As we rise I see off in the distance an amber glow on the horizon. What is it that the old sailors say, “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning?”

Off to the south, after devastating areas of the Yucatan, Tropical Strom Ida is barreling towards the area of my destination. I have already planned for extra time for airport delays and traffic after landing. In the modern equivalent, I have learned well the old traveling salesman’s lesson that teaches when driving to an appointment you should figure out how long it takes to change a flat tire and build that time into your itinerary.

As the distance shrinks between take off and landing I wonder what additional challenges Ida will throw my way. With the possibility growing that I may not make the meeting start time, I think about how my communications tools will become critical if today’s investment in time and travel are to pay off.

This itinerary is not new to me. I have made this trip many times before. On a normal day I would need to clear the airport by 9:00 to get downtown, find the address, find parking, and make my way to the appointment at 11:00. As this day is shaping up, I am headed for a bumpy landing and unknowable obstacles.

When I exit the terminal I will be confronted by high winds and sideways rains. I envision inverted umbrellas rolling down the street as the wind howls in the concrete chasms of the modern city. I think about my future that will include navigating massive puddles and snarled traffic as Ida’s estimated three inches of rain accumulates to overwhelm drainage systems and roadways. The probability of my long planned itinerary successfully delivering me to my meeting on time slims with each passing air mile.

After a relatively smooth ride we begin our descent. We leave behind the jet stream and plunge into the cloud deck. Almost immediately the bumps begin. The passenger next to me is startled from his sleep. The person behind me grabs the back of my chair. For me it is just one more in a long series of turbulent rides in a career filled with many challenging adventures.

As the flight attendant gingerly makes his way through the cabin collecting potential projectiles and performing landing inspection of the passenger cabin, I take this all in stride. It is time for me to conduct my ritual of strategically arranging my belongings to prepare for a swift deplane.

We are passing through the thick layers of the unstable air. It feels as if we are on a rollercoaster as the massive engines of the 767 plow through 20,000 feet of tropical disturbance. I get intermittent feelings of the exhilaration of near weightlessness punctuated by stomach turning drops. I think back to summer vacation as my sons and I tore through a series of theme parks like adventurers of some ancient time conquering indigenous expanses.

Suddenly as it so often does, the tumult disappears.

As we approach the runway I can see the rain pelting the pavement. The airplane accelerates as the pilot compensates for gusting winds. As the wheel touch ground and we begin to taxi, I grab my Smartphone and await the signal that it is okay to download my email.

What has changed since I left the ground? What new surprises does the day hold? How will my years of business travel experience propel my productivity fair against today’s challenges? How will my advanced communications tools serve me as the minutes before my appointment evaporate and a room full of people assembles to hear my keynote?

I’ll soon find out.

[To be continued …]

Related discussions:
Journey to the Center of the Telephone Self-service Earth 29 September 2009

Self-service Mythic Adventure 18 August 2009

Do you have stories from the road? Join the conversation below.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gclinch

View my profile on LinkedIn 2010-03-10T01:44:56Z 2010-03-10T01:39:21Z tag:www.avayablog.com,2010://1.287 2010-03-10T01:39:21Z

Stephanie has a great perch in Washington DC to monitor and assess the many green/sustainability legislation and regulations. I want to extend my thanks to Stephanie for sharing her insight and knowledge with us here on the blog.

Global Climate Change Debate
Stephanie Childs

From the outside looking in, there does not seem to be much happening in Washington these days in terms of getting the US to commit to hard goals around reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 last June, which would establish a cap-and-trade system for GHG and set goals for reducing such emissions from certain covered sources by 83% of 2005 levels by 2050. The Senate, on the other hand, has declined to act.

Despite the seeming stalemate, there is quite a bit of posturing going on behind the scenes, with the Environmental Protection Agency moving towards crafting regulations to control emissions should the Congress fail to act.

Two leading Democrats in the US House of Representatives recently introduced a resolution to block the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) voted last summer to pass the House climate change bill, but with action on a Senate bill stalled, the two sided with industry and trade groups that fear the EPA will move ahead with more stringent regulations. Even if it were to pass both chambers of Congress, a resolution disapproving EPA regulation would almost certainly meet with a presidential veto. But it would also be an awkward rebuke to President Obama on one of his biggest initiatives.

