Wi-Fi and mobile access is the heartbeat of today’s society. We connect and communicate with our mobile devices all the time, for our business activities and personal engagements. As a user, we expect our applications and access to work as a utility. There are times when we are disappointed with the service. Wi-Fi has reached multiple gigabits per second speeds. So, what would it take to deliver the service as a utility?
We are a data-driven world. We have metrics and analytics for everything and yearn for more. Metrics are fantastic because it brings a level of objectivity and eliminates human emotions. In this frenzy, we forgot one thing—the user of the technology.
IT organizations have access to plenty of network metrics, charts, trends, throughput data, usage and more. They all have one thing in common—the metrics and data are observed from the network switch or Wi-Fi access points. That is only one part of the equation.
Do we know if the user is sitting and staring at the spinning circle when the network metrics are all showing green? Do administrators realize that the user’s webpage access is loading one line at a time? The gap here is the true visibility into the experience of the user of the Wi-Fi—the other part of the equation.
Traffic prioritization and bandwidth control can happen at the hardware or software level. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been using control processes to maintain the overall health of network systems since the start of the Internet. Being able to apply those prioritizations and controls at a more granular level—to a specific user, a specific user group, a specific application, an application category at the network edge, in the access points where the users connect—gives tremendous control to deliver optimal user experience.
Combining objective network performance metrics with objective user experience metrics can create a new paradigm in delivering IT services to the users.
The world has embarked on a journey of digital transformation. Amazon Go is revolutionizing shopping as we know today. Students in the classroom are communicating with astronauts. Transportation and logistics industry has changed drastically providing visibility into where our packages are at any given point in time. At the end of the day, digital transformation is all about business performance and outcomes. And, users and user experience visibility are critical in making digital transformation successful in this mobile-first world.
By Kowshik Bhat
Published with permission from Riverbed.