With the evolutionary advancements in the technology space in the last year, a number of companies are recognizing significant opportunities for moving forward. To gain additional insight into this excitement, TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) recently spoke with Perry Correll, marketing director for Xirrus, Inc. Correll was asked how his market has evolved over the past year and he pointed to the influx of wireless only devices, which has caused a dramatic shift in the enterprise infrastructure market.
When asked about the next disruptive force in technology, Correll highlighted the greater acceptance of cloud-based services, which will transform IT infrastructures like never before. As for the acceptance and adoption of the cloud model, Correll pointed to the increase examination and discussion of what solutions can be leveraged in the cloud and what should be implemented in-house. As for the most common request from customers, Xirrus is hearing demands for bandwidth, range and reliability in WiFi (News 
- Alert).
When asked about universal solutions in the mobile marketplace, Correll believes the future is not so clear. The same is true for the future mix of mobile traffic, as 90 percent of all traffic is expected to be supported by mobile devices. To meet the need for increased mobility, Xirrus is offering a choice of radios or wireless technologies to support varied devices. As for the ITEXPO West event the week, Correll has been looking forward to discussing cognitive communications systems. In his own session, he will discuss the whitespace, the truth about its capabilities and the future.
Their entire conversation follows:
How has your market evolved over the past year and what trends have fueled those changes?
The influx of wireless only devices (tablets, smartphones) has caused a dramatic shift in the enterprise infrastructure market. Previously IT administrators were reluctant to embrace Wi-Fi as a primary network connection, instead using it as more of a mobility option. However when the majority of users want mobility, tablets, BYOD, they have been forced to adjust, thus creating a dramatic increase in demand for an ‘enterprise class’ Wi-Fi infrastructure
What do you see as the next disruptive force in technology and how will it impact your market or business?
Greater acceptance of cloud based services; this will transform IT infrastructures as never before. Now users will be using their own personal devices and leveraging cloud resources that may or may not be controlled by their own organization
How has the acceptance and adoption of the cloud model influenced your development cycle and process?
Increased examination and discussion of what solutions should be premises based and what belongs in the cloud, still TBD
What is the most common request you are seeing from your customers? How is your company addressing these demands?
For Wi-Fi it is bandwidth, range and reliability. Xirrus takes the next step with its Arrays, offering a choice of radio technologies, higher performance and far greater, while at the same time increasing responsiveness and reliability by elimination the legacy central controller (single point of failure).
There has been talk of Facebook coming into the mobile marketplace with its own devices, and LinkedIn (News - Alert) just rolled out a new HTML5 mobile app. Do you expect we will see a push towards universal solutions or customized mobile devices as we move forward in social media?
There will be many additions to the marketplace, with new hardware and applications from non-traditional sources, competencies of some companies. Future is not so clear
Besides phone calls, mobile is now sharing bandwidth with video and machines. What do you predict will be the mix of traffic in the future?
Have no idea what the traffic mix will be, as the direction is eventually 90% of all traffic will be supported by mobile devices, this is already being demonstrated with the growth of tablets, higher performing and capably smartphones will only increase this trend. Only issue is what communication protocol(s) will support this evolution. Traditional broadband and WLAN protocols will need to merge or at improve their ability to work in tandem, allowing voice over one technology while data uses a different technology simultaneously. Although this is possible
As businesses continue their move toward virtual workforces, how are you meeting the need for increased mobility? What barriers are keeping others from adopting mobile strategies?
Offering a choice of radios and wireless technologies to allow end users a choice in technologies to support a varied suite of devices each one potentially supporting a different communication technology.
How do you see the mobile operating system war (iPhone vs. Android (News - Alert) vs. RIM vs. WM7 vs. HTML5) playing out?
Crystal ball is a little cloudy today; when it clears up I will invest.
What are you most looking forward to at ITEXPO (News - Alert) West in Austin? What do you see as being the biggest trends at the show?
Discussing cognitive communication systems, what’s real, what’s a pipe dream and how far off is seamless inaction between different communication technologies
To find out more about Xirrus, Inc., visit the company at ITEXPO West 2011. Happening now in Austin, TX, ITEXPO is the world’s premier IP communications event. Visit Xirrus, Inc. in booth #1008. Don’t wait. Register now.
Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO… follow us on Twitter.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
