integrated with cellular? Lonnie: That is still subject to debate. There are various options on the table, with some advocating running Wi-Fi in parallel with the cellular infrastructure and others who believe cellular and WiFi to be converged in the Packet Core. Regardless of the level of integration, I think it likely that operators will want to adopt a hierarchical structure where WiFi is implemented into the small-cell architecture and provides bandwidth and coverage in high-density venues and in-doors.   CTOIC: Thanks Lonnie, let’s see what MWC 2013 has to answer in this debate. During Mobile World Congress 2013, Birdstep is located in hall 7, E80, within the Swedish Pavilion     Lonnie Schilling Chief Executive Officer, Birdstep Technology Schilling brings 20 years of experience of equity investment, strategic business development, architecture sales and marketing within the international communications market. He was most recently Director, Mobile Service Provider Sales & Business Development at Cisco and he has also held leading management positions in other global companies such as Motorola, ITT, Worldview Technology Partners, Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN). Schilling holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland. He completed graduate and postgraduate studies at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, the International Institute for Management Development, INSEAD and the Marshall School of Business at USC. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/getting-the-full-download-on-dataoffload-pre-mwc13-exclusive-with-birdstep-technology.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2013/getting-the-full-download-on-dataoffload-pre-mwc13-exclusive-with-birdstep-technology.aspx Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:20:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/we-feel-your-pain.aspx This year at Mobile World Congress, Birdstep is all about pain relief. It is a challenging time to be a Mobile Operator and we are here to help. We know the industry, we know the pain points and we have answers. All you have to do is ask.   If you want to get in touch with us at Mobile World Congress, here is where you go. See you there. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/we-feel-your-pain.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/we-feel-your-pain.aspx Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:25:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/why-you-better-be-on-board-with-mobile-data-offload.aspx Mobile operators, it’s time to update your terminology because your customers have updated their expectations. Connectivity is so last year. What’s in now is data offloading. Secure, automatic data offloading. Luckily this is good for everybody, because if you don’t pursue intelligent mobile data offloading solutions, you will suffer even more than your customers. For the end user, connectivity is a given. People expect connectivity, take it for granted; they are not impressed. What an end user wants now is unlimited bandwidth, cheap roaming solutions and to just connect, regardless of location or time. They don’t want inconsistent quality of connection and crazy shock bills when roaming. And they want all this while requiring more and more data use from more and more places.                                 Data usage is taking off and it isn’t going to slow down. The data boom is in its second generation (the world planned for laptops and then came the smartphones and tablets) and is very real. For mobile operators, this means congested cellular networks, increasing costs, falling revenue and unhappy customers.                        Increasing the quality of mobile data offloading, through Wi-Fi, Femtocell, WiMAX and other technology, will help mitigate the second generation data boom, giving end users the experience they require and combating the rising cost of data. The savvy among us are beefing up their efforts in that area. Data offload is not just the new “in” term, but a mandatory one and mobile operators who approach it with quality in mind, rather than choosing to turn to cheap answers like casual and promiscuous connectivity, will be well positioned to survive what may soon become a data crisis.  http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/why-you-better-be-on-board-with-mobile-data-offload.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/why-you-better-be-on-board-with-mobile-data-offload.aspx Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:23:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/two-announcements.aspx It’s been very busy lately at Birdstep and we have two quick announcements to share!   First, we are pleased to announce the launch of EasySmart 1.0 for Android. EasySmart enables intelligent off-load of data traffic from 3G to Wi-Fi, including credential handling. It also provides operators with a means to communicate dynamically with Android users, and the user to benefit from capabilities such as account management and a hotspot locator. What is more, together with Tier 1 operators from North America and Europe, we have conducted an on-going trial of EasySmart and expect to launch its first commercial deployment in the U.S. this month.   Second, we would like to announce the release of the 3.3 version of EasyConnect mobile broadband network. This new version supports all wireless networks to the list of supported networks. The first deployment of EasyConnect 3.3 is at a US-based MVNO running both LTE (Long Term Evolution) and CDMA in their network. Also, we recently signed a LTE deal and deployment with TDC Denmark.   There is more exciting stuff to come, so stay tuned here and we will keep you posted. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/two-announcements.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/december/two-announcements.aspx Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:43:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/getting-costs-under-control.aspx Last week we introduced a new series of blog posts to discuss some of the headaches associated with the expanding demand for mobile broadband services. First up in Birdstep's Top Ten Pain Relievers for Mobile Operators is getting costs under control. We examine the hard numbers and then explore options for mobile operators to work with Birdstep to relieve the pains.   THE NUMBERS SPEAKS FOR THEMSELVES  Mobile Data Growth Does NOT Equal Revenue Growth. Mobile data growth has far outstripped the revenue growth for the area in comparison and the books simply don't balance. Mobile data has increased 39 fold since between 2009 and 2014 (Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data, Traffic Forecast Update, 2009-2014, Cisco 2010) whereas revenues generated from data has increased by 40% in Europe and 55% in North America according to ABI (ABI Research report "Mobile Data Usage Grows Exponentially but Data Revenue Lags", 2010).   Customer Care = 5 Percent of Total OpEx Other areas that are growing increasingly painful for the operators are costs for customer support, customer retention and efficient user communication. Time consuming support, expensive staffing and less tech savvy users (coming from the mass market adoption) all drive up support costs at a high rate. Data presented by Aviat Networks and Yankee Group say that customer care alone takes up 5 percent of the total operating expenditure for the average operator - and that the average OpEx is three times the CapEx.   Birdstep customers report that 75 percent of their users call straight to customer care if they encounter a problem as they are not able to solve the issues themselves. One customer said that nine out 10 of their users who cancel their subscription before the subscription time has ended, do so because of usability and the quality of the service.   Marketing Costs = More Than 10 Percent of OpEx The cost for customer care is still smaller than what is spent on marketing or on the user administration in general. We see operators such as TeliaSonera having reported numbers for user administration are somewhere in between. Churn also remains a real issue for operators. Overall churn numbers are not declining, suggesting that users are still "hopping" between operators not only to find the best price, but just as frequently, the best service.   RELIEVING THE PAIN  Despite the bleak outlook, mobile operators are increasingly turning to smart, 3rd party solutions, such as Birdstep, to reduce cost and get their costs under control. At Birdstep, the most popular and effective solutions are offloading data traffic onto other low-cost networks and smart customer communications.   Network Offloading . Efficient offloading of mobile data traffic onto other lower-cost networks is a good way of cutting costs for mobile operators, especially for those also owning WiFi networks. Offload strategy to Wi-Fi, femtocells or 4G is expected to offer savings of 20 to 25 percent per annum by 2013 .   It is little surprise, therefore, that we are witnessing a sharp demand in network offloading services that include fully automated network switching and credentials provisioning. By helping out with "invisible" logins and to transfer between networks, operators can ensure their users are always connected to the network with the lowest production cost for mobile data.   Smart Marketing and Customer Retention. Another interesting area of cost savings is marketing and customer retention. With solutions such as the marketing, messaging and support solutions from Birdstep, mobile operators can reach customers  in the most direct and efficient ways possible. It enables operators to tailor the retention marketing messages for specific groups of users, such as those with expiring subscriptions who can be easily notified and renewed.   The total service experience has a massive influence on customer retention and churn. It is not uncommon to see retention marketing campaigns offering discounts of up to 50 percent and our customers have shown just how expensive an exercise it is. In truth, marketing budgets can be saved if service issues or customer dissatisfaction is prevented or discovered and dealt with in time.   And, let's not forget customer support which for mobile broadband is tedious and time consuming. Through self-repair and usability many issues can be resolved directly on the user´s computer. Birdstep´s research estimates that it is possible to reach an over 30% call avoidance level and at least 10% decrease in average call time.   While we have a very good insight into the world of mobile operators and their efforts to bring  costs under control, we would be very interested to hear your thoughts on the subject. Please feel free to add your comments, follow us on Twitter (@Birdsteptech) or meet us at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/getting-costs-under-control.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/getting-costs-under-control.aspx Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:26:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/taking-a-hybrid-approach-to-data.aspx This week, we address the second issue in our blog series "Birdstep´s Top Ten Relievers for Mobile Operators." We're examining how operators can avoid enforcing data caps and save OpEx (see post: Getting Costs Under Control ) by off-loading mobile data traffic to nearby networks.   To Cap or Not To Cap? From the much-heralded "all you can eat" mobile broadband subscriptions launched a few years ago, operators have had to face the humiliation and bad press of enforcing monthly volume caps on mobile broadband subscriptions. Such moves have created bad blood between some operators and their most active users.   T-Mobile UK had to back down from a decision to cap Android mobile broadband packages at 500 MB in the face of massively negative customer reaction (See http :// www . mobilebusinessbriefing . com / article / the - mobile - industry - s - big - irony ). A recent study by Devicescape shows that 80 percent of mobile subscribers would consider switching service providers if their current plan was data-capped.   With mobile data growing 39 fold from 2009 to 2014 ( Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data, Traffic Forecast Update, 2009-2014, Cisco 2010), mobile data revenues are predicted to only grow by some 40 percent and 55 percent in Western Europe and North America respectively. (ABI Research report "Mobile Data Usage Grows Exponentially but Data Revenue Lags", 2010) The books simply don't balance. So how can offloading help?   Going Hybrid By off-loading mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi (especially inside buildings), femtocells or 4G networks can provide operators with an alternative to enforcing unpopular caps on user data consumption. It can also save costs of up to 25 percent per annum over a 3-year period. For operators such as Virgin, Meteor, TDC, CellC, KPN and Elisa, who use off-load services from Birdstep, a hybrid solution for data delivery to customers makes perfect sense.   The solution looks simple, and it has to be. It also must be fully automated to keep costs down.  Birdstep's fully automated network switching, silent credentials provisioning and logins have proven to be excellent in ensuring a good customer experience. By helping out with "invisible" logins and automated transfer between different networks, the operators can make sure their users are always connected to the network where they have the lowest production cost for mobile data. In addition, the user will always have the best available service without dealing with complex settings or network prioritizations.   Some operators want to take the off-load solution one step further to assure on-the-move handover to and from Wi-Fi can happen with no impact to ongoing VoIP and VPN sessions. The Birdstep Mobile IP solution makes this seamless mobility a reality, allowing the operator to facilitate Wi-Fi offload without the user noticing.   Interested in further discussions with us? Please send us an email to info@birdstep.com or visit our Mobile World Congress site to set up a meeting in Barcelona February  14-17 http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/taking-a-hybrid-approach-to-data.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/taking-a-hybrid-approach-to-data.aspx Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:24:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/stormy-seas-ahead-for-network-operators.aspx Why even in an amazing period of industry growth, there is cause for concern With all the fan-fair around the success of mobile broadband - 1 billion users are expected this year - it is easy to get carried away with this exciting phase for the industry. One could even be forgiven for thinking that mobile operators have never had it so good - a growing demand for high-margin services such as international roaming, the boom of app stores, OTT services and of course, the game-changing HSPA modems and Smartphone market that are contributing to profitability.   However, this $ 1.5 trillion-generating industry holds some significant challenges.  Market saturation, substitution, competition and regulation continue to squeeze revenues and margins, and although volumes - particularly for data - are rising dramatically, fixed price packages are limiting revenue and capital costs are soaring on the back of new network investment. The strain on operations, networks and resources is also beginning to show. As a result, Quality of Service is beginning to suffer and users are jumping ship.   In a series of blog posts, we discuss the following ten ways that mobile operators can work with Birdstep to relieve some of the pains associated with the expanding demand for mobile broadband services.   Birdstep's Top Ten Pain Relievers For Mobile Operators  Getting costs under control . Birdstep's EasyConnect solution has not only proven to deliver cost saving network policies but to also provide comprehensive support reduction. Scaling the data mountain . The trends of new devices designed for even greater data usage, coupled with the rapidly growing data demands  sees Operators turning to Birdstep to assist with innovative data hand off solutions. Handling device diversity . The sheer number of new technologies coming to market for mobile broadband is posing great demands on both product testing, service center training and support. Unifying Device software with EasyConnect is the first step to instant savings. Mitigating risk when introducing new technology .  Birdstep's EasyConnect platform is a good example of a turnkey service that is providing operators with an investment-saving solution that also offers peace of mind and an assured future. Increasing ARPU by increased flexibility. Birdstep'sEasyConnect server integrated charging and billing support enables operators' to directly bill pre and post paid customers, offer micro billing, open data tariffing and further monetise their installed base. Maintaining service quality and reducing churn . Birdstep's EasyConnect client communication and retention functionalities assist in offering simplified and direct retention programs. This also provides an increased Quality of Service perception and the potential to save 500,000 Euro per annum. Clear communications when handling usage and quotas . Delivering pro-active status and plan updates directly to the subscriber is a key feature of the Birdstep EasyConnect mobile broadband client. Keeping customers proactively informed builds loyalty, removes bill shock, allows for up-sell and reduces churn push as well as ensuring easy regulation compliance. Time to market and seizing a first-mover advantage . Birdstep can integrate the EasyConnect service into an operator's network in as little as five weeks. Once deployed, Operators can instantly deploy new upgrades and services directly to their subscribers with no interruption of service. Avoiding the Bit-pipe trap . Located directly on the desktop and used to raise awareness of valued added service offerings, EasyConnect is designed to ensure long term positioning with consumers.  Slashing OPEX through support centre optimisation . Birdstep's EasyConnect automated fault diagnosis and fault repair solution EasyHelp, removes a majority of calls. When coupled with client communication services, operators can proactively inform subscribers and streamline call centre processes. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/stormy-seas-ahead-for-network-operators.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/january/stormy-seas-ahead-for-network-operators.aspx Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:45:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/handling-device-diversity.aspx This week's post in our series - "Birdstep´s Top Ten Pain Relievers for Mobile Operators" - addresses the enormous job of handling device diversity.   According to ABI Research , the number of mobile broadband subscribers is expected to surpass 1.5 billion by 2015. Although the majority will connect to the Internet using their smartphones, a significant number will do so via tablets, netbooks and laptop computers.   These non-phone products are cellular modems that allow users to connect to the operator's mobile data networks. They come in a variety of form-factors, including PC Cards, USB modems, internal mini-cards and mobile hotspot routers. USB dongles are obviously leading the way, as they are easy to carry and convenient to use.   The pace at which new and higher speed mobile broadband offerings are driven to market is staggering. A recent IDC report showed average uploads speeds in Australia, for instance, have increased by 169 percent to 1,238Kbps in just two years. Network potential is driving new mobile broadband technologies and continuous development of new modems with higher speed.   However, the increased number of suppliers is leading to an increased test and training burden for operators as they go to market with the latest technologies. In addition, the cost for mobile broadband support is many times higher than for voice support due to the complex troubleshooting process, which is not diminishing with the current device growth.   Focusing On Profits vs. Growth We have seen many operators make the mistake of rushing the launch of their mobile broadband services to create short-term growth. But in the long-term, they incur greater costs due to the heavy support expenses of multiple modem devices and connection client software.   Some operators have tried to alleviate costs by reducing the number of suppliers and, in turn, the clients they support. This not only limits the competitive benefits for large-scale tenders, but also reduces their competitive position by reducing the opportunity for them to offer new and innovative products to an increasingly demanding user.   One Client : Substantial Savings Birdstep's EasyConnect solution suite provides operators with a range of solutions to realize significant savings in operating costs by providing a uniform service access capability through one client solution. With just one client to maintain that supports all major modem manufacturers, Birdstep offers operators a simpler solution for long-term growth, development and support. In addition, EasyConnect architecture is future-proof, adding new modem devices as they come to market, to rapidly reduce the operator's time to market when launching new products.   EasyConnect's device support provides two other key benefits. It offers solutions for updating existing end-user modems and thus reduces recurring support cases on old client software. EasyConnect also has a remote management server for updating client software and modems. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/handling-device-diversity.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/handling-device-diversity.aspx Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:22:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/keeping-pace-–-and-peace-of-mind-–-when-introducing-lte.aspx This time next week the Birdstep team will be in Barcelona attending Mobile World Congress 2011. The epicenter of all things mobile - certainly according the GSMA! It's a great show for us and we are again on the Swedish Pavilion - Hall 2, Stand 2F13. Please come and see us if you can. In the run up to the show there has some discussion around LTE and if it really will become the Holy Grail for mobile operators. The feelings are mixed, however, one thing for sure is that the first incarnations of LTE services are already in market, with most tier 1 operators planning to launch LTE services within the near future. This week's post in our series of takes talks to how operators can enjoy peace of mind by mitigating their risk while introducing new technology, including LTE .   Verizon, TeliaSonera, Telenor and Tele2, have all introduced the early-stage LTE services. The transition path GPRS->EDGE->UMTS->HSPA->HSPA+->LTE has indeed been fast, although some operators have skipped one or more steps in this evolution chain. In fact, we are now in situation where technological change in the network is so rapid, mobile broadband devices simply cannot keep pace.   In a market as fast developing and dynamic as ours, operators need to have a basic way of controlling the configuration and software within the devices being implemented now and in the future. It never fails to surprise us, therefore, that many still do not adequately future-proof their business when it comes to providing support with firmware upgrades, new network access and seamless customer communications.   Mitigating risk and solving important problems when introducing new network technology and here are a few examples of how we are working with operators in achieving that:   Keeping customer by remotely upgrading modem firmware for higher speed connectivity Even when mobile operators have upgraded their networks to the new HS(D)PA technology to support the new, high-speed connectivity, the challenge comes when installing new, enabling firmware onto the base of in-field modems. As modem manufactures release new firmware to support these new radio technologies, Easyconnect enables operators to remotely upgrade customer modems, and in turn offer high-speed mobile broadband services to everyone on their network - a customer retaining, and winning proposition. Network Sharing/MVNO arrangement to limit investment Operators are increasingly looking towards Network Sharing/MVNO agreements as a means to limit the required investment when moving to a new generation of radio technology. Such arrangements typically mean that a new network code (MNC) needs to be incorporated into the operator's native "footprint". In the absence of remote configuration management capabilities, the installed base of mobile broadband devices will treat this new network as an external, network, resulting in blocked access or confusing device-user communication. Using Easyconnect it is possible to automatically update the existing devices to include the new network code in the "home network" footprint. Responding to regulatory action resulting from the emergence of new technology Regulators around the world are closely following the development of mobile technology and introducing regulation to ensure fair completion and protection of consumer interests. A recent example is the European commission data roaming regulation stipulating, among other things, that users shall not be exposed to roaming fees exceeding 50 Euro/month unless explicitly acknowledging the acceptance of the overage. Using Easyconnect, mobile operators can trigger a splash-screen notification on a customer's laptop informing her/him that she/he is approaching the Euro 50 threshold and that the current Internet session will be cut-off unless she/he explicitly accepts the charges exceeding Euro 50. In the absence of this type of feature the operator must resort to re-directing web-traffic and/or sending a SMS message which are both less effective communications methods.   