The Battle Between Legacy and Next-Generation

Wednesday, 04. 1. 2009  –  Category: T2 Communications

When it comes to solutions for deploying any product, there is an ever-present gap between two competing viewpoints: legacy and next-generation. Most often industry giants comprise the legacy portion of the industry, buying and selling solid solutions based upon the standards they once created. Next-generation solutions, however, emerge from a different direction. Instead of building off of the legacy solutions, these products often use an inventor’s mindset to build unique services. While some services attempted to bridge the gap between legacy and next-generation, the reality is more likely that it is an “either/or” environment where each side offers both inherent benefits and drawbacks.

Legacy

When it comes to the legacy approach, the solution is usually rock solid in its structure if for no other reason than the companies using it have had years to hone it. Products often come with well-documented standards, are self-sufficient and rarely provide its users with surprises from the technical perspective. While legacy items originated in proprietary solutions by now large, often Fortune 500 companies, the solutions themselves are now non-proprietary. This means that there are many different vendors with inexpensive solutions throughout the marketplace. While convenient, this plethora of competition often means that there are rarely industry-transforming innovations that occur. Instead, it reads more like the “same old thing” where costing alone reigns supreme.

Next-Generation

Next-generation solutions are a different situation altogether. Most are developed on non-proprietary platforms utilizing legacy standards. In the process of development, however, most become quite proprietary as the products developed morph into a completely new platform. This means that each has its own specifications and gear requirements. This leaves many of the major vendors on the sidelines when it comes to mass deployment as they are unsure which of the many competing solutions in the industry will win out. Instead, developers are required to create their own solutions which are much more expensive because there may only be one company producing the product.

Next-generation solutions are highly volatile as a whole. There is a near-constant evolution of the available products. Vendors and developers are entering and leaving the marketplace on a daily basis, and are releasing updates to their products at nearly the same speed. Because of the proprietary nature of the products, often it requires significant expertise from the service provider to have multiple applications interact cohesively with one another to deliver a service to the end user.

Despite all of this, next-generation solutions offer nearly unlimited potential in terms of market share and innovation. They are driving the future of their industry and therefore present companies with unique opportunities to differentiate from their legacy competition.

Entering the Marketplace

As a company entering this type of marketplace, it is vital to understand that this battle between competing market segments is just beginning. In the case of next-generation opportunities, the industry is very much at its infancy and is only now beginning to band together and consider developing standards. The marketplace is full of volatility as new companies continue to emerge, corporations are eating up start-up companies as a way maintain their ground on the cutting edge, and some businesses lose momentum and close their doors.

Therefore, as you consider what services you will be offering, it is important to remember that this battle will affect each and every decision you make and the limitations (both short- and long-term) will ultimately determine the speed of your deployment, the capital investments you will make and even the catalog of services and features you can deploy to remain competitive.

Just as important, it is critical that your business identifies where your place is in the market in order to properly build your offerings. If you are a smaller company with limited resources, you will need to understand how new product and market trends will affect your company and to what extent you may have to play catch up to your competitors as a result.

David Fleming is the Director of Corporate Communications for CornerWorld Corporation.

Tags: article, David Fleming, innovation, legacy, next-generation, product development, technology