VoIP provider Virtutone Networks has launched a wholesale division through which it will provide telephony services to other carriers.

The company will use the new division to see VoIP services to telephone companies, cellular companies, corporate clients, cable television companies, call centers and IP voice providers.

Virtutone tapped Sonus Networks to build a wholesale infrastructure platform that can provide 1.2 billion VoIP minutes per month. The company has signed interconnect agreements with several big players in North America, Australia and the U.K. 

For more:
- see the release

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The founder of GrandCentral--which eventually became Google Voice--apparently is back in his old stomping grounds. Craig Walker, who sold the VoIP technology to Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) for some $50 million back in 2007 recently tweeted that he was "Starting to play around with a bunch of VoIP ideas...time to take this incubator thing into hyperdrive :)."

Walker, who ended up working for Google, then Google Ventures, founded incubator Firespotter Labs--which is funded by Google Ventures and includes several of his Grand Central team members--last May.

As TechCrunch asks: "Is Walker developing Grand Central 2.0?"

For more:
- see this TechCrunch article

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Kineto Wireless has rolled out a "Smart VoIP" app that allows mobile operators to offer an over-the-top voice service through their existing network infrastructure.

Kineto's Smart VoIP application supports a range of standard mobile telephony capabilities and is designed to run on major mobile operating systems, including Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android and Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Mobile. The application can be branded by mobile operators and downloaded to subscribers through standard application stores.

Kineto said it Smart VoIP solution is designed specifically for mobile operators to address the growing threat from third-party OTT voice services like Skype and Google Voice.

"Our Smart VoIP application helps operators create and brand their own over-the-top service to meet subscriber demands for mobile VoIP," said Steve Shaw, vice president of marketing for Kineto.

There's a strong demand for the service. Research firm NPD In-Stat said revenues associated with mobile VoIP usage will increase to more than $4 billion in 2015, with the largest concentration of mobile VoIP users coming from Western Europe.

Operators who ignore the opportunity are opening themselves up to competition from multiple sources, said Dean Bubley, founder of analyst firm Disruptive Analysis.

"Telecom operators need to launch their own over-the-top VoIP services, to compete effectively with Internet innovators and to complement their traditional ‘on-net' offerings," Bubley said.

For more:
- see this release
- see this PC World article

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Dan Burrus

The use of virtualization and cloud computing is growing quickly among companies of all sizes. Currently, 30 percent of servers are virtualized, and surveys show that by 2012, that number will grow to 50 percent.

Virtualization and cloud computing go hand-in-hand, and virtualizing servers is just the tip of the iceberg. The trend to virtualize everything from servers to processing power to software offerings actually started years ago in the personal sector. In the recent past, it was common for individuals within major organizations to use virtualized services or cloud computing when at home, but at work they weren't using those services at all. Why? Because corporate IT didn't trust the lack of security of the cloud, and they weren't sure it was a hard trend--something that was definitely here to stay. Today, we know better.

In order to fully understand how virtualization and cloud computing will transform the business world, let's first look at the evolution of these capabilities.                 

Cloud Computing

When talking about virtualization, cloud computing is a natural component. Cloud computing, which refers to companies using remote servers, which can store data and allow users to access information from anywhere, takes three different evolutionary forms.

The first is a public cloud. This could be something like Google docs to store data or Flickr to store photos. Basically, you're storing files somewhere else other than your hard drive and in a place accessible from any device, at any time, as long as you have an Internet connection.

The second form of cloud computing, i.e. using a private cloud, is emerging rapidly. A private cloud exists when a company wants added security with cloud computing, while allowing its employees to have access to bigger files and larger databases from any device, anywhere. Since it is private, it is secure, and the public does not have access to it. Companies are now beginning to establish private clouds.

The third iteration of cloud computing is the private/public cloud--also called a hybrid cloud. In this configuration, you have a private part of your corporate cloud, which is secure and only accessible by employees, but you also have a part of the cloud that is public where strategic partners, vendors, and customers can access limited content.

Virtualization

Virtualization can take many forms aside from servers. For example, you can virtualize a desktop--meaning your desktop is stored virtually in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere. You also can virtualize your operating system. That means you can be using a Mac yet running the latest Windows operating system on the Mac; or you can have a PC and have three different operating systems running all at the same time. That's the power of virtualization.

Software as a service (SaaS) is another element of virtualization. Decades ago, we started with software that you had to buy, install, maintain and update. Thanks to SaaS, this software is now in the clouds, so you no longer buy it; you simply buy time to use it. It is a cost-effective way for companies of all sizes to have access to enterprise level software.

