Accedian is the leader in performance analytics and end user experience solutions, dedicated to providing customers with the ability to assure their digital infrastructure. From tackling network burnouts to finding solutions to cybersecurity threats, Accedian has been at the helm of the global digital transformation. In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review, Richard Piasentin, Chief Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer, Accedian, talks about the challenges facing the industry and why data security is on top of their agenda.
Could you tell us about the corporate strategy adopted by Accedian in its expansion in the emerging markets?
When it comes to our strategy around entering emerging markets, it’s all about following the technology waves. Accedian has been present across multiple emerging markets for the last decade or so, such as in South America with about 75% of the top mobile operators. Our entry into this market was accelerated by the rapid deployment of 4G LTE. Now, 5G is creating another wave of investment in North America and Western Europe, but also producing opportunities for Eastern Europe on its tail end. South American operators, who are still tackling 4G, are just now starting to think about 5G deployments and what it means for their regional strategies. This will be something we will be closely watching as we continue our presence in this market.
What according to you are the major challenges for digital transformation globally?
I think the first, and most important, challenge to call out is that there is no clear-cut definition of what business transformation actually means, and this can hold-up a lot of developments. For us, in thinking about business transformation, it’s about focusing on how a service provider best capitalizes on the cost and operational efficiencies of the cloud, while balancing the needs for high performance.
Second, part of the business transformation is refocusing on the end user experience as opposed to functional compliance. A successful business transformation starts with the end client, and their experience, and making sure you know, or at a minimum understand, what their experience is and how to manage it.
A third challenge is one that service providers must consider throughout the process of migrating application workflows or business practices to the cloud. When you think about the actual outcomes that are promised as the baseline of digital transformation, you then begin to calculate where that baseline must be to get those benefits. So how do you do that? At Accedian, we deploy an observability platform that can drive 2-5% improvement on the ROI of digital transformation projects, giving teams higher levels of visibility into their business practices, their infrastructure and their requirements for peak performance.
Finally, another challenge that we are starting to see is the concept and impact 5G is beginning to have on CIOs. The advent of cloud native technologies, particularly in ORAN, can create a completely different management problem set; and that is a material challenge service providers have to adapt to.
How is Accedian helping Enterprise customers to embrace innovation?
Similarly to the above , Accedian is focused on helping CIOs manage and control the migration of assets to the cloud. Because Accedian can provide a portal view of the world, that allows IT leaders to implement workflows that satisfy operations teams. At the same time, we provide a platform that DevOps teams can utilize to create high-performance applications, lowering the barriers of velocity and serving both communities inside an enterprise. It’s one source of truth for groups of people operating a network down the pipeline or enterprises.
What are Accedian’s strategies for dealing with zero-trust issues?
Clients and customers demand a customized cyber resiliency readiness program that includes traffic monitoring services, and that enables both comprehensive insights, as well as immediate action for remediation. Right now, trust and security are at the forefront of everything we do. With attackers seemingly constantly adapting and evolving around current security defenses, a comprehensive cyber resiliency framework gives businesses end-to-end visibility, allowing them to alter components in the face of new security threats and potential breaches. This level of control and orchestration provide a sense of comfort for service providers and enterprises. Gone are the days when IT teams can underinvest in security integration, testing, training, and automation within their ecosystems. Accedian is focused on becoming a cyber-resilient powerhouse for its customers.
On-demand network solutions are the current trends in networking infrastructure, how is Accedian addressing this for its customers?
The first component to tackling on-demand networks is having and employing a flexible end user and performance system that is cloud native and can be orchestrated on the backend. Traditional tools and systems are static and hierarchical in nature, and can no longer help advance the networking infrastructure. To help customers capitalize on these on-demand network solutions, Accedian utilizes cloud native analytics and ML architecture that follows the definition of quality service.