So as you can see, there are options for mobile operators to mitigate risk when introducing new technology, including LTE. Birdstep's EasyConnect ensures that operators keep pace with all of the growth potential while effectively adhering to regulations and, most importantly, satisfying customers. That's peace of mind.   To learn more, visit www.birdstep.com http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/keeping-pace-–-and-peace-of-mind-–-when-introducing-lte.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/keeping-pace-–-and-peace-of-mind-–-when-introducing-lte.aspx Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:20:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/billing-transparency,-flexibility-and-mobility-–-making-customers-happy-to-pay.aspx The old adage is true. The bigger the fish tank, the bigger the goldfish grow. Add more food, oxygen and room, and the quicker the fish will grow. Can the same be said for subscriber numbers and ARPU as mobile operators add more services, ramp up speeds and offer unlimited (albeit paid for) bandwidth?   Cisco recently issued some startling data around data-rich video traffic over the next year:   Mobile video traffic will exceed 50 percent for the first time in 2011. Mobile video traffic represented 49.8 per cent of total mobile data traffic at the end of 2010. Mobile video will account for 52.8 percent of traffic by the end of 2011.   As we addressed in previous posts, every mobile operator wants customers to increase use of their network, especially revenue generating and subscriber retaining services such as video. However, as the stats above prove, the demand is so high that the costs incurred by operators in handling bandwidth capacity and managing customer expectations will certainly outweigh new data revenues.   So, what are the options for operators? Enforce unpopular caps on data volumes? Hike the price on the number of bytes consumed by an individual subscriber? Possibly. However, we believe operators can take the third way and offer transparent, flexible and mobile billing options that put the customer in control of what data they pay for when and how.   Users are always willing to pay for a valued service - just give them the choice.  Some users depend on mobile broadband in a way your average Internet surfer could never understand. But what are they dependent on? Is it fast access at a specific time of day? High download volumes at a specific time of month? Perhaps faster access in the evenings when the kids are on YouTube? In most cases, it's a healthy mix of the above.   At Birdstep, we are encouraging operators to create choices for customers on how they pay for access speeds, throttle connects, etc. ( see Ericsson's excellent white paper entitled "Keeping the Customer Service Experience Promise" ). We put the focus on network optimization, integrated quality matrix and nodal quality indices , rather than expensive solutions addressing the network layer, DPI integrations, backhaul solution or even data policy engines.   Through the Birdstep EasyConnect solution, our operator partners are connected and authenticated easily on an end users desktop. It keeps them proactively informed of customer usage and enables them to deploy new charging solutions to suit their needs right here and now. They can offer flexible billing solutions such as direct micro-billing and open data tariffing to both pre-paid customers and subscribers.   The money is there, but the value statements need to be flexible and simple. Why have a system that requires a user to call in or go to a store to make changes when they can do it from anywhere, on the move and at their leisure. Isn't that the point of mobile Internet in the first place?   If you are attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, please come by and see us and find our more about our next generation EasyConnect service that will be on display. You can find us on the Swedish Pavilion, Hall 2, Stand 2F13 and follow us on Twitter for the latest news and insights from the show @BirdstepTech http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/billing-transparency,-flexibility-and-mobility-–-making-customers-happy-to-pay.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/billing-transparency,-flexibility-and-mobility-–-making-customers-happy-to-pay.aspx Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:18:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/service-quality-more-important-than-price.aspx Last week we addressed transparent, flexible and mobile billing options that put the customer in control of the data they pay for, as well as when and how.  We learned that by offering more choice and ease of payment, customers are willing to pay.   This week our topic turns to service quality and why it's more important to customers than low prices. Just how important is shockingly illustrated by one of our operator customers. He revealed that his customer churn rates soared to 90 percent during a period of bad service - even when low prices were on offer.   "Service performance is one increasingly important part of this total end-user experience, which also covers finding the service, paying bills and acquiring support." - Ericsson: Keeping the Customer Service Experience Promise, 2011.   The reason to reduce churn is, naturally, to keep customers, but also to avoid the expense of customer acquisition that typically costs between $150 and $800 per customer. An expensive replacement process to say the least.   "Customer acquisition cost (CAC) ranges from $161 to $752 per customer with a mean (median) of $374 ($361 )"- Do Customer Acquisition Cost, Retention and Usage Matter to Firm Performance and Valuation?, London School of Economics, 2009.   Good service - more than KPIs - apply the "soft factors" What is a good service and customer experience? There are many factors; hard Key Performance Indexes (KPIs) such as network coverage, network performance and session stability, but also "soft factors" such as access to services, quality of information and type of information. The operator network KPI is straightforward when it comes to evaluating or improving. For example, an area without coverage is simply an area without coverage and is fixed by building out the network.   The "soft factors" are equally important, but most of the time they are not thought through or even existing. A recent example in Australia shows that most of the dis-satisfaction that hit one of the operators could have been avoided simply through better communication. ("Furious Vodafone customers spark ACCC probe"  http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/furious-vodafone-customers-spark-accc-probe-20101217-190gl.html ).   Retention marketing: Typically Only 40 percent effective To reduce churn, operators usually have retention teams contact users before their subscription expires and take care of customers with issues in order to help them, offer discounts, etc. Birdstep knows from working with our operator customers that typical retention campaigns, unfortunately, have limited success - and they are expensive to maintain. One customer reported that out of all subscriptions about to expire they could only contact a maximum of 60 percent of those customers during a campaign - and out of those another maximum of 60 percent would sign up for a new subscription period. That amounts to a maximum 40 percent total of all expiring subscriptions.   Constant communication - the ultimate churn buster In both cases cited above, an evolved connection manager such as Birdstep EasyConnect could have provided a better user and service experience through targeted and pro-active information - or simply by informing the user of problems or offers when needed.   In Europe, communication with end users is not limited to providing a good user and service experience. The EU roaming legislation ( http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/regulation/index_en.htm ) actually requires mobile operators to provide end users with roaming warnings and more. We see an increasing need for operators to tackle the sticky issue of churn and to have a set of tools with which they can improve their customer communications and service quality. Our popular EasyConnect technology is a powerful messaging solution where the operator can target users with:   ● Support messages in main UI ● Operator SMS pop-ups ● Data usage thresholds notifications ● Clear and visible messaging in user interface   Birdstep EasyConnect guarantees that the operator is always able to inform users about usage thresholds, network status or other issues. The retention costs can also be lowered since any campaign not only is guaranteed to reach every active user, but it can also lower the "purchase barrier" by letting the user sign up for the offer straight from the client.   And all of that goes a long way towards maintaining a high-quality communications channel with subscribers and thus lowering churn. Find out how much you can reduce by requesting a customized demo at http://www.birdstep.com/ . http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/service-quality-more-important-than-price.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/february/service-quality-more-important-than-price.aspx Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:17:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/slashing-opex-through-support-centre-optimisation.aspx Profitability for mobile broadband is at risk. The market is being squeezed hard from end users, as well as network equipment vendors. It's clear that operators must minimize costs to maintain profitability. And one of the most problematic areas is soaring support costs.   In this blog post, we will focus on costs for mobile broadband support, which has become a true contender for the unflattering title of "biggest OPEX driver for mobile broadband (MBB) services". As one operator put it, "Support costs are starting to seriously hurt our OPEX".   The WDSGlobal report, "Maintaining end-user profitability in the mobile broadband market", states that "mobile broadband products are up to 200 percent more expensive to support than traditional mobile products such as mobile phones".   We have taken a long hard look at the challenges our customers are facing and conducted thorough research into the actual numbers and problems. The result is, in some cases, shocking.   The average handling time for a mobile broadband problem is still  above 20 minutes. One operator confesses that they estimate around 1.1 support calls per sold modem. Another customer said that approximately 10 percent of their customer base calls every month.   As mentioned in an earlier post, support alone amounts to at least 5 percent of the total OPEX of the average operator.   What makes MBB support so expensive? Unfortunately, it's a combination of things, such as:   Expensive Staffing: MBB's complex environment creates issues more easily than in a controlled handset environment. Additionally, when an error occur the complexity frequently requires more advanced, highly trained and expensive support representatives. Time Consuming Support: Due to the large amount of possible errors and combinations of software and hardware available, support for mobile broadband takes a long time. Technically Difficult to Find the Right Information: This issue is two-fold; the first problem is to match certain information to existing support routines. The second problem is to find more advanced information. For some additional information needed it can be necessary to guide a ("non-techy") user into the command prompt which is perceived as very complex and difficult. Diagnostics and Resolution Difficulties: Another reason for high support costs is the time it takes to diagnose a fault. Our operator survey tells us that diagnosing the error takes at least 80 percent of the total call time and that the time for an average support call is high. Consumer Type Support Behavior: In recent years, with the mass-market adoption of MBB, the customer has become far less tech savvy and often needs more support if something doesn't work perfectly. Lack of Pro-active Support: Today's support is usually too reactive, leading to a large amount of "high volume/low complexity" calls which still takes the same long amount of time to diagnose in many cases.   These issues - where support costs are increasing OPEX significantly - simply can't go on.   What can be done then, you might ask? A lot we say.   First, a large number of the issues are what operators refer to as "High Volume - Low Complexity" issues. These can be solved with better usability and a greater understanding of the user so they can present the right information at the right time.   Another important piece of the puzzle is that only some 20 percent of the users that called the customer support actually had some other means of connectivity at hand - suggesting that a solution to truly help the end user should be smart, easy-to-use and highly automated.   As for the rest of the issues, it is possible to provide the end user with good assistance.   Supported by the data we have gathered and the customers and contacts we have spoken with, we are confident that Birdstep can significantly off-load the support burden. Birdstep's EasyConnect automated fault diagnosis and fault repair solution, EasyHelp, removes a majority of calls - guaranteeing that we are able to automatically handle up to 45 percent of the most common MBB errors - hopefully even more.   We are also confident that our diagnostic information - tailored to our customers' existing processes - will significantly reduce the support time for any call that ends up with customer support. The Birdstep solution is also able to re-route support issues in cases where the operator is not to blame for an error.   Of course the whole solution goes hand in hand with the messaging capabilities of Birdstep EasyConnect. Good segmentation makes it possible for operators to proactively inform subscribers of any planned network maintenance, or to automatically generate an Operator-SMS pop-up to warn users in areas where the network is currently suffering problems. With the use of self-updating help and messaging as a way to notify users of common issues, it is possible to avoid many reactive calls. A side effect of using information and messaging more pro-actively is that the customers feel better about the service, which ultimately increases loyalty.   Birdstep works constantly to improve further in this area, with exciting new releases and a service augmentation that opens up new possibilities planned for later this year.   To learn more about Birdstep's new developments in MBB support cost reduction, please contact us for a more detailed discussion. You may also find it valuable to check out some of our customer cases which illustrate the use of Birdstep to slash OPEX through support centre optimisation. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/slashing-opex-through-support-centre-optimisation.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/slashing-opex-through-support-centre-optimisation.aspx Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:15:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/can-the-$15-billion-us-mobile-market-handle-the-data-explosion.aspx Why Operators Seek Birdstep EasyHelp To Relieve The Strain On Networks And Customer Service  According to wireless - data industry analyst Chetan Sharma , the U.S. wireless-data market grew 25 percent in the third quarter of 2010 vs. the third quarter of 2009. The market gained seven percent over the second quarter of 2010 to total about $14 billion. Equally impressive is the demand from Americans for mobile data. Data traffic is expected to exceed one Exabyte , which is causing strain on U.S. mobile networks, the services they offer and ultimately on their customer service teams.                                     iPad - Changing The Game Sharma also believes that connected devices will an even bigger driver in the future. He predicts that in less than five years, "the connected devices category will generate more revenue for operators than the entire prepaid segment in the U.S." This is a far cry from today when "connected devices represent only three percent of the quarterly data revenues."   Going Hybrid and Getting Help A critical issue for U.S. operators is how to handle this data explosion. Some scaremongers say data capping is the only option, even predicting that the cost of data will outstrip profits and put some operators out of business. In truth, there are other options. U.S. operators should take a page out of the book from their European and Latin American counterparts such as Virgin, Meteor, TDC, KPN and Elisa. These operators are getting help from Birdstep to off-load mobile data traffic to lower cost WiFi and streamline their customer support services. Data offloading onto WiFi can save costs of up to 25 percent per annum over a three-year period. By applying EasyHelp to automate their customer support, operators can also look forward to save up to 40 percent of their support service costs.   Data Offloading - Keeping It Simple The solution looks simple, and it has to be. It also must be fully automated to keep costs down. Our (Birdstep's) fully automated network switching, silent credentials provisioning and logins have proven to be excellent in ensuring a good customer experience. With "invisible" logins and automated transfer between different networks, the operators can make sure users are always connected to the network where they have the lowest production cost for mobile data. In addition, the user will always have the best available service without dealing with complex settings or network prioritizations.   Some operators want to take the off-load solution one step further to assure on-the-move handover to and from Wi-Fi with no impact to ongoing VoIP and VPN sessions. The Birdstep Mobile IP solution makes this seamless mobility a reality, allowing the operator to facilitate Wi-Fi offload without the user noticing.   EasyHelp - Minimizing Operator Support Costs With concern for overall profitability, it's important for providers to look closely at operational costs associated with mobile broadband. One key area that shows significant savings potential is support. Indeed, real numbers show a massive amount of support calls regardless of issue complexity. This can be largely attributed to the newer generation of users who are far less technically savvy than the early adopters of mobile broadband. Add a flood of iPads and other tablet devices to the mix and it's a heady cocktail of demand outstripping support.   So how does Birdstep help? Birdstep draws upon experiences from more than 40 successful operator deployments globally and seven new operator deliveries in 2010. We are expanding our value offering in service access and management to include the EasyHelp support client. EasyHelp is designed to provide an optimum user experience and simultaneously reduce costs of customer support.   EasyHelp can remove a majority of support calls, and when coupled with communication services, operators can proactively inform subscribers and streamline call centre processes. Using automated troubleshooting and diagnostics features, EasyHelp is designed to minimize operator support costs through:   Diagnose and self-heal faults Device testing and repair Network testing and repair Computer testing and repair Client testing and repair Provide easy-to-understand feedback Refer issues to correct supplier Enable rapid call centre support resolution Automatic updates of fixes and information   EasyHelp will launch at the International CTIA WIRELESS® 2011, taking place March 22-24 in Orlando, Florida.   To arrange a meeting or for more information, please contact: marie-louise.nilsson@birdstep.com http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/can-the-$15-billion-us-mobile-market-handle-the-data-explosion.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/can-the-$15-billion-us-mobile-market-handle-the-data-explosion.aspx Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:12:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/avoiding-the-bit-pipe-trap.aspx Going OTT for the Elusive Piece of the Pie Since the new millennium, operators have struggled to climb up the mobile data value chain and avoid the trap of becoming simply bit-pipes. With the flood of Smartphones and tablet devices bringing more than 76.9 billion [1] mobile apps into market by 2014, it is only natural for operators to want a bigger piece of the predicted $35 billion pie. Their position has been further challenged with the arrival of Over-The-Top (OTT) players, such as Skype and Twitter, who have divided the pie further.   However, as well documented by Susie Kim Riley of Communication Technology , OTT players are not the bad guys.   " While it's true that OTT players are decreasing the share of the pie for operator-provided services, what's more important is that they substantially increase the overall size of the pie ."   For instance, Skype, which is perceived as a revenue drain by most mobile operators, is a substantial revenue generator for partner 3UK. By embracing the OTT VOIP service, 3UK customers can call and instant-message others on Skype for free. 3UK has not only seen a sharp rise in customer acquisition, but also increased ARPU on international calls. That is music to any operator's balance sheet!   Customer Data + Access = The Perfect Recipe A November 2010 study from informa, " Future Mobile Operator Business Models : partnerships , wholesale , OTT play and new market opportunities " (2nd edition), shows that "The mobile operators' existing relationship with their customers gives them knowledge of those customers which, combined with their access network, presents them with a virtually unlimited market potential" when partnering with the OTT players.   In our day-to-day work with our customers, and in research and trials we perform, we're seeing a number of interesting initiatives in this area. OTT players and other service providers are joining forces with operators to offer packages. They are testing new subscription types and even initiatives where service providers sponsor their data traffic towards the operators.   Bundled service combinations, such as Bandwidth X + "The YouTube Package" (unlimited access to YouTube content without bandwidth restriction), are proving to be much more interesting to everyone involved. In this way, the consumer is sure to have a subscription that covers their basic needs and, at the same time, is guaranteed good access to specific areas of interest.   Making It Easy To Connect At Birdstep, our goal is to raise awareness of valued added service offerings so that operators can ensure their long-term partnerships with service providers and OTT players and, in turn, their position with consumers. We are working closely with these types of processes to let the end user tailor policies and packages on-the-fly, as well as be informed of policy changes when usage thresholds are passed or about to be passed.   Do you want to know more? Post a comment or contact Marie-Louise Nilsson-Kanon: marie-louise.nilsson@birdstep.com   [1] Source: IDG - Worldwide and U.S. Mobile Applications, Storefronts, and Developer 2010-2014 Forecast and Year-End 2010 Vendor Shares: The "Appification" of Everything http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/avoiding-the-bit-pipe-trap.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/march/avoiding-the-bit-pipe-trap.aspx Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:11:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/vpn-is-dead,-long-live-mobile-vpn!.aspx When someone starts to talk about Virtual Private Networks (VPN), you immediately find an excuse to leave the room. Sure, traditional VPN maybe, when no one cared about today's mobile workforce, but today VPN has had a makeover and what emerged is a smarter, more secure connectivity with your laptop, PDA and smartphone. Mobile VPN gives enterprises the security to know their information is protected when employees are mobile and employees get seamless roaming, always connected transparency.   According to a study by IDC , mobile workers will  increase from 758.6 million in 2006 to more than 1 billion  by year-end 2011. That is a lot of workers out and about creating an increased concern of security from the enterprise.  SafeMove offers a user experience with genuine "zero-click  connectivity" while not compromising security. Mobile workers are able  to take advantage of the best available wired or wireless networks  without manual intervention.   