Energy Management: Focus of Nokia Siemens Networks

From Greywale Management Blog (note there is no "h" in whale)

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) announced their Technology Vision 2020 recently.  Energy management was one of six major pillars.   The six pillars are:

1. Support up to 1000 times the capacity
2.  Reduce latency to milliseconds
3. Teach networks to be self-aware
4.  Flatten total energy consumption
5. Reinvent telcos for the cloud
6. Personalize network experience.

The key point regarding energy is illustrated in the following chart.

  

As shown, electricity alone accounts for 15% of total OPEX.  In developing markets this can be as high as 50% with a high percentage of off-grid sites.  If energy management is ignored the cost of power will continue to rise with the expected exponential growth in traffic.  The next chart illustrates that while traffic grows exponentially, energy efficiency grows linearly.  Thus, the amount and cost of energy will rapidly increase. 

Other key facts that NSN articulated are that the RAN (Radio Access Network) accounts for 80% of energy consumption and that current installed base-stations are 50% less efficient than new ones. 

As with any energy management and energy efficiency program there is no silver bullet or one solution to solve this.  However, there are numerous solutions when taken together add up to real savings in energy and money.  This area is too large for this short post.  For now, consider four main areas to investigate

1. Devices: Components, Moore's Law
2. Network Architectures
3. Network Management and Operations
4. Marketing and Services

By focusing on energy management and energy efficiency the end results will be meaningful OPEX savings, reduced carbon footprint and an enhance brand for sustainability conscious consumers.

Please contact me if you'd like to discuss this post.  +978 992 2203  gwhelan@greywale.com

Cleantech: Can’t Change the forces of Physics or the forces of the Market

 “Save the Planet”.  Now that’s an admiral goal.  What’s next?  “Save the solar system”?  In all seriousness, inventions and innovations that reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions are worthy goals.  But, just as the cleantech entrepreneur needs to address the laws of Physics they need to address the laws of the Market. 

New technology adoption, in any market, must address fundamental forces to succeed.  Cleantech, like every other market faces the classic  S-Curve and Gaussian adoption curves.   Both of these models address that fact that customers have implemented the current generation of technologies and solutions.  They are familiar with them, they know how to manage them and they have paid for them. 

The cleantech entrepreneur must develop, and articulate, a solution whose value proposition is so compelling that customers will risk, yes risk, the implementation of them.  Very few, there are some, will implement a cleantech solution only to “save the planet”. 

The entrepreneur must ask three basic questions:

1. Can my target customer make money with my innovation?
2. Can my target customer save money with my innovation?
3. How easily can my target customers implement my innovation?  

If the answer to both question 1 and question 2 is “NO”, then perhaps you should go back to the drawing board.   If the answer to either of them is “YES”, the answer to question 3 will determine your strategic marketing plans and your target “innovators” and “early adopters” defined the Gaussian technology market adoption curve made popular by  Geoffrey Moore.  The larger the effort to implement your solution the more compelling the value proposition must be.  

Energy Management in IP and Mobile Networks

Energy Management in IP and mobile networks is a nascent marketplace.  Why focus on this area?  First, the Internet is expected to consume 4% of the world’s electricity up from 2%.  Reductions in this area can have tremendous economic and environmental benefits.  Currently IP Traffic growth is exponentially outpacing energy efficiency in both fixed and mobile networks.  A small percentage of energy savings translates into $Billions in energy cost.  Savings here, as in any OPEX, results in cash delivered to the bottom line.

Second, sustainability for service providers and large companies is moving beyond saving money to becoming a strategic competitive advantage.  Consumers demand “green” and sustainability enhances the brand.  With a “bit” being a “bit” and a “packet” being a “packet” the brand image is critical to capture and retain customers.  Additionally, the global financial markets now link sustainability to management sophistication.

This is an emerging area which will be covered in depth in the new sister publication:  Greywhale Research.  Contact me for more information.  gwhelan@verizon.net 

Invention vs. Innovation

Over the years I’ve had the same conversation dozens of times.  It seems that the words “invention” and “innovation” are assumed to be synonymous.   They aren’t.   Simply put inventions generate patents and innovations generate profits.  The clearest examples are the following.   The laser was an invention, FedEx was an innovation.  I’ve chosen this comparison since the laser is generally perceived to be an advanced technology and FedEx is generally perceived to be a boring post office like delivery company.  

Bell Labs, an American icon, invented the laser in 1958.  Scientist figured out how to excite certain chemicals to generate a single wavelength of coherent light.  Think of a single sine wave moving across a PC screen, a single dimension.  For years the laser was called a solution looking for a problem.  Today, over 50 years later we see lasers prevelant in our every day lives.  We have lasers in our homes with CDROMs and DVD players.  We have them in our offices in printers and in hand held pointers.  We see them in our hospitals as tools for all types of surgeries.  The uses of the laser are the innovations that make money.  

FedEx is an innovation, since it revolutionized package delivery. In fact, according to them, they were created to innovate.  They determined that the "information about the package is just as important as the package itself". With access to this information their customers have created new business models and new supply chain efficiencies that have revolutions industry around the globe. Yet, they are not done innovating. They are a major mover in sustainable transportation with 365 hybrid vehicles and 43 electric vehicles (source FedEx.com).

Inventions are great and help propel future industries. But, it's those that can turn an invention into an innovation that make money and drive economies.

Call me at 978 992 2203 or at gwhelan@verizon.net to discuss how this impacts your technology and business strategies.