Communications and Computing 2009 Benchmark

Despite the common perception of WAN services as “commoditizing,” WAN technologies and services continue to advance. The most noteworthy news is the arrival of carrier Ethernet services, which offer users lower costs and greater bandwidth. Carrier Ethernet usage has skyrocketed from 53% of organizations in 2008 to 73% today, with virtual-private-line services (VPLS) among the fastest-growing. MPLS growth continues, but is slowing primarily because of its already high deployment (84% of organizations report using MPLS today). Thanks to its ability to reduce costs and leverage existing investments in VOIP and MPLS, SIP trunking is growing dramatically (up 68% since 2008). And finally, the use of Internet tunneling (IPsec and SSL VPNS) is also widely deployed, with 81% using some form, mostly to extend their WANS to remote or temporary users, or for backup.