Industry Insiders Consider the Big Network Questions

What technology is over-hyped? Is the IP-PBX a dead-end?Nortel Networks’ current business affair with Microsoft Corp. does not spell a return to Microsoft operating systems in Nortel IP-PBXs, according to one Nortel spokesman. "We have no plans to move beyond Linux," said Tony Rybczynski, director of Nortel’s strategic enterprise technology. He was speaking at Enterprise Networks 2006, a conference in Toronto in October. His comment stemmed from an audience member’s observation that Nortel’s Business Communications Manager (BCM) IP-PBX for SMBs started life a few years ago with a Microsoft NT operating system. But as industry observers wondered if the Microsoft OS was robust enough to support a telephone system, Nortel dropped NT and began using Linux instead. The audience member wanted to know if Nortel’s new joint venture with Microsoft in unified communications would spell a return to Microsoft’s operating systems in Nortel’s product. Judging from Rybczynski’s words, Nortel plans no immediate changes in this regard. But during a panel called "What Every Enterprise Needs to Know about This Industry," the answer was an anomaly – one of the few topics where presenters predicted the status quo would remain. In most other instances, the speakers – representing IT security firms, network-gear vendors and communication carriers – said telecom service buyers should brace for some big changes. As audience questions drove the panel, we present the topics in a Q&A format. Battling Telecom HypeQ The IT industry is rife with hype. Sometimes it’s difficult to know how much attention we should pay to technology advancements. What technologies do panel members think are over-hyped right now? A Tom Moss, VP, technology at Bell Security Solutions Inc., said network-access control has received too much press and has gained not nearly enough traction. The technology requires more work to implement than has been reported, and interoperability among different vendors’ ideas of network-access control doesn’t exist. "In security there’s so much ," Moss said. Ernest Eisentraut, director, application sales and engineering at Avaya Inc., noted that the move from TDM to IP telephony isn’t as easy as some pundits make it out to be. "There’s been a lot of hype around how simple it is," he said. From systems integration to security, companies should approach the move cautiously. Mike Hall, senior director, operations at Shaw Business Solutions, said MPLS is an over-hyped technology. Yes, it spells cost savings for network service buyers because MPLS lets carriers use their networks more efficiently, but it’s not yet a ratified standard and carrier implementations can differ substantially, making it difficult for customers to create long-haul MPLS links that interconnect between different service providers. Shaw is working on an MPLS offering. Although Hall didn’t say when it would be available, he did say it would operate on Layer 2, not Layer 3, where many MPLS networks operate. A Layer 2 implementation should give customers more control. Many of Shaw’s competitors, including Telus Corp., Bell and MTS Allstream Inc., already offer MPLS services. Rybczynski from Nortel said "intelligent networking" is over-hyped. He said it’s more of a marketing term designed to lock buyers into a particular network vendor’s wares than a real business requirement. Cisco Systems Inc., which did not have a member on the panel, has been pushing intelligent networking as the next big thing in communications technology for the past few years. Avaya Inc. also uses "intelligent" to describe its products. Q As technologies change, how do relationships between technology vendors and buyers change? A Rybczynski pointed out that buyers increasingly send not just voice or data or application experts to source new equipment, but combined teams instead. He said it’s because the fights between telecom and data professionals over network control that occurred with the advent of IP telephony are coming to an end. More often now the two sides don’t fight, but bring their respective expertises to the table. Moss from Bell said technology vendors are becoming more channel-oriented, apt to turn to external partners for customer relationships than their own internal teams. Bell Security Solutions is a channel partner for IT security vendors.Eisentraut from Avaya said line-of-business managers play a bigger role in IT decisions than ever before. IT execs are expected to bridge business requirements and technology specs: "CIOs really have been put to task to add value." Better BuyingQ What can IT and telecom buyers do to improve the technology procurement process? A Moss said whoever starts an IT project should maintain control of it all the way to the end. Too much value is lost when projects jump from the initial stages to the purchasing stage, when business procurement groups take over and the instigators take a back seat. "I’m not sure it’s fruitful," he said. Eisentraut said businesses should open up and "allow us into your business" to conduct needs assessments. Hall said companies should take a good long look at themselves first, and then decipher the "cloud" – the fog that too