Operaciones Integradas Blog

La Eternidad es Demasiado Corta

2013-11-08T15:43:00.001-08:00

La Eternidad es demasiado corta: Una rápida y convincente introducción que muestra los beneficios empresariales de trabajar con Avaya y Operaciones Integradas, S.A. de C.v. implementando una solución de colaboración móvil

http://www.youtube.com/v/IZWBS5JKc3U?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&autohide=1&attribution_tag=muQqxyvJgcuEvkl-lCno2A&showinfo=1

ACCEDA A LA INFORMACIÓN MÁS RÁPIDO, REÚNA A LAS PERSONAS MÁS FÁCILMENTE, TOME DECISIONES DE FORMA MÁS RÁPIDA... COMUNÍQUESE A TRAVÉS DE DIFERENTES DISPOSITIVOS.

2013-07-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

No hace mucho tiempo, escuchamos acerca de cómo mejoraría el mundo, cómo funcionarían mejor nuestros negocios, cómo trabajaríamos de manera más eficiente, si tan solo pudiéramos liberar toda la información contenida del mundo y hacerla disponible. Si todo mundo tuviera toda la información que necesita, la promesa indica cómo nuestra vida sería mucho mejor.

Algunos elementos de dicha promesa ya se han llevado a cabo. La era de la información ha abierto nuevas posibilidades. Pero también ha generado todo un conjunto de nuevos desafíos.

La restricción en los negocios ya no es el acceso a al información: es la habilidad para conectar entre si a las personas adecuadas, con la información adecuada, en el momento adecuado, para tomar decisiones de manera más rápida e inteligente, en tiempo real. La verdadera colaboración es el elemento faltante necesario para atravesar la sobrecarga de información y así ofrecer un verdadero progreso en los negocios. Habilitar una colaboración eficaz es la diferencia entre un negocio que prospera, y uno que se estanca.

Hoy, tenemos la tecnología y la innovación adecuada, en el momento cuando más se necesitan.

VIDEO COMUNICACION

2013-06-19T15:06:00.001-07:00

La comunicación por vídeo facilita el establecimiento de relaciones entre culturas distintas. Por ejemplo, entre personas procedentes de China, Japón u Oriente Próximo, con las de Alemania, Suecia y Dinamarca. En el primer caso las jerarquías son mucho más rígidas y eso se deja ver en las relaciones comerciales, mientras que en el segundo, los países se caracterizan por su enfoque de las "distancias cortas", de forma que los compañeros suelen relacionarse entre sí como iguales, con independencia de sus cargos formales. Cuando personas de culturas de distancias cortas interactúan con las de culturas en la que la jerarquía es mucho más rígida el vídeo puede ofrecer unos signos no verbales de respeto que aminoran los efectos de esas diferencias.

"Los factores que contribuyen al éxito durante las comunicaciones por vídeo tienen que ver con los individuos y sus mentalidades, con la forma en que los equipos son dirigidos por sus responsables, y con el modo en que la empresa puede crear una mentalidad que respalde estos aspectos", indica Stuart Duff, director de desarrollo en Pearn Kandola. "Hemos observado el valor de las pistas visuales en reuniones fructíferas, y las tecnologías de vídeo que las amplían al máximo, como la telepresencia, son ideales para mantener unas excelentes relaciones. No obstante, las personas que llegan a las reuniones con una actitud positiva, los jefes que comprenden y apoyan las diferentes personalidades y culturas de sus equipos, y las empresas que proporcionan los recursos y la capacitación para convertir las comunicaciones por vídeo en algo normal, son también elementos esenciales para conseguir la máxima eficacia en las reuniones con vídeo".

Al final las “redes visuales” pueden ayudar a las empresas a llevar la productividad a un nuevo nivel.

TENGA CONSIGO SUS PROPIAS COMUNICACIONES UNIFICADAS

2013-06-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Vamos a decir esto de la siguiente manera: "Traiga su propio dispositivo" no va a ahorrar dinero a su empresa. Claro, BYOD le permite a su departamento de TI evitar los costos iniciales y la molestia de armar a sus empleados con los teléfonos inteligentes y las tabletas (que, basándose en el historial pasado, probablemente Avaya Flare no hubieran gustado, de todos modos). Pero todavía hay gestión y software de seguridad para implementar las redes Wi-Fi para actualizar y potencialmente nuevos miembros del personal para contratar TI móviles inteligentes. Ninguno es barato. Según Aberdeen Group, podría costar a su empresa un extra de $ 170 por equipo por año para ir con BYOD en comparación con un despliegue interno.

