I read an interesting article, “A CSP’s Guide to Analytics”, the other day in Billing and OSS World.  The author, Becca Goren, examines analytics from the standpoint of an Internet provider and makes a number of powerful points.

The first point that grabbed me was: “The challenge many CSPs have today is not that they don’t recognize the need for analytics, because they do.  But they don’t know how analytics can be applied to address given business issues, or which ones to use.  Just as there are many business drivers, there are numerous ways of applying analytics to address them.”  This statement confirms what I’ve experienced firsthand: providers are very receptive to analytics solutions, as they sense that there is an immense amount of value in the data and insight that analytics can provide, but most organizations are not yet set up to fully leverage the power of analytics.  Consequently, many providers have tip-toed into the analytics space by tasking a number of analysts with chugging through mounds of data in spreadsheet and data management applications.  Some have begun discussions with large companies like SAP and Oracle, while many have begun to investigate focused analytics tools like Sandvine’s own Network Analytics.

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Mobile World Congress (MWC) is one of the world’s largest mobile technology showcases, and this year’s 2011 event from February 13-17, 2011 was no different.  MWC was a confluence of headline grabbing keynotes, announcements, new product launches, and remarkable demonstrations.

MWC brought together thousands of different players in the mobile world, from small start-ups and individuals selling accessories like mobile phone skins in 3×3 metre booths, to larger companies with massive, multi-million dollar pavilions, with room for hundreds of people to view live presentations in amphitheatres, talk with experts, and experience some of the latest products and applications. 

Of particular note were the Android and Blackberry Partner community areas where hundreds of companies leveraging these device platforms showed their wares.  In addition, Apple won one of the most prestigious awards that the GSMA Show Sponsor offers for “Phone of the Year” with the iPhone 4 but nobody was there from the company to even accept the award.  Lastly, the announcement by Nokia to abandon Meego and Symbian just prior to the start of the show resulted in unfortunate lack of interest at the dozen or so booths focused on applications using these mobile operating systems.

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