In December, the EPA issued a finding that greenhouse gases qualify as dangerous pollutants under the Clean Air Act, triggering a requirement that the agency begin moving to regulate carbon emissions as early as this month.

The EPA finding was a response to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that described greenhouse gases as pollutants and directed the agency to determine whether they threaten the public.

The administration says it would prefer to regulate global warming gases through legislation, but it has used the threat of EPA regulation to press lawmakers to act. So far, the threat of EPA regulation has failed to move senators closer to a climate deal, but it has sparked a backlash among lawmakers and industry.

Numerous industry organizations have filed lawsuits challenging the EPA’s finding and last week, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson has responded to the pressure, announcing that she would delay implementation of new regulations until 2011 and would phase in the new pollution rules through 2016.

Let the games begin…

I think the most touching, and surprisingly tangible, aspect of being in Vancouver was the spirit of community in the city, which was probably helped by the gold medal run that Canada was enjoying while I was up there (check out this link for pictures on Avaya’s facebook page). At pretty much any moment of the day, there were thousands upon thousands of people walking around the streets, many of which were closed to cars. The Olympic experience encompassed much of the downtown, as venues, pavilions, the cauldron and the broadcast infrastructure were stitched throughout the very pretty city. In effect, it was the largest street fair I have ever seen. The support was decidedly Canadian red, but there was a very healthy sprinkling of supporters from many of the countries at the Games and it was cool to hear so many languages being spoken.

Aside from walking around and enjoying the energy of the crowds, there were also several pavilions that enriched the experience. Pavilions are hosted by sponsors or governments to share their experience working on or for the Olympics. Many of these had a very heavy focus on sustainability, which I have noted is a strong component of these Olympics and we at Avaya are proud to have earned two sustainability stars from VANOC. I thought the most interesting pavilion was the Four Host First Nations, which celebrates the key role of these Nations, with the Games within the traditional and shared traditional territories of the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.

It was interesting speaking with people that are fortunate to live in Vancouver about their feelings towards the Olympics. I read various reports about some residents booking it from the city to get out of the craziness and congestion, which is understandable. In fact, my wife is from the Slat Lake City, Utah area and she did the same thing during part of those Olympics. However, those that stayed were universally proud and pleased with the Games, and with Canada picking up the coveted gold medal in hockey I would wager that the excitement has only increased. They also spoke hopefully about the legacy of the Olympics, and this is an issue that has become more important to the International Olympic Committee and hosting cities/regions. An example of positive legacy is the fact that much of Avaya’s gear in the venues will actually remain at those locations through partnership relationships with those sites. This is the most effective and sustainable use of these valuable resources, as they are already right sized for the needs of the locations.

In closing, Vancouver and all of Canada should be very proud of their work showcasing the thousands of athletes, the vigorous competition that took place and the favorable impressions made on visitors and viewers alike. A job well done, and Avaya is so honored to have been part of these successes as the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Don’t forget to follow green avaya on twitter at @greenavaya.

After last night’s 90 mile an hour winds, on this dim morning, I work by the light of my computer's LCD with the brightness dimmed considerably to conserve battery. Still though, roughly 12 hours since the lights went out, I am at my desk working.

My laptop is tethered by USB cable to my Smartphone giving me access to 3G speed that has plenty of bandwidth to establish a Virtual Private Network connection across the Internet to my office resources.

Through my one-X Mobile software client I have access to all of the features of my office phone system that is over 40 miles away. My voicemail server that is 1,800 miles away and my email server that is closer but still hundreds of miles away are unaffected. So here I sit almost fully productive in the dim light of a stormy morning following a massive weather event that has created havoc.

Granted it is getting a little chilly, but there’s plenty of firewood if needed.

With the sounds of chainsaws off in the distance as the massive pine tree that toppled destroying my neighbor's car and damaging her home is cleared away, I am in touch with customers and colleagues. Critical deadlines are being cared for and time dependent projects move forward. Granted, the email traffic volume is down considerably as many of my colleagues clear away the two feet of snow that accumulated during the overnight in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

For me the call to my insurance company can wait. The forty foot pine tree that snapped in half in my back yard, almost miraculously, took flight and cleared the fence landing in a neighbor’s yard without damaging anything.