Sin embargo, no va a detener la invasión móvil de la empresa. No cuando Windows, que tan recientemente como en 2005 celebró el 96 por ciento del mercado mundial de dispositivos de computación, ahora tiene sólo un tercio. iPhones, iPads y dispositivos Android como el Samsung Galaxy S3S acaparan casi la mitad, de acuerdo con super-analista Mary Meeker.

Así que en una era post-PC, ¿Cómo debiera estar su negocio en el juego? No es mediante el empleo de una mentalidad defensiva, es decir, fijarse en maneras de minimizar el gasto. En vez de ello, piense en cómo puede transformar su organización con las capacidades latentes de estos cohetes de bolsillo con el fin de obtener el mayor retorno de la inversión. Así es como se juega para ganar.

Veamos el ejemplo del Hospital Deventer en los Países Bajos. Cuando centralizó varias ubicaciones en un nuevo hospital en 2008, Deventer también desplegó una red robusta, escalable en torno a una red virtual de equipo Avaya. Eso no solo alojó firmemente la repentina afluencia de visitantes y empleados médicos con iPad, sino también aprovechó este dispositivo de dos maneras. En primer lugar, los médicos y las enfermeras ahora pueden ser localizados rápidamente en sus dispositivos móviles en cualquier parte del edificio. En segundo lugar, los médicos y las enfermeras pueden usar una aplicación en sus iPads para tener los registros médicos de los pacientes lo cual ayuda en la explicación de los síntomas y otros problemas de salud a los mismos. Estos puntos ayudan a estimular la calidad de la atención en grandes formas.

"Hace dos años, una configuración como esta no la hubiera pensado", dice Ko Takema, jefe de las TIC en el Hospital Deventer.

Según el Grupo Radicati, la movilidad es el "principal motor para la innovación y la adopción en el mercado de la Comunicaciones Unificadas". Los teléfonos inteligentes de gran alcance estan "impulsando la demanda corporativa de soluciones de comunicaciones unificadas para apoyar una fuerza laboral cada vez más móvil", mientras que funciones como correo de voz a texto, la convergencia fijo-móvil, y presencia móvil se han convertido en "las características populares y fiables" para los usuarios finales.

El Analista de COMMfusion, Blair Pleasant, está de acuerdo. "El crecimiento de la fuerza de trabajo móvil ha dado lugar a la necesidad de trabajadores para comunicarse sin importar su ubicación o dispositivo", dice. En parte debido al crecimiento de la UC en las tabletas, Pleasant prevé que el mercado mundial para los equipos basados en UC pasará de $ 12,23 mil millones en 2011 a $ 20,76 mil millones en 2016, una impresionante tasa de crecimiento anual compuesta (CAGR) del 17 por ciento.

No es de extrañar que el 57 por ciento de las empresas que no utilizan UC hoy están planeando o considerando una implementación de UC móvil, según un informe de 2012 de Frost & Sullivan, mientras que el 82 por ciento de las empresas con las comunicaciones unificadas planean hoy mantenerlas o aumentar su uso para aplicaciones unificadas móviles.

Oportunidades para la Transformación

Un ejemplo aún más impresionante que el Hospital Deventer es la Academia Essa, una escuela secundaria urbana en el Reino Unido cuyas aulas centralizadas de tecnología han retornado grandes ganancias debido a los impresionantes estudiantiles y está siendo aclamad como "una de las mayores revoluciones en el aprendizaje que el sistema educativo estatal ha visto en décadas ", según el diario The Independent.

Además de la transformación de sus aulas, Essa quería transformar la comunicación entre su personal. Después de haber invertido en 1500 iPads y dispositivos iPod para estudiantes y profesores, así como una red Wi-Fi mejorada, líderes Essa vieron que podían cambiar a una nueva y poderosa plataforma de comunicaciones unificadas y ahorrar dinero.

