Case Studies - BelAir Networks

The Client

The first company to introduce a scalable, wireless mesh networking architecture that combines Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 3G Cellular networks, BelAir Networks now commands a leadership position in the rapidly growing market for broadband mobile data, voice and video solutions for city districts, campuses, resorts and other wide area applications. BelAir Networks’ patented multi-service solution, using outdoor transmission nodes that provide outdoor and indoor coverage while blending into the physical environment, delivers the lowest cost per user and deploys in days. Over 200 deployments of BelAir Networks’ products range from the first 4 node installation at the Radisson Hotel Ottawa to a city-wide network of some 1,500 nodes covering 54 square miles for the City of Minneapolis.

Embedded Systems Development

Project Description:

With their initial funding in hand, the demand for wireless wide area networking solutions poised to explode and competing product announcements, BelAir Networks’ management were under tremendous pressure to get the BelAir200 product to market, secure initial reference customers and start driving cash flow.

The development of the complex, carrier-grade BelAir200 product, which would enable the first multi-service mesh and be an industry break-through, represented a significant engineering challenge. To rely solely on building an in-house R&D capability with the specific sets of expertise required to develop the entire product would have meant unacceptable delays in time to market for the company and its investors. The complexity of the real-time embedded systems in the product and the dynamic nature of any new product development cycle meant that offshore outsourcing was not a viable option for the project. BelAir Networks’ management had to look for other ways to accelerate the development of their first product.

Later, after the successful introduction of the BelAir200, demand would grow quickly for larger scale deployments that required a robust Network Management System (NMS) to manage hundreds of BelAir200 nodes. The company had to respond very quickly with an NMS solution or lose the business, and market position, to competitors. At that point, in-house development resources were consumed with sustaining the new BelAir200 product and developing product line extensions for different applications. Management needed a partner that could take complete responsibility for the product development of the new Belview NMS.

The bitHeads Solution:

To accelerate the first release of the BelAir200 product, BelAir Networks’ management turned to bitHeads for assistance. When the development phase was launched, bitHeads rapidly deployed a team of developers with expertise in the technologies critical to the success of the project. The bitHeads team worked as a virtual extension of the fledgling BelAir Networks R&D organization, working side-by-side with the company’s hardware and software engineers to tackle the design and development of elements of the real-time embedded systems core of the BelAir200. The bitHeads team drove the development of the network management functionality within BelAir200 node.

As soon as the BelAir200 product was successfully released, bitHeads was engaged again, this time to take full responsibility for the rapid delivery of the Belview NMS. Using its ProductStream™ new product development partnership approach, bitHeads rapidly deployed a cohesive team that worked together using a proven methodology specifically designed for the development of new products. The bitHeads team and methodology spanned design, product management, project management, development and quality assurance processes. The team worked closely with BelAir Networks’ sales and engineering groups to capture customer requirements and develop a design that would provide market-leading scalability and usability.

Results:

With bitHeads’ assistance, the original BelAir200 product was successfully delivered within 11 months of product conception – an intense pace and significant achievement given the complexity of the project. The product was an industry first and garnered many prestigious product awards en route to becoming a market leader.

The bitHeads ProductStream team followed that initial accomplishment with the successful delivery of the Belview NMS, taking it from concept to product realization within 9 months, once again on time and budget. BelAir Networks was able to respond to prospective customer requirements for very large deployments and began building their leadership position in the lucrative metro-wide networking market segment. Also, with bitHeads taking full responsibility for the Belview NMS product, BelAir Networks’ in-house R&D team was able to successfully support and deliver new products, adding more firsts to their credit and supporting the company’s drive to expand their market position.

“By partnering with bitHeads we were able to significantly cut time to market and deliver award-winning products that delighted our end customers,” states Stephen Rayment, BelAir Networks co-founder and CTO. “They provided critical expertise, delivered on-time and budget, and went the extra mile as a true partner to ensure our success. As a bonus, bitHeads’ business development manager even volunteered to negotiate favorable licensing terms on our behalf with a toolkit supplier that saved us additional money.”

Based on the success of the partnership, BelAir continues to rely on bitHeads to augment their in-house team, including development assistance on the BelAir100 and BelAir50 product lines.