Tomorrow will be different but in many ways the same. I will take my productivity tools and board an airplane. Customers await at a three day conference. If the weather clears and the travel deities are willing I’ll be on the road and as productive as ever. When I am asked, "Where is your office?" I will give my standard answer, "You're looking at it."

I realize that I have been extremely lucky during these recent events. To all of those who have not been as fortunate as I during this disruptive weather, I send sincere good wishes. Hang in there. The sun will shine again.

Related discussion (which details many of the day-to-day benefits of non-traditional work environments):
Surviving Snowmageddon 4 February 2010
The Lessons of Recent Events 4 February 2010
Biological Resilience: When the herd moves on, can your organization give chase?s 14 September 2009

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation below.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gclinch

This setup got me thinking about the sharing of the Games experience. Clearly, part of the fun of being at the Games is sharing it with others. I was thinking about the difference in sharing now versus Olympic Games from an earlier era, say the ’72 Winter Games in Tokyo. We now are able to upload to facebook, send a text messages, shoot out an email, jump on a web conference or any other of the myriad of communication methods we now have at our disposal. Back in ‘72 I imagine that a phone call would have been a pretty big deal, and a postcard would have been the norm. We now have a much more immersive media life, which I for one am grateful for.

Here is an example of the enriching quality of our collaborative options came during the hockey game yesterday. I was very excited to share the experience of being there with some of my family and friends as I knew they would be excited to have that connection to the Games. So, I blasted out a text to some folks, and in a small way they were transported into the arena with me. I could tell that they were excited to be a part of the Games in this way, since they all wrote back their excitement. The Games became more personal for everyone.

When this communication became interesting, and two-way, was during the video review of a potential goal for the Swiss team. From my view and in real time game speed, it was impossible to say for sure one way or the other whether the puck went in the net. There is a policy during live events to not show replays that are still under official review. So, me and 18,000 of my closest friends were waiting with baited breath to see the results of the review. However, I had an ace in my back pocket, as a friend all the way back East was kind enough to let me know what he thought after watching the slow motion reviews on the NBC TV feed in the United States. So, here I was a hundred feet from the goal, but getting meaningful and useful updates from 3,000 miles away.

This is a great example of instantaneous communication in action, and the enriching quality of the communication. These kinds of 2-way interactions via robust networks that make the Olympics more fun, both here in Vancouver and around the world. Here in Vancouver, Avaya is the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier, for Bell Canada's deployment of the first all-IP converged network at an Olympic Games.

Don’t forget to follow green avaya on twitter at @greenavaya.

The game was super exciting, with only one goal without an open net and two reviews by the referees of possible goals, one for the U.S. and one for the Swiss. The Swiss goal was off the far post, and did not go in. I have to confess that it was impossible for me to be 100% sure even though the play took place at my end of Canada Hockey Place. The referee was able to quickly check the review, provided by Omega, the Official Timekeeper of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and determine that the puck did not cross the line. Overall, a pretty straightforward process.

The first disallowed/reviewed goal was really interesting/complex, as the U.S. was initially awarded the goal at the end of the second period on a bouncing puck that went in right at the buzzer. However, after careful review by the ref, it was determined that the goal did not cross the line until after the period had expired. Now, this was within a tenth of a second, so it was absolutely essential that the review was perfect. The whole process got me thinking about the system for review. Basically, the referee had to have complete confidence that the video and time was perfectly synced up, so that he could view the replay and make an informed and correct decision. All this with over 18,000 spectators in the arena and millions more watching around the world waiting with baited breath.

This timing system and similarly secure systems at all of the venues systems require absolute precision and synergy. This timing system is managed by Omega, which is the Official Timekeeper of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In this capacity, “Omega ensures the accuracy of scoring and competition results, and that results are delivered promptly to the public at the venues and through broadcast, print and online media to audiences around the world.”

Avaya’s role in this process, with Bell Canada, Exclusive Telecommunications Partner for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and Atos Origin, the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, is to provide the network backbone, for which Avaya supplied the equipment, so that these replays get transferred and dispersed throughout the Olympic network, where they are transmitted, stored and archived, depending on the stakeholder. It is crazy to think of the complexity and interoperability of these network components, and it is pretty cool that so many companies are able to contribute across the network.

