AmanziTel was selected to Oresund Top 10, making AmanziTel one of the 10 most promising companies in Denmark and Sweden. How did we get here? Innovative thinking and the desire to change our market landscape forever with the view of expanding to vertical markets in the future. The selection was made by CONNECT Denmark and CONNECT Skåne, where they evaluate companies both young and mature for inclusion to Oresund Top 10. The selected 10 companies will make a presentation in front an audience of venture capital firms and other investors with the aim of securing grants.
I am preparing my presentation and so far it took me 2 days to get a first draft. I wanted to make the presentation very different from all other presentations that investors have seen in the past. It's a tall order since in an ordinary day a VC reviews about 10 different presentations that makes it around 250 presentations a year so how do you make a presentation that is different from all others. If its not possible how do you create a presentation that won't bore an audience such as a group of VCs who probably heard almost every type of business cases.
I wanted the presentation to be exciting, powerful, provocative and captivating with the aim to convince VCs to part with their millions and give it to my cause. I have enlisted the help of the world's most renown presenters, experts in public speaking, checked with industry colleagues, friends and acquaintances. I got some similar advice, some contrasting tips and pointers. Tomorrow I got to do the presentation to the first set of local VCs and gather their feedback.
I have spoken in front of a huge audience before (tens of thousands), I have met with VCs before, I have presented in front of business leaders, politicians, famous people, industry peers and most of all customers. Does that qualify me in creating a good presentation for Oresund Top 10? The answer is NO, not until I know who the audience are, their current emotional state at that particular moment. This I will only know once I am standing in front of them.
Can't I not research before hand? Yes, I can. On the contrary a person's emotional state at a particular moment affects and guides his or her decision making at that moment. So to be achieve my goals for this presentation I should seduce them :-) and NO that does not include me or an accomplice doing a strip tease... It has to be something better. Got any ideas? Please feel free to let me know.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Should Telecom Operators Trust Open Source?
I had numerous discussions about the use of open source software, especially with various network operators, in the telecoms market. The main issue is that most telecom operators feel that there is no serious effort put in place in creating open source software or any software distributed freely. How true is this?
When it comes to the mobile phone platforms such as Google's Android, most operators are quick to accept since it comes from Google (a huge company) but when it comes to network infrastructure, most operators doubt the reliability of open source software. I would assume most in telecoms are too young to remember how open source started long before computers are available in 1911 and in terms of software it started in 1969 when AT&T employees developed UNIX. Open Source software started in Telecoms, it was called open systems then, perhaps a refresher in history is good to have follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source to get an idea on history of open source.
There are companies such as AmanziTel that uses open source platform from well respected organizations like the Eclipse foundation (www.eclipse.org) this means that the software components used are truly tested and proven in various industries, they are mature and stable and is supported by some of world's best technology companies (IBM, HP, Google, Intel, Nokia, Ericsson, etc). This also means that the cost of development is a lot less since several software components already exist, why re-invent the wheel when you can invent the next "big thing".
Now on the question of trust, as a telecom operator would you trust a tried and proven platform used in various industries and supported by the world's most innovative companies or would you rather trust an establish company and its teams of internal developers? Trust is of course a personal thing. Most of us trust the people behind the product and not the product itself.
When it comes to the mobile phone platforms such as Google's Android, most operators are quick to accept since it comes from Google (a huge company) but when it comes to network infrastructure, most operators doubt the reliability of open source software. I would assume most in telecoms are too young to remember how open source started long before computers are available in 1911 and in terms of software it started in 1969 when AT&T employees developed UNIX. Open Source software started in Telecoms, it was called open systems then, perhaps a refresher in history is good to have follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source to get an idea on history of open source.
There are companies such as AmanziTel that uses open source platform from well respected organizations like the Eclipse foundation (www.eclipse.org) this means that the software components used are truly tested and proven in various industries, they are mature and stable and is supported by some of world's best technology companies (IBM, HP, Google, Intel, Nokia, Ericsson, etc). This also means that the cost of development is a lot less since several software components already exist, why re-invent the wheel when you can invent the next "big thing".
