Building a reliable communication stack isn't just about finding the right combination of software and hardware for your end users. As the marketplace continues to evolve, companies also need access to an easy provisioning strategy that ensures they're able to adopt the latest tools fast.
For years, companies have struggled to deliver on this part of the purchasing roadmap. Provisioning and service management have often been a time-consuming and complicated process. Unfortunately, this led to stress and downtime for companies that wanted to update their offerings with new tools and communication solutions. Finally, however, things are starting to change. Industry leaders in the world of telephony-based IoT services and software development, Swoop Datacom, are masters in the service management industry.
The creators of the ForgeServe multi-tier IP provisioning and service management platform, Swoop Datacom has changed the way their users think about provisioning. The ForgeServe platform delivers a robust, scalable, and reliable service for managing and provisioning IP endpoints, ATAs, and more. I spoke to John Bennett of Swoop Datacom to find out more about their approach to the provisioning process.
When Did the Demand for Service Management Start?
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John Bennett[/caption]
John's rich background in the service management and device provisioning industry makes him an excellent person to comment on the evolution of the marketplace. Bennett told me that Swoop Datacom has been in the provisioning industry for years now, from the days when it was all about provisioning devices based on the PBX.
"When cloud emerged on the market, we'd need to use some proprietary tech in the network to connect to the PBX. However, there are now about 25 different handset manufacturers out there, all with their own ideas of how provisioning should work."
John told me that the cloud means that there are a lot more issues to deal with in provisioning and service management than there used to be. Deploying phones now means adding even more stages to the provisioning cycle, which is a step backward for the companies that need to become more agile. "We thought it was time to create a solution that would make provisioning simpler. We could see that customers were struggling with this issue from a very early stage. We decided to create a product that would fill the gap across the new multi-vendor environment, giving customers access to real SIP flexibility and cloud products."
What Are the trends You're Noticing in the Service Management Space?
The ForgeServe solution by Swoop Datacom has made the company an innovator in the delivery of robust and scalable provisioning solutions. The zero-touch approach to provisioning helps sellers to migrate customer easily to different companies and track assets too. I was interested to find out whether Swoop's position in the marketplace gave them any unique insights into today's trends.
Bennett told me that people are getting used to the subscription-based model for accessing the tools they need. Swoop Datacom is there to make sure that the "device as a service" model really works, no matter what service or endpoint you're using.
"There's a lot to think about when bringing new devices into an enterprise environment. Companies need to ensure that everything communicates and works together properly. You don't want crucial features being missed out when you're combining different vendors and services."
