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SD-WAN, SASE, and Network Infrastructure Planning

Posted on by Bluewave

Does the choice of SD-WAN enable a better SASE architecture?

SD-WAN is an important part of SASE, but security has taken the more dominant focus during Covid.

Where does SD-WAN really stand?

‘Is SD-WAN an important first step to a SASE architecture?’ is a question I get asked often. Before Covid my answer was in many cases ‘yes’ but the landscape has changed a lot. The earlier drivers of SD-WAN were simple and compelling – to pull network infrastructure out of the dark ages and make it agile and cloud-ready. The technology benefits were an order of magnitude better when it came to performance, cost and manageability. The business case was straightforward, but the complexity lay in navigating the landscape of 50+ vendors possessing hugely varying capabilities.

Cloud-based applications like Office 365 and Amazon Web Services (AWS) were much faster with SD-WAN, primarily due to the ease of aggregating multiple dedicated internet access (DIA) and low-cost broadband connections at enterprise locations into a single, stable connection with ease and efficiency comes a potential security nightmare – necessitating a cloud-security strategy to be a parallel consideration to SD-WAN. But this was still relevant when the bulk of the workforce belonged in the office.

Was SD-WAN enough during Covid?

Covid shifted the IT focus from the office to the work-from-home user. Employees now needed complete networking and security capabilities for 24×7 access from home in all parts of the world. Most enterprise remote access infrastructures were designed to support a portion of a company’s workforce, and were simply not ready to handle the full corporate user base; this exposed several choke points in performance and security that left IT struggling to manage. Ransomware and other bold attacks on employees and corporations have been on a steep rise through Covid, seeking to exploit these gaps left from quick adaptation to the new normal. SASE is the starting point for an architecture that looks at networking and security in a more comprehensive manner.

Does SASE have more questions than answers?

While the enterprise need for SD-WAN could easily be solved by a single vendor, SASE is an overarching framework that may require multiple vendors. The approach of IT solutions for discrete user groups in isolated silos has to be done away with and needs to give way to ‘solving for a single hybrid user’ irrespective of their location. This makes the SASE transformation a journey of multiple steps, driven by many important questions.

  • Can hardware-based SD-WAN solutions still meet SASE needs?
  • Is there a recommended step-wise deployment for SASE?
  • Can all hybrid users come under a single Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) model?
  • How do the security solutions of SWG and CASB provide consistent protection for the WFH and enterprise users?
  • Is there a vendor that can deliver the major security blocks of CASB, SWG and FWaaS in a single, cloud-based solution?
  • Does SASE protect an enterprise from intrusion and phishing attacks?
  • Should SaaS optimization be executed by SD-WAN or the SASE cloud?

Does the Roadmap to SASE need to be bumpy?

In its report, Gartner highlights that SASE deployments are still in small numbers today and why it is a complex topic without a straightforward solution. For one of the few times I can remember throughout my years of enabling enterprise customers to solve their WAN and security challenges, we, as an IT community, have an opportunity to think holistically about network transformation. But, that opportunity isn’t without risk. More than once I have been called into situations where failure to plan or ask the right questions have led to wrong choices and some costly missteps. In a webinar Bluewave hosted with CATO networks, we break down the way an enterprise needs to analyze the SASE roadmap based on their unique requirements.

Let’s Get Started on Your SASE Solution Now!

How Telecom Billing Systems Work

Posted on by Bluewave

Many people assume that a telecommunication service invoice should tell them how much they’re spending, what they’re paying for, and what services they currently have. The reality is that telecom invoices are designed to tell you the amount you owe, not why you owe that amount, making it all the more important to understand how telecom billing systems work.

A Quick Introduction to Telecom Billing

Even the phrase “telecom billing” means a lot of different things to different people. It isn’t easy to nail down, and it only gets trickier the deeper down the rabbit hole you go. To the IT team, telecom billing drives many of the decisions behind the technology they support. To the finance team, telecom billing is an overhead expense that needs to be closely monitored (but many lack the visibility to do so). To the executive, telecom billing means the cost of keeping the company connected. To the provider, it means how much you owe them.

