Telecom Lead India: JDSU, one of the top test and measurement players in communication space, has shared global strategies and plans.
Judith Ann Kay, global VP – Executive Operations & Corporate Strategy, JDSU, says its first strategic priority is collaborative innovation.
Judith Kay, who was in India recently, is responsible for corporate strategy at JDSU. She also defines operational strategies that contribute to the Company’s growth, including initiatives in innovation, emerging markets, lean enterprise and customer engagement. Recently, she announced that JDSU will set up IT development center in Pune, India.
Excerpts of the online interview with TelecomLead.com:
What are the new strategies to improve market share of JDSU in communication T&M space?
Our first strategic priority is collaborative innovation. JDSU was first to market with ROADMs, Tunable XFPs and a number of key test products. We firmly believe that ongoing innovation is critical to providing differentiated solutions to our customers. We will continue to invest in filling our new product pipeline to maintain our technology leadership and further advance ourselves in the marketplace.
Second, we’ll remain focused on profitable, strategic mergers and acquisitions, such as our acquisition of Dyaptive Systems, which we announced in January. We’ll continue to pursue M&A opportunities where we can expand our portfolio and participate in market growth.
Third, we’ll focus on expanding our global presence and deepening our penetration in high growth markets such as India. We have facilities in the region and are well positioned to provide industry-leading solutions in this region.
Finally, we’ll continue to focus on building a leaner and more scalable business. Our improvement in gross margin and operating profit over the past few years illustrates our progress in this area. We’ll continue our efforts to fine tune our contract manufacturing model and reduce operating expenses. We are working with our supply chain to reduce costs and improve gross margins in our product portfolio.
What are the new trends in the market?
Proliferation of data services is going to be one of the key trends in the market in the next five years. It is poised to be one of the biggest growth engines for the market which is evident from the fact that operators are planning LTE, Wi-Fi and FTTH roll-outs in the future to meet this demand.
Several T&M players are in the process of acquiring companies in test market. What are your plans?
As shared earlier, our strategy is to remain focused on profitable, strategic mergers and acquisitions. We recently acquired companies like GenComm and Dyaptive Systems in the wireless space which complements JDSU’s expansive set of wireless test tools, software and services, extending from the lab to the field and all the way to the end user experience
We will continue to seek M&A opportunities which will enable us to expand our portfolio and participate in market growth.
What are the new products and solutions in the pipeline?
JDSU is focused on providing solutions that provide deep visibility into the network so that service providers can more effectively manage their networks and provide the best possible service to network users.
Recently, JDSU has offered a groundbreaking solutions named PacketPortal that provide deep network intelligence with lightning fast speed so that service providers can be decisive and responsive to their customers.
This includes solutions that manage network overload and allow for use of specific data to optimize the network and manage bandwidth
Rapid and agile access to information lets them provide a high level of service while minimizing costs
Visibility into the network the way customers experience it – at the network edge – where 80 percent of service issues occur
What are the new opportunities from 3G and 4G deployments?
The sheer number of smart wireless phones, tablets and other connected devices are straining network infrastructures – it is estimated there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. Traditional network infrastructures can’t catch problems created by big bursts of traffic that can happen in a microsecond.
There is a sense of urgency for service providers to rapidly transition to more flexible infrastructures to keep up with demand. This provides great opportunities for JDSU to provide test solutions that ensure new network deployments and the management of networks go smoothly.
European telecom operators are going slow on Capex. How it is impacting JDSU?
The long-term drivers for JDSU solutions remain strong as increasing need for network bandwidth to support connected devices continues to grow worldwide.
What are the technology innovation initiatives at JDSU?
Three of our recent innovations for test and measurement solutions include:
PacketPortal – a Smart Network Application Platform (SNAP), that allows communications service providers to profitably scale to unprecedented bandwidth demand while providing the highest quality subscriber experience. PacketPortal uses microprobe technology to cost-effectively gather intelligence anywhere in the network for use with a suite of customer care, marketing and other applications. These applications give service providers a new way to drive revenue, build strong brands and command subscriber loyalty.
PacketInsight – a software-enabled next generation network monitoring solution that pinpoints service-affecting network issues hundreds of times faster than any competing offering.
I-PMD – the first test solution that allows network operators to conduct critical fiber-optic network testing without disrupting customer service.
What are your Indian plans?
India continues to be a dynamic market for JDSU, as its telecommunication network is the third largest in the world.
India is an attractive telecom market for JDSU. The country presents tremendous growth opportunity for JDSU as the Government continues to develop rural telecom infrastructure and service providers continue to roll out next-generation services in the country. Moreover, with the new services and networks being introduced, we believe there will continue to be demand for test and measurement solutions for India.
Moreover, we will focus on expanding our global presence and deepening our penetration in high growth markets such as India. We have facilities in the region and are well positioned to provide industry-leading solutions in this region.
