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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

+ the magazine for ict professionals

LOOK AHEAD 2017 ALSO: Security & DevOps

Dell EMC World 2016

5G: End-To End Change

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CONTENTS Fe a t u r e s

16 Look Ahead 2017 It promises to be action-packed in many respects.

14 Dell EMC World 8,000 delegates attend inaugural event.

14 Departments Editorâ€™s Note

Infrastructure Systems

Networks & The Cloud

New & Noteworthy 19 The Back Page 22

I n the Ne xt Issue

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November/December 2016

Connections+

EDIT O R ’S N O TE

Workplace study findings troubling t’s hard not to feel a sense of awe for what the future holds for those companies that sign on and embrace the digital age, a key theme in this issue. The opportunities appear endless for the organizations that really get it. As Michael Dell pointed out in his keynote in October at Dell EMC World (see p. 14), there are about eight billion connected devices on the planet today and within 15 years that number could exceed 200 billion. It will, he said, create an intelligent world “pulsing with processing power and connectivity. It’s been called the next Industrial Revolution, the next quantum leap in human progress. Virtual reality and augmented reality will redefine work, learning and play. It’s the sunrise of a new era – a digital dawn.” It is all going to happen quickly and turn multinationals into also-rans, start-ups into major success stories, which is why the Canadian findings in a recent workplace global study commissioned by Dell Technologies and Intel Corp., are not only puzzling, but troubling. The 2016 Future Workforce Study found that two in five (42%) of Canadian employee respondents say their workplaces are not smart enough and a mere four in 10 (39%) expect to be working in a smart office over the next five years, which is much lower than the norm – 57% of global respon-

dents. To be fair, the study of nearly 4,000 full time employees of small, medium and large organizations from 10 countries, only included 300 Canadians, which is a tiny sample size, Still, it was enough for Dell and Intel to issue this observation: “Globally we found that workforce is on the verge of change. Not a revolution, but a productivity evolution as advances in communications and workplace technologies combine with lifestyle changes to create a work force that is more mobile, capable and productive. “Canada is an outlier to this global story. Like other markets they agree their workplaces aren’t smart enough and pale in comparison to the technology they use at home. However, unlike most other markets, they don’t seem to mind this and do not seem to be in any hurry to embrace the changing technological landscape even if it means increased productivity.” The bottom line is that these 300 respondents are “hesitant to embrace global technological advances even if it means more productivity.” If it were not for millennials, this could end up being a nightmare scenario, but according to the study authors they are and will be the ones “pushing the envelope and look to bring the workplace evolution to Canada.”

w w w. c o n n e c t i o n s p l u s . c a

Volume 3, Issue 6 November/December 2016

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHANGING MOBILE WORLD

Editor Paul Barker 416-510-6752 pbarker@connectionsplus.ca

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In f ras t r uct ure S y s t e m s

STANDARDS

Wired for Wireless: Enabling IoT By Henry Franc

ecently, while attending an industry conference on Internet of Things (IoT), I was struck by a comment made by one of the panelists. Several of them compared and contrasted the competitive landscape from various perspectives (commercial, industrial, residential and utilities), but one stood out when he talked about the importance of focusing on infrastructure. The panelist cautioned us about the nature of the sometimes-uncertain and/or shifting infrastructure capabilities of platforms, devices and software we rely on. Infrastructure is required to enable communication and provide a functional IoT. Further, he went on to suggest that more attention should be paid to infrastructure to prevent IoT growth from being impeded because our “things” can’t communicate with each other. This caution applies equally, in my opinion, to wired and wireless worlds; however, given the high degree of attention paid to mobile and portable devices in IoT, let’s focus on the importance of strong infrastructures for wireless networks, which have moved beyond mere convenience to become core, mission-critical assets. Connecting Wireless Nodes: Wireless is just that: communication to a device without the use of wire. But that doesn’t mean wire isn’t necessary. After all, how does a wireless node talk to the network? Through wires! As someone once joked, from a building perspective, “wireless” without “wire” is just “less.” So how do we connect wireless nodes to the network? Isn’t it as easy as plugging it in? Some systems are standards based while others, especially legacy technologies, are proprietary. The industry is moving toward standards-based infrastructure (cabling) to make connecting wireless nodes easier, better and faster; however, the type of cabling and design are very much reliant on the type of wireless system installed. This does not suit a one-size-fits-all approach. Typically, wireless nodes have much higher bandwidth and speed requirements, with a lower threshold for errors. This makes sense because they serve multiple devices; in practice, however, it’s not always considered. Important Terms to Know: As we discuss wireless and its infrastructure, language is important.

Henry Franc is a solutions specialist at Belden and an active standards development participant. The information presented is the author’s view, not official standards organization correspondence.

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November/December 2016

Using the wrong term can cause confusion and miscommunication (pun intended!). Here are some common terms and acronyms: • Wireless: The use of radiated electromagnetic energy traveling through space to transport information. • Cellular network: A communications network distributed over areas called “cells,” where the last link is wireless; commonly used by telecommunications carriers. • WLAN: Wireless LAN. • Wi-Fi: Networking technology that uses wireless signals to provide WLAN connections; a trademarked phrase from the Wi-Fi Alliance that means “compatible with IEEE 802.11x.” • Distributed antenna system (DAS): A network of antenna nodes connected to a common source(s) that provides wireless service.

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Wireless is just that: communication to a device without the use of wire. But that doesn’t mean wire isn’t necessary.

