Overview:

More companies are discovering the cost and productivity benefits of
using advanced communication services, such as MPLS, Ethernet and SIP
trunking, which let them combine voice, data, video, imaging and enterprise
applications on the same network. They also see the value in using hosted
services, including hosted audio, video and Web conferencing, as well as hosted
VOIP, contact centers and data centers.

By implementing these advanced services, IT teams not only enable their
business to communicate more effectively, they provide the means to better serve
customers, boost sales and improve employee productivity.

These capabilities are extending over wireless networks, making it easier
not only to serve the remote workers in fixed branch locations, but also those who
are truly mobile. As this unified-communications environment expands to
include other communications modalities, IT decision-makers must understand
the implications for IT planning and investment.

Often, organizations will restructure or consolidate their IT departments
to more effectively manage and monitor voice and data networks. A majority of
organizations have dedicated a “communications group” within IT focused on
providing these services.

Overview:

Advanced Communications Services have become increasingly relevant to
businesses in large part because of the proliferation of branch offices, remote
workers, and the need for access to centrally provided data and applications.
These services, including Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Ethernet,
Internet access, peering, hosted connectivity and mobile offerings, are becoming
even more critical because the way we work is changing dramatically.

The majority of companies now:

• Rely on MPLS VPN services for site-to-site connectivity.
• Are increasingly using Ethernet as part of their WAN strategies, eitherfor access to MPLS-VPNs,
  or to supplement (or even replace MPLSVPN services) with Layer-2 services.
• Are running multiple traffic types including voice, video, and/or data, across their WANs.
• Are increasing demands for bandwidth, both to the branch as well as to the Internet.
• Are deploying SIP trunking to reduce PSTN access costs while increasing call routing flexibility.

Consequently, understanding trends in service availability, features and
pricing around MPLS, Ethernet, Internet and SIP services is vital. IT have
aggressively leveraged these new service options to reduce operating costs, or
reduce per-bit cost of bandwidth enabling their organizations to meet everincreasing
demands for bandwidth with little or no increase in monthly operating
costs.

The limiting factor for many services continues to be availability as larger
providers are often slow to ramp up Ethernet or SIP-trunking service offerings, or
they must overcome challenges related to integrating past acquisitions. This has
led enterprise IT architects to leverage service offerings from emerging providers
as an alternative to their established service providers.

In the never-ending quest to stay ahead of industry trends, IT executives
are investigating hosted peering options to increase Internet resiliency. Finally, a
small number of organizations are investigating IPv6 to provide new
functionality or to meet growing governmental requirements.

Overview:

IT spending is generally up for 2008 and 2009 in terms of overall dollars
devoted to this area. But a growing number of organizations are decreasing their
IT spends or anticipating flat budgets moving into next year.

At the same time, communications budgets are not seeing hard times, with
many companies expecting increases in these budgets. This means that moving
into 2009, a greater percentage of IT spending will go toward communications
services costs.

This volume examines general trends in IT and communications spending.
Additionally, we review how different sizes of companies and different vertical
markets plan to spend their IT and communications dollars.

As the U.S. economy slows, it is key for companies to optimize every dollar
spent both in IT overall and within communications. Given the communications
budget is becoming a larger part of the overall IT budget, it’s imperative to stretch
a nickel into a dime. For example, managed services are one way companies can
leverage their communications spends because those services can help offload the
IT and network staffs.

In order to get the biggest bang for the buck, companies must devote time
and resources to effective carrier contract negotiations and procurement. In this
volume, we provide detailed recommendations on how to get the best deal from
the carriers. We also analyze what companies are doing today and where they fall
short.

Overview:

Advanced Communications Services have become increasingly relevant
to businesses in large part because of the proliferation of branch
offices, remote workers, and the need for access to centrally provided
data and applications. These services, including Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (MPLS), Ethernet, Internet access, peering, hosted
connectivity and mobile offerings, are becoming even more critical
because the way we work is changing dramatically.

The majority of companies now:

• Centralize their applications and data in primary and backup data centers;
• Open new branch locations, with an average growth rate of about 12% a year;
• Expand the percentage of employees who telecommute full- or part-time;
• Implement new collaborative applications to improve productivity, customer service, and remote management of staff.