So what is the point of this post in the Nest? To let you know, we are going to showcase the dozens of ways our customers have used mobile VPN to increase the productivity of their workforce, protect data and save a little money along they way. Stay tuned. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/vpn-is-dead,-long-live-mobile-vpn!.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/vpn-is-dead,-long-live-mobile-vpn!.aspx Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:09:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/secure-mobility-–-the-way-it-should-be.aspx Security is always a concern for businesses large and small. When it comes to the mobile workforce, it's an especially pressing issue. The loss or misuse of mobile devices resulting in exposure of sensitive internal data can have a devastating effect on a company's image and competitive advantage.   Security breaches also damage the trust you have established with your customers when their confidential information is at risk. For example, in 2008 HM Revenue and Customs in the UK lost the personal data of 25 million people, opening the door to identity theft and fraud and resulting in 94 instances of data misuse in the six months after the breach.   And everyone has heard about Epsilon , the world's largest email service provider. Epsilon's recent data breach possibly exposed the emails of 250 million customers of more than 50 major companies to the threat of targeted phishing attacks.   The security of mobile devices and data is increasingly becoming a mandatory requirement from government and other regulatory bodies. This is especially applicable to certain industry sectors where regulators are imposing new frameworks to ensure effective reporting, accounting and security regimes within public and private organisations. One example is the US Government's 2002 introduction of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act in an attempt to stem the tide of major corporate and financial scandals.   To be loud and clear; security is a must. But in today's world, enterprises are facing distinct challenges of utilizing multiple, often unreliable networks. Users accustomed to reliable mobile broadband at home will no longer accept a low quality of service just because they are working wirelessly. They expect technology to work for them as it does when they are sitting at a desk - a LAN-like experience. Organizations therefore need to ensure that what they deploy for wireless and mobile working is fit for purpose and does not make life more challenging for their users.   And that's why a new category of VPNs has emerged: The Mobile VPNs. Mobile VPNs go further than simply providing a secure connection for mobile systems. Mobile VPNs allow users to connect securely to an organisation's internal network over both fixed and wireless networks, as well as move between them without breaking the secure VPN tunnel. Mobile VPNs hand off a connection without the user being aware of it and without the service being interrupted. Allowing applications to cope with changing networks and gaps in wireless coverage so users enjoy a genuinely LAN-like experience is the best way to ensure the most positive, productive experience possible -  the way it should be.   The Helsinki City Rescue Department in Finland has brought confidence to the performance of day-to-day emergency operations with the highest information security requirements provided by Birdstep's SafeMove Mobile VPN solution . With SafeMove securing and automating data connectivity from emergency vehicles to the central network, real-time information is always easily available with zero downtime - whether the unit is at its base, on the move or at the rescue destination.   Read more about SafeMove and Helsinki Fire and Rescue and don't forget to follow us on Twitter at @birdsteptech . http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/secure-mobility-–-the-way-it-should-be.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/april/secure-mobility-–-the-way-it-should-be.aspx Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:07:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/quit-wasting-your-time-–-stay-connected.aspx Connectivity is something you never want to think about. Staying "connected" as a mobile worker should not take up half of your mobile workday. The more you have to think about the mechanics of working on your computer, PDA or other device, the less you can think about…working on your computer, PDA or other mobile device.   Unfortunately, once you leave the comfortable confines of the office, connectivity becomes a ubiquitous concern. Every otherwise productive work session plays out like a phone conversation with low battery. You try and focus, try to stay engaged, but can't escape the lingering assuredness that it all could end without recourse at any moment. GPRS or 3G connections are notoriously spotty, and Wi-Fi HotSpots equally so, in addition to their security risks and overly complicated connection procedures. Hopping between inconsistent connections (taking the time to set each up), worried about crashing data loss, re-boots and support calls is no way to get any productive work done.   Connectivity and productivity are intrinsically linked. Address the former and you can greatly aid the latter. We developed our SafeMove Mobile VPN solution to do just that.   Mobile VPNs need to cope with users moving between fixed and mobile networks throughout the day and provide seamless connectivity across all of them. Mobile VPNs need to hand off a connection without the user being aware of it and without the service being interrupted. Mobile VPNs need to handle changing networks and gaps in wireless coverage, so users enjoy a web experience as secure as that in the office, out of sight and out of mind.   Birdstep's SafeMove Mobile VPN solution addresses all of the above so that you don't have to sacrifice your productivity addressing it yourself. You are free to work without fear of data loss or the burden of navigating changes in connectivity.   Internet addresses are bound to the physical equipment making up the Internet, and are thus bound to physical locations. When an Internet device (e.g. a laptop) moves to a new location, it has to use a new IP address and it is not unusual for a device to need to move between networks in the middle of ongoing session. If the Internet address changes, sessions will break down. Mobile IP solves this in an elegant way, by making sure the mobile device can keep its IP address while visiting different network locations. No more broken sessions.   Sessions will also break if the network connection is temporarily lost, which can happen frequently on cellular networks where mobile workers are moving in and out of coverage and within buildings. Each time the session is dropped, the VPN needs to be re‐authenticated, another distraction and another waste of time. SaveMove solves this issue by insulating applications from intermittent connectivity issues and seamlessly reconnecting the VPN tunnel without requiring user interaction. No more broken sessions.   Fear of lost data and the constant distractions attendant juggling different spotty connections are the bane of the mobile workers existence. Addressing those issues gets us back to what we are paid to do…working on our computer, PDA or other mobile device.   The increase in productivity using SafeMove technology is measurable and has already helped workers in many sectors.   Here is one example our our Mobile VPN solution helped improve the productivity of the staff at the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital (HUS) by almost 30%. The staff in hospitals, clinics and health centers benefitted from the real-time contact with their information systems (including patient records, laboratory results and statistics) independent of time and place, using and updating the network while mobile. Time previously wasted collecting material, copying information and travelling was recovered because the material, documents and emails were continuously available. Want more stats? You can see all the statistics on improved productivity here: CreaProc Project  One hopes this means less time spent in the waiting room, but then again those Men's Health magazines aren't going to read themselves. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/quit-wasting-your-time-–-stay-connected.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/quit-wasting-your-time-–-stay-connected.aspx Wed, 04 May 2011 11:04:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/birdstep-goes-to-communicasia.aspx It's official! Birdstep is headed to Singapore and CommunicAsia 2011 . We are excited to showcase our new connectivity and service management solution for mobile broadband providers, EasyConnect 3.1 , at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center, June 21-24.   What's CommunicAsia? Just Asia´s largest knowledge based information and communications technology platform. The show highlights the newest technology innovations, latest industry updates and thought-provoking sessions by prominent industry players. You'll find the major operators, value-added service providers, and equipment and device manufacturers from around the world attending.   But most importantly, Birdstep will be there!   We are joining fellow Swedish innovators at Stand BJ2-01 in the Swedish Pavilion. What can you expect to see and do? It is a great opportunity to meet some Birdsteppers and let us show how next generation EasyConnect will give your customers a smoother and easier mobile broadband experience.   You'll learn all about:   -       Complete data off-load services with automated Wi-Fi credential provisioning and seamless login -       Support services designed to dramatically reduce in-bound calls to centers -       Integrated messaging and marketing capabilities for full subscriber control -       Session persistent Android clients providing seamless off-load and an advanced "always connected" experience whilst helping ease the traffic data burden.   In addition to our stand demonstrations, Birdstep will host some can't-miss cocktail events during the show. We will post more information here during May, so stay tuned. Or, check our CommunicAsia microsite here for updates.   Please make plans to meet us at CommunicAsia and learn more about our exciting product, EasyConnect 3.1. To reserve a meeting to see it in action, contact Marie-Louise Nilsson at +46 70 232 5998 or send an email to marketing@birdstep.com . And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @BirdstepTech.   See you in Singapore! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/birdstep-goes-to-communicasia.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/birdstep-goes-to-communicasia.aspx Wed, 04 May 2011 11:02:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/better-mobile-business.aspx Mobile technology has transformed the way organizations do business, making it possible for employees to be more productive no matter where they are based or where their work takes them. But it is not without its challenges.   This week, we are at Enterprise Mobility Exchang e in Brussels, Belgium from May 9 to 11 and will discuss the challenges of mobile connectivity and talk about VPN solutions for the mobile workforce.   According to Tim Carter, our very own VP of Sales: mobile employees need reliable, secure connections that increase their productivity when on the road and are convenient and simple to use. With the potential to cut costs, increase revenue, improve customer service and optimise the efficiency of business processes, a mobile VPN solution is an attractive proposition.   Carter adds, "When you have a solution that helps you overcome the challenges of network outages and roaming between 3G and Wi-Fi, you can enjoy all the benefits that mobile technology can bring. SafeMove makes that possible."   Drop by to learn more about  how our mobile VPN solution, SaveMove can address the costs, connectivity, productivity and security challenges of the mobile enterprise including:   Zero-Click Connectivity - SafeMove connects automatically to the best available network, roaming seamlessly between networks and maintaining VPN and application sessions during gaps in coverage. SafeMove also prioritizes Wi-Fi over 3G for cheaper, faster connectivity without relying on users or applications to select the most appropriate network. Solid Security - Strong security is provided to authenticate user access and encrypt data with FIPS 140-2 certified technology. Centralised Management - SafeMove manager provides centralised and intuitive monitoring and control, real-time activity and status, and advanced reporting and statistics. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/better-mobile-business.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/better-mobile-business.aspx Mon, 09 May 2011 11:00:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/highlights-from-our-annual-report.aspx 2010 was an exciting year for Birdstep, a year full of hard work, spirited conversation, and even an award! It's always nice when your efforts get recognized, and winning a Mobile Star award for our work in cloud services/remote access capped off an already great year. The secret to a great year? Listen and react. In 2010, we saw through an initiative built on innovation and customer communication. We asked the community what they wanted to see and they responded. We listened, and it seems our instincts have done us well. The findings gave us a lot to feel good about, and made us even surer of our direction. Last year, we conducted a series of customer surveys with the goal of learning more about the needs of the mobile working community and fine-tuning our strategy to handle all of the most pressing challenges of our field; soaring mobile data volumes, tiered tariffs, rising support costs and end user communication. Consulting the results, we made some improvements that will keep us positioned at the head of this industry as it continues to increase in relevance. In the words of our CEO Torbjörn Sandberg, "The demand for traditional Birdstep solutions such as connectivity and handling of a multitude of devices is perhaps even more interesting than before, as we now see a more mature mobile broadband market taking off - one that now fully starts to recognize the need for uniform and adapted mobile broadband software." There is the need and we have what it takes to meet that need. Concerns voiced in our surveys and ubiquitous in the market are the same challenges we are already committed to addressing. The improved support for an even wider range of off-load supporting techniques paired with our new initiative focusing on the converging platforms for both USB devices, iOS- and Android devices puts Birdstep right where we need to be to help you handle the data mountain of the 21st century. We are also incorporating new technologies to manage both network handling and off load. These initiatives include technologies such as EAP-SIM, Mobile IP and I-WLAN for PC's as well as Android and iOS devices. Never taking a day off on innovation is still the key to our success. Birdstep is also continuously expanding its service-to-customer communication abilities, proactively asking questions and reacting. We understand how communication ties together with information, that relationship is fundamental to our products! What good is information if you can't get it anywhere or share it with anybody? What good are we if you can't get ahold of us? Communication drives innovation and we made great strides in the last year to make more efficient the communication options offered by our products and your ability to communicate with us directly. Thank you for the help, and here's to a great rest of 2011! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/highlights-from-our-annual-report.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/highlights-from-our-annual-report.aspx Tue, 17 May 2011 10:58:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/mobile-user-adoption-getting-rid-of-the-waste.aspx Some of the cardinal rules for user adoption are to make your product easy and convenient to use and actually do what it promises, without hassle. This is especially true when it comes to mobile technology in business.  Network reliability, outages and roaming challenges can frustrate even the most tech savvy employee, causing them to waste time and productivity. Or worse, they may even give up completely on a new technology. That certainly does nothing to help maximize ROI!  Thames Water, the U.K.' s largest water and wastewater services company, is well aware that user adoption is a critical and often-overlooked factor in the success of a mobile project.  We are thrilled to announce that Thames Water has made the step toward overcoming these issues in its mobile workforce by licensing Birdstep' s SafeMove Mobile VPN software. SafeMove will provide reliable and secure communications for 2,000 field- based personnel equipped with laptops and PDAs. It' s an ironic position that we are helping a company that deals in waste to minimize their waste in productivity!  SaveMove will strengthen Thames Water' s deployment of an enterprise mobility solution from ClickSoftware (NasdaqGS: CKSW) so that increased user adoption will lead them to the ultimate goal of enhancing customer service.  Better customer service is the benefit of increased productivity and communication. If an employee can get the information they need more quickly, so too can the customer, making sure that no time is wasted. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/mobile-user-adoption-getting-rid-of-the-waste.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/may/mobile-user-adoption-getting-rid-of-the-waste.aspx Wed, 18 May 2011 10:56:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/new-products-set-to-debut-this-month.aspx CommunicAsia 2011  in Singapore is approaching fast! We are looking forward to the show for a number of reasons, but we are especially excited about our new product debuts - EasySmart and EasyHelp.First, we are launching EasySmart to help mobile broadband providers give Android customers a smoother and easier experience. It's the first advanced cost control and client service app for Android.EasySmart for Android helps mobile broadband providers with seamless and complete data off-load to WiFi networks for an advanced "always connected" experience, while easing the traffic data burden.     At CommunicAsia, we will also debut EasyHelp, which minimizes operator support costs by reducing the high volume of low complexity service calls from less technically savvy users.   Here's how EasyHelp works: As eighty percent of support calls involve problem diagnosis, EasyHelp automatically limits the number of these expensive inbound calls through self-repair. It then reduces the average call handling time for the remaining calls with structured diagnostic data and dynamic support information.   Two great product debuts coming at the end of this month at CommunicAsia 2011. We can't wait!   To see these new Birdstep products in action at CommunicAsia, contact Marie-Louise Nilsson at +46 70 232 5998 or send an email to marketing@birdstep.com to reserve a meeting. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/new-products-set-to-debut-this-month.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/new-products-set-to-debut-this-month.aspx Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:55:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/owning-our-mobile-broadband-destiny-words-from-our-new-ceo.aspx My first three weeks at Birdstep have flown by quickly. It's been an exciting time of learning and discovery as I get settled in with the team.The reason why I chose to come to Birdstep is simple. We deliver the most innovative solutions for the well-documented and rising challenges in an ever-growing broadband market.     Birdstep is well positioned to help businesses manage customers and employees in a much more secure and cost efficient way than ever before.  What Birdstep provides has never been more important.   We all want to be connected to the Internet wherever we go, whatever device we carry, and at every moment we desire. Beyond that, the connection must be safe, secure and able to maintain that safety and security-even if we are on the move.   Birdstep is the right company to talk to when it comes to solutions to the above. We also address many concerns about secure connectivity. Thanks to Birdstep, in a couple of years all users will take all it for granted.   I joined Birdstep because we are well positioned and serve a very interesting market. The company is solid and ready for the next step.   What is then the next step?   Well, the vision at a very high level is clear. We should be the most trusted partner or vendor helping our customers manage their ever-increasing number of broadband users, whatever device they have and wherever they are. We will be.   So how can I help get us there? I have led organizations in rapidly changing technology businesses for more than 20 years. I know how to focus on things that matter, get everyone "on the same page," delegate and let the best people go off and do the job. I think this is exactly what Birdstep needs now.   I have still a lot to learn, but it is already clear to me what the top priorities are and I will write more about them as we go forward. For now, we must focus on:   - Leadership - Delegating authority - Accountability - Transparency - Product Strategy - Process excellence   This will allow us to own our destiny in terms of revenue growth and profitability.   I'm also enjoying working at Birdstep because of the experience inside a growing small company, which is a change for me-I spent my career thus far at IBM and Sun Microsystems.   I grew up as a sales rep and moved into management when I was 28 yrs old. I left IBM in 1998 to become the VP at Sun, responsible for Central and North Europe. I had eight people reporting to me in my first management job and ended up with a couple of thousand at Sun.   I left in early 2010 when Oracle acquired Sun and spent more than a year recharging my batteries by travelling, spending time with my family and pursuing my hobbies (physics, math, history, squash and golf). I studies math and physics at Linköping Institute of Technology and Stanford University and the time to get back into my studies for a while was a joy. Don't we all love Richard Feynman, Fermat's last theorem and Gödel Escher Bach?   Now, three weeks into my new position at Birdstep, it feels amazing to lead such a hard-working, intelligent team. This promises to be the beginning of a great future for us and for the mobile broadband experience. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/owning-our-mobile-broadband-destiny-words-from-our-new-ceo.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/owning-our-mobile-broadband-destiny-words-from-our-new-ceo.aspx Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:52:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/birdstep-at-communicasia2011.aspx Here are a few pictures of the team at CommunicAsia2011 . The event has been great so far! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/birdstep-at-communicasia2011.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/june/birdstep-at-communicasia2011.aspx Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:51:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/a-note-on-costs.aspx Intelligent network connectivity provides an obvious increase in productivity (as we have addressed), and there are also immediately tangible ways it helps the bottom line.First, SafeMove Mobile VPN has a big impact on mobile data costs. The mobile operator saves money when off loading to Wifi, and the price to build hotspots is 10% higher than to build mobile networks. In Cisco 's yearly Broadband Report they stated that users should be handed over to their home network between 30 - 60% of all surf time, which would make the cost zero for the mobile operator.     Here are some more numbers:   The mobile broadband growth year-on-year according to Cisco is between 93% and 300%, with EMEA representing the former figure and Latin America the latter.   The success of Mobile Broadband is putting an extra strain on the networks. The traffic generated for each PC is equivalent to that of 15 smartphones or 450 "old type" mobile phones. According to Cisco, the increase in data traffic in the Mobile networks will be 25 fold by 2012, whereas revenues will only increase by a factor of 2. According to AT&T (the operator serving most data customers in the world currently) the mobile data revenue for 2009 increased by 26.3% while the amount of data grew by 200%.   With all this data, it is imperative that mobile workers can access the network, because the data costs otherwise are enormous. One of the biggest operator groups in Europe says production cost per MB for WiFi is in the order of 0,2€c where 3G production cost per MB is 2€c (factor 10). SafeMove can help ensure that data costs are kept low.   Second, because of SafeMove, users have a better experience, which reduces helpdesk costs.   