Tell us about Keysight’s new organizational alignment and the strategy behind it?

Keysight is transforming itself from a hardware-centric to a software-centric solutions company. We have made significant progress in developing and delivering modular-based reference solutions and other product-based application solutions. We also have a corporate initiative focused on developing new software platforms and tools to continue to further strengthen our position as the leader in the industry in electronic design and test. Recently we announced a new corporate structure that focuses our business teams on industries and aligns the organization in market growth areas.  This adjustment focuses our efforts on expanding needs our customers face as they deal with ever more difficult test challenges. 

 

What are the main industries and focus of your Communications Measurement Solutions Group?

The main industries are Aerospace/Defense, Wireless, and expanding industries such as energy and automotive. We will also continue to focus on customers with general purpose test challenges where a solution will be in the form of a single instrument with embedded application software.

 

How will the software and hardware integration strategy change the way Keysight addresses the market and how will this benefit the customer?

As our company focuses its efforts to address the customer’s market needs with our solution segments, it can will be very quickly translate customer needs into solutions that our address by  our solution groups. They will have a laser beam focus on opportunities to solve customer problems in the areas where the market is needing our engagement, expertise, and experience. 5G is a good example of an area where we are highly engaged in this challenging area by customers we are currently collaborating with us.

 

As the marketing manager of the modular group that grew very rapidly in sales in 4 years, how did your group accomplish such rapid growth?

It is clear that our approach using the concept of reference solutions has been accepted by the market and our customers as a way to let engineers and managers know we have solutions targeted areas where the measurement challenges and solutions are complex. Our reference solutions provide a good starting point for customers to begin the conversation with us on our approach to solve their test problem and build a solution or even recommend a product to solve the problem. This is all built on that foundation that the reference starts in the collaborative problem solving process that the reference solution approach facilitates.

 

Where do you see the modular market heading in the next few years?

Modular will continue down the path of a solutions approach. We have had a lot of success in providing high performance multi-channel solutions in 5G channel sounding and wide bandwidth test beds using a modular approach or even a hybrid benchtop and modular solution. We see the opportunity for multi-channel modular solutions continuing.

 

You also were instrumental in growing Keysight’s business in China; tell us a little about the keys to doing business in China and how Keysight is positioned for growth there?

The key to success in China is having a strategy and a clear plan to collaborate with customers and research institutions to help them make progress in the development of specific technologies or industries. A good example of our success using this approach was the work we did collaborating with companies investing in the development of TD-SCDMA (3G) and TD-LTE (4G) wireless technologies deployed by wireless service providers in China. We chose the key companies in the wireless ecosystem and worked closely with them to develop solutions in areas where they needed deep test knowledge and experience to solve very difficult problems. We built relationships and established effective working models based on their trust in us as a collaborator and advisor on how they could overcome difficult test challenges in the development of new wireless technologies.

 

As China’s growth slows, do you see any other markets emerging in the next few years for high growth?

China will continue to be an opportunity for Keysight growth as they invest in new technologies to support 5G development, internet of things, and other emerging technologies.  China has been one of the largest investors in these areas worldwide and has done very well in aligning their own technology ecosystems to develop value chains that drive domestic economic growth.

 

What are the key industries or applications that you are targeting in the next couple of years?

We will continue our focus on 5G, internet of things, satellite and space, automotive, energy, and the associated applications and solutions that will help develop technologies in Aerospace, Defense, and broadband communications.