Overview:

Advanced Communications Services have become increasingly relevant
to businesses in large part because of the proliferation of branch
offices, remote workers, and the need for access to centrally provided
data and applications. These services, including Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (MPLS), Ethernet, Internet access, peering, hosted
connectivity and mobile offerings, are becoming even more critical
because the way we work is changing dramatically.

The majority of companies now:

• Centralize their applications and data in primary and backup data centers;
• Open new branch locations, with an average growth rate of about 12% a year;
• Expand the percentage of employees who telecommute full- or part-time;
• Implement new collaborative applications to improve productivity, customer service, and remote management of staff.

The Issue:

The Issue:

Overview: 

It’s been a long time coming, but the indications are that security and information protection are finally within spitting distance of getting the mindshare they merit, based on the only metric that really matters: Cash on the barrelhead.

In volume 1 of our ground-breaking benchmark, "Security and Information Protection: Trends and Organizational Issues", we highlight the acceleration in spending on security and information protection, discuss critical drivers, and drill down into the organizational and operational impacts. Security budgets have grown another 20% since our last benchmark (in 2005), and indications are that double-digit growth will continue through 2008 and beyond. Moreover, that growth is increasingly shifting away from consultants and staff and toward products and services—good news for vendors and providers. Security organizations are evolving as well, with the most significant trend being the shift in focus from “chief security officer” to “chief risk mitigation officer,” mirroring the overall organizational shift in focus from security to risk mitigation. In line with this shift, security teams are picking up responsibility for areas they don’t historically support (such as business continuance and facilities) but which, if not well managed, can increase an organization’s risk. And security remains a great career path: along with this increased responsibility comes a welcome (and sustained) increase in salary.

April 30, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Karen Wucher
Nemertes Research
Phone: 972-335-7028
Cell: 970-846-4768
Karen.Wucher@nemertes.com

FutureNet to Showcase Next-Generation Services & Networks
56%of Enterprises View MPLS as WAN Technology Choice

NEW YORK, NY -- April 30, 2007 – MPLS is the WAN technology of choice for 56% of enterprises, according to Nemertes Research’s Building the Successful Virtual Workplace benchmark. VPLS, carrier Ethernet, and optical-based services are also on the watch lists of staffs that must build robust networks capable of supporting multiple traffic types.

Carriers are struggling to realize new technologies' promise
Business Communications Review, April 2007

By Irwin Lazar, Principal Research Analyst and Program Director, Collaboration and Convergence, Nemertes Research.

Read The Article

If Ethernet Is The Answer, What Is The Question?

Web optimization starts from inside the data center

New Data Center Strategies Newsletter, Network World, 2/13/07

Network architects are spinning new patterns in data centers to support remote users. Increasingly, WAN connections provide the structure to deliver corporate applications to users from servers distributed across the enterprise - and in some cases, the globe.

The move from a LAN to a slower-speed WAN, coupled with increases in server performance, means a higher proportion of application response time comes from the network. Web browsers deliver most corporate applications by opening a connection to receive the main page, and opening each subsequent image (or frame) on the page in the order it appears in the Web page. The resulting staggered delivery of pages, unnoticeable in the LAN environment, becomes annoying across a WAN.

Microsoft, Nortel’s branch device has potential, but it’s not the first

Branch Office Best Practices Newsletter, By Robin Gareiss, Network World, 1/23/07

The CEOs of Microsoft and Nortel last week provided a further glimpse into some of the fruits of their partnership during a press conference in New York. One of the products they promised was a branch office appliance that combines VoIP and unified communications capabilities.

By Johna Till Johnson, President and Senior Founding Partner

The recent announcement by Verizon (NYSE: VZ) that it plans to roll out Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) starting in March highlights the continued demand for Ethernet WAN services (whether metro or long-distance).

Verizon (which provided few details, other than announcing availability of its service) joins AT&T (NYSE:T), which has limited deployments in about 20 cities, and alternative providers Masergy and Broadwing, both of whom offer VPLS services. (Masergy was the first to deploy VPLS services in the United States in 2003).

