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2 016DIAMOND TECHNOLOGYREVIEWS• Diamond Technology Reviews 2016 BTR’s Diamond Technology
Reviews, now in its twelfth year,
is a technology recognition
program wherein vendors
serving the broadband cable
industry are invited to submit
information about products that
have been released or upgraded
since last year’s SCTE Cable-Tec
Expo (held in October 2015).
Judges search for innovation
that creates enablement, said
Tom Gorman, president of opXL
and DTR manager, noting that
he is never disappointed with
the submissions. “Technology
advances allow operators to
become smarter, faster and more
efcient like never before. Once
again, we reviewed a wide vari-
ety of products that solve issues
for operators.”
2016 has showcased better
provisioning systems, advanced
optics, and the ability to economically meet bandwidth
requirements as vendors demonstrated that they are listening to
operators and coming up with
ways to meet needs and reduce
pain points.
“For me personally, the innovation for network monitoring is
always exciting,” Gorman said.
“Te ability to leverage devices
in the network, proactively fnd
problems before the customer
sees them, and gathering data
that causes smart decision mak-
ing are all things that are near
and dear to me.”
Each entry was assigned to at
least three of our expert volun-
teer judges. To help ensure fair-
ness, similar products from dif-
ferent vendors were reviewed
by the same group of panelists.
Judges based scores/comments
on written material provided
by vendors, as well as their own
experience with or knowledge of
the specifc technologies.
BTR’s staf played no role in the
judging of the submitted products.
Review panelists were informed
that scores/comments would
remain anonymous.
Specifcally, judges used the
following scale to determine
Diamond scores:
0-1 Useful product, yet
commodity
2-3 Solid product with viable
attributes that set it apart
4 Excellent product with
technical features
and performance that
provide clear and
substantial benefts
5 Superb product that
sets new standards for
performance and provides groundbreaking and new technical
milestones
Each product’s scores were
averaged and rounded to the
nearest full or half Diamond.
Note that products are grouped
by score (with the highest
Diamonds ranking first), and
then in alphabetical order.
Scores of 3. 5 or above are considered superlative and refect a
very positive opinion from the
panel. Only products receiving a
3. 5 or above are included in this
article.
THE SHOW
CABLE-TEC EXPO ’ 16
PRODUCT NEWS
DIAMONDS JUDGES 2016 (in alphabetical order)
Jeff Chen, SVP, Advanced Technology, Bright House Networks (Charter)
Jeff Finkelstein, Executive Director of Advanced Access Architectures, Cox Communications
Wayne Hall, Independent Consultant and industry veteran
Tommy Hill, Independent Consultant and industry veteran
Joe Jensen, President, Parallax Communications
Michael Kelsen, Senior Director and Chief Network Architect, Time Warner Cable (Charter)
Bob Lee, VP, feld engineering and operations strategy, Cablevision (Altice USA)
Ken Williams, Independent Consultant and industry veteran
Ron Wolfe, Senior Director, HFC Engineering and Architecture, Charter Communications
Gregg Wood, RVP, Field engineering and operations, Time Warner Cable (Charter)
Ken Wright, Cable Technology Advisor, Wright Solutions
INNOVATION AWARDS .......................................................................
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DIAMOND TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS.................................................
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EXPO '16: TRENDS TO WATCH.........................................................
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ON THE FLOOR....................................................................................
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SHOW FLOOR MAP.............................................................................
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EXHIBITORS LIST................................................................................
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