El uso de Avaya ® como base, y la aplicación Avaya one-X ® Communicator y one-X Mobile SIP para aplicaciones de iOS para ofrecer servicios de voz sobre Wi-Fi para dispositivos profesores, Essa fue capaz de reducir sus costos de telefonía y mejorar la colaboración, dice el Director de Essa Abdul Chohan.

"Cada miembro del personal tiene su propio número y puede ser contactado en el mismo dispositivo por lo que la necesidad de líneas fijas desaparece", informa. "La belleza de esto es que el personal puede ser contactado por uno de los padres directamente en su iPad ... También significa que tenemos algunas conversaciones extraordinariamente productivos. Los profesores pueden llamar unos a otros, sin costo durante todo el día ".

Además de estos softphones, Essa está lanzando Flare de Avaya para todos los estudiantes y maestros para que tengan fácil acceso a las herramientas de comunicación esenciales, con un solo “toque de dedo”, como la videoconferencia, mensajería instantánea, presencia, gestión de medios sociales, correo electrónico, y más a través de sus dispositivos móviles.

Esa es la clave. Video móvil de alta definición de hecho puede llegar a ser la "killer app" del móvil UC. La voz, mensajería instantánea, redes sociales y otros canales también ven que su valor se dispara cuando se extiende a "cualquier momento y lugar" en cualquier dispositivo. Así que si es una Empresa Móvil, asegúrese de invertir en todos los canales de colaboración. Los beneficios que Usted cosechará le sorprenderán.

¿Cuál es el Futuro de la Colaboración en Video?

2013-06-04T09:39:00.004-07:00

Puedo resumir rápidamente: Hacia arriba,en el crecimiento exponencial en el número de personas y el número de lugares desde donde la gente va a colaborar a través de video.

Ya estamos en el comienzo de una gran era en la colaboración de video a través de Internet. Con la consumerización de las TI, la popularidad de los dispositivos móviles de consumo y aplicaciones en los últimos años se ha fortalecido el mercado móvil. Del mismo modo, la popularidad de tabletas y teléfonos inteligentes de bajo costo de gran alcance, junto con aplicaciones como FaceTime, Skype y Google Talk no sólo han hecho del vídeo de consumo de grado de chat disponibles para la demanda de masas-que es también la reactivación para el video empresarial de alta calidad en el lugar de trabajo.

"La videoconferencia está entrando en la corriente principal de la empresa en el uso de nivel personal [móvil], no en la tele o un sistema basado en una sala", declaró Andrew Davis, analista de Wainhouse Research, a finales de 2012.

Así que estamos viendo muchas más escuelas y universidades con el uso del vídeo para llevar a cabo el aprendizaje a distancia o de la formación del profesorado de una manera más colaborativa. Los primeros en responder son capaces de utilizar sus teléfonos inteligentes para ver lo que está sucediendo en el lugar de la emergencia. Los médicos a través de la ciudad o del país pueden compartir video y registros y colaborar para ayudar a mejorar los tratamientos, todo a través de conexiones súper seguras.

Medios de dos vías como beneficio del "efecto de red": Los dispositivos conectados y los puntos finales que hay utilizan el video y es útil es para todo el mundo. Esto esta atrayendo a más personas al video, la creación de un circuito de retroalimentación. Armados con computadoras portátiles y dispositivos móviles, estos nuevos usuarios
exigiendo que el vídeo de negocios sea lo más cómoda y ágil como sus homólogos de los consumidores.

Hay que aprender a ver

Intrínsecamente, somos criaturas visuales. Sí, el mundo de la empresa ofrece una increíble rico menú de herramientas de colaboración, incluyendo teléfono, correo electrónico, mensajería instantánea, presentaciones en vivo o almacenada, incluso escritorios compartidos. Todo esto es bueno, necesario y de gran alcance. Pero tan pronto como se enciende el TV en un rincón de una sala llena, los ojos de todos son atraídos por la pantalla en vivo.

De acuerdo con Forrester Research, la utilidad del vídeo surge de su capacidad de "replicar las interacciones cara a cara y comunicaciones en tiempo real y ver las reacciones de los demás sin importar dónde se encuentren ... [video] ayuda a poner una cara y gestos a un nombre y voz, permitiendo a los equipos remotos y distribuidos a sentirse más conectados y ser más comprometidos con objetivos comunes. "

Si se hace bien, la colaboración de vídeo también puede ahorrar dinero de las empresas (piense ahorros de viaje), mientras aumenta las ventas y mantiene a los clientes felices. Todo está sucediendo hoy en día.