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Wireless through Distributed Antenna Systems: BICSI and TIA have both published documents to aid in the planning, design and installation of wireless networks. These standards-development organizations (SDOs) are continually adding to and upgrading their technical guidelines in regard to telecommunications cabling, and specifically in regard to the need for supporting wireless. For DAS implementation, you can refer to “ANSI/BICSI 006-2015, Distributed Antenna System (DAS) Design and Implementation Best Practices,” as well as “ANSI/TIA TSB-5018 Structured Cabling Infrastructure Guidelines to

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Infra s t ruct ure Sy stems

Support Distributed Antenna Systems.” DAS networks are typically used to accommodate a number of different radio-based systems to Wi-Fi and carrier-based cellular networks. Although potentially broader in application than discrete systems due to their ability to accommodate a number of radio signals, this comes with additional planning, design and operations complexities. Each radio spectrum has different characteristics for coverage and capacity that need to be accommodated by the system. Radiating cable networks have existed for many decades – well before my joining the industry in the 1980s. When I started out, we were using “leaky coax” for operational radios and MATV (master antenna TV). Theoretically, any radio-based signal can be delivered via a DAS system. Currently, we are seeing an increasing mandate for their use in supporting first-responder and operational radios in buildings with coverage and/or capacity issues. Many building owners and network providers consider DAS networks for more than just operational radios; they are increasingly being used to provide better cellular coverage and capacity, as well as provide WLAN signals. Typically, no two DAS implementations look alike due to the variances in wireless coverage and the systems supported. Coverage can differ widely due to building layout, construction and usage patterns. The variance in RF requirements of the various systems, as well as their usage profiles, is also significant. Industry guidance in this case is much more descriptive, relying more heavily on multi-disciplinary and organizational collaboration. The media choices for DAS networks are equally varied by provider and application, whether they are fiber optic, coaxial, Category cable or a combination of this media. Wireless through Discrete Antenna Systems: For discrete antenna systems (such as Wi-Fi), guidance can be found in “ANSI/TIA TSB-162-A Telecommunications Cabling Guidelines for Wireless Access Points,” as well as in BICSI’s Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual. Discrete antenna systems supporting Wi-Fi___33 tend to be more uniform in delivery and application because they’re typically designed to support 802.11x technologies with a known (and more or less ubiquitous) radio profile for coverage and capacity. There are still variances based on building and usage; however, they tend to be less widely distributed. Wherever you may be in the project lifecycle and value chain, meeting the current needs of wireless connectivity is not a simple task. With the ever-increasing use of wireless, and the growth of IoT that dynamic may become more complex rather than less. To have truly ubiquitous and transparent IoT for users, the infrastructure we build our networks upon must be strong enough to meet current needs and flexible enough to adapt to emerging

technologies. Wireless infrastructure should never be an afterthought – it needs to be considered on its own merits and requirements. It also needs to be reviewed regularly, just like any other foundation you rely on. C+

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Many building owners and network providers consider DAS networks for more than just operational radios; they are increasingly being used to provide better cellular coverage and capacity, as well as provide WLAN signals. AD_LB_CN_Plus_Qtr_Layout 1 11/2/16 1:14 PM Page 1

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In f ras t r uct ure S y s t e m s

OCC RJ-45 plug designed for Cat 8 cable adoption ategory 8 Ethernet cable will play a major role in meeting today’s burgeoning needs for high-speed communications, whether in the data centre, voice, video or other high bandwidth applications that run on copper cable for distances up to 30 meters, according to Optical Cable Corp. (OCC) To ensure that Category 8 adopters will effectively reach data speeds of up to 40 Gb/s – four times the speeds of many of today’s users, the company recently announced that it had launched a new RJ-45 plug with integral circuit board technology that provides advanced control of crosstalk, return loss, and other impediments, ensuring consistent performance at higher frequencies up to 2000 MHz. Prior to the introduction of the product cable engineers viewed the challenge of transmitting data at rates of up to four times faster over a standard RJ-45 connector as a major concern. “Essentially, the new plug contains technology that provides advanced control of plug performance,” says Derrick Stikeleather, OCC copper connectivity manager and member of the TIA Engineering Subcommittee TR-42.7. “In a conventional category style plug, the plug wires must be arranged in specific positions, leading to variations in performance. But when a circuit board is used, it

basically eliminates the possibility of plug wire variations. “It also means that electrical properties transition from a cable to a terminal in a more controlled fashion.” Stikeleather added that the new, proprietary technology utilizes a higher performance type of circuit board material than what is contained in a standard connector. “Without this, achieving quality data transmission rates of 40 Gb/s would not be possible,” he said. The new plug, which was recently granted a patent for circuit board layout and the advanced materials used in its construction, is designed for direct-attach, high-speed links and data centre server connections. Stikeleather also said the plug provides consistent and reliable terminations that are guaranteed to meet or exceed the recently approved Category 8 standard when paired with compliant Category 8 cable. The new RJ-45 plug model is backward compatible with existing RJ-45 infrastructure used by a majority of Ethernet connection ports, including Cat 6A, Cat 6 and Cat 5e cabling. It is field installable, and should be familiar to many cable installers, OCC said. For more on Category 8, see p. 15.

