Pipeline Publishing, Volume 3, Issue 7- Letter from the Editor

Pipeline Publishing, Volume 3, Issue 7

	This Month's Issue:
	Expanding IP

Letter from the Editor

Expanding IP:
Welcoming Change

Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable. - William Pollard

William Pollard seems to be forgetting one thing, however. Change can be a scary thing. When it comes to IP technology, it can also be a somewhat expensive one. Furthermore, it's a gamble! Is it worth it to spend billions on a rollout, only to have a better, cheaper technology come along a few years later? However, fortune favors the bold, and such a gamble is fully necessary, and even essential, in an era of competition.

IP is growing and expanding. No way around that. Years from now, the annals of telecommunications will tell of the great and glorious expansion of communications. How a world of copper gave way to fiber and wireless and beyond. Or will it? The Romans are, in part, remembered for and defined by their roads and aqueducts. How many of us, however, can recall the exact makeup of the stone, mortar, and clay used to construct those roads? Not as many, I guarantee, as can tell you where they all led. Likewise, how many will be able to recall the makeup of our wires, cables, and other means of transmitting bits from place to place nearly as well as they remember the overall increase in connectivity and communication that was achieved in our time?

“Change can be a scary thing. When it comes to IP technology, it can also be a somewhat expensive one. ”

So let's welcome change, but also keep an eye on it. History may judge far less harshly than the present, and a lack of day-to-day attention paid to the growth and change in the IP world could spell demise for many service providers, OSS vendors, and enterprises.

Enjoy this issue of Pipeline, where we outline some of the changes in store. We'll look into the implications of and guidelines for navigating an era of expanding IP. We hope that the experience will be a rewarding one.

All the best,

Tim Young
Editor-in-Chief

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