Pero como he mencionado antes, la colaboración de video está transformando para convertirse más simple y más abierta. Tiene que ser. A mediados del próximo año, se espera que el número de smartphones y tabletas en uso en todo el mundo supere los 1.5 billones. Estos dispositivos son los cohetes en los bolsillos. En 2015, el 80 por ciento de los smartphones tendrá cámaras y pantallas 3-D estéreo, los cuales mejoran el chat de vídeo, según Jon Peddie Research.

Asimismo, las políticas BYOD corporativos ("traiga su propio dispositivo") se han convertido en la corriente principal. De acuerdo con una encuesta publicada en 2012 por la revista CIO, más de la mitad de las empresas (52 por ciento) planea alentar o exigir a los empleados a BYOD en los próximos 12 a 18 meses.

BYOD es una bendición para el crecimiento de los negocios de video, por lo que las empresas deben dar la bienvenida, no lo ignore. Ya no es acerca de la conexión sólo a aquellos que tienen el software pre-aprobado instalado en un escritorio corporativo o tableta. Se trata de conectar a cualquier persona, en cualquier parte de la rica comunicación que el vídeo puede proporcionar.

Aquí hay algo de evidencia de este cambio, por cortesía de IDC. En la tabulación del mercado Q3 2012 para las empresas de videoconferencia, IDC encontró que las ventas de multi-codec de telepresencia inmersiva (es decir, demasiado grandes sistemas de videoconferencia basados en las habitaciones) continúa "disminuyendo rápidamente", por 35,8 por ciento de año a año. Otro sistema de vídeo de alto precio también se redujo 26.8 por ciento. Por el contrario, los sistemas de video de un solo codec y sistemas de videoconferencia personales ambos crecieron, un 0,4 por ciento y 8,7 por ciento, respectivamente.

Chat de vídeo de los consumidores está creando una generación de trabajadores que están familiarizados y cómodos con ella. En lugar de reservar una sala de videoconferencia que puede requerir técnicos de radiodifusión para operar, estos trabajadores quieren realizar chats de video de forma más pequeños y menos formal. Al mismo tiempo, esperan que las características de nivel empresarial como el intercambio de datos, soporte de múltiples partes, y una conexión sin latencia confiable. Ellos están en el trabajo, después de todo.

Es por eso que las empresas que quieren mantenerse en la vanguardia de la colaboración de video también necesitarán herramientas avanzadas para el nivel de escritorio y de grupo de trabajo, con el fin de apoyar las tareas empresariales de misión crítica como de ventas, formación y discusiones ejecutivas. Apoyar la colaboración muy rica, lo que hay en el centro es un sistema que soporta el procesamiento avanzado de medios, formatos múltiples clientes, y la calidad de alta definición.

¿Qué más puede un sistema de vídeo completo para el futuro hacer? En primer lugar, tiene que trabajar bien para que no haya obstáculos a la aceptación. En segundo lugar, tiene que ser capaz de sincronizar los usuarios de diferentes plataformas de cliente y diferentes conexiones, de modo que el "efecto de red" pueda realmente producir, tercer lugar, debe ser capaz de incorporar todo tipo de medios de apoyo, como presentaciones. Algunos sistemas más antiguos obligaron a los usuarios colocar una cámara en una pizarra con el fin de compartir material.

Wainhouse Research hizo un buen trabajo al armar las apuestas en la mesa: "todos, desde el personal de alto nivel, directores de marketing y trabajadores de colaboración entienden que si una solución no fuera intuitivamente y muy fiable, no sería aprobada definitivamente para situaciones de venta o de transferencia de conocimientos para llamadas B2B. Una solución de videoconferencia sólo tiene que trabajar, y tiene que trabajar cada vez ".

La colaboración de video se ha propagado rápidamente por todo el mundo. En la actualidad, engloba los informes de accidentes automovilísticos, derrames de materiales peligrosos, e incluso las comunicaciones entre oficinas.

Pero sólo tiene un componente de video móvil, un oficial dijo, hizo que el departamento funcione mejor: "Hemos aprendido que el intercambio de información y comunicación de manera oportuna salva vidas, por lo que cuanto más rápido se puede obtener esta información, más vidas podemos salvar ".