See how each party brings a slightly different perspective to the table? That’s probably why it makes more sense to start with what telecom billing isn’t. Telecom billing isn’t your invoice. If you’ve ever tried translating your invoice into understandable language, you know that’s almost impossible. They don’t tell you why you’re being billed that amount, and no two ever look the same.

That’s why when you’re trying to make sense of telecom billing systems work, the last place to start is by sitting down and reading through pages of invoices. (Hint: you don’t have time for that, and automated systems can read them faster to identify errors than you can).

Instead, the best place to start is by understanding how the costs are calculated and what you’re paying for.

What Is a Telecom Billing System?

In the simplest terms, a telecom billing system includes all the policies, processes, and data a service provider relies on to calculate how much you owe them.

Each provider has a different way of calculating rates, billing, labeling rates, and naming fees. Even if you manage to make sense of one provider’s billing system, that rarely translates to clarity with other providers.

However, one thing all billing systems have in common is that they consist of many moving parts, including:

  • Billing and rating: A process managed by a billing engine called an Online Charging System (OCS) to calculate what you owe by converting call or usage data into a monetary equivalent.
  • Tariffs and fees: Each time you use a provider’s service, that service is subject to a predetermined surcharge, taxes, and additional service fees.
  • Disputes and adjustments: When discrepancies arise between what you paid and what you should have paid, any compensation is credited or debited to your account.
  • Discounts and prorating: Did the sales team promise you an incredible introductory rate? Maybe you opted out of a service that you already prepaid for. Those adjustments are reflected in your account balance.
  • Service changes: When you start, end, or switch services, the billing system factors in for those changes.
  • Payment processing: The system a carrier or provider uses to process and track your payments.

Starting to understand why telecom invoices aren’t as simple as a single number at the bottom of the page? There’s a lot behind that number, but telecom invoices aren’t designed to explain or even outline those determining factors.

Common Bill Cycles in Telecom

Along with the handful of factors dictating the final number that appears on your invoice, there are a number of different billing cycle options that affect your invoice, including

  • Prepaid Billing: With prepaid billing, you generally pay upfront to start using a service. In place of invoices, your account is charged in real time based on usage, and you get a statement of charges on an ongoing basis.
  • Postpaid Billing: Postpaid billing describes your conventional telecom billing option. You use services and are charged based on usage over a given billing cycle. At the end of the billing cycle, the provider’s telecom billing system generates your invoice and sends it to you. The most common bill cycles are 30, 45, 60, or 90 days.
  • Convergent Billing: Instead of separating each invoice by service, convergent billing consolidates some or all service charges into a single invoice, intended to provide companies with a unified view of billing over a given cycle. The reality of the situation is that convergent billing can further complicate an already confusing invoice.

Need to make sense of telecom billing? Our Technology Assessments make it easy. Discover how here.

How Telecom Billing Software Works

Telecom billing software works by connecting to a charging platform called an Online Charging System (OCS) that charges every transaction in real time. Whenever a device on your network interacts with the telecom system, the OCS tracks and records that interaction based on usage and interaction type (e.g., data usage, call minutes) as a Call Data Record (CDR).

Because data is recorded in real time, the chance of billing errors is reduced, but those numbers still need to be reconciled with the other billing factors outlined above in order to accurately determine what you owe.

With prepaid billing, the OCS charges your account in real time, and if you have a credit limit, you are notified when you’ve exceeded that limit as soon as it happens. You can then decide to add credit to your account or change services.

With postpaid billing, the OCS tracks your account balance, compiling an invoice over a given billing cycle while deducting or adding any discounts, taxes, and fees. You then receive that invoice at the end of the billing cycle, but just looking at the invoice, you may still not understand what you’re paying for, or more importantly, why you’re paying for it.

What Happens When You Don’t Know What You’re Paying For?

