In my 15 years in the communications industry I have gone from installation and commission of base platforms for pre-paid wireless systems in Europe, Asia, and South America to serving as the lead architect for multi-million dollar networks in North America. Experience has lead me to rethink the entire service lifecycle and seek means by which I can increase not only my own productivity and effectiveness but the productivity and effectiveness of my team.I started Brock Research for engineers and engineering managers who find themselves faced with shrinking budgets, shortening development cycles, and growing service portfolios. My goal is to share tools, techniques, and methodologies I leverage to increase productivity and effectiveness while lowering cost.

My overarching work principle is “Open Standards, Open Source, Open Mind”. I continuously seek cost effective solutions using open standards and open source software with an open mind about how things could work. Open standards provide a know how roadmap for developing, delivering, and managing services enabling me to focus on know why. Open source provides open access to an immeasurable wealth of research, analysis, and development codified as applications I can bend to my will. The combination of open standards and open source places innovation in the hands of the individual, thus limiting me only to my imagination and drive. Having an open mind means looking outside of myself, my organization, and my industry for solutions. Understanding the purpose for which a tool or application was built need not be its only effective use is an invaluable pattern recognition skill.

Brock Research publishes posts (thoughts and opinions) on service development, delivery, and management within the communications industry. The posts include tutorials, technology assessments, trend analysis, and more. Tutorials are written to help individuals and teams execute greater economic impact. Each tutorial identifies learning objectives and resources necessary to perform its exercises. Tutorials provide explicit step-by-step instructions, making no assumptions about the reader’s background knowledge of the subject. Each example step is immediately preceded by its explanation. When there is value in doing so, the results of each step is provide after each example. Application and Technology assessments recount hands-on experience with a tool or toolset. The assessments are intended to contextually document lessons learned - the focus is “fit for purpose” not a “fit for use”. Trend analysis examines technical and non-technical activities within the communications industry and offers reasoned projections of things to come. Analysis is based on first-hand experience in vendor and operator organizations within telecommunications. The experienced-base perspective is augmented by frameworks such as Porter’s Five Forces.