802.11n expected to spur Wi-Fi Growth

ABI Research has published a study indicating that firms are starting to switch out their existing wireless infrastructure. 802.11a/g access points still dominate the market, with about 84% of the installed devices using that standard. However, the research finds that, in recent months, health care and higher-learning institutions have begun deploying the faster 802.11n access points.

This has important implications for new office construction and network design. With real world throughput that clocks in at 160 Mbps or faster, many office technology users may not require a hard-line connection to the network. Unless the user needs to download significant amounts of data to their desktop, 160Mbps will certainly be fast enough. And in reality, the vast majority of office technology usage consists of e-mail and web-based applications... neither of which truly require the kind of throughput that a hard-line connection enables.

The consumer market will make the switch soon enough, according to the study. As existing devices come to the end of their useful life, home users will want to take advantage of the improved performance, as well. But I would not expect that to take place until later in 2010, assuming the economy has recovered by then.

Read the article in InformationWeek: Wi-Fi Boom fueled by 802.11n
Learn more about 802.11n: 802.11 Speed

Oracle expands SaaS offerings at a high price

Back in November, I posted a blog on Larry Ellison's down-beat assessment of Software-as-a-Service models. Just five short months later, Oracle is set to launch a subscription-based procurement program application called Oracle Sourcing On Demand. It has a fairly high price-tag -- $850 (US) per user per month (PUPM) -- especially compared to their SaaS CRM product which clocks in around $100(US) PUPM.

Oracle claims that Sourcing on Demand will integrate seamlessly with their on-premise ERP systems, as well as with others. Of course, they all say that. And of course, such a claim relies on a loose definition of "seamless." Nevertheless, it's an important concession by a company that, like SAP, has self-servingly downplayed the efficacy of SaaS solutions. They realize that their long-term survival will depend on making their products easy to buy. In today's market, the best way to do that is to reduce or eliminate the up-front capital outlays normally associated with such solutions.

Still, a single annual subscription for Oracle's new product tops $10K, and a firm with five users is looking at $50K before they even start to integrate the product into their business. It appears to me that Oracle is pricing themselves out of the market.

Oracle, Inc.: ORCL (NASDAQ)
Related newstory: Oracle Offers Procurement SaaS

Microsoft slow to resolve browser vulnerabilities

Secunia, a vulnerability-testing company located in Copenhagen, Denmark, released a report earlier this week that highlights the security performance of the top browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. Interestingly, 115 bugs and flaws - including security and non-security issues - were reported for Firefox in 2008, while on 31 were reported for IE.

However, Firefox bugs were resolved far more quickly than IE issues. In fact, as of December 31, 2008, Microsoft still had not resolved three security vulnerabilities that had been disclosed more than 200 days earlier.

While security patches for Firefox are available, on average, about 43 days after they are reported, Microsoft has required an average of more than 95 days to resolve security issues -- not including those that have not yet been resolved.

For these types of reasons, it is no surprise that Microsoft's share of market in browser usage has dropped from nearly 75% a year ago to 67.44% in January.

More Information:

• Browser Research from Secunia
• Browser Market Share Statistics from Net Applications

ITIF Report: Expand Broadband to the rural market

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation - a non-partisan research and educational institute - has identified how they believe $7.2 billion in government subsidies should be allocated. The recently enacted "recovery bill" allots that amount "in support of broadband" initiatives, and ITIF has stated that those funds should be used to deploy moderate-speed broadband to locations in "unserved" areas in the US. Most of these unserved areas are in rural, sparsely populated parts of the country where it is currently cost-prohibitive to deliver high-speed internet access. For customers located there, the only option is dial-up.

In the same report, ITIF suggests that non-wire-based technologies will probably be the best way to deliver these services.

In particular, 4G wireless can be a good alternative to fixed wireline in rural areas where subscriber density is low and fixed outdoor antennas are used to maximize radio signals.

Companies, like Sprint for instance, that have already begun deploying this type of advanced wireless technology will be in a good position to take advantage of this legislative action. Of course, there's no guarantee that regulators will take the advice of ITIF in this regard. But the law has been passed, for better or for worse. And if the money is going to be spent, to me this seems like a fairly reasonable approach.

Read the ITIF Report: The Need for Speed: The Importance of Next-Generation Broadband Networks