Nokia, Sonera trial new copper cable technology okia and Sonera recently announced that trials have been held that demonstrated both 5G mobile networking and new copper cable technologies capable of delivering data speeds of up to 10 Gbps Nokia and Sonera, the Finnish arm of the Nordic operator Telia Company, have conducted trials at Sonera headquarters in Helsinki of both 5G mobile networking and new copper cable technologies, capable of delivering data speeds of up to 10 Gbps. The trial in August was built around a 5G-ready network using the Nokia AirScale Base Station and a core network offering. The high-speed, low-latency 5G network was used to deliver, among other things, high resolution video footage shot using OZO, Nokia’s virtual reality camera for professionals. Using the 4.5 GHz frequency, this aspect of the trial reached data throughput speeds of over 4.5 Gbps. Sonera also tested Nokia’s XG-FAST, the fixed broadband

Connections+

November/December 2016

technology developed by Nokia Bell Labs, which allows existing copper cables to deliver high-speed fixed broadband, saving service providers having to install new cabling. XG-FAST technology can reach transmission speeds of up to 10 Gbps in a traditional copper cable and it is intended for short copper loops. XG-FAST technology is hence well-fitted, for instance, for projects related to FTTB/Fiber To The Basement, Nokia said in a release. “Combining mobile and fixed technologies, and making sure those technologies function well together, is more important than ever in future network solutions,” said Timo Hietalahti, head of Network Architecture and Development at Sonera. “5G has a key role in the Internet of Things and virtual reality solutions, and in order to provide for the explosive growth of mobile traffic we see already now, all technologies allowing us to best utilize fixed networks are needed.”C+ www.connectionsplus.ca

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Ne two r ks & The C l o u d

Bulk of businesses not ready for digital platforms: Accenture esearch released by Accenture reveals that despite the potential for small and traditional businesses to become successful digital platform companies, as few as 10% of new start-ups focused on digital platform business models will become profitable independent entities in the coming years. The analysis also reveals that China, India and the U.S. will dominate the platform economy by 2020, and that the gulf between countries will increase. To help bridge this gap, the report outlines five critical steps businesses and governments can take to succeed. Accenture’s report Five Ways to Win with Digital Platforms, published in collaboration with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, assesses the ability of 16 G20 economies to support the flourishing of digital platforms. It shows that the U.K. and Germany join China, India and the U.S. at the top of the Accenture Platform Readiness Index but other emerging markets and European economies are predicted to lag behind, lacking sufficient business and socio-economic enabling conditions. Platform business models are fast becoming the golden child of the digital revolution. In a weak global economy and falling rates of international trade, digital platforms offer one of the fastest routes to growth. According to Accenture’s Platform Readiness Index, Canada ranks somewhere in the middle when its preparedness to generate, incubate, grow and scale digital platform business is measured. However, Canada does not fare so well under the Index’s category of open innovation culture, ranking 14th out of 16 nations. Open innovation culture is defined as the ability for companies to collaborate with one another in order to foster digital innovation. In particular, the index found that collaboration between large companies and startups is limited in Canada and that barriers to collaboration must be removed so our entrepreneurs will be able to grow their market share and become successful innovators. According to Accenture, policy makers in Canada can help the platform economy grow by: • Ensuring interoperability • Regulating for innovation • Cultivating cross-border trade • Investing in infrastructure • Educating users and SMEs “When you think of digital platforms, think of China and India as much as the U.S. These economies are using the pow-

Connections+

November/December 2016

The Accenture report reveals that China, India and the U.S. will dominate the digital platform economy by 2020.

er of platforms to create large scale markets very rapidly,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer at Accenture. “Many European economies are in danger of missing out in the platform economy. Multi-stakeholder cooperation is required to address the fragmented digital markets and to support the greater levels of digital enterprise and consumption that successful platform businesses need.” Accenture’s analysis shows US$20 billion was invested in digital platforms between 2010 and 2015 in 1,053 publicly announced deals. More than half of this investment took place between 2014 and 2015. It also shows that rankings on the Platform Readiness Index strongly correlate to the levels of digital platform activity and investment in G20 countries. The report recommends that governments engage with businesses leaders to advance a range of policies that can create a rich enabling environment for digital platforms including the following actions: 1. Prioritize data protection standards and rules: Drive the harmonization of data privacy and data security legislation. Smooth cross-border data transfers. 2. Design regulations with digital platforms in mind: Experiment with regulations alongside new technologies and business models. For instance, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority’s “regulatory sandbox” allows start-ups to test ideas without immediately incurring all the normal regulatory consequences. 3. Encourage cross-border electronic trade. Harmonize taxes and standards, consumer protection, contract laws and www.connectionsplus.ca

F E ATURE Ne t wo rks & T he Cloud

logistics infrastructure. The eWorld Trade Platform (eWTP), initiated by B20 China, aims to accelerate international policy collaboration to support SMEs.[1] 4. Invest in digital infrastructure: For example, the E.U.’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will empower start-ups to expand customer reach and encourage innovative business models. 5. Think small, act big: Educate SMEs on alternative funding, such as crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending; and on data privacy and consumer protection. Support SMEs with digital economic zones to support e-commerce. Five ways to succeed: Accenture notes that only 15% of Fortune 100 companies have developed digital platform business models to date Successful digital platforms will proliferate as small businesses and traditional industries follow the lead set by digital-born platform companies. Accenture identifies five factors critical to sustaining critical mass in digital platforms, which use new technologies to create large scale markets of customers and service providers: 1. Proposition: Create differentiated platform services that extend beyond the point of transaction; and that support both customers on the demand side and service providers on the supply side. 2. Personalization: Target customers through tailored experi-

ences across all channels, using customer data to anticipate needs and offer bespoke experiences. 3. Price: Apply new pricing models, such as pay-as-you-go, ‘freemiums’, and subscription pricing to respond to peak demand. 4. Protection: Embed trust at the heart of the platform, using both prevention and compensation techniques to attract customers and differentiate the platform. 5. Partners: Scale the platform rapidly by identifying digital partners – such as app developers and payment service providers – who can enrich the platform experience and fulfil customer needs. “Digital platforms are not just the preserve of digital born companies, like Airbnb and Alibaba, but are now becoming a default business model in most industry sectors, both B2B and B2C,” said Francis Hintermann, managing director, Accenture Research. “To enjoy efficiencies and high rates of growth, companies will need to transform everything from the way they co-create goods and services with third parties, tailor their offerings to customers, and price them dynamically. Crucially, they will only sustain critical mass by working with digital partners who can deliver the range of functional services that complete the customer experience.” C+