Don’t forget to follow green avaya on twitter at @greenavaya.

A highlight of the dinner was an excellent discussion on Cloud Computing. One of the most interesting discussions was, "Is the cloud ready for the enterprise and is the enterprise ready for the cloud?"

There were attendees from all corners in this debate including enterprise CIOs, IT Professionals and Cloud Computing services vendors and System Integrators. Those attending who are providers of cloud computing services were strong in their belief that the "Cloud" is in fact ready for the enterprise. They claimed they are seeing very strong interest in their cloud computing offerings from enterprise CIOs and CFOs." One CIO from a major bank added some support to this claim saying, "cloud penetration will be in the high double digits in 2-5 years time."

Both of these guests felt this adoption is certain to happen because you can, with cloud computing, more closely quantify and track the cost of an application. Today's average CIO, with purely premises-based computing infrastructure, has real issues answering that question. Given the state of the economy corporations are placing a heavy cost focus on IT spending and the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their computing resources and staff. One result of that push is it is now common in many corporations for the CIO to report to the CFO. Recognizing this desire for cost metrics and the "CIO reports to CFO" trend, many cloud vendors are now targeting their sales pitches directly to the CFO.

However, several other attendees raised an very important issue that may be the biggest barrier to adoption: "Vendor Lock-in". Several in the audience elaborated on the challenges of vendor lock in in observing/questioning; "How difficult will it be is to export data from the cloud if you want to switch vendors?"

My 2 cents: While it is true that "vendor lock-in" is a concern with Cloud Computing solutions, this problem is not a new one. "Vendor Lock-in" is always a goal of every enterprise solution vendor whether they are selling premises solutions or hosted solutions.

What I see as the real barrier to cloud computing adoption is the issue of control. No matter how much a cloud software vendor argues that they "give customers full control of the SW and even HW elements of a hosted offering", the reality for an enterprise is a premise deployment will always offer more physical and management control. As a CEO/CIO, if you always run your own data center and manage your own software in-house, you always have someone in IT who works for you to hold accountable. This is the famous "throat to choke".

Cloud Computing is certainly a growing trend and it is certain to take over some large and perhaps even a majority share of IT spending from the current premises-based vendors. But this is not an all or nothing transition in how enterprises deploy IT solutions. Depending on their size, enterprises will continue for the foreseeable future to have attractive choices for premises-based AND cloud-based solutions. So enterprises should expect to have, and demand from IT professionals, a mix of cloud-based services and premises-based infrastructure that interworks in a way that works best for each enterprise. This blended mix of premises and hosted solutions is where the the optimal solution lies for almost every enterprise.

One form of that range of choice that is likely to be attractive to the large enterprise in particular will be what I call the "Private Cloud". A Private Cloud is a hosted architecture for your software solutions but the servers and software and IT staff will all be on your premises. Some of the staffing may be in-house and on your payroll, some may be contracted and some may work for your third party vendors.

Of course it's a very gray area in delineating what is really "yours" versus "theirs" when it comes to IT equipment and software and even employees. Cloud vendors will argue that they view your servers and data racks in their data center as "your" data center and the staff they assign to you as "your" staff. But as hard as they may argue that point, the equipment and software and staff that isn't directly on your books or rolls is always, at the core, under the control of a third party vendor.

What do you think? Is a "Private Cloud" approach a good compromise solution for your enterprise for balancing control with TCO? What other solutions have you found to this dilemma of hosting versus premise for you business solutions? I'm looking forward to your comments here and on my private blog athttp://telecomdisruption.blogspot.com/2010/02/private-computing-cloud-balancing.html

I flew up from San Francisco yesterday morning/afternoon, and have been very impressed with the ability of the infrastructure to manage the volume of people that are in the Vancouver area. The airport and public transport into and around the city center worked like a charm and it would have surprisingly easy to forget the Games were going on, expect for the hundreds upon hundreds of Team Canada hockey jerseys that everyone was wearing with pride. The smoothness of the transportation network is a credit to all the planning that was undertaken leading up to the Olympics and in my thus-far limited experience; it seems to have been quite successful. I wonder how much of this success is attributed to technology travel abatement of the type I discussed in my last post?

