Current Analysis has announced the findings of a survey of business
migration plans for next-generation WAN services. Among the results are
indications that while significant numbers of enterprises still employ
legacy wide area networking services such as ATM and frame relay, for
many, the transition of those networks to next-generation IP/MPLS and
Carrier Ethernet services is imminent.
The majority of ATM and frame relay users who responded to the
survey plan to migrate part or all of their enterprise networks to
IP-VPN and/or Carrier Ethernet services within the next two years. IP
VPNs are the preferred alternative for 75% of those planning to migrate
from frame relay services, although 61% of ATM users are planning to
implement Ethernet as well. Among the decision factors behind the
migration plans were the need for higher bandwidth at lower cost, and
the trend towards convergence of voice, video and data services.
In addition, the survey reveals that Virtual Private LAN Services
(VPLS) are not widely used at this time, and network managers are not
well-educated about VPLS. Most respondents indicated no plans to deploy
VPLS, and 40% did not know whether their carrier offered the service.
However, of those users that had evaluated VPLS, 48% strongly preferred
it to ATM and frame relay, suggesting that VPLS can provide carriers
with an effective means of encouraging customers to migrate away from
legacy services.
"Incumbent service providers are challenged as more businesses
demand IP and Ethernet services, yet many of their largest enterprise
customers continue to operate aging ATM and frame relay networks,"
said David Hold, Senior Analyst for Network Services. "However, our
survey indicates that the majority of those legacy users are ready to
make the move to next-gen services," he noted. "This presents
both an opportunity and a threat for the incumbents, since customers in
transition are vulnerable to poaching by competitors touting the latest
network technologies."
The Current Analysis study surveyed small, medium and large
customers of providers such as AT&T (and BellSouth), Level 3,
Verizon, Time Warner, Qwest, Broadwing, OnFiber, Sprint/Nextel, American
Fiber System, Cablevision/Optimum Lightpath, Charter Business, Cogent,
Comcast, and more.
For more details please visit:
http://www.currentanalysis.com/ci/wan/ or, to purchase the study please
call Alex Wassiliew, VP Sales Infrastructure, at 703-788-3660
(awassiliew@currentanalysis.com
)
About Current Analysis
Current Analysis (http://www.currentanalysis.com/) has been helping
leading technology companies improve their competitive responsiveness
since 1997. Sales teams, product managers, and marketing professionals
rely on Current Analysis for the latest competitive analysis and
tactical advice. Current Analysis' structured, rapid competitive
response solutions help companies improve their business performance and
create a repeatable process advantage over competitors. The company
serves more than 30,000 users at over 200 enterprise clients across the
telecommunications, networking, and business software industries.
For more information, visit http://www.currentanalysis.com or call
703/788-3656.
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