Telax secures major contract with Los Angeles County DHS oronto-based Telax, a North American cloud contact centre software provider has been selected by Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) to provide what it called an “advanced contact center solution that will enhance the patient and caregiver communication experience.” Telax said in a release it will be modernizing the Los Angeles County DHS patient call flow and communication process by integrating phone and chat, while introducing a number of new built-to-suit IVR features and workflow best practices designed to foster timely and efficient service, reduce call wait times and give patients improved access to caregivers. According to Telax, the offering will allow Los Angeles County DHS to have newfound capabilities to gather data and assess workflow management, best practices, patientcaregiver information and conversations. The facility will also be able to identify the type of patients making inbound calls, number of outbound calls, how the calls are man-

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aged, what agents are providing an optimum experience, and how long patients are on the phone. “In our mission to provide the best care in the world, we are expanding our lost cost no cost health care service,” said Richard Rodriguez, director of business operations at DHS. “This is causing an influx of patients seeking medical help, and it is our priority to make it easier and faster for them to get that help. “We are the second largest health system in the U.S., and we have a responsibility to provide quality care to everyone. The Telax built-to-suite technology offering will also compliment the Los Angeles County DHS “MyWellness” Web portal, where patients can easily access medical records, manage their healthcare and schedule online chats. DHS, which consists of 19 health centres and four hospitals, annually cares for 670,000 unique patients, employs 19,000 staff, and has an annual operating budget of US$4 billion. C+ November/December 2016

Connections+

Ne two r ks & The C l o u d

HPE calls for tighter integration between security and DevOps teams ewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) recently published the Application Security and DevOps Report 2016, a new research study highlighting the critical need for closer integration between organizations’ security and DevOps teams. The HPE report examines the challenges many organizations face in integrating security across DevOps, and provides recommendations to strengthen these programs. According to the findings, which are based on both quantitative and qualitative responses from IT operations professionals, security leaders, and developers, 99% of all respondents agree that adopting a DevOps culture has the opportunity to improve application security. However, only 20% are doing application security testing during development, and 17% are not using any technologies to protect their applications, highlighting a significant disconnect between the perception and reality of secure DevOps. “Our research shows that both security leaders and developers believe that the DevOps movement has the potential to significantly improve application security, but organizations are struggling to realize that potential so far,” said Jason Schmitt, vice president and general manager, HPE Security Fortify, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “By understanding the current state of DevOps and best practices for integrating security into the development culture, organizations can successfully secure software in this new DevOps world without impeding the speed and agility that it brings.” According to the report, DevOps presents tremendous promise for more secure software development, as organizations can potentially find and remediate vulnerabilities more frequently and earlier in the application lifecycle, saving cost and time. However, it found key barriers and gaps preventing organizations from successfully integrating security and DevOps, including: • Organizational barriers between security professionals and developers. The report reflected a significant disconnect between developers and security teams – and in some cases, respondents admitted to not even knowing their security teams. This led to 90% of security professionals stating that integrating application security has become more difficult since their organizations deployed DevOps. • Lack of security awareness, emphasis, and training for developers. Out of more than 100 job postings for software developers at Fortune 1000 companies, none specified security or secure coding experience and knowledge as part of the skills required.1 • Shortage of application security talent. For every 80 developers in the organizations surveyed, there is only one application

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November/December 2016

security professional.1 The lack of security personnel, along with the increasingly rapid development cycle make secure development extremely difficult.

IBM bringing Watson to its cloud video offerings IBM Corp. has introduced new Watson-powered cognitive services for its Cloud Video technology that it said are designed to transform how organizations unlock data-rich insights for video content and audiences. The new services, it added, can help deliver differentiated, personalized viewing experiences for consumers. “Digital video is a booming area for content but remains largely untapped for insights as part of the more than 80% of data in the world that’s unstructured, making it difficult to process,” the company said in a release. Applying cognitive technology is believed to be a critical next step for mining and analyzing the complex data in video so companies can better understand and deliver the content consumers want. Accessible through the IBM Cloud, these new services analyze video data that can otherwise be difficult and timeconsuming to manually process, IBM said. These include: • Live Event Analysis: Combines Watson APIs with IBM Cloud Video streaming video offerings to track near real-time audience reaction of live events by analyzing social media feeds. • Video Scene Detection: Automatically segments videos into meaningful scenes to make it more efficient to find and deliver targeted content. • Audience Insights: Integrates IBM Cloud Video with the IBM Media Insights Platform, a cognitive offering that uses Watson APIs to help identify audience preferences, including what they are watching and saying, through social media. “With streaming video increasingly being used to broaden audiences for live events, (we) have combined the Watson Speech to Text and AlchemyLanguage APIs with IBM Cloud Video technology for a new service that tracks consumer feedback while the event is happening, This capability, now in the demonstration phase with clients, could be used by companies to gauge and adjust to audience reaction before a speaker has even left the stage. At a product unveiling, for example, viewer enthusiasm might rise or fall when specific features are mentioned, providing valuable insights on aspects of the product that are important to consumers and should be stressed in the future.”C+ www.connectionsplus.ca

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TREND I N G

Dell execs tell it like it is

at first Dell EMC World

Delegates warned ‘digital dawn’ could end up being ‘digital disaster.’ By Paul Barker ustin, Tex. – With the waiting of regulatory approvals associated with last year’s US$67 billion acquisition of EMC Corp. by Dell Computer finally over, Michael Dell and other senior executives dove into digital here in late October at the first official user conference involving the two corporate entities. Dell Technologies – the name of the new parent – announced in September completion of the acquisition of EMC Corp., which it said creates a line of businesses that provide the infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform IT and protect their most important asset, information. Dell Technologies consists of Dell client solutions business and the Dell EMC infrastructure solutions business – both of which are supported by Dell EMC Services – as well as Boomi, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware. “We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies in a release issued at the time. “Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things.” At Dell EMC World, which drew 8,000 attendees, he expanded on that theme, saying technology has evolved from a “bookkeeping tool in the back office to the very centre of our businesses and entire lives

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November/December 2016

Jeremy Burton (top photo) is shown welcoming delegates, while Michael Dell in a keynote speech said ‘it’s the sunrise of a new era.’