If telecom billing systems were easy enough to understand after reading a single blog, Bluewave wouldn’t exist. With the above information, you may be able to understand how your telecom invoices are calculated, but you probably still aren’t equipped to identify billing errors, eliminate redundant services, or even know what you’re paying for. When that happens, we can almost always guarantee you’re overpaying on underperforming technology.

Bluewave eliminates that problem with a technology assessment, and we promise you’ll learn a thing or two about telecom billing along the way. Send us a message when you’re ready to start saving and reinvesting those savings in higher priority technology initiatives.

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The Most Common Telecom Service Provider Issues

Posted on by Bluewave

In our experience, most telecom service provider issues boil down to three core problems in the industry, and they all have something to do with what’s missing from the telecom service experience.

The Root of Most Telecom Service Provider Issues

Running into problems in the telecom world is nothing new. While the driving technology has evolved over the years, the way telecom service providers go about selling and managing those services hasn’t always kept pace with advances in the technology, leaving many of us wondering, “What happened to the telecom experience?”

While the problem was once that you had too many people in the room, today’s most common telecommunication challenges often center around the fact that there aren’t enough in the room. As a result, you run into three core issues when you don’t have the right people sitting on your side of the table:

  1. A lack of consistency
  2. A lack of process
  3. A lack of billing transparency

Here’s what each of those issues looks like individually.

The Three Core Telecommunication Challenges

Issue 1: Consistency

Who’s really responsible for owning the relationship between a customer and a telecom service provider? When it comes to the issue of customer ownership, your guess is as good as ours. We’ve seen accounts handed off from team to team time and time again, and the result is that you end up spending more time explaining what you have and what you’re trying to accomplish than you do receiving the support you need.

When you’d expect your service provider to take ownership of your account with a dedicated account team who knows your system better than you do, it’s often on your team to shoulder that responsibility. If the provider does offer support, expectations and goals are often inconsistent, leaving your team trying to continually realign the provider’s priorities with your own.

Issue 2: Process

Does your enterprise follow a standardized onboarding process to educate new clients on your services and set the foundation for a successful partnership? If so, you know how integral that process is to delivering a seamless experience that sets realistic customer expectations and then meets or exceeds them. From there, you may even follow a general process to guide the partnership toward ongoing prosperity.

But when was the last time you saw a process page on a telecom service provider’s website? If those pages are out there, they’re few and far between, primarily because most providers don’t follow a process. When you’d expect them to educate you on their services and the technology you’re deploying, you more often discover that you have to become your own teacher. Can’t figure it out? See issue one above.

At Bluewave, we follow a process designed to translate telecom chaos into streamlined efficiency. It starts with a Telecom Assessment.

Issue 3: Telecom Billing

When you’re trying to understand how telecom billing systems work, you’d think the first place to start is by taking a deep dive into your invoices, right? Unfortunately, telecom invoices are designed to tell you the amount you owe, now why you owe it. They don’t break down each component being billed and the underlying rating, fees, discounts, and service changes, so if you’re looking for answers, your invoice isn’t the place to start.

Where should you start then? Your account team? See issue 1. Your internal team? See issue 2. The real answer starts with telecom reporting, but even that is a responsibility you’re often forced to shoulder. While providers may offer basic reporting services, those reports rarely provide the level of transparency you need to identify redundant services, billing errors, or even inventory all devices connected to your account.

If you’re trying to gain a macro-level perspective of billing, things only get more complicated. Even among companies that offer reporting capabilities, no two providers provide the same type of reports. In order to gain actionable insights, you often have to download multiple reports from multiple providers, then combine and manipulate those reports, but that takes time and money every time you go to create a combined report (since it’s a manual process that’s difficult to automate on your own). If you expect the reporting capabilities providers offer to make your life easier, you’re going to be disappointed in terms of clarity, consistency, and process.

Translate Telecom Issues Into Opportunity

If you’ve read this far, we bet you’ve run into a telecom expense management (TEM) problem related to one of the three core industry-wide issues above. If you haven’t, your experience is an anomaly, but if you’re like the rest of us, Bluewave is here to help. We make it easy to start by scheduling a Telecom Assessment so you can reinvest that money in technology that drives success.

