Successful Network Technology Migrations: Axcent Networks’ David Wuensch Shines a Spotlight on the Importance of Planning
In the pursuit of the most advanced and capable business processes, enterprises must often embark on technology and network migration journeys. To increase competitive advantages, offer better value to clients and achieve greater efficiencies and abilities, these technology migrations can include overbuilding or decommissioning legacy components, replacing TDM with Ethernet or otherwise. However, as innovative network technologies emerge at every turn, excitement over opportunities must be balanced with careful consideration if businesses are to successfully evolve.
At the 2019 INCOMPAS Show, which took place November 4-6, a panel of industry business leaders discussed the secrets to getting the best of transitions on the panel “Achieving Successful Network Technology Migration.” David Wuensch, Vice President of Business Development for Axcent Networks, moderated the panel, and began by asking the panelists what really goes into proper planning for these technology migrations.
As Christopher Levendos of Crown Castle notes, a focus on the customer is key. He says that before you get into the discussions of network elements and operational tasks, getting an idea of the customer roadmap and understanding what they’re growing from and what they’re hoping to grow into is paramount.
To add to that, Brian Kurkowski of FirstLight Fiber comments that knowing where you’re going and having a blueprint of that process is what’s needed before any physical work begins. In this way, understanding how you’re creating a product, how you’re creating efficiency and how you’re building for the future will illuminate the way and prepare all involved, setting a foundation for success from the outset.
Another key fundamental of planning for success includes communication. Wuensch notes that there are different tasks for different people when accomplishing this type of network change, including people who work on the new technology, people who manage and optimize existing assets, and people who try to keep business, as usual, going uninterrupted. In this case, siloed teams can mean that migrations aren’t occurring successfully. To keep every facet working together and working productively, Levendos describes the solution as creating a storyline. The story of the project centers around the value proposition, and keeping that end goal in mind ensures that everyone can feel accountable for effectively delivering on the promise. Striking a balance between all the competing elements of a project can be tricky, but communicating and planning for both creating and reinforcing those responsibilities is key.
Although, all this preparation does not always certify that every element of the project will go exactly as planned. There is always the possibility of some facets being left out, which then may need to be corrected later. Tina Metivier of Inteliquent brings up an important point regarding situations in which error is not an option. She notes that in what she does — emergency services operations — they must “live and breathe delivery of calls,” because if something goes wrong, lives may be lost. To her point, emergency service networks were built decades ago, so this means that planning involves accommodating and retrofitting legacy networks with new technologies.
Space and power, both physical and computer or storage-based, are also sometimes a forgotten factor in these migrations and transformations. While these migrations do amplify capabilities for networks, if a project puts 500 central offices on a transporter, the timeline or roadmap of the deployment can be stretched out to double its original length because that power needs to be rolled out in those locations.
Of course, creating a seamless network migration is best done with the support of thorough experience. To ensure network migration and optimization initiatives are completed on time, on budget and with ease, Axcent Networks offers thorough experience with project management and building, upgrading, decommissioning or replacing networks. With a unique blend of technical expertise and network design insights, the company ensures that enterprises can leverage the network they need without experiencing associated interruptions.
Clients have partnered with Axcent to groom their network services, easily transition into new frameworks, reduce costs and optimize performance. With a trusted ally on board, network technology migration projects can benefit from an agile team of experts, accelerating network objectives and taking the complexity out of the process.
To learn about how Axcent Networks delivers augmented ease and success for network optimizations and migrations, please click here.