– how we live, how we learn, how we play, how we communicate, how we make decisions and how we interact with our world and each other at the most fundamental level. “When I look at what lies ahead I realize that we have only barely begun. As the cost of making something intelligent approaches zero www.connectionsplus.ca

T R E NDI NG

dollars, intelligence is being embedded into every aspect of our digital world.” Dell estimated there are about eight billion connected devices on the planet today and 15 years from now, that number will grow to 200 billion and possibly more. “All those devices – those sensors, those nodes – will provide access to a host of new digital applications creating massive new sources of information. “Every five years, performance improves by 10 times, which means that in 15 years, there will be 1,000 times improvement in power, speed, efficiency, capacity compared to what we have today. And what could that look like? Smart cities full of driverless cars – no traffic, no accidents, maybe even no tickets – nanobots that can cure cancer and prepare cell damage. Overnight shipping will feel like snail mail compared to the instant gratification of drone delivery. “This is the Internet of Everything, an intelligent world pulsing with processing power and connectivity. It’s been called the next Industrial Revolution, the next quantum leap in human progress. Virtual reality and augmented reality will redefine work, learning and play. It’s the sunrise of a new era – a digital dawn.” The physical reality, added Dell, is transforming into digital reality and physical businesses must transform as well, but recent Dell Technology Research makes it clear that for many, this “digital dawn can also appear as a looming digital disaster. “This is digital fear because they know that this future is coming very rapidly and the future doesn’t care if you are ready.” Released in early October, the Del Technologies Transformation Index polled 4,000 executives from mid-size to large enterprises about how prepared they are for a digital future. The survey revealed that: • 48% of global businesses do not know what their industry will look like in three years. • 78% of those polled consider digital startups a threat, either now or in the future. • Upwards of six in 10 businesses are unable to meet customers’ top demands. • A mere 5% of respondents can be considered “Digital Leaders. • Almost half (45%) fear they may become obsolete in the next three to five years due to competition from digital-born start-ups. Respondents to the survey conducted by Vanson Bourne, an independent technology www.connectionsplus.ca

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Work has become an activity, not a location. You don’t go to work, you do work, which means people are working in different places.

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research firm, were from 12 different industries and 16 nations. “So far the fourth industrial revolution has proved as ruthless as its predecessors,” said Jeremy Burton, chief marketing officer for Dell Technologies. “If companies can’t keep up, they will fall behind or worse. The ‘delay until another day’ approach simply won’t work. The survey noted that progress has been “patchy to say the least,” in that some companies have barely started their digital transformation, others have taken a piecemeal approach. Six in 10 companies are unable to meet customers’ top demands, such as better security and 24/7 faster access to services and information and nearly 64% “confess” to not acting on intelligence in real-time. “These are imperatives for success in a digital age,” said Burton. “Failing to deliver in such a highly contested marketplace could trigger the beginning of a digital crisis.” David Goulden, president of Dell EMC’s infrastructure solutions group, in his keyynote speech described findings in the survey as “shocking information. “In the last 15 years in the client-server and Internet era, IT was used mainly to automate the back office, middle office and end users,” he said. “We built and installed systems of record with the emphasis being on process efficiency and reliability. “Most of us were running our business on packaged applications. Software development became a dying art inside many industrialized companies. In the next 15 years, with a 1,000 times improvement in everything, IT changes. We are talking about the Internet

of Everything, IT-enabled businesses and economies. For many of us, in many ways, IT becomes the business which is a completely different role. “We are going to build new systems of engagement to focus IT to drive innovation, drive new products and we need to start writing software to differentiate ourselves from the competition in this new world.” According to Goulden, from a spending point of view, the client-server era has peaked at a massive US$2.7 trillion of annual spending. The focus now is on optimizing spend and in some cases reducing spend, while at the same improving speed, performance and resiliency. This reduction in traditional applications will be part of what feeds the investment dollars for the new wave. Jeff Clarke, vice chairman of operations and head of Dell’s client solutions business division, meanwhile, zeroed in on the changing workplace and employee. “The way people are conducting business today involves trading content on PCs, collaborating on companion devices, accessing and sharing information in the cloud at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “The way we are working today has dramatically changed. “First of all, the physical space has changed. Today, the average office space is 60% smaller than it was a decade ago. It’s driving more density, it’s driving a need for new form factors and smaller form factors. “Work has become an activity, not a location. You don’t go to work, you do work, which means people are working in different places. Two-thirds of employees today around the globe actually do work at home and 60% of them do work beyond the standard business day whatever that is defined to be and interestingly, nearly 50% of them are doing at least two hours of work from a public place.” As for the “new entrants” in the workforce, Clarke said they are “fearless with technology. They are putting demands on the workplace that have never been seen before. We did some research that suggest 42% of millennials today say they will quit a job with substandard technology and 82% say the job they choose is influenced by the technology they will have in the workplace. “This is a new world.”C+

Additional coverage of the conference will appear in the online edition of this article. November/December 2016