Let’s Get Started

Single-Sourcing Benefits Businesses And Their IT Executives

Posted on by Bluewave

Given technology’s breadth and pace of change, implementing IT and communications solutions for a business – and especially a multi-location business – can be like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without any edge pieces. Working with a supplier-neutral consultant makes that job easier by piecing together the right solutions to meet the company’s objectives. Let’s take a look a single-sourcing benefits.

As you know, recent innovations in cloud computing, managed services, security, networking and unified communications (UC) and collaboration are game changers for businesses – but there are a number of real challenges IT organizations face:

  • Increasing pressure to grow the business
  • Fewer resources available to manage complex, modern IT and communications solutions
  • Transforming their IT departments from cost center to business enabler
  • Expanding user access to services and apps
  • Defending against cyberattacks
  • Ensuring systems are fast and responsive to users’ needs
  • A growing gap in the supply of qualified IT pros and the necessary IT skills

If that isn’t enough, these complicated market forces are challenging today’s businesses at the exact same time that technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed and grow in complexity. Historically, the best remedy for businesses has been to simplify matters by working with technology suppliers that can deliver comprehensive answers to an ever-expanding range of needs.

We’ve been through this many times before. Innovation leads to new entrants operating in silos until their products are market tested and become more mainstream. These newer products eventually are integrated or bundled with others to deliver more value and simplify the purchasing and managing process for businesses. If you think about it, it just makes sense: Fewer vendors means a more integrated and streamlined experience, and less finger-pointing if something goes wrong.

As a supplier-neutral consultant, our job at Bluewave is to help IT executives efficiently sift through the choices, manage the time-consuming procurement process and ultimately make a well-informed purchasing decision. Please reach out for your free consultation and see how single-sourcing can help you manage your IT.

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How to Leverage Microsoft Teams as a UCaaS Platform

Posted on by Bluewave

It’s no secret that the current state of Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) is about as unified as the European Union, but that doesn’t mean a UC platform isn’t worth working toward. For many organizations, Microsoft Teams Voice integration offers one of the most straightforward routes to implementing UCaaS, yet even that comes with its own challenges. Here’s how to get there and what to look out for.

Can Microsoft Teams Be a UCaaS Solution?

The operative word in UCaaS is unified. However, organizations don’t necessarily need to pursue UCaaS solely for the sake of technology unity. While unity is a great goal to have in mind, it isn’t a business driver in and of itself. Instead, what really drives business to implement UC is the benefits that unity can bring about, including:

  • Improved efficiency: By consolidating the technology tools a team relies on to communicate, enterprises can leverage UCaaS to reduce the amount of time employees spend switching between applications simply to stay on the same page. It is easier to drive adoption of a single platform, versus multiple platforms.
  • Reduced overhead: When reducing the number of tools and services employees rely on, many enterprises end up spending less while improving communication across the company.
  • Increased security: Fewer services and endpoints means fewer security vulnerabilities and more centralized controls and policies.
  • Better visibility: Last but not least, you can’t understand, optimize, or secure what you can’t see. UC provides organizations with the much-needed visibility they need to accomplish all three across the most widely used tools in their employees’ workflow.

If any of the above sounds like reasons for your business to move toward UCaaS, Microsoft Teams can help you achieve those goals, especially if your organization is already using the tool to some degree.

Microsoft Teams Voice Integration

More businesses than ever before are already using Microsoft Teams as a persistent chat, video conferencing, collaboration, and file-sharing tool. That already covers the UC needs of most organizations, but the one element most often missed (generally because it’s the trickiest to get right) is voice communication.

Microsoft Teams is not only capable of integrating voice capabilities while keeping the same phone numbers you already have—it also offers the opportunity to move away from physical phone systems altogether, but you have to be strategic when deciding the best way to accomplish this.

You can buy from Microsoft directly but expect little to no support, with most of the integration planning and project management falling on your shoulders. You can also purchase through a third-party provider that may offer more hands-on support but may also lack the know-how and oversight to help you achieve the objectives outlined above.