Walking around the city a bit, it was cool to see how immersed the city is in its Games. Every storefront seems to have a TV with one of the events going on, be it Canada’s third gold medal in skier cross, the omnipresent curling or one of the four men’s hockey games that were going on yesterday. This was a visual reminder for me of the ubiquity of the Olympics, as it reinforced the massive amount of data/broadcasts flowing out from the events, getting to every storefront in Vancouver in the local context, but also being broadcast out to millions of TV’s, laptops and handheld devices throughout the world.

After a bit of exploring and getting my bearings, I headed over to the Avaya demonstration center in the center of Vancouver and got settled in with the dedicated team that has been working so hard to make the Games a success. They have been doing everything they can to share the story of the converged network infrastructure behind the Games, integrated so closely with the work of Bell Canada, VANOC, Atos Orgin and other sponsors/suppliers. The demo center showcases many of Avaya’s core products and has been the nerve center for much of the Games-times activities.

I am going to wrap up here for now, but check back often on the blog as I will be posting multiple updates from Vancouver over the next several days.

Also, don’t forget to follow green avaya on twitter at @greenavaya.

And all these people are living in closer proximity than ever before, as accentuated by the increasing urbanization of the world’s population. According to the UN, for the first time in recorded human history, more people now live in cities than in rural areas.

This larger concentration of people brings increased complexity and congestion – a challenge that governments, companies and individuals must navigate to remain productive and competitive. The increased concentration of people also places amplified demands on many of the environmental resources upon which society depends, such as water and energy. Of course, this density also brings increased innovation as people interact with more and more people. This innovation will be necessary to find solutions to issues such as congestion and limited resources.

The Olympics as a microcosm
In many ways, hosting an Olympics is a microcosm of the global trends outlined above, as the massive influx of athletes and spectators places significant demands on existing infrastructure. Part of this challenge is alleviated by infrastructure expansion and development, but that is often not enough. We here at Avaya are proud to be part of the second major answer, by offering our customers high tech communication and mobility solutions and platforms. Specifically, with high performance mobility technology tools, businesses, no matter their size, are able to ameliorate the challenges created by the Games for their most important resource, their people.

How do you deal with this influx of people? One technique employed by governments is placing temporary restrictions for travel. For example, in Vancouver the following restrictions are in place, as articulated by the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Transportation Team on its TravelSmart 2010 website, “During the 2010 Winter Games, there will be road restrictions, increased vehicle traffic and no parking at venues and along key routes.” We know how important it is for our partners to be able to mitigate these to the greatest extent possible, and Avaya technology will be a key cog in achieving business continuity throughout the Games.

Our work in the Vancouver/British Colombia area extends far beyond the Olympic network deployment. With our many partners and customers in the area we have worked to ensure that their IT solutions are flexibly designed to withstand the types of increases in operational challenges that are occurring during the Olympic Games. These partners range in size from small to large, with the benefits of such platforms impactful for any size organization. We have also worked with many of our customers with robust mobility platforms, which enable them to let their employees work remotely. These mobility platforms are effective regardless of whether an employee is primarily mobile, office-based or remote. Through mobility, employees can circumvent much of the challenges created by millions of people visiting the area in a concentrated period of time by altering their schedule to move at non peak times or work from different locations.

In fact, telework technology tools are a key part of the overall regional transportation plan to ensure that this aspect of the 2010 Olympics Games is successful. In advocating for teleworking during the Games, the regional transportation authorities outlined benefits such as less time lost due to weather or business interruption, increased productivity, recruitment and retention, higher job satisfaction and morale, reduced commuting costs and improved air quality.

The bottom line is that throughout these ITC deployments our goal is to provide a cost - effective way for employees to remain productive from anywhere.

How does it work?
The technology behind such a system is based on unified communications (“UC”) carried over a virtual private networks. An Avaya UC client gets loaded onto each corporate laptop providing all workers with the necessary tools to do their job. Features available on that client include instant messaging and chat, voice mail/unified messaging, IP telephony and video conferencing. Additionally, a private network (“VPN”) infrastructure provides end-to-end security between their computer and the corporate network, with the same security provided remotely as that protecting the corporate headquarters.