Analyzing more than half a million support enquiries within mobile operator and equipment manufacturer's technical support centers, WDSGlobal's research has concluded that mobile broadband products are up to 200% more expensive to support than traditional mobile products such as mobile phones. The area of greatest concern came from USB modems and PCCards. The average duration of a technical support call for such products is 28 minutes. By comparison, a technical support call for a mobile phone averages just less than 10 minutes. Each support call avoided for a mobile broadband product is an extra half hour of help desk time saved.   Before the increased productivity of the mobile workforce is even accounted for, these are two ways in which SafeMove Mobile VPN can save you money. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/a-note-on-costs.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/a-note-on-costs.aspx Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:48:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/tunneling-through-a-historic-transition.aspx It is time to start evaluating and implementing IPv6 , the new standard protocol for the Internet. Due to IPv4 address exhaustion , there is no longer a question. However, we are still in the beginning stages of a transition period from IPv4 to IPv6 , and during that period a mobile worker needs to accommodate both Internet Protocol versions.   SafeMove can help the mobile worker during this time of transition. Using a process called tunneling, SafeMove lets data move between IPv4-only networks to dual-stack networks (which offer both private IPv4 addresses, as well as globally routable IPv6 addresses). Tunneling allows the mobile worker to reach his network remotely and securely, while switching connections and not losing data.     To use a more visible analogy for the process, SafeMove tunneling works like the Channel Tunnel between England and France. Vehicles (cars) are put inside other vehicles (trains) so that the cars can access places they otherwise couldn't. In the case of the mobile worker, the vehicles are all IP packets and SafeMove tunnels information across firewalls and connections, while keeping it secure and intact.   With SafeMove, the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 need not be a difficult one and mobile workers can continue to work with confidence and without ever having to worry about the details of their network connection. They stay connected and that's all that matters. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/tunneling-through-a-historic-transition.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/tunneling-through-a-historic-transition.aspx Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:46:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/safemove-in-the-cloud.aspx Traditionally, virtual private networks have been used to provide remote access to the server room in the office building. Increasingly, organizations are instead implementing cloud computing services. This presents a new challenge. The server room is emptied and access to the cloud is needed instead.   Fear not, SafeMove can be implemented in the cloud to provide secure access to cloud services while continuing to offer an unparalleled user experience while not compromising security. Roaming from one network to another is automatic and seamless, just as it is when accessing the server room in the office, so application sessions are maintained as devices move between networks or during gaps in coverage. SafeMove termination points can be implemented in the cloud in addition to the standard company network border gateways which gives benefits in the form of redundancy, route optimization and performance. All together, this means that the superior connectivity you expect from SafeMove will continue as companies transition their networks into the cloud. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/safemove-in-the-cloud.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/safemove-in-the-cloud.aspx Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:44:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/usability-plus-security.aspx Thanks in no small part to the enviable position Apple currently holds in the hearts and minds of consumers, usability is one of the preeminent buzz words in the technology industry. Steve Jobs has proven that without usability, all the complicated possibilities and impressive specs that technology can offer amount to very little. What use is all the power in the world if one has no idea how to use it?   Entrepreneurs and organizations have learned from Apple's example, and now usability comes first for the savvy business. Oftentimes, the increased focus on usability has negative consequences elsewhere. Usually, what is sacrificed is security.   SafeMove does not sacrifice security; far from it. SafeMove offers an unparalleled user experience with genuine "zero-click connectivity" while not compromising security. Mobile workers needn't worry about complicated network connection processes or about the safety of their information. In fact, they don't have to pay attention to their connection at all. They are connected, their information is safe and now they can focus on work. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/usability-plus-security.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/usability-plus-security.aspx Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:43:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/more-devices,-no-problem.aspx Keeping the mobile workforce connected is no longer just about making sure laptops can reach the network. Workers now turn to their smartphones and tablets, as well as their computers to stay connected.   In this new environment, users demand network access using iPhones, iPads and other new consumer platforms. IT and security departments would like to control the devices that are allowed to access an organization's networks, but must be able to accommodate modern technology.   SafeMove offers a service which provides access for iPhones and iPads, leveraging existing network and VPN infrastructures to give you the same security and connectivity you expect when using a laptop. More devices, no problem. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/more-devices,-no-problem.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/july/more-devices,-no-problem.aspx Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:41:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/2011-mobile-star-awards™.aspx We are pleased to announce that we are entered in the Mobile Star Awards for the second consecutive year! This year's awards (the 10th Annual) honor the top Mobile Products, Success Stories and Visionaries as chosen by thousands of readers of MobileVillage's widely respected newsletter Go Mobile™.     Last year, Birdstep won awards for SmartConnect (Consumer App: Cloud Services / Remote PC Access) and for SafeMove Mobile VPN (Enterprise Software: Middleware). This year we are nominated in four categories: Consumer App: Cloud Services / Remote PC Access, Enterprise Software: Cloud Services or VPN, Enterprise Software: Middleware and Enterprise Software: Security.   Online voting begins in September and we will provide more details as they come. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/2011-mobile-star-awards™.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/2011-mobile-star-awards™.aspx Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:31:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/more-than-one-way-to-connect,-even-internationally.aspx Mobile workers have numerous options for connecting to their network. On a mobile phone using 3G, on a tablet connected to Wi-Fi, on a laptop or on a home desktop. And they can do so from any location. In a coffee shop, in a car, on their front porch. From the office, down the street and across the world.   There has never before been so much versatility available to workers - and so many technical challenges placed on a mobile VPN.   But from the point of view of a business, there is only one important question - do you stay connected? Regardless of how mobile workers access the network, they need to do so confidently and securely without losing or compromising data. And they need to take this security with them as they move. SaveMove can help.   SafeMove removes the possibility of failure for mobile workers by doing all the work for them. The laptop, tablet, desktop and phone can connect. Moving between 3G and Wi-Fi is an automatic process and is protected against data loss. The mobile worker can always stay connected, even internationally. No matter where the worker travels in the world, SafeMove will automatically select the closest data center and connect. If that data center goes down, the system will automatically select a new one. They stay connected.   As the ways in which mobile workers need to reach the network increase and the technical challenges grow, businesses must stay ahead of the pace of technology. The life of a mobile worker gets more complicated every day, but staying connected shouldn't. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/more-than-one-way-to-connect,-even-internationally.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/more-than-one-way-to-connect,-even-internationally.aspx Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:29:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/birdstep-joins-the-open-mobile-alliance.aspx We are pleased to announce that we have joined the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) as a Full Member!   Represented by the whole value chain of the world's top mobile companies, OMA is a 200-member industry forum for developing market driven, interoperable mobile service enablers. The Alliance provides a total ecosystem for mobile operators and vendors for the standardization and development of market driven, interoperable mobile service enablers. As a member of OMA, we can continue to pursue our vision to give mobile users easy access to the Internet and other online services and applications whenever and wherever they need to connect.   We plan on attending the OMA Technical Plenary / Working Group as part of the OMA Member Meeting, taking place Aug. 29 - Sept. 2, 2011 in Vancouver, B.C., so perhaps we will see you there! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/birdstep-joins-the-open-mobile-alliance.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/birdstep-joins-the-open-mobile-alliance.aspx Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:28:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/there’s-a-lot-happening-in-mobility.aspx Now that vacations are over and the kids are older, I'd say the one thing that keeps me awake at night is the speed with which the whole mobile broadband market is moving. Yesterday's great product idea could today be obsolete, built into the hardware or trapped in a dead-end of mobile broadband history. And tomorrow, it could very well be at the top of the agenda again. The speed of the market has changed the way we all do business as well as the way I sleep.   Mobile data, for example, used to mean a PC and a USB dongle. Now, with the enormous speed with which smartphone and tablet usage is growing, mobile data is increasingly true to its name - data that is consumed while being mobile. This means that the implied platform support for a "mobile broadband/mobile data solution" has had to grow to accommodate the number of platforms and operating systems available in almost no time.   Similarly, when we used to talk about the device diversity that one needed to manage in the world of mobile data, we had no idea that we would be facing new types of devices each day instead of each quarter. We thought a good product idea was something we would have some time to develop and now it seems like we no sooner start development then we have a press release out the door.   To be fair, this is a bit hyperbolic, but the trend is clear. The market is not going to slow down and wait for anybody. This is fine by me. We've always set "time-to-market" as a clear goal in our projects and hit our deadlines, so I guess we now have the chance to prove that we deliver as the time span gets even shorter, almost in real-time; in the operator's world real-time and short-time to market are pretty much the same thing anyway.   So for now, I'll just stay awake and wonder if that new portable hotspot will be based on a new platform.   - Birdstep Director Product Management, Lars Esshagen http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/there’s-a-lot-happening-in-mobility.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/there’s-a-lot-happening-in-mobility.aspx Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:25:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/innovative-days-ahead-of-us-on-the-departure-of-steven-jobs-and-the-need-to-open-up-ios.aspx The news of Steven Jobs' resignation as Apple CEO has caused misty-eyed reactions throughout the industry. Many comments appear more like obituaries, complete with summaries of Jobs' career since the 70's. In contrast, Jobs´ own message to the Apple community is characteristically optimistic and forwarding-looking, expressing his intention to continue his contribution to Apple´s success and claiming that the company´s "brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it". For that to be the case, Apple needs to focus on the spirit of innovation that brought it where it is today.   Innovation is key not only to the iPhone's outstanding market share, but also to Apple's rather extreme profitability. It is the combination of innovative hardware and software that motivates the premium price on the IPhone compared to competing, mainly Android-based, devices. Ironically, Android overshadows iPhone/iOS on market share, but the bulk of profit remains with Apple. This may not remain the case; over time, Google/Android's ability of to harness the innovative capacity of a larger ecosystem will put pressure on Apple's margins.   Innovators in the Apple/iOS echo-system are limited by the narrow scope of the iOS SDK and the rules stipulated in the Apple Developers Agreement. These limitations have not stopped a large number of developers from successfully launching games and other apps through the App Store, but Apple has reserved for itself the right to launch game-changing applications that require deeper embedding.   Apple is feeling the pressure from Android and is opening up, at least a little bit. Traditionally, iOS has not allowed "background" applications from third parties, thus effectively prohibiting VoIP and chat applications from being usable. Now it is possible for companies like Skype and Spotify to provide iOS Apps that can run in the background, increasing their usability and success. However, this is not an option for all third party developers. In a resentful blog post earlier this summer, Devicescape (developer of the "EasyWifi" login client) announced the withdrawal of their app from the App Store in light of increasing difficulties with iOS (see: http://blog.devicescape.com/2011/06/10/ios/ ).   In the name of innovation, Apple will hopefully continue to open up iOS, allowing applications from companies like Devicescape and Birdstep to reach their full potential. If they do so, bright and innovative days indeed seem ahead for the Cupertino giant, as well as the larger Apple community. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/innovative-days-ahead-of-us-on-the-departure-of-steven-jobs-and-the-need-to-open-up-ios.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/august/innovative-days-ahead-of-us-on-the-departure-of-steven-jobs-and-the-need-to-open-up-ios.aspx Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:21:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/keeping-your-network-protected.aspx There is a threatening side to the Internet that one reads about in articles meant to shock and usually only encounters signs of if digging through email spam folders. We are talking, of course, about hackers and their various nefarious tools. Worms and viruses still exist, despite spam filters, and still have the capacity to cause great harm if not protected against. And in this new age of wireless technology, there are many avenues into your computer and into your network that need protection. That is why it is more important than ever to find security solutions for your network that take all of these contingencies into account.   To protect the network, some organizations use Network Access Control (or Network Admission Control if you buy it from Cisco). NAC lets the network decide whether to let a device onto the network or not and what the device can do once connected. In practice, this often means that the network restricts access until a device has proven itself worthy by running a security check on the device. The goal is to keep computers that have been infected off the LAN and thus prevent them from infecting other computers and files on network shares.   But don't networks already have firewalls?   Yes, but they do not always provide the protection needed. Imagine the following situation: a bank manager takes her laptop home to prepare for a meeting the following morning. Her teenage daughter borrows it to do research for her homework, checks her email and happens to be tricked by a spam message. She downloads something she isn't supposed to, is embarrassed to admit it, assumes there won't be a problem and keeps mum. The laptop gets infected. The next day, the bank manager carries her switched-off laptop past firewalls and into her office and connects it to the office LAN. The worm knocks out 100+ branch offices.   This scenario is not entirely implausible, and demonstrates how a traditional firewall would fail to prevent a worm attack, even at a place with incentive to be as technologically defended as a bank. An attack of this nature would however be prevented by NAC. With NAC, the network can decide not to admit the laptop onto the network until it has provided some proof of being clean-a test one hopes this laptop would not pass. In this way, NAC can be an important piece of an organization's network security arsenal.   However, NAC like this is (while a good and sometime necessary technology) often prohibitively expensive (you'll need some hefty network infrastructure) and leaves some issues unaddressed. Chief among them, it would obviously be better to have the laptop not be infected in the first place, and NAC does nothing to help there. Specifically, NAC as implemented in the office LAN cannot possibly do anything to protect the laptop when it is far away and connected to the user's home Wi-Fi, as it was in this case.   SafeMove however can help address these issues. SafeMove uses the idea of NAC to better secure your network, and prevent the spread of worms even from remote workers. A client can implement a dynamic VPN and firewall policy that is affected by the security status of mobile devices, and then can restrict network traffic when the security status isn't perfect-updated and clean. This will both protect a SafeMove device from infections and protect the network from the device. An outdated device will not be able to access the network and be exposed to viruses and attacks, so the user must update. The malware on an already infected device will not be able to access the network, spread itself and attack others, so the threat there is neutralized.   And SafeMove is beneficial because it is always on, in contrast to traditional VPN clients where the user connects the VPN when access to the network is needed. SafeMove enforces the network policy and protects the laptop from the moment it boots up until the moment it shuts down. VPN connections are established automatically when needed, without user intervention, so the user cannot forget to switch on security. SafeMove focuses on network security involving mobile workers and helps plan for the growing number of contingencies one must account for on the ever-threatening frontier of virus protection. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/keeping-your-network-protected.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/keeping-your-network-protected.aspx Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:18:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-poised-to-expand-mobile-workers’-productivity-and-security-in-finland-with-new-safemove-mobile-vpn-sales-vp-sanna-tiilikainen-(1).aspx We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Sanna Tiilikainen as vice president of sales for SafeMove Finland, effective September 1. Based in Espoo, Finland, Tiilikainen brings to Birdstep more than 10 years of experience in the international mobile telecommunications and IT industries, including several marketing and sales positions at Nokia, TBWA and Symbio. Prior to joining Birdstep, Tiilikainen was vice president of sales at Valimo, a Gemalto company. Tiilikainen will focus on expanding the award-winning SafeMove Mobile VPN beyond the public and government sectors and lifting the business to a new level as a service provider. "I am proud to join Birdstep and to work with such a talented team and a product with enormous potential," said Tiilikainen. And we are proud and excited to welcome her to the team! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-poised-to-expand-mobile-workers’-productivity-and-security-in-finland-with-new-safemove-mobile-vpn-sales-vp-sanna-tiilikainen-(1).aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-poised-to-expand-mobile-workers’-productivity-and-security-in-finland-with-new-safemove-mobile-vpn-sales-vp-sanna-tiilikainen-(1).aspx Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:17:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-and-cell-c-support-red-bull-mobile-with-easyconnect-(1).aspx We are pleased to announce that we have teamed with cellular network provider, Cell C , and energy drink brand Red Bull  on a new customizable mobile broadband offering for South Africa.   Red Bull MOBILE will use Cell C's network to offer both voice and broadband services, and Birdstep EasyConnect will be customized and pre-installed on USB mobile broadband devices for pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.   EasyConnect Go is a customizable connection and service manager that provides intuitive connectivity handling and powerful solutions for operators to communicate critical information to end-users, such as support information and billing.   We are pleased to be the chosen vendor for the mobile broadband offering and are committed to greatly improving the overall mobile broadband user experience for Red Bull MOBILE subscribers. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-and-cell-c-support-red-bull-mobile-with-easyconnect-(1).aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/birdstep-and-cell-c-support-red-bull-mobile-with-easyconnect-(1).aspx Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:04:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/open-mobile-alliance-api-specifications-available.aspx A month ago, we announced that we were joining the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) as a full member with the goal of continuing to pursue our vision to give mobile users easy access to the Internet and other online services and applications whenever and wherever they need to connect. We are now pleased to endorse OMA's newly announced API specifications for more than 40 network and device resources, with various language and protocol bindings.   The OMA API program provides standardized interfaces to the service infrastructure residing within communication networks and on devices. Focused primarily between the service access layer and generic network capabilities, OMA API specifications allow operators and other service providers to expose device capabilities and network resources in an open and programmable way - to any developer community independent of the development platform. By deploying OMA APIs, fundamental capabilities such as SMS, MMS, Location Services, Payment and other core network assets are now exposed in a standardized way. This reduces development cost and time-to-market for new applications and services, as well as simplifying wider deployment of existing applications and services. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/open-mobile-alliance-api-specifications-available.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/september/open-mobile-alliance-api-specifications-available.aspx Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:03:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/why-we-are-a-mobile-star.aspx As we told you a few weeks ago, Birdstep has been nominated in four categories for the 2011 Mobile Star Awards! The variety of nominations speaks to Birdstep's broad applicability in today's mobile market. Here is a bit more on how we fit into each category. 