Unified Messaging, Video Conferencing, and File Sharing

While voice integration is the most challenging aspect of a Teams integration, the platform does streamline many of the core elements fundamental to the fabric of any UCaaS platform, including:

  • Persistent chat and messaging
  • Group chats and private communication channels
  • File sharing and productivity tools
  • Internal and external user access
  • Video conferencing and virtual meetings

So while it may take a little extra work to get voice capabilities where they need to be, Microsoft Teams make the core UCaaS implementation process relatively simple when compared to most other options available on the market today.

Bluewave specializes in helping enterprises understand the nuances of a Unified Communications marketplace that isn’t always unified.

Microsoft Teams UCaaS Project Checklist

When planning a Microsoft Team UCaaS deployment, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Identify what you’re trying to achieve and why those objectives are worth the time and energy.
  2. Determine which communication tools your team is already using, the ones you need to start using, and what you need to unify.
  3. Decide if your team has the capability to implement a Microsoft Teams UCaaS solution in-house by purchasing through Microsoft or if a third-party vendor can better serve your needs.
  4. Navigate the sales and contracting process to ensure you’re getting the best deal for your existing user base and future growth goals.
  5. Design and execute an implementation plan that ensures your team doesn’t lose productivity due to downtime or lack of adoption.
  6. Ensure that all services are migrated and appropriately terminated, so you don’t end up double-paying for anything you don’t use or need.

If you’re already accounting for each of these factors as you explore the possibilities for leveraging Microsoft Teams as a UCaaS platform, you’re off to the right start. If not, Bluewave is here to help you simplify any or all of the above.

What Else Do You Need Microsoft Teams to Accomplish?

What are you trying to accomplish with Microsoft Teams? Bluewave starts with simple questions like these to understand underlying business drivers and identify the right technology solutions for your enterprise’s goals.

Whether Microsoft Teams can help you achieve those goals or not, our experts specialize in providing the technology visibility you need to make a smart choice. Schedule a Technology Assessment or reach out to our team today to get started.

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5 Reasons to Leverage the Cloud for your Contact Center

Posted on by Bluewave

49% growth in one year. Contact centers are moving to the cloud.
The number of cloud-based contact center infrastructure seats rose 49.9% within one year, from 1,302,788 to 1,953,249. This increase shows a pattern of steady and strong growth that is expected to continue over the next five years and beyond. Worldwide adoption of cloud-based contact center infrastructure has risen rapidly as companies move their contact centers to the cloud to realize the flexibility, agility, scalability, and cost benefits of this implementation model.

Why cloud is the ideal contact center solution

#1 – The ability to scale quickly
Unlike legacy solutions that require voice modules, expansion I/O cards, additional software licenses, or other add-ons, cloud solutions allow instant scale workforce teams to meet the ebb and flow of customer demand. With the cloud, a company only pays for what it uses.

#2 – Faster deployment of new capabilities
One can add new sales tools on the fly.

#3 – Match an agent’s skills to the customer’s needs
Customers now have the choice to communicate in many ways – including web, mobile, chat, voice, IVR, email, and social channels. This provides access to huge pools of data that can reveal actionable insights for companies. Cloud contact centers can use behavioral, demographic, and location-based customer information to properly match the right agent to the right customer.

#4 – Superior disaster recovery and business continuity
By housing infrastructure and critical data in a remote data center – situated far from potential disruptions – a properly architected cloud contact center provides superior business continuity. In the event of a disaster, one can instantly fail over to mobile devices or softphones on their home computers or at temporary work quarters.

#5 – The new “connected” agent
A cloud platform synthesizes all information into a single screen, creating a new breed of “connected agent” that can deliver the kind of competent support that resonates with customers.

The stats show that the cloud is winning the battle against legacy premise-based contact center solutions. Companies clearly value the flexibility, agility, scalability and cost benefits of cloud solutions and we don’t expect this trend to change in the future.

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