Advice for running IT at branch offices

Branch Office Best Practices Newsletter By Robin Gareiss, Network World, 06/27/06

If you’re responsible in any way for a new IT initiative in the branch office, one of your biggest concerns is likely to be how to monitor and manage the products and services involved with the initiative.

After all, without insight into the performance, you won't be able to document success (or failure) - and you'll be hearing from the end users in those branch offices when they can't access an application, complete a call, or are experiencing long delays.

I’ve talked to many IT executives about this challenge. If they had no budget constraints whatsoever, the ideal scenario is a combination of sophisticated management tools and a dedicated IT person at every location.

OrbitalEdge delivers WAN optimization through a software client

By Robin Gareiss, Network World, 01/31/06

The benefits of WAN optimization products are clear. Using compression and latency-reduction algorithms, they essentially increase the amount of traffic that can travel across a WAN link.

By Johna Till Johnson, Network World, 06/27/05

In my last column , I took issue with the idea of the federal government interfering with the right of local governments to create municipal wireless networks. Whether you agree or disagree with the specifics of that case, it raises a broader question: What, exactly, should the government's role be with respect to telecom services and networks?

By Johna Till Johnson and Johna Till Johnson, Network World, 06/20/05

A few weeks ago, the city of Philadelphia closed the RFP process for its much-ballyhooed municipal Wi-Fi network. With 12 bids in hand, the city plans to begin construction around September.

By Robin Gareiss, Nemertes Research Inc.

June 14, 2005

Globalization of businesses, data-center consolidation, and the rise in remote workers have made networks more complex. As organizations rely on the Web to transmit documents over long distances, Internet circuit congestion and TCP limitations result in degraded performance, leading companies to consider network-optimization technologies.

By Johna Till Johnson, Network World, 06/13/05

If you're like a lot of network executives, you've begun to look seriously at deploying a converged infrastructure. And you're probably aware that successfully deploying convergence means more than rolling out an IP PBX. It requires rethinking not just the phone system but everything from service provider service-level agreements (SLA) to network operations - and even more importantly, assessing the ways that converged applications can help improve the business bottom line.

Visual Networks webinar, featuring Robin Gareiss, Executive Vice President of Nemertes Research.

Learn how real-time insight into WAN and LAN performance can optimize VoIP in a live, free technology webinar.

By Robin Gareiss, Nemertes Research

February 1st, 2005

Monday’s announcement that SBC (NYSE:SBC) will buy AT&T (NYSE: T) for $16 billion, pending regulatory approval, represents mixed news for enterprises. A combined AT&T/SBC has benefits—which could vanish if AT&T doesn’t retain significant strategic control of business services.

By Robin Gareiss
Network World Data Center Newsletter, 05/25/04

Should the WAN be considered part of the data center? Old-school architects may not think so, but designers of next-generation data centers recognize that the network is an integral component.

Network-optimization Becomes Top Goal for Businesses in 2004

NEW YORK … March 17, 2004 – An overwhelming number of employees—87%—works away from the headquarters building or campus, according to Nemertes Research’s latest benchmark series, “Maximizing Your WAN: Bandwidth Trends and Benchmarks.” That’s one of several reasons bandwidth demand is rising on average 50% to 100% a year, and in some cases up to 500%.

Other factors influencing bandwidth demands include deployment of Web services, growth in graphical and high-capacity voice, video, and collaborative applications, and data-center consolidation, according to the five-month research project.

“Nearly every organization requires a faster, higher-capacity network. And it’s absolutely crucial for companies to operate these networks as efficiently as possible,” says Robin Gareiss, Nemertes’ principal research officer. “Yet, adding bandwidth is not always the best answer.”

Businesses increasingly must rely on carriers or explore the growing area of network-optimization products that leverage existing bandwidth. IT executives rate the traditional long-distance providers (AT&T, Sprint, and MCI) higher than the incumbent locals (BellSouth, Qwest, SBC, and Verizon) in 10 categories. But network-optimization vendors (Expand, Internap, Packeteer, and Peribit) scored higher than all of the carriers, according to the 130-page research benchmark series, which included input from about 100 IT executives.