Para equipos de respuesta, una mejor información, como vídeo en directo puede significar la diferencia para salvar una vida o llegar a un edificio antes de que se queme. Para las empresas, esto puede significar una relación más estrecha con los clientes existentes, o una manera sencilla de saber poderosamente su historia a las nuevas perspectivas. De cualquier manera, tener la posibilidad de compartir la colaboración de video en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar, con cualquier persona, es donde el futuro se dirige.

Mientras que muchos en el mundo de los negocios parecen cómodos con el hecho de que pueden "aparecer en vivo" en cualquier momento del día, hay otra herramienta de vídeo interactivo emergente que puede resolver el problema de mal día de cabello, entre otros: Ambiente 3-D interactivo, donde los avatares digitales pueden interactuar en tiempo real.

Tales ambientes de "realidad virtual" parecían lejos cuando Second Life se puso en marcha hace una década. Pero en realidad hay un gran segmento de la población que hoy en día se pasan horas y horas en un entorno 3D interactivo-a menos que lo llamen juego.

Mientras que los comerciales de televisión para los videojuegos parecen centrarse en la capacidad de las personas para hacer explotar las cosas, es fácil imaginar la colaboración de video de negocios aprovechando los motores de renderizado de juegos 3D para que las personas puedan interactuar en tiempo real.

Avaya Cloud Vision Shifts to a Portfolio of Credible Offerings

2013-03-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Quick Take

Competitive Positives

• Avaya enhances partner standing with service providers
• Offering virtualized, multitenant cloud solutions for UCaaS, CCaaS and VaaS
• Inter-enterprise federation will allow interoperation across the cloud
• UC/CC cloud offering allows multitenancy management on single Aura platform
• Utility subscription model helps partners scale with usage on demand

Competitive Concerns

• Cloud UC and CC offerings not offering full enterprise feature set
• Cloud UC and CC platform functionally separate from video platform
• Cloud CCaaS capped at 500 concurrent agents
• Avaya Live Connect small business collaboration still restricts federation to intra-enterprise interactions
• Avaya current managed cloud services for large clients could cause channel conflict

Event Summary

Avaya announced cloud versions of the company’s unified communications, contact center and video enterprise offerings, as well as a managed private cloud contact center offering to serve the cloud service provider (CSP) marketplace. The offerings are designed to give the CSPs the ability to provide a choice of options for enterprises to implement Avaya’s UC, contact center and video services. The video and UC & CC offerings will be delivered via the CSPs and the contact center managed service will be delivered by Avaya directly or as a co-branded solution with a CSP.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

• Positive on Avaya’s announcement of UC, contact center and video cloud solutions as well as the roll out of a managed private cloud offering, because this provides a look at an overall Avaya cloud strategy that is long overdue. If implemented successfully, the portfolio will quickly fill a gap in enterprise product offerings and satisfy a desire among service providers to offer credible cloud offerings across the UC, CC and video markets.

Vendor Importance

• High to Avaya, because the action will counteract a competitive weakness that has been used against Avaya by major adversaries, as well as meet the needs of partners and end user customers and prospects with a desire to move to the cloud and that have a product preference and allegiance to Avaya. Without this announcement of a cloud strategy and portfolio Avaya was in danger of losing a considerable share of the UC/CC and video markets to other vendors that have already introduced cloud portfolios to facilitate sales through SP partners.

Market Impact

• Moderate on the cloud-based UC and contact center markets, because the disclosure of a more complete cloud strategy by Avaya will relieve the pent-up demand that has existed for such an Avaya solution on the part of service providers and end users. However, since major competitors such as Alcatel-Lucent, NEC, Siemens and especially Cisco have already made similar full or partial cloud strategy announcements, and are already capturing business with those products, it remains to be seen if Avaya’s portfolio will have a significant impact.

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

• The addition of Avaya cloud platforms for service providers to build hosted offerings to their end users that are seeking Avaya brand and quality standards will enhance the partnership standing with partners that have pent-up demand for Avaya UC, CC and video services. In addition it will offer a broader choice of quality options to service providers not yet standardized on a cloud solution.