Triple Bottom line benefits of a robust enterprise mobility platform
In addition to the productivity gains there are also significant sustainable benefits (economic, environmental and social) from enterprise mobility.

- Economic: By enabling remote access, organizations are able to more efficiently right-size their office space and are more readily able to scale during periods of growth. Also, a robust VPN network underpins enterprise security. Finally, mobile workers reduce commuting expenses (gas, time) and can increase productivity.

- Environmental: Employees are able to commute less or at off-peak times and as a result significantly decrease CO2 emissions. For example, the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics Report found that the average U.S. commute was roughly 30 miles per day, round trip (over 7,000 miles a year). This commuting produces an estimated 3.3 tons of carbon annually. Employees who can eliminate this commute will have a real and meaningful decrease in their personal carbon footprint.

- Social: Surveys of teleworkers indicate that mobility programs produce significant personal benefits; specifically an increased sense of well-being and reduced stress. They also save a lot of time, with the average commute time per day in the Vancouver area being 67 minutes, according to Statistics Canada.

Mobility as a global tool
You don’t have to be in a region fortunate enough to be hosting a major sporting event like an Olympics or World Cup to realize the power of a robust mobility technology platform. With the world getting ever smaller, there are many sustainable reasons for moving to a UC platform and no matter your location, there are significant benefits such as those I have outlined above to be gained by shifting to a more flexible and resilient network:

Don’t forget to follow green avaya on twitter at @greenavaya.

Presence and Messaging
If project collaborators are in multiple companies there should be one or more mutually accessible forms of presence and instant messaging to offer the same choices as intra-company systems. We have many social networks (Skype, LinkedIn, Google Wave and now Buzz, Facebook and other networks) that contain a form of presence or logged in status as well as a "chat". I've written before about recognizing and supporting these multiple communication modalities and broadening the definition of what a "contact" is.

When it comes to business to business, use of these networks allows much more than the voice conference call method of reaching project members. They are also way to connect into personal communications when necessary.

Examples
You're on a multi-company conference call. It happens to be a voice oriented call so there is no active web conference or associated collaboration tool running. Your business partner in another company is up next on the agenda for issues and status. There's a reminder you want to give them about an issue to be sure they describe. You pull up their contact information on your "phone" and see they are online on Skype, or another presence and IM-capable service. You can see where they are present, click one, and privately message them with the reminder.

While on the same call, you realize you're running quite late for a family dinner date. You pull up your contacts list on your desk "phone" to find your spouse online on Facebook. Through a click you start a Facebook chat message and inform them you're running late and to change your reservation.

No stepping away to make a separate call home. No putting the conference call on hold to make the second call. No going to the cell phone to do a text. You've initiated it right from your "phone" with virtually no disruption to your ongoing meeting.

Why the quote marks around phone?
I use the term loosely these days. Today's office communication devices are and need to be more than just a phone with voice oriented contacts and voice call log histories. More on todays devices here.

Integrate it
Unified Communication systems can make the connection to and use of the many emerging communication networks and modalities more effective. In my examples above, I'm talking about seeing presence indicators and access to these networks directly from my main business communication device and applications. I want a seamless experience as opposed to having to open separate network interfaces and applications to see the presence, or use the "IM" or do a "post" to it. I call it my communication dashboard or home screen.

What Makes Social Networks Fit?
They're "free" to the user for one. Second, they are available for anyone to create business, personal or combined accounts. Many businesses, professionals, and individuals have a presence on one or more of these networks and it's still growing tremendously. They can be a highly available common ground. I don't believe at all that these modes of communication are a short term fad.

What Hinders Social Networks As Enterprise Communication?
Agreed there are security, productivity, privacy and other concerns with these networks. These concerns are holding back some businesses and individuals from fully supporting using them. The players that handle it best, and avoid mistakes like Google Buzz, as one recent example, will be left standing.

Another issue I see is the rapid change and continued emergence of more and more players. These social networks are also moving into their own email support. As if I need or want more email accounts! Some are considering enterprise versions meaning they see the enterprise integration opportunity.

I don't recommend trying to keep pace and support all emerging networks. It's not practical. Make an assessment of which networks are the most used, secure, open to integration, and growing. Easier said than done right now. Regardless, these networks demand attention in todays communication universe.

