Insights: ISE EXPO 2023

Our team recently exhibited at the ISE Expo in Kansas City, Missouri. The theme for this year’s show tended to focus on the industry coming together to support the multi-year deployments that are on the horizon. Leaders for Brightspeed and Verizon noted that with upcoming projects, the vendor teams will need to be able to work in partnership to support the demand of resources.

Client Director, Rebecca Hediger shared that Verizon talked about the challenges of staying at the forefront of next generation networks like 5G, even when the device manufacturers may not be able to keep up at the same pace.

They also conveyed the importance of documenting and clearly mapping out the network build timeframes to include all relevant players. This making the entire process transparent and manageable, exposing bottlenecks and showcasing success stories. Verizon named this process reporting their Factory Floor.  

Client Director, Scott Salzer attended the “Closing the Digital Divide with the Utility Business Model” presentation, presented by Joshua Leonard, from Burns and McDowell. Joshua discussed the opportunities in network operators partnering with power companies in a non-traditional manner to utilize existing infrastructure and fiber owned by major power companies. He made very good points on how these partnerships can pave the way for faster deployments and better efficiency in getting permits approved. 

In the Women in Technology forum there was a focus on the importance of leadership. Aligning with the right mentor can be a game changer for the individual and for the business as a whole, said Rebecca Hediger. 

Last, but not least, Kyle Berg from Arrow discussed the importance of moving legacy reporting and tracking platforms into digital format, before trying to increase capacity in an effort to keep up with the demand that will be coming down the pipe. He suggested various methodologies to assist with this process and encouraged people to reach out to third parties for help if they need assistance. 

Although the show seemed to be heavy on vendors rather than network operators, our team still had some great conversations. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!