1) Enterprise Software: Cloud Services or VPN (for SafeMove) Mobile workers now have to connect to the network on a wide variety of devices, from smartphones and tablets to notebooks and PCs. To accommodate this, many organizations are moving to The Cloud to support their workers' connectivity needs. SafeMove allows workers secure access to their information and work materials whether their network is housed in The Cloud, or in an office's server room. As the requirements for connectivity advance, Birdstep will continue to make sure that mobile workers can stay connected from whichever device they use. 2) Enterprise Software: Middleware (for SafeMove) SafeMove is an enabling technology, which means that it enables more flexible working practices while being transparent to the user and the applications in use. SafeMove removes the complexity of getting connected to various access networks available, so the user is free to concentrate on their work, not their connectivity. The result is an unparalleled user experience-simple, dependable and flexable. 3) Enterprise Software: Security (for SafeMove) SafeMove is built to provide maximum security without sacrificing usability. SafeMove is always on, in contrast to traditional VPN clients where the user connects the VPN when needing access to the organizational network, and can forget to switch on security. SafeMove enforces network policy and protects a device from the second it boots up all the way until it is shut down. VPN connections are established automatically when needed, without user intervention, so security never has to be the mobile worker's concern and they can focus on their work. 4) Consumer App: Cloud Services / Remote PC Access (for SmartConnect) The SmartConnect client simplifies connection management by monitoring and optimizing the experience according the predefined connections and set network priorities. SmartConnect is designed to make both cellular and WiFi/WLAN access easy, helping users to benefit from cost savings and increased bandwidth. Once the SmartConnect client has been installed, users are just a click away from Internet access, wherever they are. To vote for Birdstep in any of these categories, follow the following two steps. Subscribe to the Go Mobile Newsletter. Only subscribers of Go Mobile can vote in this award. Fill out the ballot found here to vote (Birdstep appears in categories 1, 14, 24 & 26). Be sure to input your email address at the bottom of the form when you are finished. Voting runs until November 19.   Thank you for your support. Let's make this the second consecutive winning year at the Mobile Star Awards! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/why-we-are-a-mobile-star.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/why-we-are-a-mobile-star.aspx Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:20:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-at-west-midlands-‘innovation-for-integrated-care’-expo.aspx One of the many places SafeMove mobile VPN is particularly beneficial is in the healthcare environment. SafeMove is able to provide physicians, nurses and other staff members the ability to  stay connected to the organization's servers, even when they temporarily move out of Wi-Fi or even cellular coverage range. They can remain connected to their information services and gain access to patient records, laboratory results and statistics, without worrying about losing data, or being disconnected.   Today, we will be meeting with professionals in the healthcare industry while in attendance at the West Midlands 'Innovation for Integrated Care' Expo. The event will highlight tools and solutions for healthcare workers as well as address the future of the industry. We will be there to make sure that future stays connected! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-at-west-midlands-‘innovation-for-integrated-care’-expo.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-at-west-midlands-‘innovation-for-integrated-care’-expo.aspx Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:59:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-nominated-in-four-categories-for-the-mobile-star-awards.aspx As we previously announced , we are entered in the Mobile Star Awards  for the second consecutive year. Last year, Birdstep won awards for SmartConnect (Consumer App: Cloud Services / Remote PC Access) and for SafeMove Mobile VPN (Enterprise Software: Middleware), and we are hoping to repeat and add on that number. This year, we are nominated in four categories: Consumer App: Cloud Services / Remote PC Access, Enterprise Software: Cloud Services or VPN, Enterprise Software: Middleware and Enterprise Software: Security.   To vote for Birdstep in any of these categories, follow the following two steps.   Subscribe to the Go Mobile Newsletter. Only subscribers of Go Mobile can vote in this award. Fill out the ballot found here to vote (Birdstep appears in categories 1, 14, 24 & 26). Be sure to input your email address at the bottom of the form when you are finished. Voting runs until November 19.   Thank you for your support! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-nominated-in-four-categories-for-the-mobile-star-awards.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-nominated-in-four-categories-for-the-mobile-star-awards.aspx Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:58:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-has-a-new-cfo.aspx We are pleased to announce the promotion of Sophie Rabenius to chief financial officer.   Since joining Birdstep in February 2010, Sophie has served as business controller and director of financial planning and analysis, working with both strategic matters and hands-on business controlling with primary focus on sales.   In addition to her primary responsibility to provide leadership and coordination in the business planning, accounting and budgeting efforts of the company, Rabenius will perform a change of pricing structure for Birdstep's mobile connectivity, mobility and security solutions for mobile operators, service providers and enterprises.   Rabenius brings more than 10 years of diversified finance experience to Birdstep, including positions at The Absolut Company, several financial institutions and her own consulting firm, and we could not be more happy to to be working with her! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-has-a-new-cfo.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/birdstep-has-a-new-cfo.aspx Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:57:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/mobile-broadband-workshops.aspx Next week, Birdstep will be holding two free half day workshops, speaking about mobile broadband challenges for Mobile Operators today and how they can be combatted.                         During the session, Birdstep VP Strategy Marketing & Sales Michael Jönsson will cover: Market trends & the top ten challenges for Mobile operators today How to reduce your operational expenditure through automatic data-offload, r eduction of support cost and self-management capabilities How to increase your top-line Revenue by a voiding the bit-pipe trap, p roactive end-user communication and  e nabling targeted marketing   The first session will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 18, 8:30 am - 1 pm; the second session will take place in Bucharest, Romania, October 19, 12 pm - 4:30pm. To register for this event please email your name, company and telephone number to workshopbulgaria@birdstep.com with details of the event you and your colleagues would like to attend. Details of premises will be sent after your request for attendance. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/mobile-broadband-workshops.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/october/mobile-broadband-workshops.aspx Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:54:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/the-latin-american-challenge.aspx Birdstep is committed to Latin America!   Together with our partnership with Ericsson, Birdstep is in the right place, at the right time with the right products and resources. We hired a Latin America Sales Director, Juan Alvarez end of last year. We opened a local São Paulo, Brazil office and hired a local presales/project management resource. And we furthermore adapted our products to fit the local market requirements.   Entering any new market brings new challenges, but we believe Latin America is a very worthwhile endeavor.   Why expand into Latin America? Latin America is a vast mobile market, second in size only to Asia, and what’s more, it’s still growing rapidly. As of the end of 2010, there were more than 585 million mobile subscribers in Latin America, with Brazil showing a 10 percent year-over-year growth and 115 percent mobile penetration. Also, 3G growth in Brazil in 2010 was 237 percent and 4G Americas estimates overall 3G growth in Latin America for this year to be more than 90 percent.   With all this growth, the Latin American market is a great opportunity, but in order to take advantage of the opportunity, there is much you must be prepared for.  Here are some things we have learned.   Cultural Challenges  On a practical level, there are cultural challenges for a company based in a different part of the world. Obviously, success in Latin America requires the ability to speak Spanish, Portuguese and English fluently. You also need deep knowledge of the diverse local cultures and telecommunications markets from sales, project management and marketing perspectives. Without this, you can’t successfully navigate and negotiate between your company’s culture and the local cultures. Developing knowledge of the region requires resources in region and close contact with customers, prospects and partners. Relationships have to be built and there are no shortcuts, just time and dedication.   Financial Challenges  Financially, in general, Latin American operators have to make do with less. In the mobile market, there are more prepaid subscribers (85 percent) than in the U.S. and Europe, which contributes to a lower ARPU ($16). By contrast, the ARPU in Europe is $34 and in the U.S., $50. Operators will also have to manage high import taxes, about two or three times more than operators pay in the U.S.   Management Challenges  While a top tier U.S. operator may have a floor of people dedicated to a single product or product line, in Latin America you may find one person responsible for more than 10 products. In response, operators expect closer collaboration and anticipation of their needs. They want full solutions, not just a product handed over for them to integrate themselves. They also expect agility in meeting demands that may change frequently.   Overall, operators in the region fully expect you will work with them as they are.  You can’t ask them to work with you the way you are working with your customers in Europe and the U.S. You must adapt to the culture and the financial realities. If you can do so, it is well worth the effort!   Together with our partner Ericsson in Mexico & Latin America, Birdstep is successfully addressing each of these challenges  -  with the recent new launch in Mexico as an strong indicator of success. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/the-latin-american-challenge.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/the-latin-american-challenge.aspx Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:15:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/vehicle-public-safety-connectivity-and-network-evolution.aspx Modern public safety workers are in desperate need of broadband data connectivity. They need access to databases like patient records, criminal registers, stolen car registers and building drawings, and the data needs to always be up to date. After all, a stolen car can be outside of the country in just a few hours, or medical needs could have changed. Improving the efficiency of data connectivity ultimately increases the safety of the people and can even save lives.   Secure connectivity is what public safety data solutions are all about. While the first part of the term (security) receives much of the focus from various advanced VPN solutions, the second part (connectivity) is too often overlooked. And connectivity is key, especially for those who work from their vehicles in public safety. One might assume that TETRA networks, broadband networks, or the future LTE networks provide what is needed. Unfortunately, that is not the case.   First, current TETRA networks don’t provide data connectivity up to today’s standard of services. TETRA is built for voice, and using data over the network either distracts this main functionality or totally disables it.   Second, the current commercial wireless broadband networks are not reliable. As recently documented in Helsinki Center (one of the best spots for 3G in the world), even in totally covered areas, a single 3G network occasionally provides as low as 70 percent availability in vehicles.   Third, if you wait for the LTE to come and solve all your problems, you’re going to have to wait for a long time. LTE is not yet capable of providing the uptime needed for vehicles, and it will be awhile until it is able to do so.   The ultimate solution for public safety vehicles is to use all of the available network technologies in an intelligent way. TETRA needs to be reserved for voice, and data should be transmitted over TETRA only when absolutely necessary. To ensure broadband availability, two or three commercial broadband networks should be used. As LTE roll-out starts, new technology should be incorporated as soon as possible in regions where it is available.   With a solution this comprehensive and varied, a mobile router capable of great flexibility is required. The router must be able to switch between networks, always selecting the best one. It must be managed remotely for security purposes and minimized operational costs. It must also eventually bring Cloud Services to the vehicle.   This chart illustrates all that router will need to accomplish:                                 Does this look too far out? If you replied yes, it may surprise you to learn that authorities use this system in Finland. And there is no reason why other public safety organizations around the globe will not put similar products into use in near future. The flexible, comprehensive mobile router we need is already here .     Juhani Lehtonen Vice President, Sales Goodmill Systems Ltd. www.goodmillsystems.com http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/vehicle-public-safety-connectivity-and-network-evolution.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/vehicle-public-safety-connectivity-and-network-evolution.aspx Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:33:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/a-legacy-of-security.aspx The legacy of our SafeMove product lies in very high security environments. We use these environments as our starting point, which ensures that we build a product with good security features. However, we understand that security cannot come at the expense of usability and make sure that we never fall pray to the hazards of making a highly secure product.   Although much has been written on the balance between security and usability, security and usability are not necessarily conflicting goals. Often the goal of security is perceived as preventing access, while usability is perceived as striving to give easy access. However, real security is often more focused on granting your users access to important data, and less on withholding it from others.   Still, if you are not careful, by making security your main focus through satisfying very strict security requirements, you may easily end up with a product held back by poor usability. Often products become too locked down and too difficult to use.   Let’s take the following security requirements for example:   No unencrypted, unauthenticated traffic on the network. No way for the user to switch off or bypass the VPN or firewall. Smart card/ one time password to be entered for every VPN session established.   These requirements can be satisfied by an IPsec VPN with strong security focus. However, blindly following such requirements may lead to a product that nobody wants to use. Satisfying the example requirements would rule out ever connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot that requires a web landing page to log on. That takes away most public hotspots available and users will not accept that.   Also, moving between the desk and a meeting room entails switching networks, and to do that, you would need to reestablish VPN (enter your one time password), restart your applications, etc. Users will not accept that either.   With SafeMove, we provide the same level of security required in the above example, but we have addressed the usability concerns by making connectivity as simple as possible, and taking the onus out of the users’ hands. Network selection and connection establishment is automatic. Handovers between different networks are seamless. VPN connections are automatically reestablished. Hotspot login can be performed in a controlled and secured way.   Leveraging the power of the Mobile IP protocol, we’ve been able to demonstrate that by thoroughly addressing connectivity issues, the usability of a strict VPN can exceed the usability of a traditional VPN with less strict requirements. You get high quality security, built on our legacy of building for high security environments, with the usability required for today’s mobile worker. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/a-legacy-of-security.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2011/november/a-legacy-of-security.aspx Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:45:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/extra-protection-for-android-systems.aspx Today, we are proud to announce that we now offer a SafeMove toolkit for Android™*, providing the benefits of SafeMove Mobile VPN to Android devices and adding more!   The toolkit is available for e.g device manufacturers plus any system integrators that target organizations with high security requirements where a VPN is a necessity.   In addition to providing a sustainable connection, this toolkit also protects all your data while it’s in transit and enforces authentication to guarantee it’s secure.  With many other capabilities, it’s an intelligent way to ensure your mobile data is protected.   For more information, you can visit: here . http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/extra-protection-for-android-systems.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/extra-protection-for-android-systems.aspx Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:17:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/uninterrupted-connectivity.aspx We are excited to announce our partnership agreement with Goodmill Systems Ltd…it’s now official! Goodmill is a global provider of multi-channel router solutions that assist in enabling broadband connectivity for field services. Together, with our secure connectivity, we’re able to provide multi-channel router solutions with embedded Mobile IP, offering seamless and consistent exchange between the best available broadband data networks.   With this agreement, it guarantees uninterrupted connectivity, no matter where you are or what you are doing. With many customers that work in challenging surroundings, it’s crucial to be able to supply VoIP and live video applications, and this router solution is able provide those demands. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/uninterrupted-connectivity.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/uninterrupted-connectivity.aspx Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:16:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/stopping-data-leaks.aspx SafeMove as part of a comprehensive Data Leak Prevention plan   SafeMove can play an important part in a comprehensive Data Leak Prevention (DLP) implementation. Mobile devices such as laptops and tablets often render traditional DLP methods ineffective, as the devices are operated outside trusted networks. In contrast to other VPN solutions, SafeMove gives strong guarantees that, for network interfaces, data can enter or leave a device only as specified in the SafeMove IPsec and firewall policy (Extrusion Prevention). This is effective as the SafeMove policy is in effect from the instant the system starts, all the time until it is shut down. Example of a possible policy: IPsec and firewall always on User can not turn off or bypass VPN and firewall Only DHCP and ARP protocols are allowed unencrypted Data traffic may enter or leave the device only over a strongly encrypted tunnel to a strongly authenticated IPsec gateway. All data traffic is subjected to centralized security and filtering (traditional Network DLP) An effective DLP implementation must strike a balance between usability and tight DLP guarantees. Advanced SafeMove features maintain stringent DLP security requirements, while still allowing the user to get things done. As an example, the SafeMove Hotspot Login assistant for laptops allows connecting to a Wi-Fi network requiring web login in a secure fashion, without compromising DLP requirements. SafeMove does not constitute a complete DLP solution. Additional protection is needed especially for data at rest. Do consider: Full disk encryption Encrypted USB memory sticks USB port control     by Anton Gyllenberg, Senior Product Manager of Birdstep Technology http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/stopping-data-leaks.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/stopping-data-leaks.aspx Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:20:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-supports-windows-8.aspx We are proud to support Windows 8, well before Windows 8 general availability!   Without much fanfare, we recently released the SafeMove 6.1 maintenance release. Being a maintenance release, 6.1 does not bring many new features. One noticeable thing however, is that starting with SafeMove 6.1, Windows 8 is now officially supported. More specifically, the now announced support is for the version found on PCs and laptops (x86 processors) not the Windows RT version for ARM processors. Of the features new to Windows 8, one of the most interesting is support for virtual smart cards using the TPM ( Trusted Platform Module ) found in all modern laptops and PCs. A virtual smart card has hardware security characteristics similar to those of a real, physical smart card, but without all the hassle with lost cards, broken cards and readers, cards inserted the wrong way etc. Of course key distribution logistics is different, and the “shared computer, personal smart cards” setup common in many environments may need rethinking in order to work with virtual smart cards. Any way, we believe that in many cases, Windows 8 virtual smart cards may be a very attractive multi-factor authentication method for SafeMove. How do you see the role of Windows 8 in your organisation? Is it something that you plan to introduce soon, and what are the main drivers of a Windows 8 rollout in your organisation? Share your thoughts!   by Anton Gyllenberg, Senior Product Manager of Birdstep Technology http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-supports-windows-8.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-supports-windows-8.aspx Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:05:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/are-european-operators-taking-full-advantage-of-wi-fi-offloading.aspx With the explosion of data usage created by smart phones, tablets and personal hot spots, we are experiencing a second generation data boom. Birdstep is helping mobile operators to tackle the boom with an intelligent data offload solution.   It’s a huge issue worldwide, yet we are seeing the majority of interest from U.S. operators. So are European operators not taking full advantage of the opportunities? Why there is a difference between U.S. and Europe when it comes to the importance of offloading data?   This special report from Fierce Wireless calls treating Wi-Fi as the enemy as one of the worst wireless blunders and that it is “it's difficult to think of a carrier not using Wi-Fi in some way to relieve macro network congestion.” Treating Wi-Fi as the enemy - worst wireless blunders - FierceWireless   http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/treating-wi-fi-enemy-worst-wireless-blunders#ixzz27586KZZh     “Today Wi-Fi offloading is seen by carriers and vendors alike as an essential element of network architecture in an age of exploding mobile data usage. However, it took years for carriers to come to this realization.”   Yet the article is very U.S. focused too. Where are the European operators embracing Wi-Fi offload? Perhaps the answer comes from Analysys Mason, which reports that Western Europe has the lowest growth rate in mobile data out of eight global regions in its recently published  Wireless network traffic worldwide: forecasts and analysis 2012–2017 .   Is it the impact on transmission speeds that keep European operators from embracing Wi-Fi?   “…researchers at the University of Twente in Holland believe that Wi-Fi is reaching its capacity limits caused by the upsurge in devices using the unlicensed technology. The researchers claim, according to Telecom Paper, that when many Wi-Fi-enabled devices are simultaneously active, capacity and efficiency starts to be impacted with actual transmission speeds being dragged down by as much as 20 per cent of the advertised rates.” Read more:  Juniper: Small cells, Wi-Fi to carry nearly 60% of mobile traffic in five years - FierceWireless:Europe   http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/small-cells-wi-fi-carry-over-50-mobile-traffic-juniper-research/2012-06-08#ixzz2759nJ86I       We know the networks will be (or already are) congested in Europe as well. What is the missing piece? With the uptake in mobile data devices forecasted to double by 2015, mobile operators must address the data boom or their costs will overrun revenue.   Please weigh in with your thoughts! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/are-european-operators-taking-full-advantage-of-wi-fi-offloading.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/are-european-operators-taking-full-advantage-of-wi-fi-offloading.aspx Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:52:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-“smart”-new-contract-for-easysmart.aspx Birdstep’s market is rapidly growing in North America!   Building upon our earlier announcements this year, we are proud to have successfully expanded our EasySmart solution with the signing of a new contract with another leading North American operator.   By authorizing this new contract, it intensifies our leading position for intelligent data Wi-Fi off-load in North America. We are honored to help improve the customer experience on Android and iOS based smartphones and tablets for this North American operator.   Please read more about EasySmart here http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-“smart”-new-contract-for-easysmart.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-“smart”-new-contract-for-easysmart.aspx Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:34:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/mobile-worker-–-time-to-think-ahead.aspx Last week Birdstep held an interesting event known as Mobile Worker 2012 with Talentum , where we discussed issues such as connectivity, mobile security and how work is going to change in the future. The event consisted of great speakers from Tampere University , Goodmill Systems Ltd and Insta DefSec Oy . Below are some examples of what we talked about.   First – The future of work: How is work going to change? The basic dilemma from the perspective mobile worker is the emphasis on locality and "closeness" in parallel with globalization. Does the need for mobility increase or decrease is the question that arises. It’s evident we are going through a big transition in the working life, which is led by the Y-generation . With that in mind, the future society will be built more and more based on certain values and communities. People will actively develop their skills to build distinctive competence. The Term “permanent job” will lose its meaning simply because people will “own” and manage their jobs in a new way, working for several different employers, and developing new business models.   Career development can be either up, down, lateral or out. People are thinking things through from a social, ecological, economic or human perspective to try and find meaningful work; work that matters. Values change, and sometimes things happen, things like degrowth and downshifting . There are - and will be - still many questions, but the signs show that employees will be less and less tied to one employer and ‘work’ and ‘worker’ will meet more and more often in the virtual world. What do you think? Which one is going to be mobile – Work or the Worker? Second – How to change the paradigm of broadband connectivity when connectivity is critical? Modern public safety workers are in desperate need of broadband data connectivity, throughout the day. Unfortunately current TETRA networks don’t provide data connectivity up to today’s standard of services, because TETRA is built for voice, and using data over the network either distracts this main functionality or totally disables it. In addition, the current commercial wireless broadband networks are not reliable, even in totally covered areas. The ultimate solution for public safety vehicles would be to use all of the available network technologies in an intelligent way. Do you want to know how? Read more here .   Third – Technology and the ways we operate are in continuous change – How to keep up with security? In 2012 the biggest concern for CIOs is the security of mobile devices. That is the most obvious concern because information is the most important asset for companies. With mobility, the asset is moving away from a controlled environment. But on the other hand – mobile work is a must in today’s world. The more carefully your security solutions are considered, the faster you can adapt to a changing world and take advantage of new opportunities. Does your company have everything under control?   It is time to be smart now. Think ahead.     Please give us your opinion in the comment field. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/mobile-worker-–-time-to-think-ahead.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/mobile-worker-–-time-to-think-ahead.aspx Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:05:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/try-out-safemove-in-a-cloud.aspx Today, we are proud to announce that a new SafeMove cloud based trial service is available. The SafeMove Cloud based trial service is an easy way to find out if SafeMove is the right remote access solution for your organization. SafeMove Cloud based trial is quick to set up without having to install any server hardware while maintaining the benefits that SafeMove brings both to the users and the organization.   We are sure that you will love SafeMove after trying it out for a while. So what are you waiting for? Go try it out for yourself! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/try-out-safemove-in-a-cloud.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/try-out-safemove-in-a-cloud.aspx Wed, 29 Aug 2012 07:15:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/secure-and-hassle-free-hotspot-access.aspx Wi-Fi hotspots, which are located everywhere and often free, offer many opportunities and benefits to both the end user and employer. The productivity benefits of fast connectivity are clear. Additionally, you can often make significant savings by using free Wi-Fi instead of cellular networks. This is true especially when traveling abroad, as international operator roaming costs can be very expensive. See our recent blog post for more on that topic. While the benefits of Hotspots are obvious, there are still many obstacles to overcome. The two major problems that arise are security and ease of use. For both security and usability, the most problematic networks are those with a web landing page which requires the use of a browser to authenticate or accept terms. Assuming a decent Virtual Private Network (VPN) is in use, the security concerns mainly boil down to the following three issues:     Connecting to unknown networks, outside the control of the enterprise -- networks that may be hostile. Exposing the browser to possibly rouge, hostile web sites, without protection from enterprise firewalls, and content filters. Bypassing the VPN to enable the use of the browser to authenticate.   Usability-wise, hotspot access with a VPN enabled enterprise laptop is quite a hassle. After connecting to the Wi-Fi, it usually involves several obstacles. These include: Noticing the need to use a browser to authenticate Bypassing VPN (often not allowed in high security enterprises) Bypassing enterprise web proxy (often not allowed by IT)     Considering those, it’s usually a hassle for the user, therefore they stay on cellular networks, resulting in both the user and the employer to miss out on the productivity benefits and cost savings. Field service operations on the other hand, often use domestic Private APN cellular connections because of the perceived security benefits. These networks are expensive and often capped. Using Wi-Fi where possible will help to reduce the cost of workforce communications and improve the speed of connections. With SafeMove, we’ve worked hard on making the best user experience for hassle-free hotspot access, while maintaining the highest security. The users love it, and it has passed third party security audits with flying colors. The SafeMove Hotspot Login Assistant that we offer makes it possible to access the web landing page of a hotspot securely, under strictly controlled conditions. SafeMove includes a built-in, special purpose, secure browser that is only used specifically for the hotspot login. Hotspot login is only possible with that browser. All other TCP/IP traffic is blocked or encrypted.   Prominent features of the SafeMove Hotspot solution include: IPsec VPN always on, never bypassed. All traffic tunneled to the enterprise gateway. Secure, special purpose browser. Based on Webkit. No flash, no plugins. Hotspots are automatically detected, and the special browser is automatically launched. After logon, the mobile VPN automatically and seamlessly switches to using the higher speed hotspot network. No need to modify proxy settings.     Although hotspots may be free and easily accessible, their use may require unacceptable sacrifices in data security. The SafeMove Hotspot assistant is able to provide hassle-free access, and you know it’s secure from the start. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/secure-and-hassle-free-hotspot-access.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/secure-and-hassle-free-hotspot-access.aspx Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:02:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-safe-solution-to-outrageous-roaming-bills.aspx SafeMove 6 contains a few new features worth mentioning that can really help an organization  use cellular data services to the fullest advantage (even when roaming!). In the end, this helps allow organizations and consumers to save money and still be able to get work done while traveling, all while free of roaming fees. There are many “bill shock” horror stories, - such as one that can be read here , that demonstrates an outrageous roaming bill. Although there have been proven efforts to try and fix roaming fees both in the US and EU, it’s evident it’s not enough and there’s a long way to go. In an effort to help stop these outrageous fees, the EU has recently put a price cap on roaming data charges to a lower price of 0.70€ / MB ( http://goo.gl/YhI6h ), and the memo estimates that “For a typical businessperson travelling in the EU this will mean savings of over €1000 per year”. Although those efforts are positive, it doesn’t stop roaming fees all together, which is why SafeMove 6 is a great solution. It adds a couple of clever features that effectively solve these reoccurring issues by using technical means. A positive feature is that it can centrally configure what services and applications can use the network and under what circumstances, most importantly when roaming. And this all occurs dynamically and instantaneously. For instance, roaming restrictions are lifted immediately when SafeMove connects over Wi-Fi, even if the cellular modem (WWAN) is still connected. Users can also be allowed to temporarily override some of the restrictions if they choose to. In addition, this feature allows fine grained control over what network access is restricted, which services are available (e.g., windows update), which applications, IP addresses and tells you what ports are available. This will help reduce costs, and will add a smile on anyones face. A few key recommendations to keep in mind for a safe setup with high usability are the following: Configure Windows 7 WWAN to automatically connect when not roaming (the user will need to knowingly connect WWAN when roaming). When roaming, either: block windows update OR, block everything except a configured set of all important services such as email, company web, etc. and allow the user to manually, temporarily override the block for the session.   Just blocking Windows update when roaming, will alone lead to significant savings for most organizations Safemove 6, as well as these key tips will save any organization money, and give the user peace of mind when traveling.     Have a horror story of outrageous roaming charges? Please feel free to share with us! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-safe-solution-to-outrageous-roaming-bills.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/a-safe-solution-to-outrageous-roaming-bills.aspx Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:20:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-you-on-track-and-the-it-department-happy.aspx Let’s say your company has a lot of mobile workers and needs them to be able to get secure access to the internal network, regardless of time and place or network (3G/WLAN/LAN). You need something that will cover a lot of ground. You also have to factor in the challenges that come from employees working abroad, meaning huge 3G costs of data consuming. At the same time all kinds of new devices and platforms are flooding the work places and IT departments are falling under the burden of security and privacy problems, regulations (or lack there of), remote management and so on.   How to crack the nut?   The answer is simple. You should be looking for a modern remote access solution. Something that is easy to use, cost-efficient and risk-free. Something to help you find and utilize user-friendly hotspots. Something that is quick and flexible to implement without burdening in-house resources. Something that is available as a Service.   One of our customers – a major European transportation company – had the same problems. They cracked the nut by turning to us and ended up replacing their prior remote access service, which was out-of-date and did not respond to the current mobile technology needs of the corporation.  With SafeMove, they have been able to make mobile work more transparent and increase working opportunities for mobile workers. The employees who were previously not able to use laptops without huge 3G costs and who had limited mobile usage, down to little more than emails in smartphones, managed to minimize wireless access costs by enabling seamless roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi networks (with SafeMove automatically choosing a Wi-Fi network if available) enough that since the company acquired SafeMove Mobile VPN solution in early 2011, new laptops are now in use and smartphones now usable for more than email. The thousand-user limit has been exceeded and the number of users continues to grow.   SafeMove maximizes employee efficiency, as all data contained in the organization’s network and IT systems is always available for utilization and updating. In practice, mobile workstations are always covered by the same services and data security mechanisms as they are when connected to the internal network.   What this all means is that quality, maintenance and access to experts reduce the burden on the IT department back in the home office. Birdstep’s Secure Mobility services address the BYOD market, keeping security, privacy and remote management at the forefront, so that the end user stays connected without having to think twice and without having to call IT. BYOD? Not a problem. And the IT department will certainly appreciate that. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-you-on-track-and-the-it-department-happy.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-you-on-track-and-the-it-department-happy.aspx Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:14:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/bring-up-the-service-level!-stop-the-churn!.aspx Simply put, churn is a big problem. Churn means losing customers and kills revenue growth. Sure, we all know that. But do you know how bad churn really is and how much it can hurt the bottom line?   Today, end users have unrealistic expectations of coverage. They want coverage, always. More, they want the best coverage, always. Therefore, anything less than the best and they are apt to leave. In fact, if the perceived quality of experience is lower than expected, there is a 50% churn rate. You read that correctly, half of the users who feel that their experience is lower than they expected will leave.   So how do you get those users back, or new users to replace them? Direct Marketing. And marketing costs money. Operators today spend up to 25% of their budget on marketing, often to replace churning users. That’s 25% of the budget to replace what they could be maintaining.   There has to be a better way to keep the customer base level. Well, there is. Most cases of churn could be mitigated through proactive customer communication. And that is why our Smart Mobile Data solutions including EasyHelp, EasySmart and EasyConnect can be used to improve service and customer service to end users, reducing churn and freeing up that budget to be used elsewhere.   Here is how they help:   EasyHelp offers automated self-repair and diagnostics, which minimizes operator support costs. The easy-to-launch solution supports mobile broadband self-repair and diagnostics, which provides call avoidance, call routing and faster call resolution. With better customer care response you will get less churn.   Through diagnose and self-repair, EasyHelp provides network, computer and client testing and repair, with easy to understand feedback and rapid call center support resolution. Quicker repairs mean less churn.   EasyConnect/EasySmart offers fast and intelligent multi-network handling with data offload, which we showed you last week [ An Intelligent Approach To Handle Data Capacity Needs ], this means better connection, more data usage, better battery life and overall, a better user experience. And better user experience means less churn.   Furthermore EasyConnect/EasySmart enables the operator to dynamically interact with the end-user BEFORE they have decided to churn, addressing their Perceived Quality of Experience issues in real-time.   With Birdstep’s Smart Mobile Data portfolio, you can combat churn with a service offering targeted towards improving QoE, which is the best way to preserve the bottom line. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/bring-up-the-service-level!-stop-the-churn!.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/bring-up-the-service-level!-stop-the-churn!.aspx Wed, 27 Jun 2012 08:58:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/an-intelligent-approach-to-handle-data-capacity-needs.aspx We are still in the midst of the Second Generation Data Boom and it is clear that intelligent solutions are necessary to handle the increasing data demands on mobile operators. Beyond just handling the new data realities, those who approach network optimization with quality in mind will actually take advantage of the surge in data usage. Birdstep’s Smart Mobile Data services are built to take advantage of today’s mobile landscape and we are pleased to prove it.   In order to demonstrate our Smart Mobile Data data offload and power management capabilities, we performed a trial on the live WiFi/3G/4G network of a major US operator. The success of this trial provided a compelling example of what can be achieved with Smart Mobile Data services, and became the foundation for our million client roll-out in USA.   The trial was conducted on hundreds of cell IDs in a live WiFi/3G/4G network over a period of two weeks. More than 300 Android smartphone end users participated by EasySmart, our intelligent off-load client for smartphones and tablets, which enables seamless and policy-based offloading to Wi-Fi/4G with automatic credential handling, as well as User Account Management.     During the first week of the trial, no policy was implemented. Our services were dormant, only turning on the Wi-Fi radio when AC power was connected. During this period, “baseline” information was collected on data uploaded and downloaded for each type of data connection: 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi.   During the second week of the trial, we moved away from the baseline and EasySmart actively offloaded data traffic from the 3G network to 4G and Wi-Fi.     Want to know what we found? Check out the two graphs below.     Figure 1 shows average traffic against all “congested” cell IDs each hour of the day for the first week of trial.   Figure 2 shows average traffic against all “congested” cell IDs each hour of the day for the second week of trial.   You can see two very important things in these graphs. First, the participants were connected to Wi-Fi a lot more in peak hours when using EasySmart. Second, when the participants were connected to Wi-Fi, they tended to use more data, which points to a better user experience. The kicker? Despite using more data, battery life was improved for those participants, as less power was consumed when connected to Wi-Fi versus 3G/4G. Yet another plus for user experience.   This is an example of how operators can take advantage of the Second Generation Data Boom rather than just withstand it by using intelligent solutions, like those provided by Birdstep’s Smart Mobile Data services. User experience can actually get better despite the data boom and all savvy operators will take note. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/an-intelligent-approach-to-handle-data-capacity-needs.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/an-intelligent-approach-to-handle-data-capacity-needs.aspx Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:18:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-mobile-vpn-60-is-new-generation-productivity.aspx Tablets and smartphones have made it easier than ever for workers to be more productive wherever work and life takes them and on whatever device they choose. Along with these new platforms, comes the need for remote access to cover the new devices as well.   That’s why we’ve expanded our SafeMove Mobile VPN to further enhance the security and seamless connectivity of these devices, giving enterprises and their mobile workforce an unparalleled user experience.   SafeMove Mobile VPN 6.0 is more user-friendly and may lead to significant cost-savings by minimizing wireless access costs. The new features include support for IPv6, WISPr Hotspot Login, Split tunnelling and a new roaming policy for cost savings.   Read more about the new SafeMove Mobile VPN 6.0. You’ll see how  you can realize the full potential of new generation mobile devices as modern communication tools to increase the productivity of your company. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-mobile-vpn-60-is-new-generation-productivity.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/safemove-mobile-vpn-60-is-new-generation-productivity.aspx Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:36:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-now-brings-efficient-and-transparent-policy-based-traffic-management-to-north-america.aspx We can now let the cat out of the bag! Birdstep has entered the North American market!   Birdstep is helping Sprint manage the mobile data boom with controlled and hassle-free offload to Wi-Fi through EasySmart. In fact, we have already rolled out more than one million devices with the operator, without a single support call.   Smart operators like this have realized the need to invest in innovative technologies that accommodate the ever-increasing mobile data boom. Otherwise, if the current pace of mobile data usage keeps up, there will be no spectrum in the air to build more networks to carry the data. Operators are running out of space, even for Wi-Fi.   To demonstrate EasySmart’s Data Offload and Power Management capabilities to the market, we performed a trial on the live 3G/4G network of Sprint. The trial was conducted on hundreds of cell IDs in a live 3G/4G network over a period of two weeks. More than 300 Android Smartphone end users participated by downloading EasySmart via an SMS link.   The trial revealed that when participants were connected to WiFi with EasySmart offloading they tended to use more data, which points to a better user experience. Battery life was improved for those participants as less power was consumed when connected to WiFi versus 3G/4G.   From  Europe to Africa and Asia, and now North America, Birdstep is helping operators maximize profits by overcoming the challenges of increased data demands and burden on tech support. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-now-brings-efficient-and-transparent-policy-based-traffic-management-to-north-america.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-now-brings-efficient-and-transparent-policy-based-traffic-management-to-north-america.aspx Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:10:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/crowdsourcing-open-wifi-an-offload-”free-lunch”-for-mobile-operators-.aspx It seems like every café and restaurant offer free WiFi access these days, even the hair salons have it.  