Automation. It’s not something most of us think about often, and that’s the whole idea. But automation plays a critical role in the IT world, especially for those who remember when software had to be updated manually. That importance takes on an added urgency when you consider next-generation telecommunications networks, as a cloud architecture brings with it layers of complexity that make automation a necessity.

Imagine living in a world where electricity was a luxury, available only to city dwellers. This was the reality for many Americans in the 1930s, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR,) who was living with polio, regularly visited Warm Springs, Georgia, which were thought to be beneficial for polio sufferers at the time. During his travels, FDR witnessed the stark contrast in electrical access between urban and rural communities.

In today's digital age, we rely on our phones and laptops as our central hub for communication. This is true in both our business and personal lives. However, recent events have shown that no one is immune to cyber-attacks. In this blog post, we highlight a recent incident involving billionaire Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks, Shark Tank) and how his email account was hacked via his phone. It serves as stark reminder that no one (or business) is immune.

Over the last few years, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have been very vocal in announcing their rollouts of 5G data services. On the subject of 5G voice services, however, they’ve been largely silent because, frankly, there hasn’t been much to say. 5G network transformation has focused on data, since faster data (and not faster voice) is what customers expected from 5G. But customers also expect to be able to make voice calls on their 5G phones when they roam or travel.

Over the last few years, cloud-native has become a popular buzzword in the tech industry. There are cloud-native applications, cloud-native network functions, even cloud-native storage. But, like many buzzwords, the true meaning of cloud-native has itself become clouded by overuse.

One of the highlights of my summer is a trip I took to visit some of our rural customers as part of a larger customer appreciation tour other members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and I embarked on. Independent service providers hold a unique place in the telecom ecosystem, often forming the backbone of their communities, and this was a wonderful way for us to connect on a personal level.

Our Global Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Joni Roberts, was interviewed by Monica Sanders for an article published on Medium.com. The article explores the concept of the “Digital Divide”, what it is, who it affects and how we can address it with technology, expertise and funding.

The “cloud native” conversation is transitioning from the enterprise data center into the telecommunications world, just in time for a new generation of 5G and AI/ML enabled telecom services. Couched in that conversation are some important nuances about what constitutes a truly cloud-native solution versus a cloud-capable solution.

Along with my colleague Jonathan Homa and Jimmy Yu of the Dell’Oro Group, I recently participated in a webinar in which we discussed the roles played by Coherent Routing and Optical Transport in supporting the rapidly increasing demands placed on the IP Optical middle mile network.