TMCnet News
Command Information Establishes New Divisions to Help Companies Transition to IPv6TMCnet Associate Editor IPv6 solutions provider Command Information announced yesterday that it has launched two new business units - Mobile Convergence, and Business and Information - and that it has hired two industry veterans to head them up as it prepares to roll out new service offerings.
Founded about a month ago, Command Information claims to be “the largest pure-play IPv6 solutions provider in America.” The company offers “strategy, tactical direction and application development services for Fortune 1000 companies and government organizations seeking to move to the fast-emerging new version of Internet protocol.” IPv6 is the updated version of the original Internet protocol, IPv4, which was designed in the 1970s and deployed in the 1980s. Internet protocol is the “address system” which enables data to be sent from one device to another through the Internet. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) developed IPv6 in 2000, when the Internet began to grow well beyond what anyone could have imagined. In many respects, IPv6 is what will solve the problem of less and less available bandwidth for network operators. Among the many advantages of migrating to IPv6 are that it will vastly improve the delivery of voice and video signals over the Internet (i.e. it will enable true peer-to-peer communications); it will vastly improve security; it will pave the way for IMS to become a reality; and it will spur further innovation and development of next generation services. Herndon,Va.-based CI is one of the first companies to set up a full-service firm to capitalize on the systems integration opportunities created from the gradual changeover to IPv6. The company focuses on the six key areas required to leverage IPv6: training, transformation and strategy; application development; application and infrastructure security; mobile convergence and telematics; business and information strategy; and network architecture and implementation. CI’s application development practice is led by Digital Focus, which specializes in agile software development and integration services. Heading up CI’s Mobile Convergence division will be Flavio Sonis, who has held key management positions with Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Motorola, Sprint, Nextel and AOL. Heading up the Business and Information unit is Forrest Snowden, who has more than two decades of professional experience in multimillion dollar consulting engagements and was one of the original founders of BearingPoint’s U.K. division. Both Sonis and Snowden will report to CEO Tom Patterson. CI claims that the addition of these industry veterans to its ranks and the launch of the new divisions will position it “as the dominant resource for organizations seeking to leverage IPv6.” CI’s mobile convergence unit will focus on helping companies make the transition to IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems) - a new standard which allows for the convergence of fixed and wireless networks, as well as packet-based and non-packet-based networks. IMS is the standard that will enable networking firms to integrate voice, data, video and cellular on a common network so that a VoIP caller, wireline caller and cellular caller can chat seamlessly. “IP Multimedia Subsystems, or IMS, represent the future of the mobile telephony market,” Patterson said in a news release on CI’s Web site. “IPv6 unlocks the power of IMS, and IMS unlocks the value in telecom.” “The biggest return on an IPv6 investment comes when you adapt your business processes and programs to leverage the new capabilities,” Patterson added. “Forrest’s group will provide this enterprise-level support for organizations. Flavio and Forrest’s leadership is crucial in building both of these divisions to support our growing base of government and corporate clients.” A recent Department of Commerce study valued the IPv6 market at more than $25 billion over the next 25 years, with almost a 10:1 return on investment possible when implemented properly. The Yankee Group estimates that approximately 55 percent of U.S. businesses will deploy a wireless data solution by mid-2006. Command Information’s Mobile Convergence practice unites these two major market forces by focusing on an individual company’s needs, and designing systems that leverage new technologies to help clients enhance and streamline the end user experience. For more information, visit www.CommandInformation.com. Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page. |