debate is still raging, huh [laughs]? Look, there are a lot of places today that are great for starting a new entity, even beyond the traditional East Coast-West Coast high-tech hubs of the United States. What was true 10, 20, or 30 years ago is still very true today: wherever you have a concentration of higher education, great ideas, willing investors, a highly capable work force, and a supportive infrastructure−which these days means the Valley, 128, and beyond−very interesting companies can always emerge. But, to answer your question, since my home is in the greater Boston area, I would start a company here, as I did with New Oak in 1996 and Brix in 1999.

Mohney: There are a lot of companies in the market and a lot of niches when it comes to testing and monitoring. What makes Brix Networks unique?

Pincince: From the outset, Brix has bet on IP becoming the convergence driver for the networking industry when it comes to next-gen voice, video, and data services. This has proven to be correct. Further, we focus on providing solutions that address the operational phase of the IP service deployment lifecycle because we feel that is where Tier 1 carriers, service providers, cable companies, and large enterprises are most exposed. When our customers bet on IP, they know that they need to meet−or exceed−existing levels of quality and end-user expectations, in a highly competitive marketplace.

The advantage we provide our customers is the ability to as-

From the outset, Brix has bet on IP becoming the convergence driver for the networking industry when it comes to next-gen voice, video, and data services. This has proven to be correct.

 

sure any IP service, over any network, to any endpoint−all from the same extensible platform.

Whether it’s for a worldwide, multi-service MPLS network, backbone transport for long-distance wireless or wireline VoIP traffic, an IPTV distribution network, residential VoIP services, or a managed IP telephony offering for enterprise customers, our products are unique in their ability to collect and measure the key performance indicators that truly reflect the end-to-end performance and quality of an IP-based service.

Mohney: What matters more today, monitoring network performance or service quality? And why?

Pincince: In an election year, I’d prefer not to have to respond with an evasive-sounding, politician-like “it depends” reply, but it actually does. In Europe, for instance, a large operator who has clearly bet heavily on NGN told us recently that they pay primary attention to service quality as an indicator of underlying network availability, not the other way around. Then there