• Avaya’s service provider offerings of virtualized, multitenant cloud solutions for UCaaS, CCaaS and VaaS will be well received by service providers looking to simplify and economize on its data center resources by utilizing existing IT platforms and systems to serve cloud-based customers with UC, contact center and video services. It will distinguish the Avaya offerings from competitive offerings that do not yet have fully virtualized software platforms.

• Avaya is emphasizing inter-enterprise federation on its cloud platforms, which will allow interoperation across the cloud, will enable UC, CC and video interoperability beyond the local enterprise and open up functionality that can enhance collaboration between enterprises and business partners. This is a strong, potentially differentiating position in a market for cloud UC services that is still confused and complex at best.

• Avaya’s Cloud offering for UC and contact centers allows multitenancy management on a single Aura platform that will simplify the operations of cloud service providers offering both UC and contact center services to its end users, helping to drive efficiency.

• The utility subscription model offered by Avaya to service providers using the Avaya platforms should prove attractive to those partners looking to minimize their up-front license investment. The “pay for only what is used” approach is still somewhat unusual in the marketplace today and will likely be popular with service providers seeking to enter the market with limited financial risk. It also demonstrates that Avaya is willing to share risk with partners on the timing of the cloud revenue opportunity.

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

• The Avaya Collaborative Cloud portfolio enters a cloud UC/contact center market that is increasingly well defined. Cisco and Siemens Enterprise have hosted UC/CC service offerings that are more mature and established in the marketplace. Mitel has long been actively selling hosted UC services to SMBs, and a range of service providers already offer UC on a hosted basis. Avaya will have its work cut out establishing a presence in this increasingly crowded market, either for services it hosts itself, or for the new multi-tenant platforms.

• The Avaya Cloud UC and Contact Center service provider offerings are not offering the full enterprise feature set included in the current Avaya premise-based solutions. Although it is unclear what is included and not yet available in the cloud solutions, this could limit acceptance by service providers seeking specific functionality found in the premise-based solutions as well as put potential end users in a waiting mode until full functionality is offered in the cloud.

• The Avaya Cloud UC and CC offerings, although unified on a single platform, are distinctly separate from Avaya’s video as a service (VaaS) platform. This will require service providers looking to provide UC, CC and video cloud services to acquire, implement and maintain two distinctly separate offerings, which will likely be more expensive and time consuming than a unified cloud suite offering.

• The Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions (COS) Express, a single tenant contact center managed service, is capped in scalability at 500 concurrent agents. While this will certainly cover the SMB and mid-range enterprise contact center marketplace, it will not be sufficient for larger contact centers wishing to implement a cloud solution from a service provider with an Avaya platform. In addition, it may eliminate the offering from the short lists of mid-range centers with plans for future growth.

• Despite the ability of newly announced Avaya UC and CC platforms to offer federation on an inter-enterprise basis, the original Avaya Live Connect collaboration offering for small businesses continues to restrict federation to intra-enterprise interactions which will limit its effectiveness to serve customers wishing to include partners and customers in collaboration networks.

Response & Recommendations

• Avaya should emphasize its triple play (UC, CC and video) of cloud offerings with a single, centralized administration overlay, as well as its private managed cloud contact center offering through the service provider channel as an advantage over other platform providers that emphasize one or two cloud offerings as a method of attracting more service providers to its offerings.

• Avaya should move as quickly as possible to merge its UCaaS and CCaaS platforms with its VaaS platform so that service providers can service all cloud customers with a unified and tightly integrated Avaya platform. This will allow service providers to take advantage of the inherent economies offered by a single platform with multiple functionality in terms of cost, ease of implementation, maintenance and serviceability.

• Avaya should emphasize its relatively low cost of entry for hosted UCaaS/CCaaS/VaaS with virtualized platforms and “pay-as-you-sell” utility pricing of licenses (no pre-buy) as a strong competitive advantage against competitors requiring usage minimums and those that do not offer virtualized platforms.

• Siemens Enterprise should stress its better established OpenScape Cloud offering for UC and contact center, positioning it as a more mature offering and similar in scope to Avaya’s new cloud offerings.

• Aastra, Alcatel-Lucent and other developers of UC solutions should monitor the progress that Avaya, Siemens Enterprise, Interactive Intelligence and Mitel make in attracting customers to their respective cloud UC services. Though a sizable market for cloud services has yet to materialize, adoption of the existing cloud UC and contact center services (vendor direct and service provider delivered solutions) should demonstrate if the UC cloud market is truly becoming more attractive and marketable to end users.