Now on the question of trust, as a telecom operator would you trust a tried and proven platform used in various industries and supported by the world's most innovative companies or would you rather trust an establish company and its teams of internal developers? Trust is of course a personal thing. Most of us trust the people behind the product and not the product itself.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Why We Choose to Open Source Our Software and Platform...
I have been constantly asked the same questions lately, why did we choose to open source our software and platform? The answer is as simple as we are revolutionizing the network management and optimisation sector... although that is not what you want to know, isn't it?
Let's look at the telecoms market, are there any open source network management and optimisation platform currently available? Not really, there are a few bits and pieces here and there but no complete solution available as open source.
Will it ever become a trend? Will it be acceptable by network professionals? The answer to that... is... what do you think? Will you use our open source platforms and solutions? Considering there is ZERO CAPEX and very low TCO.
Now look at Telecoms in general, open source software is becoming the hottest thing in telecoms. Think Google's Android, think of the various mobile OS based on Linux... think of the software that runs on several hardware... So YES, open source is now in telecoms. Open Source actually started in Telecoms back in '69, it was called Open System then...
Now back to our own set of reasoning. In the past we pioneered automatic frequency planning and now technology have move on so rapidly that 2G is now primitive. So we decided if we wanted to give something new to the telecoms market (as we did in the past) we should give something that will stay longer and be used wider than an AFP and at the same time solve the issues most companies face today with proprietary software. How do we do that?
It is very simple... a complete change of mind set and thinking coupled with a hybrid business model. Here's the reason why we went open source
* give total freedom to users who can create their own applications on our platform
* ensure that customer specific processes and applications remain with the customer; it's their intellectual property after all
* allow other entities to benefit from our platform, especially independent telecom professionals and small engineering services companies
* low total cost of ownership (TCO) since there is no CAPEX and support/upgrade services are much lower
There are a few more reasons but if I tell you then we will have to hire you :-)
Let's look at the telecoms market, are there any open source network management and optimisation platform currently available? Not really, there are a few bits and pieces here and there but no complete solution available as open source.
Will it ever become a trend? Will it be acceptable by network professionals? The answer to that... is... what do you think? Will you use our open source platforms and solutions? Considering there is ZERO CAPEX and very low TCO.
Now look at Telecoms in general, open source software is becoming the hottest thing in telecoms. Think Google's Android, think of the various mobile OS based on Linux... think of the software that runs on several hardware... So YES, open source is now in telecoms. Open Source actually started in Telecoms back in '69, it was called Open System then...
Now back to our own set of reasoning. In the past we pioneered automatic frequency planning and now technology have move on so rapidly that 2G is now primitive. So we decided if we wanted to give something new to the telecoms market (as we did in the past) we should give something that will stay longer and be used wider than an AFP and at the same time solve the issues most companies face today with proprietary software. How do we do that?
It is very simple... a complete change of mind set and thinking coupled with a hybrid business model. Here's the reason why we went open source
* give total freedom to users who can create their own applications on our platform
* ensure that customer specific processes and applications remain with the customer; it's their intellectual property after all
* allow other entities to benefit from our platform, especially independent telecom professionals and small engineering services companies
* low total cost of ownership (TCO) since there is no CAPEX and support/upgrade services are much lower
There are a few more reasons but if I tell you then we will have to hire you :-)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Changing my blog
Wednesday morning was the first time this autumn that the temperature outside went below freezing, winter just arrived. The sun is shining; it’s a beautiful day so I decided to cycle to work. After a few minutes on the bike I am almost regretting going by bike… the wind chill is far below freezing, my ears are frozen and my running shoes are stiff and icy…. The only consolation I get is the beautiful autumn colours exposed by the bright sunlight.
While having a brain freeze I decided to change my blog to make it a simple brain dump about my work. I will write something that transpired, that I thought or thinking, expose what I feel about what’s going on every week. This means there will be entries about managing a start-up, releasing products, arguments and imaginations.
This week was a very tough week my sleeping average went down from 4 hours to 3 hours. There’s a huge RFQ that I just completed, actually almost an impossible scope but doable and profitable given the right management approach and excellent strategy. I missed the LTE seminar in London yesterday (apologies to Abbey, CEO of AWTG).
