I have just returned from CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2009 where we announced and exhibited Cirrus™ 2.0 Platform as a Service (PaaS) for asset tracking and monitoring. Eager to hear what was being said about Cloud Computing at the event, I found those conversations in two places, the educational program and in our booth.
The “Hosting Solutions in the Cloud” panel discussion of the educational program spoke to the carrier centric audience about benefits and drawbacks of using a Cloud Computing model for network management and data processing. Stephen Zitnick of Interop Technologies addressed the question of “Why a hosted environment (for wireless communications)?” and “Why now?” Stephens aptly emphasized the value of Cloud Computing in introducing new services and new technologies quickly, allowing ROI models to “work quicker.” He also emphasized the ease of transition between legacy and next generation technologies afforded by use of a Cloud Computing hosted model.
Ken Lee of Oracle described Cloud Computing as the “next generation service delivery platform.” Lee addressed the question of “What is the next killer app?” by stating “It’s not the killer app – it’s about having the next killer playground that will enable others to develop killer applications.” This is the conversation that interested the folks visiting our booth!
Folks that we talked to were interested in getting asset tracking and monitoring, and other LBS applications, to market quickly, simply and with minimal up-front costs. What seemed to grab their attention was how our Cirrus Platform as a Service (PaaS) used Cloud Computing technology to create the “killer playground” for asset tracking and monitoring application development, deployment and management. So what does a “killer playground” for these applications look like?
Our conversations with Solution Providers and in-house developers of enterprise-class asset tracking and monitoring applications tell us that this “killer playground” is a robust, multitenant platform/environment that enables them to create applications quickly and efficiently, without re-creating the proverbial wheel. They don’t want to purchase or maintain additional hardware or software. Their “killer playground” would help them to quickly develop, customize, deploy and integrate. It is device, network and application agnostic – providing security, high reliability and availability. As their application evolves, this platform must enable multiple application views and scenarios; incorporate multiple types of devices, wireless carriers, and technologies (in multiple countries); and multiple communications and security protocols. A “killer playground” is big thinking!
Visitors to our booth were extremely positive about our new Cirrus platform, and the apparent ability to allow them to rapidly build, deploy and manage hosted asset tracking and monitoring applications. Our booth traffic was brisk and the conversations lively. We will be following up with many of these folks now that the show is over.
Vickie Malis, SensorLogic Marketing
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