These free hotspots are often located in urban areas where the mobile networks are congested and thus offer a welcome relief for both end-users and mobile operators. A slight problem is that users need to manually discover and connect to free hotspots - many users will not bother to do this. Mobile operators are now toying with the idea of helping the users by automatically pushing their devices onto these free WiFi hotspots using an on-device client using a mechanism referred to as “crowdsourcing”.    This is a simplified view of how it works:   Every handset has an on-board client that notes any successful attempt to connect to a free hotspot and reports the corresponding ssid to a backend system. This backend system will then “broadcast” this ssid to the entire fleet of clients (or at least the clients camping in the same region). Whenever one of these clients come in range of this ssid,  it will automatically associate to it.   Exploiting this free WiFi opportunity may sound like a no-brainer for the operator. Unfortunately there are some legal, PR and user experience issues that the operator must manage. Below are few examples:   1. Unintentionally open WiFi access points   Some consumers and businesses accidentally configure their WiFi access points as open without the intention of providing free WiFi to the general public.  The legality of using such WiFi is at least unclear in some jurisdictions (Is it legal to walk into a house just because the front door is unlocked?).     One way to avoid the this situation is to include in the hotspot database only WiFi access points behind which there is an explicit http redirect to a terms- and condition page.   Another approach is to manually “scrub” the free hotspot database to assure that only known retail outlets that are intentionally offering free WiFi are in fact included.   2. Quality of service   If users that are automatically pushed onto free hotspots experience bad service quality they will be likely to complain and even churn.    The quality issue is somewhat convoluted with the automated client due to the indoor nature of must hotspots. A café may offer a completely adequate WiFi experience for devices connecting inside the venue but a substandard experience for users that are pushed onto the service just because they are lining up on a bus-stop on the other side of street where the WiFi signal happens to permeate.   By constantly monitoring user experience in terms of packet-loss rate, delay etc. and reporting this to a backend system, the operator can automatically remove from the hotspot database any hotspots that are not performing adequately for the users.  The client shall also be prepared to fallback to mobile network in real-time when the WiFi service quality deteriorates below operator defined thresholds.   Another way of mitigating this risk is to limit offload to free hotspots to situations where the mobile cell the user is camping on is in fact congested at the particular time in question.   3. Security   Open WiFi hotspots are “open” and therefore subject to “eavesdropping”.   The “simple” solution to this is to make the user aware of this fact and the need to use a VPN or similar to protect sensitive data.  A more complete solution is to have the on-device operator client establish a secure tunnel (a.k.a” I-WLAN”) to the mobile core through which all the user data can securely travel.   Crowdsourcing free WiFi is indeed an offload opportunity for the operator, but it is important for the operator to have both client and server capabilities to carefully monitor and tune the automated offload to free hotspots to avoid seriously compromising the user experience. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/crowdsourcing-open-wifi-an-offload-”free-lunch”-for-mobile-operators-.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/crowdsourcing-open-wifi-an-offload-”free-lunch”-for-mobile-operators-.aspx Wed, 13 Jun 2012 07:17:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/teaming-up-with-haynik-in-malaysia.aspx We are thrilled to announce that we have signed a partner and software distribution agreement with Haynik Holding Sdn Bhd , a leading Managed Mobile Solutions provider for businesses in Malaysia.      We are expanding our presence in Asia and will reach Malaysian markets through this high quality partnership. In addition to operating as a software distributor, Haynik will provide professional services to end customers, such as support, maintenance and training services.   Haynik is an ideal business partner because of its strong connections, especially in Government and Telecom sectors. Organizations operating in Malaysia’s rapidly growing market are facing mounting IT security concerns and this partnership will fulfill those needs. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/teaming-up-with-haynik-in-malaysia.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/teaming-up-with-haynik-in-malaysia.aspx Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:31:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-up-with-ipv6.aspx Happy World IPv6 Day! Today, the Internet moves to the next generation … well sort of. Today at the very least is another step and one that the mobile worker has to be aware of. Last year we wrote that it was time to start evaluating and implementing IPv 6 , the new standard protocol for the Internet. And last year, on World IPv6 Day, hundreds of Internet companies started their evaluation process with a stress test. This year, the hope is that the test becomes the rule and IPv6 lives alongside IPv4.   To recap, due to IPv 4 address exhaustion , we are in the beginning stages of a transition period from IPv 4 to IPv 6 . During that period, a mobile worker needs to accommodate both Internet Protocol versions, more so after today than ever before. IPv6 is, as of today, no longer the future and is firmly the present.   SafeMove can help the mobile worker during this time of transition. Safemove uses a process called tunneling, which lets data move between IPv4-only networks to dual-stack networks (which offer both private IPv4 addresses, as well as globally routable IPv6 addresses). Tunneling allows the mobile worker to reach his network remotely and securely, while switching connections and not losing data.   Here is the analogy we used last year, which is still our favorite tunneling analogy: “SafeMove tunneling works like the Channel Tunnel between England and France. Vehicles (cars) are put inside other vehicles (trains) so that the cars can access places they otherwise couldn't. In the case of the mobile worker, the vehicles are all IP packets and SafeMove tunnels information across firewalls and connections, while keeping it secure and intact.”   SafeMove has always been committed to making the life of a mobile worker easier, allowing the mobile workforce to stay connected and secure with no thought or concern. We have been prepared for the realities of a IPv6/IPv4 world for years and can navigate the changing terrain easily, so mobile workers don’t have to. World IPv6 Day, even though it is quite a cool day for us nerds, should pass as uneventfully as any other to the mobile workforce, and that means we have done our jobs.   Stay tuned for our next update on what SafeMove has to do with IPv6… http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-up-with-ipv6.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/keeping-up-with-ipv6.aspx Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:40:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/welcome-to-the-family,-ssl!.aspx We are thrilled to announce the launch of SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN, which offers easy, secure and efficient remote access to the enterprise network. Welcome to the family, SSL!   So how does SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN fit in? Well, while our full SafeMove Mobile VPN system is designed to secure company-issued equipment and the connections of these devices, the Clientless SSL VPN is suited for occasional connections from home computers and web kiosks, as well as remote access by external consultants and contractors.   Our CEO and president Anders Harrysson put it best:   “With more flexible working practices and the increase in virtual consultants and contractors, business is increasingly conducted outside the office and on employees’ own devices. SafeMove makes the mobile worker BYOD trend more secure, offering a full remote access solution for all your devices from laptops to smartphones to these occasional connections.”   Birdstep continues to support the mobile worker and the BYOD workplace. Our recently launched SafeMove Mobile Access and the upcoming SafeMove SSL VPN complement Birdstep’s basic SafeMove Mobile VPN. With this suite of solutions we can provide full remote access and SafeMove as a service if needed to unburden the company’s own IT resources. We have it all covered.   Some more about SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN:   The SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN solution enables easy access to corporate internal networks, file systems and web-based applications from any standard web browser. The system offers strong authentication and fine grained access control, without requiring software installation or administrator privileges on the client system.   SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN provides a full range of benefits:   Well suited for occasional connections to the enterprise network. Easy to use through a standard web browser. Does not require any client software installations. User can sign on to the portal with his/her Windows user name and password. With multi-layered and multi-phased authentication schemes, access is allowed only to the services the account is entitled to.   So, now you can see why we are so happy to add SafeMove Clientless SSL VPN to the family. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/welcome-to-the-family,-ssl!.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/welcome-to-the-family,-ssl!.aspx Wed, 23 May 2012 07:47:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/work-is-not-a-destination.aspx The nature of work has undeniably changed. More than the nature, many concepts of work have changed as well. “Work” used to be the place to which you went when you left your house in the morning, a place which you left behind when you clocked out. It is now a goal, a process, an activity independent of physical location. “Work” is what you do, not where you go.   All across the industrial world, evidence of this change in the perception of work is evident and this change is driven by both employers and employees. Organizations are expecting more from their employees vis-à-vis their availability from home and on the road, and employees are expecting greater flexibility in their work environment. As with any changing culture, the dialogue is equal parts excitement directed toward the possibilities for the future and fear over what may be lost in the transition. While there are still concerns about this changing work culture, we believe it is clear there is much more good than harm in way work is headed.   Some organizations feel the need to watch after their employees, afraid that working remotely makes them lazy and decreased productivity. However, that perception has proven inaccurate. In fact, the opposite is true! Working remotely has been shown to increase productivity, cutting down on many of the distractions and lost time of the commute and the office.   That lost commute and gained time has some larger effects, beyond worker productivity and general wellbeing that should not be ignored. Specifically, encouraging a mobile workforce actually helps the environment! A mobile workforce lessens an organization’s carbon footprint.  Take a look at the National Land Survey case here to read more details.   Whether on the road, at home or from an office, work has become something people do, and not somewhere people go, and the rising volume of the mobile workforce proves it. Birdstep can help organize, connect and secure a mobile workforce, helping organizations stay ahead of the game and increase productivity, all while looking out for the wellbeing of our planet. Isn’t it time to get mobile?     Join us and the conversation about mobile work at Enterprise Mobile Exchange in Rotterdam 21-23 May! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/work-is-not-a-destination.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/work-is-not-a-destination.aspx Tue, 08 May 2012 10:22:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/shared-custody-over-wi-fi-radio.aspx Increasingly, operators are deploying intelligent connection managers on mobile devices with the aim of achieving an efficient yet quality-assured offload of mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi.  Some industry analysts have recently raised concerns about this approach, arguing that Wi-Fi radio should be entirely controlled by the user -- see one such criticism here .   It is important to realize that while the mobile network interface on the device is always used in the context of the subscription with the mobile operator, the Wi-Fi interface is usedbothwithin and outside of that context. Therefor there will be both “user driven” and “operator driven” offload to Wi-Fi and the on-board connection manager must assure that operator use of the Wi-Fi interface does not interfere with the users' intention and desires for Wi-Fi use. We believe that the operator connection manager should have a humble, non-interfering approach toward “user driven” Wi-Fi offload.    There are some important consequences of this philosophy. For example:   The connection manager should never force device to operator Wi-Fi if user defined service set identifiers (SSIDs) are available. Operator connection policies like conservative Wi-Fi signal strength thresholds, time-of-day policies. etc. shall only be applied to operator SSIDs, not user-defined SSIDs. When used over user-defined SSIDs, I-WLAN tunneling to the mobile core shall be configured in a way that does not prohibit user access to local resources (printer, file-server, TV, etc.).   With this type of approach, operators can extend and enhance the Wi-Fi usage on the device in way that works in harmony with what the end-user desires. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/shared-custody-over-wi-fi-radio.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/shared-custody-over-wi-fi-radio.aspx Thu, 03 May 2012 08:50:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/here-comes-safemove-mobile-access.aspx We are pleased to announce the launch of SafeMove Mobile Access , our remote access service for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.   SafeMove Mobile Access leverages built-in IPsec VPN clients on mobile phones and tablets, along with proven SafeMove server infrastructure, to provide easy and secure access from mobile phones and tablets to an organization’s network resources.   SafeMove Mobile Access benefits include:   Installation and configuration of the device is so simple it can be delegated to the end users. The same service offers access for the latest mobile devices, as well as upcoming platforms and existing legacy platforms. Simple administrative interface for issuing configurations to new devices and instantly revoking access for lost or stolen devices. Solution as a Service (with guaranteed service levels) minimizes risks and costs.   SafeMove Mobile Access launches on April 25 and we will demonstrate it at the Enterprise Mobility Exchange in Rotterdam, May 21-23. In addition to current support for iOS and Android, Symbian and Android Ice Cream Sandwich are planned for near future development as well. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/here-comes-safemove-mobile-access.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/here-comes-safemove-mobile-access.aspx Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:18:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-comes-to-ios.aspx We are thrilled to announce that we are extending our smartphone data offload offering to iOS, helping operators manage the surging data demand and maximize their profits on another set of devices. With the EasySmart 1.0 for iOS, Birdstep now brings Wi-Fi offload and Mobile Operator direct user Communication to both Android and iOS-based devices.   Our smart client for iPhone and iPad enables intelligent and automatic off-load of data traffic from 3G to Wi-Fi, including automated provisioning of hotspot credentials. This efficient and transparent process makes Wi-Fi easy to use and provides a low effort "always best connected" experience, while helping ease the data traffic burden for Mobile Operators. To further aid the user experience, EasySmart furnishes a map where users can view the location of nearby hotspots.   EasySmart also lets operators communicate clearly and dynamically with iPhone and iPad users, including pro-active status and plan updates, to build loyalty and reduce churn. Using a unique messaging capability, the operator can push messages to the user device through a dedicated IP-based channel without clogging up the user’s SMS inbox.   By extending our offering to smartphone data offload iOS, we remain positioned to assist with the world's rapidly growing data demands. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-comes-to-ios.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/easysmart-comes-to-ios.aspx Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:50:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/power-and-ease.aspx Military grade security. Sounds intense doesn’t it? What do you picture? Firewalls upon firewalls, encryption, passwords, retinal scans, voice recognition. You probably picture something a bit futuristic and certainly cumbersome.   When it comes to cryptography, and security in general, “military grade” is a bit of a fuzzy marketing term. There is no standard that says what is “military grade.” Basically, it boils down to whether the product is used by some military somewhere. Ours product is and that is a good reference, but that is not the main point. Standards, rules and regulations on security are good and important, but in our view, usability is of equal importance -- especially in environments like the military, police force and with first responders. If security measures are implemented at the cost of usability, users will either inadvertently or deliberately work around it in ways that are less secure than intended. An example from the corporate world: if the remote access solution is difficult to use, the user may opt to print out the document instead of using a secured laptop. Or if secure email is too much of a hassle, the user may choose to discuss a sensitive matter on an unencrypted phone in a public location.   Most people think that military grade security is made just for the most extreme security cases. We maintain that the military and government have even higher demands on excellent usability than businesses do. That tends to get lost in the intimidating acronym jungle that is security standards and regulations. Remember those old  ads  for Secret deodorant with the tag line “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman”? That is sort of the case here. We developed our  SafeMove  mobile VPN to serve all sectors with ease, while maintaining security features strong enough for even the most demanding environments. What you get is top of the line security. What you don’t get is top of the line hassle.   How can we offer both great security and ease of use? We take the operation out of the users’ hands and put the responsibility on SafeMove. SafeMove offers Zero-Click Connectivity, Seamless Roaming, Session Persistence, Hotspot Firewall Traversal, Intranet Detection and that is all done behind the scenes and securely. The security features don’t get in users’ way because they don’t have to interact with SafeMove. It just does its job in the background, maintaining connectivity and security that is strong enough for the military, but made for any enterprise. Relieving the user of responsibility for maintaining connectivity and VPN security also directly improves security. There is no room for user error if the user doesn’t have to do anything. Security delivered with power and ease. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/power-and-ease.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/power-and-ease.aspx Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:58:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/ios-to-windows-8-we-never-take-a-day-off-from-innovation.aspx When it comes to innovation, we never take a day off. We are always looking to cover more ground, provide more solutions and prepare for what is ahead. Because of this, we can meet the mobile operator demand for traditional solutions like connectivity while adapting to the new landscape, which involves a multitude of devices and systems. Recently, many providers have been saying they have nothing on iOS for connection and service management, that it is difficult. Not a problem for Birdstep. We released EasySmart 1.0 for iOS in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress two weeks ago. iOS is covered. Now, the real question is, are  you supporting Windows 8?   For Birdstep, that’s another yes. We have a working EasyConnect 3 rd generation for Windows 8.   For Birdstep, this is “business as usual” and a natural part of our everyday work. Our job is to make sure our products work in Windows 8 Classic view and that users of this environment do not have to worry about connectivity. This means that for all of our current customers, we can offer seamless upgrades, which saves you both time and money.   Speaking of seamless upgrades, our EasyConnect 3 rd generation already includes a full HTML5 user interface to also make life easier as we move on to the new Metro environment for Windows 8. In addition, we already have a touch-friendly UI aimed at the tablet market that provides a good user experience. Simply put, we have you covered. Our knowledge from over ten years in the market ensures we will present the best possible state-of-the-art product for the new, different and very exciting Metro environment.   Stay tuned! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/ios-to-windows-8-we-never-take-a-day-off-from-innovation.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/ios-to-windows-8-we-never-take-a-day-off-from-innovation.aspx Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:26:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/enabling-seamless-and-highly-secure-mobile-access-to-network-services-with-cisco.aspx We are pleased to announce today that the technologies incorporated in Safemove’s seamless roaming solutions are broadly supported in enterprise and mobile operator networks and supported in Cisco’s network routing solutions. SafeMove server could run on Cisco’s UCS Servers and UCS Express running in ISR G2’s with SRE Blades. Further SafeMove clients for smart devices are validated with Cisco IOS Mobile IP.     We look forward to enabling this service, leveraging UCS and UCS express based solutions along with other various Cisco based infrastructure solutions in a VCE, FlexPod and vBlock based data center environment. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/enabling-seamless-and-highly-secure-mobile-access-to-network-services-with-cisco.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/enabling-seamless-and-highly-secure-mobile-access-to-network-services-with-cisco.aspx Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:26:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/getting-creative,-staying-ahead.aspx In the past few months, we have taken you across the world , showing you pain points for mobile operators in the New Mobile World Order . Everybody across the entire industry is trying to adapt to the Second Generation Data Boom and whether looking back for solutions or looking forward , the shape of the industry is going to change greatly over the next year. The intelligent providers are looking at ways to improve their service and their efficiency from top to bottom, leaving no stone unturned. What the truly intelligent providers will do, what will set them up to emerge on top in this period of transition, is focus on diversifying their revenue by developing secondary revenue streams.   One place in particular mobile operators will be looking to develop more revenue is in the Over The Top (OTT) market, which is booming right now, while it also contributes greatly to the data demands operators are currently wresting with.   OTT’s surge has placed it in an curious relationship with mobile operators. Let’s take Facebook for example. Facebook apps provide an extremely popular service for smartphones and add greatly to the quality of the product providers support. However, the near-ubiquitous usage of these apps puts a nearly constant strain on networks, chewing up data. Facebook does nothing to offset the cost of supporting that data; it is entirely on the mobile operators to adapt. Some operators feel that they should be more fairly remunerated for the amount of their network Facebook occupies.   