Asia-Pacific I 2009 (15)

Theme: Convergence, communications and business innovation

Communications with customers, suppliers, service providers, financial institutions and the like are the lifeline of any business.

Today’s converged networks, converged devices and applications that take advantage of the possibilities a converged environment brings are revolutionizing the office - or lack thereof in the case of tele-workers/ telecommuters - to deliver  a seamless work environment to workers wherever they may be.

The converged environment has stimulated a wide variety of innovative applications for large and small businesses alike, many of which are not just new ways of doing the same things, but are real changes in the way we do business or are new businesses in their own right. Interaction is facilitated, costs are eliminated or drastically cut, and collaboration with colleagues, clients and suppliers anywhere at any time is enhanced.

By minimizing the need to travel, applications such as video-presence are also starting to reduce business travel - and the user’s carbon footprint.

This sort of convergence is a powerful tool to simplify business processes, but its implications are far reaching and complex. Cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS) special applications, Swiss knife communications and computing devices, innovative applications and a host of storage, communications and network equipment will be needed to make this work efficiently and cost effectively.

This issue of Connect-World Asia-Pacific 2009 will examine the implications of these far-reaching converged systems and the impact they have not only upon users, but upon the complex ecosystem that will make these innovative communications systems possible - the networks, communications equipment, user devices, software and business applications.