Similarly, we're also starting to see virtualized processing power. Think of this as accessing a supercomputer in the clouds and having that supercomputer's processing power available on a smart phone or tablet. In February 2011, the TV game show Jeopardy pitted IBM's supercomputer Watson against human contestants. Watson beat the humans on Jeopardy because it knew what its strengths, and it focused on those categories. With virtualized processing power, you're basically getting a Watson on your phone. That means you and your employees can make informed decisions quickly about many things.

One of the ways Watson has been used since Jeopardy is looking at MRI scans. When Watson reviews an MRI scan, it can detect anomalies and see things a human doctor can't see. Watson can also analyze many variables in an effort to help the human doctor make a better diagnosis faster. It's about allowing professionals rapid access to vast amounts of information and knowledge that can help them work faster and smarter.

Let's use healthcare as an example. Could people who do sales, R&D, purchasing, delivery, sourcing, shipping, accounting and a host of other functions benefit from a mobile Watson-like supercomputer? Yes. Could it make them work smarter, better and more effective? Most definitely!

The Game Changer

Part of this evolution of virtualization and cloud computing is that we can now virtualize various components of IT. In the near future, we'll start seeing IT as a service (much like how SaaS became popular). This means that much of the IT department will be virtualized and running in the cloud.

The benefits of IT as a service are immense. Not only will it save money, but it will also increase speed and agility. Since your servers aren't used 100 percent all the time, the efficiency varies. With IT as a service, a company will be able to scale in real-time as demand dictates by the nanosecond. As sales increase, the system will instantly self-configure. As sales decrease, it can act accordingly. Now you're only paying for what you're using. In this case, you'll be able to benefit from dynamic resource allocation, so you're able to maximize what you have and what you're paying for at all times.

IT as a service is a game changer. Because you now have components of the IT department existing in the cloud, you're freeing your in-house IT staff to shift from a maintenance mode to an innovation mode. As such, your IT department can focus on achieving business goals, creating innovative solutions and driving sales rather than upgrading individual user's computers and firefighting everyday problems. It allows the IT department to really look at industry trends unfolding so your company can give customers the products and services they'd ask for, if they only knew what was possible.

It's Time to V-Enable the Organization

In terms of implementing virtualization and cloud computing options, organizations are now starting to move quickly. Virtualization received a big push in 2009 and 2010 because of the recession, which prompted many companies to cut their IT budgets. Companies realized that one way to save money is through virtualization. For example, virtual desktops alone lower costs by about 15 percent.

Now in 2011, the factors that are increasing an organization's interest in virtualization are speed and agility. Virtualization enables you to do things faster, thus making your company more agile. Instead of delivering a new service in two months, companies are able to do this in two days.

As virtualization and cloud computing become more prevalent, companies are going to need to form new strategic relationships as existing relationships may not have the core competencies needed to drive fundamental change. At this point it would be good to ask yourself if you have the relationships you need to move forward given this shift? Do your current strategic relationships understand the shifts taking place, and are they embracing the things you know will happen?

Realize, too, that the wrong question to ask is, "What should we buy?" Rather, you have to look at the bigger picture of what you're trying to accomplish in this transformational time. How can you use virtualization and cloud computing as game changers for your company based on where it's evolving? The key is to understand the new capabilities; in order to know what to buy or what to do, you first have to know what is possible.

2011 is the year for companies to begin sticking their toes in the waters of virtualization and cloud computing. It's the year organizations realize this isn't a fad that's going to disappear. Virtualization and the cloud are hard trends that provide transformational opportunities and will continue to rapidly evolve. The time to embrace this trend is now.

Daniel Burrus is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best seller Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends. For more information, please visit: www.burrus.com.

Network subscriber and application awareness are two of the ways that IP networking can be extended beyond Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 routing. This expanded networking functionality is driven on the demand-side by service providers' need to differentiate their services from both competitors and among internal lines of business where service cannibalization is a serious problem; and on the supply-side where more flexible hardware architectures make it possible to combine transport, switching, routing and DPI capabilities in the same system chassis. Industry Voices

Google Voice is now open to everyone. Here we have posted a video intro provided by Google.

No Jitter has a nice Top 10 list round up of the writer's favorite things at VoiceCon last week. Check it out... P.S.: Did you hear? VoiceCon will be called Enterprise Connect in the future.