Connections+

COVE R S TO RY

NO STOPPING THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION 2017 promises to be action-packed for everyone from CIOs to ‘cable geeks’

he digital revolution will continue at a torrid pace in 2017 and with it so too will activity in four major technology blocks that make it allpossible – the cloud, of course, the data centre, the structured cabling infrastructure side of the equation and finally, telecommunication mobile network advances. It is a combination of these four that allows the Internet of Things to grow and spread its influence everywhere – be it on a hydro pole or on a manufacturing line. That IoT is not just another overhyped invention was evident in June when New York City-based 451 Research said that despite the relatively recent emergence of the term, 65% of respondents polled in an IoT quarterly study indicated they currently collect data from equipment, devices or other connected endpoints. “The term, Internet of Things, has proliferated rapidly and taken on different meanings depending on the audience,” says Dan Harrington, research director at 451 Research. “As is reflected in our survey data, these connected endpoint scenarios are both old and new. “They vary immensely from traditional use cases such as IP con-

Connections+

November/December 2016

By Paul Barker

nected cameras, building automation, warehouse automation and telematics to merging industrial use cases such as crop monitoring and remote patient monitoring. Organizations are both enhancing their already connected endpoints with greater capabilities as well as connecting new objects with sensors and circuitry to derive net new value for the business.” According to Tony Lefebvre, director of product management for Transition Networks, that alone will be “exciting for us cable geeks because there are going to be a lot of devices that are going to be additive to a lot of enterprises. “First and foremost you see security cameras going in and you are seeing a shift from what used to be analog – where you would have to have coax in place – to digital cameras. You are seeing the storage of the data going away from the PVR and actually placed out in the cloud somewhere, thus you need connectivity for that digital portion.” With digital cameras becoming more cost-effective, he says, security conscious organizations are upgrading their analog surveillance cameras to get better view quality, remote monitoring and www.connectionsplus.ca

COVER STORY

other benefits that IP systems provide. Another trend, Lefebvre predicts will happen next year is an influx of more wireless. “Wi-Fi has been around for a while and it’s a good story, but TIA 80211AC is kicking up the bandwidth capability. As much as we get as users, we will take. There always seems to be some application that will use up the bandwidth that we get. Streaming video is a perfect example. “4G and small cells are finally starting to get some play, they are growing and as we look forward to 2020 and beyond, 5G is going to necessitate some level of mobile access point outdoors, but definitely within a building. Given the frequency and the inability to go through walls, you will see a lot of small mobile access points going in.” Earlier this year, research firm IDC estimated that the standard is continuing on its “brisk adoption path” and now accounts for 54.5% of dependent access point unit shipments and 71.3% of dependent access point revenues. “This represents a noticeably faster adoption rate from 802.11n than what we saw with the 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n transition several years ago,” it said. “Increased demand on enterprise WLANs will continue to be a driving factor in this transition, especially as enterprise mobility use cases proliferate and IoT applications move into the mainstream.” Infrastructure Predictions: Henry Franc, a solutions specialist with Belden and chair of the TIA TR-42.1 Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Engineering Sub-Committee, predicts that 2017 could be the year when discussion about the very standards themselves turns in a new direction. Franc, who recently spoke at the Connected+ Toronto conference panel on interoperability challenges, said technology advances are coming at everyone so quickly that the thinking from standards professionals may need to change. Everything that standards bodies work on, he says, is done on the basis that there is a pre-defined application for use. However, today, what exists is the push of technology versus the pull of business. “Let’s use the example of Category 6A and 10 GbE over copper. Most people say they are designed for the data centre and top-ofrow, end-of-row server type switch connections. But in my experience I see them being used in so many other areas. The same thing is going to happen with IoT, whether it’s a result of new wireless protocols or applications such as 5G or the one-pair over Ethernet work. “There is the technical discussion we need to have with the people who are designing and installing the networks, but for the C-Suite, it is a case of what do you need to consider to enable your business? We don’t want to enable the Wild West for the Internet of Things from an enterprise customer standpoint and force them to redo their infrastructure every two years. That is

absolutely impractical. “Industrial is one of the first users of this one-pair Ethernet, whether it is in-car or in a manufacturing facility. Although there was some initial resistance to it within the TIA commercial building people, there was also some openness and recognition that the world is changing and the pace of change keeps increasing. We are aware of it.” Meanwhile, Jim Davis, regional marketing engineer with Fluke Networks, says the “shiny new toy that everybody wants to hear about” is Category 8. “That is actually where there is some news. During the course of this year, the TIA 568 standard was published that included the Category 8 performance.” However, what the standard did not include, says Davis, was the documentation that defined the performance of the field test equipment and defined what tests are going to run in the field. “They compare field test results to vector network analyzers, it’s a laboratory piece of equipment, and they do that because when the field test equipment says we have measured so much NEXT at such frequency, they want to see if that test is accurate. What we were waiting for was the TIA 1152 standard that would define what the accuracy requirements are for the Category 8 testers. It was approved by the TIA and it is going to be published. “I am confident that during the course of next year we will start to see the first product become available and once we have product we will have the callout for testing and we are going to be ready for that.” Rightfully so, Davis is not about to make a prediction on how it will ultimately fare. “It’s hard to say whether date centres will jump on top of Category 8 or not,” he says. “I feel and many people have told me that likely there will be a continued move to fiber.” Still, one of the first vendors to launch Cat 8 product is Optical Cable Corp. (OCC), which is predicting that the cable will play a major role in meeting today’s burgeoning needs for highspeed communications, whether in the data centre, voice, video or other high bandwidth applications that run on copper cable for distances up to 30 meters. To ensure that Category 8 adopters will effectively reach data speeds of up to 40 Gb/s – four times the speeds of many of today’s users, the company recently announced that it had launched a new RJ-45 plug with integral circuit board technology that provides advanced control of crosstalk, return loss, and other impediments, ensuring consistent performance at higher frequencies up to 2000 MHz. “Prior to the introduction of the product cable engineers viewed the challenge of transmitting data at rates of up to four times faster over a standard RJ-45 connector as a major concern,” the company stated.