often obscures a technology project’s objectives and also often represents the carrier’s network in vendor presentations. Find out what’s in the cloud and how carrier technology might affect your organization, he said. Know thyself, Rybczynski advised. Network assessments should come early in the IP-telephony purchase process, for instance. Q Even in the network industry – traditionally hardware-driven – software is becoming popular. But application rollouts are notoriously more difficult and prone to glitches beside hardware rollouts. What can be done to harden the software experience, to help eliminate this juxtaposition? A Eisentraut said vendor investments in software patch management will pay off, especially if user organizations marry those techniques with over-arching business standards such as ISO. Q Lucent Technologies Inc. and Alcatel SA are one company now. Rogers Communications Inc. has swallowed Microcell Telecommunications Inc. and Call-Net Enterprises Inc. MTS and Allstream have combined. Will this consolidation continue? A Yes. All of the panel members said vendors would continue to join forces. Eisentraut and Rybczynski both added that the move towards a more software-centric network industry further brings together the formerly disparate worlds of hardware, software, data and voice. Q A representative of a large software firm said the IP-PBX is a dead-end architecture – that the future of business communications rests not with this big-box iteration, but with software embedded in PCs, servers and network components. Is the IP-PBX a dead-end? A No. Panel members agreed that successes among companies such as Avaya, Mitel Networks Corp., Nortel and other IP-PBX vendors suggest that businesses have embraced the architecture, although it’s changing: as telephony becomes more of a software play, perhaps the notion of a specific network entity known as a PBX no longer fits the bill. Nortel’s plan to decouple its IP-PBX software from the hardware is a case in point. Day TwoAnother day, another panel – same idea, but new questions. Q The battle between two phone system setups – CPE-based and hosted – is ongoing, even in the IP era. IP-PBX vendors say sales are booming. How fare the hosted providers? A According to Gianni Creta, CTO of hosted phone system provider OneConnect Inc., it’s a tough business. "We expected a larger uptake," he said, explaining that it takes time to make potential customers understand the benefits of the hosted model – lower capital investment, for example. Quincy Mittertreiner, director of enterprise sales, Canada at NEC Unified Solutions Inc., acknowledged that his company recently unveiled a hosted IP phone platform. He said the time is right because telecom buyers are starting to recognize how IP advancements scuttle acquisition plans: technology changes occur so quickly that by the time you realize ROI on a first-generation IP system, it’s time to replace it. Companies want to avoid that risk; hosted IP is one way to do it. Q Why do US companies spend more on IT than Canadian companies do? A Robert Quance, GM of MCI Canada, said the US houses more large companies: "We don’t even have a proportional share of big budgets. There’s no Microsoft in Canada." Large companies tend to jump on IT advancements quicker than small and mid-sized companies do. Nitin Kawale, senior VP, enterprise and public sector operations at Cisco Systems Canada Co., said that on an industry-by-industry and scale comparison, "I think we’d compare very favourably…at the top end of the spectrum," meaning among large businesses. Q What is the killer application of IP? A There isn’t one. Panel members largely agreed that it depends on the user. Q How will the industry balance the enterprise’s need for network security and the trend among vendors to provide applications as services? That trend requires network access – something that security-conscious enterprises are unwilling to give up. A Creta from OneConnect said the answer lies in a service buyer understanding his or her company’s requirements and responsibilities. Knowing who is responsible for each aspect of the IT infrastructure and tracking LAN interactions fosters the requisite balance. "It’s a matter of putting some controls in place," he said. Q Will vendors abandon their TDM lines before the decade’s end? A Mittertreiner, whose company was the only one on the panel this day with a TDM history, said NEC wouldn’t strand its legacy customers, but it would provide paths towards IP. "We will definitely not discontinue the evolution of our products." Q What is the biggest danger for IT and telecom buyers in the networking industry? A Quance from MCI Canada said it’s balancing complexity and advancements – new technology can just as well overwhelm as help a company. Mittertreiner said it’s not knowing enough about your company’s needs to avoid being caught up in technology hype. Kawale from Cisco said it’s the fast-changing technology market, which could leave some organizations behind. Creta said it’s not paying enough attention to IT advancements to decide the right way ahead.

Industry Insiders Consider the Big Network Questions

News | December 1, 2006

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