What topics would you like to see in the next issue of AirSpeed’s Licensed Wireless News? Email us with your suggestions or thoughts on this issue.

60% of respondents had already implemented some form of Cloud Computing in their business. Of these an overwhelming 97% said it had improved the efficiency of their business.
Of the 40% who had no Cloud services yet, 33% said they planned to implement Cloud, with 57% undecided.

Respondents indicated that the Key Drivers for moving to the Cloud were predominantly to;

1. Reduce costs – 75%
2. Increase IT efficiency and resources – 73%
3. Increase flexibility – 54%
4. Agility to deliver new services – 50%

Security ranked as the most important consideration when moving to the cloud; other important considerations were;

1. Security – 83%
2. SLA (service guarantees)) – 65%
3. Service provider reputation – 63%
4. Communications network infrastructure (speed & performance) – 62%
5. Scalability (users supported & applications implemented) – 56%
6. Network diversity (dual routes) – 50%
7. Storage – 38%
8. Reducing internal (IT) resources – 33%

We’re also exhibiting at the IDC Virtualisation & Cloud event in the Burlington tomorrow, May 18th. We can give more details then to anyone interested. We’re also going to raffle an iPad 2 so stop by the stand and enter the draw!

• Minister Eamonn Ryan’s plans for developing the type of infrastructure the country needs to position us for those high end technology jobs; he’s putting an NGN group together .  Hopefully this will mark a step toward a more coherent approach to getting a top class broadband network in place for the country.
• St John of God’s have put in a new national network and have chosen a licensed wireless network – why? Seems it had the reach as well as bandwidth necessary to get all sites up and running.
• Anyone interested in a report from the World Broadband Forum?  Our CIO, Peter Hendrick attended and is all chat about IMS – IP Multimedia Subsystem – enables the convergence of voice, data and multimedia services… all relevant to plans in place at AirSpeed to bring more services to our customers.
• And how about Eurolink – the M3 / M4 toll operators – nice photo of David Schuller, Operations Manager with our own Vinny Dooley talking about new developments with their network.
• Finally, Peter’s links to what he is reading about at the moment focus on UC (Unified Communications) – some interesting stuff there.

For anyone who is interested just go to Licensed Wireless News and let us have your feedback.  The piece with Minister Ryan was prompted by one of our readers asking for some commentary on what his plans are vis a vis bandwidth gaps so thanks for that!

With 17 main sites and many more satellite sites and homes in 9 counties across Ireland, Saint John of God Hospitaller Services offers support and services in the areas of mental health, intellectual disability and elderly care. While the charity faces many challenges in its work, its highly dispersed geographical structure makes effective ICT delivery equally challenging.

Historically, the organisation relied on low-speed leased lines around Ireland. But with more people needing to use its network and the bandwidth-intensive nature of its applications, users experienced constant network congestion. Additionally, a lack of information available from the network hampered the organisation’s ability to plan and deploy services.

So with an ageing leased line infrastructure which meant a lack of available bandwidth and poor network reliability what was AirSpeed’s solution?

AirSpeed Telecom’s licenced wireless network became the primary connectivity at 16 sites, increasing end user speeds to 20Mbps and a 100Mbps AirSpeed link now supports the fibre connection at the charity’s main site. 90% of locations were connected within three months, even at challenging sites, and the benefits were seen immediately. With improved infrastructure, the rollout of new applications were enabled while calls to the organisations ICT dropped by 50%.

ICT Director Brendan McCormack commented on the peace of mind they now have.

“We recently pulled the plug on the fibre to simulate a digger cutting through it and failover was perfect. Our traffic was automatically rerouted via AirSpeed Telecom to our IT centre.”

Read more in our Ezine Licensed Wireless News

AirSpeed Telecom, the telecommunications company which operates a nationwide licensed wireless transmission network, has been shortlisted for the Business & Finance ‘Enterprise of the Year Award 2010’.

The inaugural Business & Finance ‘Enterprise of the Year Award 2010’ has been created to recognise Ireland’s invaluable indigenous business sector and celebrate entrepreneurs who are critical to the future of Ireland’s economy.

Six shortlisted companies were selected based on the following criteria: company growth, innovation, vision, marketing strategy and international scalability.

AirSpeed Telecom operates a nationwide carrier class licensed wireless network providing telecommunications products and services to large enterprises, public sector bodies and SME customers in Ireland.

The company was established in 2003 to provide the business community with a very high quality alternative choice to traditional network and incumbent telecommunications operators. AirSpeed Telecom is now a leading provider of wireless high speed bandwidth services to many businesses in Ireland including RTE, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Vhi Healthcare, TG4, Telegael, HEANet, Dairygold, and NCSS (BreastCheck).

Liam O’ Kelly, Managing Director with AirSpeed Telecom, comments:

“We are delighted with our nomination for the inaugural Business & Finance ‘Enterprise of the Year Award 2010’. It is a great acknowledgment for all of the team who has worked hard to make AirSpeed Telecom the success it is today.”

The shortlisted companies for the Business & Finance ‘Enterprise of the Year Award 2010’ are AirSpeed Telecom, Eirgen, Helix Health, Allergy Standards, Cartrawler and Realex Payments.The winner will be announced at a gala awards dinner on December 9th, 2010 at The Convention Centre, Dublin.