Comments? Ideas to share? Michael Killian can be found on:
Twitter www.twitter.com/michaeljkillian
Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.killianbiz
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljkillian

Sustainability has been a massive component of the work put forth to bring the Games to fruition, and is a core value for the Organizing Committee and so many of the partners/sponsors/suppliers that are privileged to be part of these Olympiad, such as Avaya. So, what is a sustainability star? The Sustainably Star program was created to recognize the innovative efforts Vancouver 2010 and its many partners and sponsors are taking to be sustainable.

Stages of Network Sustainability
Here are the aspects of the IP network that were recognized for this Sustainability Star.

- Design: design teams are dedicated to ensuring that the products and solutions being deployed for the 2010 Olympic Games comply with environmental regulations and requirements, such as those originating from legislative bodies and customer requirements.
- Deployment: The VANOC network, delivered by Bell Canada using Avaya equipment, will be the first-ever Olympic all-IP converged network. This Olympic network will route the myriad forms of Games-times communication (such as voice and data) over networks that use the more flexible and sophisticated switching technology. This network will leverage equipment and solutions to meet the Games’ reliability and bandwidth demands. From a sustainability perspective, a converged network requires less equipment to deliver equivalent or superior performance.
- Disposal: We are proud that the majority of the equipment utilized in the Olympic Games will be reused and/or recycled via best practice e-waste disposal systems.

Sustainability Star overview
The Sustainability Star is designed to draw attention to Games-related sustainability innovations — which are environmental, economic and social in nature. “The Sustainability Star program has been created to recognize our partners who have demonstrated excellence in rising to the challenge of creating projects with positive and measurable social, economic and environmental assets that are new to the Games or Host Region,” said Ann Duffy, VANOC’s corporate sustainability officer. “We’re continuing to work towards improving the sustainability performance of the Olympic and Paralympic Games by leaving a living legacy that continues long after the Games here are done.”

Star criteria
To qualify for use of the Sustainability Star an innovation must:
- demonstrate two or more sustainability features (a notable social, economic and/or environmental benefit)
- be directly linked to the 2010 Winter Games
- produce a measurable outcome
- meet one or more of the following:
- new to the 2010 Winter Games region
- new to the Olympic or Paralympic Games
- significantly scaled up through the 2010 Winter Games and/or
- unique collaborations were created to introduce the innovation

For those that might not be aware, Avaya is in the process of supplying network communications equipment both directly to VANOC and to Bell Canada, the exclusive Telecommunications Provider for the 2010 Winter Games, to deliver the first all-IP converged network at an Olympic Games. For those that are interested in learning more about Avaya’s role in and around Vancouver, check out this dedicated microsite. As a proud sports nut, it is pretty cool to have my company involved with the Games.

Fast Facts for the Olympic Games
- Avaya is the Official Converged Network Supplier for The 2010 Winter Games and Bell Canada is delivering the “first-ever ‘all-IP’ Olympic Games” using Avaya technology.
- Score keeping- kind of the foundation of so many of the Olympic events and Avaya Data Networking Solutions are delivering competitive scoring within a third of a second at the 2010 Winter Games.
- Media: how does the rest of the world hear about the Games, in pretty much real time by the way? Well, Avaya Data Solutions and Bell are providing network access to over 10,000 media personnel at the 2010 Winter Games so the results of events are transmited in real time throughout the globe.
- Hundreds of Avaya Ethernet routing switches are providing converged communications for the Olympics.

The Network
I think one of the most interesting aspects of the Olympic and Paralympic all IP network is its sheer size and complexity. I saw this network referred to as the same dimensions of a small country, and thought that was probably an accurate.

Also, the high variability in network volume is a significant challenge. For example, consider the 5 minutes after Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first Gold medal on its own shore. At this touching movement there were hundreds upon hundreds of massive media files loaded on to the network to transmit the feat to the rest of Canada and beyond. These kinds of spikes are a challenge for any type of network, and it is wonderful to see this communication network in action so the Games are truly a global phenomena and event.

