Web Ad System – Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System – Based on
Windows Embedded Server /
Windows Embedded Server Delivers Availability and Performance
Internet advertising in China has grown dramatically driven by a steady stream of new Internet users. Telecom operators need to track and analyze users and their specific advertising interests based on data derived from large-scale traffic. With no carrier-class advertising solution on the market, telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei saw a significant business opportunity. Using Windows Server 2003 For Embedded Systems, SQL Server 2008 for Embedded Systems, and Internet Security & Acceleration Server 2006, Huawei developed a carrier-class Web Advertising System—
Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System—in just a few months. The system fully automates the operation of targeted media insertions, improves the accuracy of directed advertising delivery, and helps telecom operators maximize their business value. / / Overview
Country or Region: China
Industry: Telecommunications
Customer Profile
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is a leading supplier of telecommunications solutions to 45 of the 50 top global operators, serving one-third of the world’s population in more than 100 countries. Huawei’s sales income was $21.5 billion.
Business Situation
The domestic Internet advertising industry in China needed a carrier-class solution for tracking and analyzing user preferences.
Solution
Based on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems, Huawei created a web-based ad-directed delivery system that meets the needs of telecom operators with carrier-class availability and performance.
Benefits
n Accelerate product development and shorten marketing processes
n Achieve precisely targeted ad delivery, and enhance channel value
n Minimize the costs and maximize return on investment
Situation
As a leading global telecommunications solutions provider, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei) is committed to providing telecom operators with competitive solutions and services that help improve their Average Revenue per Customer (ARPU), upgrade their competitiveness in bandwidth, and reduce their total cost in ownership.
With more than 90,000 employees, Huawei has established a leading position in fixed networks, mobile networks, IP data communications, services and software, and professional services.
In late 2009, after conducting research on the business needs of telecom operators, Huawei executives saw that the Internet advertising industry had grown significantly in recent years. According to the 2009-2010 China Online Advertising Market Data Sample Report by DCCI (Data Center of China Internet, http://www.dcci.com.cn/), the Internet advertising market in China was worth 12.32 billion yuan in 2009 and the search engine advertising market was worth 7.01 billion yuan in 2009, totaling 19.33 billion yuan.
At the same time, the revenue mix of domestic telecom operators was shifting, with traditional fixed-line voice services experiencing a downward trend, while broadband services, especially the Internet advertising business, was increasing rapidly and becoming a driving force for telecom income growth.
Huawei’s senior leaders also saw that there was no carrier-class advertising analytics system available to domestic telecom operators. Advertisers and the agencies that serviced them couldn’t see whether browser cookies were from business users or consumers; therefore, telecom operators had no way to analyze and understand the advertising interests and preferences of users.
To help telecom operators enhance their business and brand value, Huawei executives decided to develop a carrier-class Internet advertising delivery system. In order to get the product to market quickly, Huawei’s research and development group identified the following requirements in its development of the solution:
Make the development cycle as short possible
To lead the fast growing market for Web advertisement, Huawei wanted to commercialize its products in a few months.
Maximize operators’ ROI
Every telecommunications user has his/her own uniqueness. The more a user’s attributes can be taken into consideration, the greater possibility for an advertiser’s return on investment (ROI) to be maximized; thereby, allowing for products to be positioned more competitively in the market.
Minimize costs
Analysis of carrier-class data requires high availability of computing resources, so striking a balance between cost and performance was another task facing the R&D group of Huawei.
Solution
Huawei needed a stable embedded platform for development. After a thorough evaluation of the choices, the R&D group selected the Microsoft Windows Embedded platform of Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems for its Internet-based Web advertising solutions.
Windows Embedded Server is binary identical to Windows Server, so it features stability, safety and easy development, and especially a load balancing mechanism that can effectively support carrier-class network traffic.
Solution Design
The componentized nature of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems allowed Huawei to address the technical requirements of telecom operators. As they designed and built the solution, the engineering team deleted certain components to optimize system performance and maximize the security and stability of the platform.
Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server) 2006, Microsoft’s popular web proxy and security, was adopted to balance the load of the network traffic and simultaneously execute the filtering functions required to precisely direct ads to specific users.
The Windows Embedded version of SQL Server 2008—SQL Server 2008 for Embedded Systems—was also adopted by Huawei for its advertising content and data management platform. This enterprise-level database stores the lists of signed media as well as the information about customer demographics and their unique advertising preferences.
Huawei’s Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System senses and monitors a customer’s website visit via ISA Server. It uses web page reconstruction technology to accurately target advertising, and intelligently analyze user data based on SQL business intelligence, to help telecom operators achieve stable and efficient carrier-class web advertising solutions.
The Huawei Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System was delivered to telecom operators for testing in December 2009. The customers carried out evaluations of its various functions to see if the system could fully meet the performance targets for carrier-class data traffic.
The commercial assessment made by telecom operators found that the system met carrier-class operational standards and the product was officially put on the market in April 2010. The carrier-class Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System has already improved the accuracy of directed advertising delivery, and helped telecom operators maximize their business value, so it’s been well accepted by customers.
Benefits
The Huawei Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System not only allows telecom operators to upgrade their advertising solutions, but also enables Huawei to maintain its leadership position in the telecom market. The following business and technical benefits have been achieved as a result of using Windows Server 2003 For Embedded Systems:
Faster product development and shorter marketing cycle
Early market entry is a business advantage in this space. Thanks to excellent hardware and software compatibility, and the rapid system development made possible with Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems, Huawei completed the entire product development process, testing, and market validation in 4 months.
And, because Windows Server 2003 For Embedded Systems has a familiar development environment and rich development resources, Huawei’s engineers were able to customize and optimize the necessary software applications for the solution.
Huawei's R&D personnel utilized the familiar Visual Studio 2008 development environment and the rich development resources of Microsoft MSDN to effectively speed up the development of the entire Carrier-class Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System and corresponding solutions.
Also, the operability, manageability, and maintainability of Windows Embedded systems reduced the cost of training and management for end customers.
Furthermore, Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems has a 15-year availability, This, plus Microsoft’s strong commitment to service and update Windows Embedded products, helped Huawei’s business decision makers choose Microsoft technologies. Compared to other embedded products in the industry, Microsoft was the optimal choice.
Directed media placements for enhanced advertising value
In China, Internet advertisers and their agencies are paying more attention to advertising effectiveness. Huawei’s carrier-class Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System can effectively ensure the accuracy of media placements on websites, and link the interests of users to advertisement subject matter.
By applying behavioral analysis, impact measurement, and other tools in the Huawei solution, telecom operators can make full use of existing user data to further improve the value of advertising spots in their advertising media. In addition, it can speed up the development of the whole industry chain, including advertising accuracy, economy, sensory effect, and interactivity.
Effective cost reduction and maximizing return on investment
Thanks to the built-in advanced features of Windows Server 2003 For Embedded Systems, Huawei was able to effectively reduce R&D costs in terms of software, hardware, and system development. The company also achieved a stronger competitive position in the marketplace based on timing, functionality, and price- performance ratio.
Telecom operators using the Huawei carrier-class Space-Multiplex Targeted Advertisement System are similarly able to reduce their application costs and display their advertisement to target users via Web pages, enabling them to further increase their own brand value, and achieve maximum ROI.
Solution advantages and implementation
Huawei adopted Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems to structure the software and service platform, and to provide the solution with an end-to-end technical infrastructure featuring simplification, security, interoperability, and intelligent device management capabilities.
High availability and excellent performance
The stability and efficiency of equipment is the first consideration for telecom operators. Windows Server 2003 for Embedded Systems was used to optimize the Internet advertising system by making the equipment more secure, stable, and efficient. Technical developers were able to meet business needs in a more targeted way, and thus minimize unexpected downtime or economic loss due to potential security issues.
The ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition plays a key role by enabling this solution to process the very high volume of data traffic handled by telecommunication operators.
Huawei’s multiple business applications have been optimized both in hardware and software to take full advantage of the hardware efficiency and improve operating efficiency.
Keywords: Embedded Server