”

The term, IoT, has proliferated rapidly and taken on different meanings depending on the audience.

www.connectionsplus.ca

”

November/December 2016

Connections+

COVE R S TO RY

The new RJ-45 plug model is fully backward compatible with existing RJ-45 infrastructure used by a majority of Ethernet connection ports, including Cat 6A, Cat 6 and Cat 5e cabling. It is field installable, and should be familiar to many cable installers, OCC said. As for the ongoing fiber vs. copper debate, there is no question that the latter has plenty of life left. Lefebvre says that while fiber probably makes sense in a Greenfield environment, copper is and likely always will be needed. A case in point, he says, is that very few devices be it a personal computer, camera, access point or IoT gateway are equipped with a fiber interface. “The other good reason for using some level of copper at least in the last few feet is PoE. We are seeing a bigger and bigger uptick in PoE where we will bring fiber and use that as a vertical distribution and get the distance and the bandwidth to a hub and from there we will split off and run copper.” Data Centre Dialogue: International Data Corporation (IDC) Canada recently announced the release of a new report assessing data centre operations vendors in Canada. IDC MarketScape: Canadian Data Centre Operations and Management 2016 Vendor Assessment assesses Canadian data centre providers’ ability to help Canadian companies migrate from corporate-run, on-premise facilities to third- party centres and hybrid environments, in addition to a vendor’s facility features. The research firm reported that companies have little appetite for investing in their own new and existing data centre facilities, as 18

Connections+

November/December 2016

”

Technology leaders have decided that instead of continuing to throw good money at their own facilities, they are beginning to shift workloads to commercial hosting vendors that offer colocation, managed hosting, and cloud services.

”

there are currently less corporate-run data centres than there were in 2014, and floor space has shrunk by 7.5%. “Technology leaders have decided that instead of continuing to throw good money at their own facilities, they are beginning to shift workloads to commercial hosting ven-

dors that offer colocation, managed hosting, and cloud services.” Key results of the report include: * IBM, Telus, HPE, Cogeco Peer 1, Q9, Rogers, CenturyLink, Equinix, and OVH earned the distinction of placing in the Leaders category. * SunGard, Bell, Long View, Carbon60, CentriLogic, Cologix, Shaw, 4Degrees, and TeraGo distinguished themselves by placing in the Major Players category. * Over the past three years, Canada has seen a build out of over one million square feet of data centre space, and well in excess of 100MW of power added to the market. * Over the past 24 months, the needs of a data centre have continued to increase. Data generated from corporate systems, mobile devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) networks continue to grow at a pace of 50% per year. Digital technologies such as analytics, social business platforms, and high performance computing put an ever-increasing stress on the best-inclass data centres. “The direction of the market is very clear,” said Mark Schrutt, vice president, services and enterprise applications. “CIOs and technology leaders are shifting away from corporate-run data centres and placing workloads at commercial providers and taking a cloudfirst approach to new systems and software. Right now the majority of businesses are not shifting wholesale to cloud, but migrating towards a combination of data centre and cloud technologies, which opens up a large but competitive marketplace to data centre operations and cloud vendors in Canada.”C+ www.connectionsplus.ca

New & Noteworthy

1. SUPERIOR ESSEX

2. PLATINUM TOOLS

3. EATON

4. TRANSITION NETWORKS

Superior Essex recently launched Indoor/Outdoor CMR/CMX configurations of its PowerWise 1 Gigabit 4-pair Power-over Ethernet (4PPoE) cable, which the company says are designed to meet the high power and data demands of Power-overEthernet (PoE) applications. Utilizing 22 AWG copper conductors, PowerWise 1G 4PPoE cable delivers 60 Watts of power to PoE-enabled devices with 97% power efficiency and 100 Watts of power at 88% power efficiency, while also supporting 1 Gigabit data transmission. According to the company, in spaces with hundreds of PoE devices, this unparalleled power efficiency can yield an energy savings of thousands of kilowatt hours per year, which translates to thousands of dollars in saved utility costs. Additionally, PowerWise 1G 4PPoE cable maintains the lowest temperature rise in large cable bundles, ensuring reliable power and data transmission in high-density installations and further improving system energy efficiency. www.superioressex.com

Platinum Tools’ Tor cable jacket stripper and slitter now shipping Platinum Tools recently launched the Tor Cable Jacket Stripper and Slitter, an adjustable heavy-duty cable stripping and slitting tool for all insulation types used in today’s cables. Features include tool-less interchangeable cable clamps, giving it a cable capacity up to 1.5 in. / 40mm. Tor has been tested to more than 100,000 cycles, the company says. Easy to use, Tor has positive locking positions for circular, lengthways and spiral (apple peel) strips. With a suggested list price of US$90, additional features and specifications include: • Ergonomic: well-balanced design to ease raising the cable clamp • Eyelet built in base of tool for attaching a lanyard • Size (L x W x H): 6.57 in x 1.46 in. x 1.2 in (167 mm x 37 mm x 30.5 mm) • Weight: 0.26lb. / 116 gr. www.platinumtools.com

Power management company Eaton recently launched Intelligent Power Manager software version 1.53, which it said provides IT managers with improved protection for data centre IT equipment through integration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) OneView and new functionality with the OpenStack management platform. Through these integrations, the company added, the software gives IT professionals the insight and control they need to manage and mitigate issues such as overheating equipment and power anomalies in order to improve availability of critical resources and maintain business continuity. Operators of data centres require significant visibility into their infrastructure, as adverse events such as overheating and power loss can lead to significant revenue loss. Through the integration of Eaton’s Intelligent Power Manager software with HPE OneView, users can maintain business continuity by addressing issues such as overheating down to the server level. www.eaton.com.

