Thursday, April 12, 2007

USA - corporate networks

Network Commoditization Is Leading to an Expanded Set of Full-Service North American Service Providers

From Gartner Group

The increasing deployment of fiber to the business building enables a new breed of large companies to become service providers. They can do this efficiently by packaging their own IP and Ethernet infrastructure around the fiber link. This results in a simple, high-capacity Ethernet or IP access pipe that delivers a cost-effective converged voice, data and video delivery model.

Companies like IBM, Unisys, EDS and CSC can be one-stop retailers of IP communications along with their traditional IT services. Likewise, international players such as Equant and BT can now tie in their multinational customers with U.S. operations via IP/Ethernet fiber connections. Discussions with the systems integrators and global operators reveal that Ethernet/IP access to their customers is increasingly less of an obstacle. The industry is therefore on a path to end-to-end network commoditization.

The result is a new breed of telecom providers focused on large enterprises. But these new providers offer far more than network services, including their core offerings of LAN management, VoIP, storage, desktop management, security, help desk support and business continuity. End users will be the biggest beneficiaries, because they will have more options, with each option offering greater service depth.

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