Put out a public release of AWE to selected users, the platform is downloadable on the AmanziTel Wiki and is free. I also got to test which applications works and which doesn’t, so after first publishing the release 3 new versions have been made. Why are we giving away our software for free and what’s up with so many releases happening in a matter of weeks? Did I not learn from previous experiences in software development?
While having a brain freeze I decided to change my blog to make it a simple brain dump about my work. I will write something that transpired, that I thought or thinking, expose what I feel about what’s going on every week. This means there will be entries about managing a start-up, releasing products, arguments and imaginations.
This week was a very tough week my sleeping average went down from 4 hours to 3 hours. There’s a huge RFQ that I just completed, actually almost an impossible scope but doable and profitable given the right management approach and excellent strategy. I missed the LTE seminar in London yesterday (apologies to Abbey, CEO of AWTG).
Put out a public release of AWE to selected users, the platform is downloadable on the AmanziTel Wiki and is free. I also got to test which applications works and which doesn’t, so after first publishing the release 3 new versions have been made. Why are we giving away our software for free and what’s up with so many releases happening in a matter of weeks? Did I not learn from previous experiences in software development?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Is Open Source the ANSWER?
Having written my thoughts on what the issues are today concerning existing proprietary software and platforms, you might ask what the solutions in solving these issues are. Is open source technology the ANSWER?
NO, open source is not the only answer. Open source as defined by the Open Source Initiative and gives users freedom to do what they want on a piece of code but more importantly collaborate to improve the code so that in return more people are able to use it as a complete software. There of course multiple foundations and communities supporting open source such as the Eclipse Foundation , the Free Software Foundation , the Apache Software Foundation and a lot more. However in some cases these communities does not agree with each other regarding the definition of open source which is evident in the non-compatibility of their OSI approved open source licenses.
To truly address the issues concerning proprietary software, part of the ANSWER lies within the organisation who provides the platform or software. YES, you need open source licensing to deliver total freedom to users and it should also be fully supported with an enterprise level of support and not only form the user community. Just imagine how bad it is for a company acquiring a piece of software for free, implements it in their business and then later can't get support to address any problems or mistakes they might have created.
Furthermore as user requirements evolve, the platform should be very agile to be always in the forefront of technology advancement. In this sense part of the ANSWER is through collaboration between organisations and community contributions to ensure that evolution and revolution are captured and implemented as innovations during the platform's lifecycle.
NO, open source is not the only answer. Open source as defined by the Open Source Initiative and gives users freedom to do what they want on a piece of code but more importantly collaborate to improve the code so that in return more people are able to use it as a complete software. There of course multiple foundations and communities supporting open source such as the Eclipse Foundation , the Free Software Foundation , the Apache Software Foundation and a lot more. However in some cases these communities does not agree with each other regarding the definition of open source which is evident in the non-compatibility of their OSI approved open source licenses.
To truly address the issues concerning proprietary software, part of the ANSWER lies within the organisation who provides the platform or software. YES, you need open source licensing to deliver total freedom to users and it should also be fully supported with an enterprise level of support and not only form the user community. Just imagine how bad it is for a company acquiring a piece of software for free, implements it in their business and then later can't get support to address any problems or mistakes they might have created.
Furthermore as user requirements evolve, the platform should be very agile to be always in the forefront of technology advancement. In this sense part of the ANSWER is through collaboration between organisations and community contributions to ensure that evolution and revolution are captured and implemented as innovations during the platform's lifecycle.
Friday, October 2, 2009
What are the most common issues with existing software vendors
As a professional, an employee, a business owner we all have at some point in our work used software. For enterprise software we (or the IT department) in most cases have to purchase it from a software vendor. So in your experience what are the issues in purchasing enterprise software? I have listed my personal bad experience below:
* High CAPEX and very high TCO (total cost of ownership)
* Vendor lock-in
* Only around 10% of the features and functionalities are actually used
* Users can not integrate their data and way of working to the platform
* Lack of customisability resulting to unused software
* Lack of flexibility and scalability
* Software becomes outdated once requirement changes
* High CAPEX and very high TCO (total cost of ownership)
* Vendor lock-in
* Only around 10% of the features and functionalities are actually used
* Users can not integrate their data and way of working to the platform
* Lack of customisability resulting to unused software
* Lack of flexibility and scalability
* Software becomes outdated once requirement changes
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