Transition Networks Inc. has announced the availability of its Ethernet Over Coax Extender with PoE+, which the company said reduces cost and accelerates time to service by utilizing existing coax cabling infrastructure to upgrade from analog to IP-based surveillance cameras or connect other IP devices to the Ethernet network. The new extender conforms to the IEEE 802.3 af/at standard for compliance with other PoE / PoE+ powered devices, allowing edge devices to be quickly and easily located in places where power was previously not available and helping to avoid unnecessary and costly electrical installations, the company said. The Ethernet Over Coax Extenders are used in pairs, with a local (EOCPSE4020-110) and remote (EOCPD4020-110) device placed at opposite ends of a 75-ohm coax cable and is capable of delivering a full 25 Watts of power to the edge device at near Gigabit speed. www.transition.com

www.connectionsplus.ca

November/December 2016

Connections+

Lite rat u re Re views

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Siemon White Paper Proves Performance Risks Associated with Low-Cost Fiber Assemblies Siemon’s new white paper, “A Closer Look at Plug and Play MPO/MTP Assemblies” outlines the results of comprehensive testing on the performance of plug and play multi-fiber cable assemblies used in 40 and 100 Gigabit high speed fiber applications. The testing clearly shows that lower-cost generic assemblies from unknown suppliers failed to meet minimum standards requirements across a range of parameters, putting critical network performance at risk and causing the potential for costly downtime. To access your free copy visit:

Connections+ 2016 MEDIA KIT The magazine for ICT professionals, Connections+ readership targets individuals who purchase, design, specify, install, maintain and test structured cabling, networking and telecom products as well as facilities management specialists and senior IT executives who are responsible for overseeing the implementation and installation of these initiatives. For more information contact Maureen Levy – 416-510-5111 or mlevy@connectionsplus.ca

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November/December 2016

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T HE B ACK PAG E

5G represents end-to-end change

AS DID 4G By Peter Linder

hen 4G was introduced, all parts of the network were transformed. A new 4G overlay network complemented the 2G and 3G networks. Mobile phones, radio, backhaul, and core networks went through a large change. The prediction for 5G is we will see a similar large shift across all areas calling for an end-to-end network strategy approach when planning for 5G. When introducing 4G, the multiple 3G networking tracks, that is CDMA and WCDMA, merged into a common LTE track. 4G networks were built out as an overlay to 2G and 3G. The 4G market was shaped by network operators, network vendors, and terminal providers as for 2G and 3G. All changes introduced with 4G came with one big network bang, for example LTE radio, Ethernet backhaul and enhanced packet core. Mobile phones moved from a communicationcentric device to a multi-purpose smart personal companion. Despite strong initial hope for laptops as a driving device, it was the app-enabled smart phone that became the killer device. Consumer devices dominate for 4G. The 4G radio agenda saw a global support for LTE as the technology of choice. Almost directly out of the gate, we saw a rapid increase in spectrum and band plan variants. 4G adoption rates and usage patterns varied between different regions quite substantially – where some markets are approaching 4G saturation now, others are still in ramp-up. The 4G backhaul represented a big shift from leased or self-built TDM links in the Nx1.5-2Mbps range to Ethernet backhaul. The building pace demanded often created a high dependency of leased Ethernet circuits and a diverse provider base. It is today common to see a mobile network provider relying on leased circuits from telcos, cable operators, or local Ethernet service providers to support the full geographical reach of their network. 100Mbps has been a typical backhaul capacity. The 4G packet core network went through a large shift compared to 4G. The architecture for 4G enhanced packet core was a major simplification and a large step towards powerful packet core networks where data was the primary

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November/December 2016

driver. The fifth major 4G innovation is tied to the delivery of voice. 4G is defined as a pure data solution without any circuit switched component. After an initial uncertainty, the mobile industry settled around VoLTE as the packet provided communication service for 4G. What will remain and what will be different for 5G 5G has clear commonalities with 4G, in the sense that you need to consider the shift as an end-to-end challenge. The changes for each of the areas when we move to 5G are significant across all areas. 5G is likely to be introduced as an overlay to existing mobile networks. It represents a very large capability shift, with multiple parameters improving with 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to 4G. The 5G introduction will be less of a big bang, with introduction of 5Gready elements as steps along the journey. At the device end we will see a broader spectrum of devices, and represent a mix between consumer and business specific devices. The biggest shift at the device end is the variety of industries we can expect to shape the ecosystem at the use-end and the fact we can expect to see devices being large consumers of data as well as sensors being large generators of data at the user end. The 5G radio capabilities have gotten the lionshare of the initial attention. Perhaps the biggest change is the introduction of spectrum an order of magnitude higher up, which calls for radios closer to the users. Small cells, centralized basebands, densified 4G grids, integration of Wi-Fi and 5G all represent a new radio reality. Predictions for the near term future: • 5G networks will be approached as a new end-to-end networking challenge. • The 5G network standardization will build on the best from multiple different industry paradigms. • The earlier the deployment is scheduled, the more important it will be to target a holistic solution. C+ Peter Linder is a Networked Society evangelist at Ericsson. He can be reached via Twitter @ OneLinders. www.connectionsplus.ca

WE TURN NETWORK EVOLUTION INTO BUSINESS REVOLUTION The Networked Society is in a state of constant change, opening up exciting possibilities for businesses that can evolve to stay ahead. Our networks empower operators to be innovative frontrunners in a game where no one knows tomorrowâ€™s rules. Welcome to the Networked Society.

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