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Don’t Go it Alone
Many experts coach runners to complete marathons in segments because it is easier to focus on going one more mile than to think of the next 13. They also encourage running in groups because self-inflicted peer pressure is motivating – especially when, due to weather or bad roads, the environment is uninviting.
Similar processes could help service providers to control capital expenditures during their race to the last mile. As more equipment is placed in a cabinet, existing issues like space, power supply, temperature range and maintenance move to the forefront. Collaborative design-and-assign processes integrated into an accurate inventory system can help providers extract every bit of bandwidth from existing network elements and manage capacity issues like space and power effectively. Working together inside a system with real-time conflict management, like running together in the context of a training regimen, equals more than the sum of its parts.
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"By moving their feet as close to the ground as possible, maintaining a moderate striding distance, and minimizing arm movements, runners use “gliding” to force gravity to do most of their work for them." |
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It is incumbent upon service providers to do the same, and a scalable inventory repository is the base upon which automation becomes reality. Automation is simply not possible without an updated, transparent view of available resources. The ability of an inventory system to import data quickly, discover assets and incorporate a reconciliation capability to compare what was planned to what actually is (and then reconcile the differences for deployments) increases the likelihood that providers can glide into new markets.
Additionally, as new enablement technologies gain increasing traction, the need for automation becomes even more imperative. Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is one such technology, addressing issues that arise from the mixing of voice and data on the |
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Go Slow to Go Fast
When completing their first 26.2-mile run, some set a goal to simply finish, while many other runners set their sights on time thresholds, like the three-hour marathon or the under five-hour marathon.
Strangely, one way to accomplish these objectives is by walking. Coaches often advise dropping out of a running pace for 30 or 45 seconds at each mile marker in order to preserve strength, fuel up on sports drinks, and think about the next mile.
While stopping altogether isn’t an option in either a foot race or the race to the last mile, pausing to plan the next set of moves will ultimately save time. Establishing design review processes and enforcing them with role-based security and workflow may cause a provider to go slower than it feels able, but it ensures the company is focused on the end-game: reaching the finish line.
Such a system can also establish a transparent view that breaks apart every step of the provider’s journey so that activities are not intimidating, opaque and error-prone, but discreet, defined and understood.
The Downhill Glide of Automation
Champion marathoners employ several techniques during a race, but one of the most efficient is practiced during downhill parts of the course. By moving their feet as close to the ground as possible, maintaining a moderate striding distance, and minimizing arm movements, runners use “gliding” to force gravity to do most of their work for them. Essentially, these athletes engage an autopilot, yielding more distance with less effort.
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same wide area network (WAN). MPLS delivers quality-of-service (QoS), jitter and latency guarantees for voice, a range of cost-effective bandwidths, and a migration path for established networks. Lest one believe that MPLS is the panacea for all that ills build-outs to the last mile, consider the very nature of MPLS: It is logical, not physical. This means that it is incredibly dynamic – constantly morphing according to customer demand. Automating MPLS activation is the only way to extract its true value. And without a physical understanding of equipment location, power requirements, spare inventory and port-to-port connectivity – in short, without having effectively navigated every mile up to the last one – how can a provider possibly accomplish that?
Our experience, both as marathoners and as IT professionals, tells us that they cannot.
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