Network Stats
- Avaya’s converged network is supporting 25,000 volunteers, 15,000 media, 5,000 athletes, and 3,000 officials. That is just the official and credentialed members of the Olympic family.
- The media streams from the events going out to 160 countries and over 3 billion TV viewers.
- 10,000+ media reps from print, television, radio and Internet are pulling Olympic broadcast feeds, scores and statistics directly from the Avaya network.
- How big is the network? Avaya is delivering 15,000 VoIP phone and fax lines; 7,000 mobile phones and 2,000 PTT; 5,000 radios; 4,000 TV drops; 500 Wireless Access Points; and 40,000+ Ethernet ports.

All of us here at Avaya wish the athletes good luck throughout the rest of the Games and may the best teams/athlete prevail.

There were a couple of key points that I wanted to consider a bit more from the event. First was this wonderful phrase from the Social Media/Transparency session – ‘If you are going to be naked- be buff.’ I love how this phrase properly captures the agency that is embodied within social media. If you don’t want to engage on this dimensions, that is fine. But if you do, it must be honest and transparent, and when it comes to transparency it is a whole lot easier when you have good results to show off.

Secondly, I was very interested in the discussion about complexity and interoperability as it relates to Green IT. The ideal situation for the end user is that devices easily plug and play and our content moves ubiquitously across all relevant platforms/networks. It is tough with the massive complexity behind modern and future computing, there are so many devises talking to each other. This complexity can be the root of inefficiencies within the communication network. To overcome the complexity and its related inefficiencies, the network and all of its devices have to be behind a wall of interoperability, so that we “just go along with your life, only it is just more efficient”.

Finally, I thought it would also be useful to share my notes as well, and they are condensed and presented below this post.

Notes
Keynote
- Something remarkable in 2009, green business accelerated through the deep recession. How? A focus on improving profitability (via growing top line or shrinking the bottom line). The SGBF report added green IT from last year, seeing a ‘race to the top’.
- Areas of the Report clearly touch Avaya include: carbon transparency, telecommuting, energy efficiency, e-waste, fleet impact, green IT, GHG commitment, paper use, toxicity in manufacturing. Mandatory for greening business: competition, reputation, supply china and leadership.

CEO talk- Carl Bass, CEO and president of Autodesk
- Life cycle analysis: with materials there are choices and dramatic differences in resource use, takes research and deep knowledge to know those differences. Estimate of 300+ hours and 5-60k for a single product family
- Processing info: beyond normal channels (reading/web) it is useful to watch what partners and leaders are doing. Universities are also a great way to sniff out trends.
- Never seen an issue that has so captured his employee base as sustainability
- People have underestimated the impact of legislation driving corporate sustainability, for example building efficiency

Cleantech panel
- Part of the relationship with customers is explaining why they should consider/buy greener or sustainable products, example of TCO of electronics
- EE retrofits usually save more than they cost, but the pay back period can be between 5-10 years
- Vampire power: an example of a new term, you would have never heard this term 5 years ago
- Messaging: savings/TCO message reaching ‘average’ consumer much more readily, don’t seem to be as much as a focus on the green washing issue

Radical transparency- using social media for corporate sustainability
- Info is ubiquitous, how do you make sense of it and manage it- ‘if you are going to be naked- be buff’
- Radical changes has traditionally been driven by scandals, but now a move towards more disclosure
- Concept of a sandbox: as a corporation, we should strive to define our boundaries, should always strive to be transparent about being on a journey, not conceived of arriving at a destination
- Transparent: clearly define if you are company focused or single products focused- big difference. Best method is to start with a single core product and go from there.
- Multi-layers are necessary- for the 20k view and in the weeds.
- ‘Sustainability is increasing short and long run profitability through respectful management’

Saul Griffith: this talk was quite engaging, I encourage folks to watch the youtube video embedded in the link
- Need heirloom products for everyone. Society has to actively and quickly move orders of magnitude more efficiency, not 50% better, 5x better

Green IT: can IT solve the world’s problem?- best panel of the day for me, by far
- Moving to virtual collaboration is key strategic move
- Orgs should and are moving from once a year snapshot view (CSR Reporting) to a more responsive and flexible engagement (i.e. blogs)
- Sustainability has to drive both top and bottom line
- Shift from sustainability leaders being based within marketing focus to operations and products lines
- Collaboration: complexity of the problems means no one company can own the solution, therefore we as companies have to collaborate and compete. Collision of the physical and digital world makes for some interesting bedfellows.