The relationship between mobile operators and OTT services will be interesting to follow in the coming months, as OTT figures to become an even larger part of smartphone functionality and attendant data demands. Operators should see their revenue model shift from something very heavy on top and bottom line analytics to one encompassing more of what their service provides. This is where they will have to get creative. Perhaps the relationship with OTTs will change, or perhaps operators will find new ways to work with OTT services--providing analytics or marketing.   Whatever ends up happening, this is the fun part, because like in any great shift in an industry, visionary innovation ends up coming out ahead. We are looking forward to being a part of what happens. If you want to be a part too, meet up with us at Mobile World Congress and join the conversation. Details of how to reach us can be found here . http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/getting-creative,-staying-ahead.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/getting-creative,-staying-ahead.aspx Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:09:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/up-in-the-data-clouds.aspx For all technology that involves mobile devices, the “cloud” has been the buzzword to end all buzzwords for more than a year. Why the obsession with the cloud? Cloud solutions encompass a wide variety of services tailored to a variety of technology concerns, but when you are talking about mobile broadband, the allure of the cloud is rather simple at its core—it is another place to keep data and like we have been saying , there is a whole lot of data that needs a place to go.   The most effective way to handle the data demands of the Second Generation Data Boom is to focus on mobile data offloading. Mobile data offloading clears space on the cellular network, but it means different things to different operators. Operators have all kinds of reasons for investing in mobile data offload infrastructure and implement it in many different ways, but it comes down to a more intelligent use of data and one designed to combat the current data boom. The cloud has become one of the tools that help.   After data is uploaded, it has to be stored somewhere, right? Well, increasingly, it seems like the cloud is the answer for where it should go. Beyond being a good place to store data, the cloud offers flexibility looking forward. One has to suspect that data demands will only continue to increase for well … as long as there is data to demand. Nobody wants to be caught with a rigid model for dealing with data, as the environment changes. Despite its buzzword status, the cloud is still largely in its infancy and many of the solutions it will offer have yet to be explored. Investing in cloud solutions seems to be a wise decision for those looking to stay nimble in the New Mobile World Order. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/up-in-the-data-clouds.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/up-in-the-data-clouds.aspx Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:03:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/pain-points-around-the-world.aspx So far, we have been writing about the effects of the Second Generation Data Boom in a fairly broad way. However, it is worth noting that while the boom effects mobile operators around the world, there are particular pain points emphasised in each market. These pain points illustrate the wide variety of challenges that face operators in the New Mobile World Order .   In Europe, one of the main concerns is support costs , which we covered last week. Like we said then:   “With changes in policy and technology , always follows a demand on customer service resources. The very solutions mobile operators are turning to are compounding the service cost increase of the Second Generation Data Boom. It is a double team and the loser is the bottom line.”   Europe has seen an especially dramatic rise in support costs and operators have been looking to EasyHelp for answers.    In North America, the main pain point is the need for more mobile data offloading. The huge explosion in data is still outpacing the existing infrastructure and operators are looking to stay ahead of continued data demand growth, mostly through the use of WiFi offloading.   In the Asia-Pacific market, mobile data offloading to WiFi is also a priority, but the region is still struggling with increasing coverage as main focus. Much of the market is not yet covered by 3G and that coverage need is the major pain point.   In the Latin American market, the biggest pain point is infrastructure, all the way around, though support costs are also a major issue. The data usage is more from laptops than smartphones presently, but infrastructure still needs to be built to support the laptops on the network and to stay ahead of the growing number of smartphones.   As you can see, every market has unique challenges, but the overarching theme is the need to stay ahead of where the Second Generation Data Boom is taking us. The data demands will continue to grow and all that can be done is to keep building to accommodate them. Intelligent mobile operators will innovate to advance, not trading quality for quick answers. They will focus on solutions adjustable to their particular circumstances, flexible enough to be prepared for further technological advancements. Intelligent operators, from all over the world, will excel in the New Mobile World Order. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/pain-points-around-the-world.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/pain-points-around-the-world.aspx Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:46:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/cutting-problems-off-at-the-source.aspx One of the major pain points brought on by the Second Generation Data Boom is the cost of supporting whatever strategies are decided upon to handle the data. Providers have to deal with the challenges attendant the surge in data demand, while monitoring the increasing operational costs associated with mobile broadband. One key area that shows significant savings potential is customer support.   With changes in policy and technology , always follows a demand on customer service resources. The very solutions mobile operators are turning to are compounding the service cost increase of the Second Generation Data Boom. It is a double team and the loser is the bottom line.   This is why it is important not to overlook simple ways in which the bottom line can be helped. Making customer service more efficient is one of those ways. Birdstep’s EasyHelp support client is designed to provide a great user experience and simultaneously reduce operational expenditure in customer support: Slash OPEX and reduce the high volume of low complexity service calls through support centre optimization. Quite simply put, it means less calls. It gives mobile devices the ability to self-heal, stopping problems before they become worth calling in about.   So, beyond the specifics, how does this idea help us figure out the New Mobile World Order ? It points in a direction different from those of the solutions we talked about earlier in this series, but one that will be crucial in the coming year. Devices are not just there to demand data; they can be part of the solution. Not everything has to come from the center and expand outward, from command and then out to fix problems in the field. Technology like EasyHelp shows us the great advances in efficiency and problem-solving possible when energy is put into fixing problems at their source.   Here is an example of EasyHelp’s self-healing capabilities: Let’s say that EasyHelp detects that a modem is available but disabled by software. EasyHelp will try to enable it and inform the user of the result. If multiple modems are available, EasyHelp will prompt the user to select their preferred modem. If the modem is set to "2G only" or "3G only" network mode, EasyHelp will set the modem to "Automatic" network mode. This way, no matter what type of network is available, the user will have Internet access. In fact EasyHelp is able to help with no less than 50 different fixes related to device, network, HW and SW.   That’s all they wanted in the first place, right? They just wanted their data. Instead of spending their time on the phone, using operator resources to fix the problem, the user spends their time on the Internet, with their problem fixed. In this example, the mobile operator is able to promise the user increased service, while helping organizational efficiency and ultimately the bottom line. Now, iterate this sort of solution outwards to all support issues and challenges brought on by the Second Generation Data Boom. Simple, progressive solutions like this will help any provider hoping to compete in the New Mobile World Order. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/cutting-problems-off-at-the-source.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/cutting-problems-off-at-the-source.aspx Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/staying-covered.aspx One of the issues that became clear as mobile operators across the world adapted to deal with the Second Generation Data Boom is that mobile operators are still largely blind to the true user experience. This is not to say they are apathetic about user experience, far from it, but rather that they lack the tools to properly put together a picture of user needs. The Second Generation Data Boom took data requirements mobile and the result is a rapidly growing and variable environment that mobile operators will need stronger analytics to address.   When you look at all the inefficiencies created by the data boom, it is clear that an inefficiency in analytics gathering will further compound the problem. Mobile operators need quality data on which areas have good or bad coverage, which areas have larger data needs, the usage patterns of people on the network, where the bottlenecks are and how they affect different areas. And they need all this information in real time.   For many mobile operators, the analytics-gathering process involves driving a truck around with a dish on the top, recording network availability. While this was a fine practice before the Second Generation Data Boom, it is now too time consuming and imprecise to keep up with the rapidly evolving network, so time consuming that it can take two years to put together a network coverage map. Two years is a long time in any industry, but especially the mobile industry. Two years means that today’s network map is only two iterations removed from the first network map to come out after the iPhone launched.   As a result, current coverage maps are at best estimates, but there are ways to change this. Analaytics can be gathered over the air, and not from the tops of trucks driving around the country, but from the network itself. An advanced connection manager like Birdstep’s EasyConnect has access to a lot of data, which properly harnessed can give mobile operators a detailed view of their network coverage. Knowing where and when the strains on data are can go a long way in mitigating the Second Generation Data Boom and will save time and resources in the process.   To survive in the New Mobile World Order, every possible step to increase efficiency will be needed, and one of the first steps of any efficiency project is making sure the data being responded to is as accurate and clear as possible. Clear data builds clear solutions. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/staying-covered.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/staying-covered.aspx Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:04:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/back-to-the-future.aspx Last week, we wrote about the Second Generation Data Boom . This week, we want to focus more specifically on where this data boom is causing inefficiencies for mobile operators and how they are trying to fix them.   Mobile operators not only have to deal with the meeting ever-increasing demand for data, but also with monetizing the process. And here, things are all out of wack. The heaviest users of data are not the best paying users. The top 0.1% of data users have a flat fee tariff and bog down the network 50-60%. That is over half the network devoted to an incredibly small group of people whose payments have leveled off gigabytes ago. That is certainly not efficient. The best paying users are actually business users and professionals, who buy the latest iPhone and keep everything upgraded. They don’t use that much data but they use many services, always paying to stay cutting-edge, so their worth is also disproportional to their data use.   Data traffic is not dispersed efficiently either. Despite the flexibility offered data users by their mobile devices, the peak usage times are still clear -- they are the same “peak hours” you might remember from earlier cell phone plans you signed up for. Mostly gone are the days of peak hour pricing plans, but they are making a comeback. This is one of the ways in which mobile operators are looking to the past to help them survive in the future.   Operators are responding to the Second Generation Data Boom in a few time-tested ways. Some are looking to the past and pruning it. There are new operators willing to skip any focus on 2G and devote all their resources to building their 3G network. Some are borrowing from the past, imposing tariffs or tiered subscriptions pulled out of the playbook from last decade. They are recreating peak hour differential by placing data restrictions on those hours. Some are also hoping to better manage that top 0.1% of data users by limiting P2P during busy usage hours, while opening up unlimited data usage for P2P at night.   Most importantly however, mobile operators are looking to technology such as Wi-Fi and femtocells for data offloading. At least the intelligent ones are. The knock on Wi-Fi has traditionally been that it is more expensive (vis-à-vis data costs) to build a Wi-Fi network than to deploy a cellular network. Sure it works better, but it is more expensive! However, this is only true until a certain point - a point we are well past. At a certain amount of data, the cost to deploy a commensurate cellular network skyrockets past the cost of the Wi-Fi network. Those who have not put in place plans for intelligent mobile data offloading are now facing serious problems because of this oversight.   Oversight is one of the main stories in the mobile industry right now. Some operators were caught unprepared for the Second Generation Data Boom, both its size and its makeup. The industry must continue to look back for answers, look forward for answers and ultimately find lasting, comprehensive solutions to meet and monetize today’s data requirements. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/back-to-the-future.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/back-to-the-future.aspx Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/the-second-generation-data-boom.aspx It is no secret that the rise in data usage over the last few years has been chief on the minds of mobile operators. The world has gone wireless and has gotten very demanding for data. The data boom has been the lead story of every article looking at pain points and at the future of mobile for a while now, but while this is generally an accurate way to asses the issue facing mobile operators (more data, more problems), it misses out on one key point. We are no longer dealing with a data boom, we are dealing with the Second Generation Data Boom.   When mobile operators first planned for rapid data usage escalation, the problem was fairly isolated. The problem was the laptop. Laptops meant mobile users looking for data in different yet mostly stationary places. So, of course, the planning went into how to account for this. Luckily, while the laptop was “mobile,” its possibilities for mobility were limited. Sure they brought far greater wireless data requirements, but where the need would be greatest was fairly predictable. Coverage had to be strengthened in urban areas, shopping malls and in academic settings and if that was done, the data doom would be manageable. Then came Apple.   Incredible as it may seem, the first iPhone was only unveiled in 2007. It feels like we have spent a lifetime with smartphones, but it was just on June 29, 2007 that the first iPhone was released commercially. And with that, all the careful planning for covering the data boom changed. Soon to follow the iPhone were smartphones from more companies and tablets and more laptops with increased mobility and ultimately, the human product of the technological advancements, the mobile worker we have today, constantly connected through a variety of devices and constantly consuming data.   The other major change in 2007 was the arrival of Facebook full force in Europe. With Facebook’s arrival and the full onslaught of social media to follow, the data consumption habits of mobile users again changed. There was better reason to be constantly consuming data, constantly checking feeds.   It is this new mobile user who is the biggest problem facing mobile operators during this Second Generation Data Boom. Customer behavior is different now, far more complicated than what was planned for. Sure, urban areas and academic settings still require significant amounts of data, but the same people populating those areas now require the same standards of usage wherever they go, from the classroom, to the office, to their home and everywhere in between. Literally, everywhere in between. People walk and consume data, drive and consume data, take public transportation and consume data. People need data everywhere.   Data consumption is skyrocketing and the strategies first put into place to handle it are proving insufficient. Mobile operators will not be able to keep pace with the data requirements and stay profitable for much longer unless they focus on managing the Second Generation Data Boom on its own terms, and that means adapting to the mobile worker. Operator costs are increasing and average revenue per user (ARPU) is decreasing. In order to stay afloat, mobile operators must focus on intelligent data offload and cost reduction. They have to join the New Mobile World Order.   Next week, we will show you how... http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/the-second-generation-data-boom.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/the-second-generation-data-boom.aspx Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:57:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/introducing-the-new-mobile-world-order.aspx If the business practices of major mobile operators continue as currently constituted, these operators will no longer be able to stay solvent by the year 2013.   There are challenges in the mobile market that have not been addressed, pain points that remain and mounting challenges from within the industry and from the outside. Simply put, 2012 will separate the wheat from the chaff. The intelligent will innovate to survive and the rest will cut back to reach their bottom line, ultimately fading out of the scene. It will be a battle of quality vs. quantity and as always, quality wins.   It is a precarious time to be a mobile operator. The problems are simple. Cost is going up, revenue is going down and the economy is unstable at best. The solutions? Not so simple, but they are there! And we will show you where.   During the next eight weeks, we will address the mobile broadband landscape with a series titled The New Mobile World Order . We will look at the realities of increasing operator costs, decreasing ARPU, support costs, network coverage, the cloud, OTT, pain points specific to different markets, and possible strategies found from mining mobile’s own history.   We will give you the lay of the land as we see it and then hopefully see you at Mobile World Congress , where we can talk some more! http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/introducing-the-new-mobile-world-order.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/introducing-the-new-mobile-world-order.aspx Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:07:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/previously-on-mobile-world-congress….aspx Head on over to our Mobile World Congress microsite for all the information on how to link up with us at MWC and to see the new sneak peak video we put together for what you can expect from us this year.   There is a lot happening that pains Mobile Operators, and we are here to help usher in the New Mobile World Order … http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/previously-on-mobile-world-congress….aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/previously-on-mobile-world-congress….aspx Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:05:00 GMT http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/reviewpreview-looking-into-2012.aspx 2011 was a great year for technology and it ended with a lot of open questions heading into 2012. Here is a bit of what we predict for this new year.   1. Failures of The Certificate Authority System Continue   In 2011, two major events highlighted the weakness of the certificate authority system, which is the foundation for authenticating parties communicating using SSL/TLS. In March 2011, Comodo was duped into issuing fraudulent certificates for a number of very high profile sites such as login.yahoo.com and mail.google.com. Then in July 2011, it was discovered that DigiNotar had been hacked for a long time and hundreds of fraudulent certificates had been issued and successfully exploited to intercept supposedly secure HTTPS traffic of probably hundreds of thousands of real users. The discovery was so bad, browser makers took the unprecedented step of going beyond blacklisting the bad certificates they knew had been issued, and blacklisting any DigiNotar-issued certificate. This security fail is not good but unfortunately not isolated and not the last incident we will hear of.   The certificate authority system is the infrastructure browsers rely on to assure that we really are visiting the secure web server we intend to visit when doing things like online banking and webmail, or when accessing a SSL VPN web portal. Clearly, failures here are a big security risk.   The good news is that IPsec VPNs like SafeMove are generally not vulnerable to such attacks on the public CA system since they are configured to only trust enterprise controlled, private certificate authorities.   The bad news is that not everybody is on an IPsec VPN like SafeMove yet, so we predict we have not seen the last of this issue and expect to see more CA failures in the years to come. However, the events in 2011 have definitely been a wake-up call for many who have not been paying attention to these security weaknesses before and we believe this will lead to a more secure system in the end. Just do not expect to see improvements or alternatives to the CA system find wide adoption in 2012.   2. IPv4 Address Exhaustion and The Transition To IPv6 Still Unresolved   We wrote last year in this blog about the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 and that transition is still very much a work in progress. In a sense, we are running out of Internet real estate and IPv6 is the new way to build.   To recap, In early February 2011, The IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) ran out of free IPv4 address blocks to allocate to regional Internet registries (RIRs), as it allocated the last two free blocks to APNIC (Asia/Pacific region). Then in April, APNIC entered their End of Days mode and applied a policy for slicing up and allocating their last /8 block (16 million addresses). With the current rate, RIPE NCC (Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia) will need to do the same in 2012. IPv4 is almost out of space.   Even though the IPv4 address exhaustion is a fact and an extraordinary event, we can confidently and happily predict that this will definitely not be the end of the Internet! And even better, businesses and users will see little practical impact in 2012. As we stressed earlier in the year, IPv6 is the only viable way forward and we strongly recommend everybody start actively preparing for it. We predict that technologies that ease the transition and preparations will see a notable rise in demand in 2012.   3. Windows XP Market Share Still Remarkable   Windows XP has been the most common desktop OS for as long as anyone can remember. Some statistics show that Windows 7 surpassed Windows XP in 2011 but others still show Windows XP on top today, over two years after mainstream support for the platform ended. The longevity of Windows XP is remarkable by any account. It just doesn’t want to give up the crown.   We predict that Windows 7 will become the leading desktop OS in 2012, but that Windows XP will not be going away anytime soon. We predict continued demand for Windows XP support in software products. We hope that we’ll see Windows 8 released late 2012, but we won’t be betting any money on it. We would however bet money that SafeMove will run on Windows 8 from day one. And win our bet. http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/reviewpreview-looking-into-2012.aspx http://www.birdstep.com/english/blog.aspx/english/blog/blog/2012/reviewpreview-looking-into-2012.aspx Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:28:00 GMT