• Service providers already utilizing Cisco’s HCS platform (e.g., Vodafone, BT and Verizon) should leverage Cisco’s considerable brand equity in the marketing of their respective hosted services based on Cisco’s hosted UC platforms. Cisco’s value to service providers is that the company brings enterprise customers to them.

Analytical Perspective

We are positive on Avaya’s Collaborative Cloud strategy announcement, which includes cloud enablement for service providers wishing to offer unified communications (UCaaS), contact center (CCaaS) and video (VaaS) applications as cloud based services, as well as a new contact center managed service offering. Avaya has been overdue in its delivery of cloud versions of its Aura unified communications and contact center platforms for resale by service providers, and this announcement fills a competitive gap. In addition, Avaya’s UCaaS and CCaaS utility-based pricing model allows CSPs to pay only for what customers are using on a monthly basis. This will allow SPs to enter the cloud services market using Avaya Aura platforms with minimal financial risk, and grow the services as their end user customers’ requirements change. The new offers also enable SPs to evolve and augment enterprise communications services with cloud-based solutions as well as provide greater interoperability by federating communications across vendors, domains and protocols. The inclusion of a UCaaS, CCaaS and VaaS package to service providers is a strong and comprehensive offering that will make it unique in the marketplace. Overall, this announcement will be positively received by SPs and end user customers alike, and will satisfy a pent-up demand for Avaya solutions in the UCaaS and CCaaS markets.

However, Avaya’s delay in delivering a telephony and/or contact center cloud option to end users and service providers lags other marketplace leaders, such as Cisco, Mitel, NEC and Siemens Enterprise in the UC market, so Avaya will have its work cut out for them to catch up in market perception and mind share in the cloud services market with both service providers and enterprise users. In fact, the service provider selection process of the platforms used to provide cloud services is getting crowded and many have already selected technology partners, which may hinder Avaya’s partner seeking process in the coming months and years. Although Avaya talks of pending deals with more than 20 partners, few have been made public to date. Also, upon introduction the announced UC and contact center solutions do not offer the full feature complement of the Avaya premise-based offerings which could hinder acceptance of some end users requiring specific capabilities in their telephony and customer care platforms. Finally, the Avaya Cloud UC and CC offerings, although unified on a single platform, are a distinct and separate platform from Avaya’s video cloud offering platform which is based on Radvision technology. This will require service providers wanting to offer the full complement of Avaya cloud services to acquire, implement and maintain two distinctly separate offerings, which will likely be more expensive and less efficient than a unified cloud suite offering.

Avaya Aims New Low Cost/Higher Value Compact Switches at SMBs, SMEs & Branch Offices

2012-07-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Quick Take

Competitive Positives

• Enterprise class features at a very aggressive price point
• Stacking architecture offers greater scale at a lower cost
• IP Office integration simplifies deployment of both switches and VoIP
• Chassis-like flexibility for a fixed form factor price
• Early strong demand indicates an unmet need in the market segment

Competitive Concerns

• Avaya suffers from poor visibility in the market
• Avaya has been slow to create synergies with VoIP/UC products
• Executive churn causing channel concern
• Cisco fields a broader portfolio in this market segment
• How to displace HP switches among Avaya VoIP customers?

Event Summary

Avaya launched a new line of compact Fast and Gigabit Ethernet switches for SMBs, SMEs and remote branches that promise lower operational costs, offer aggressive pricing and deliver integration with Avaya’s IP Office collaboration offering. The six new ERS 3500 switches also support more flexible and scalable stacking to allow customers to start small and easily expand.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

• Positive on Avaya’s new ERS 3500 compact Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switches, because Avaya has created a compelling package of aggressive pricing, enterprise class features, good integration with its IP Office collaboration suite and greater stacking capacity and performance in the new switches. That combination of benefits should help it gain the attention of new prospects, and it gives IP Office users a compelling reason to use Avaya switches, rather than rival switches.

Vendor Importance

• Moderate to Avaya, because the new ERS 3500s complete Avaya’s Ethernet switching portfolio refresh and adds a compelling alternative for SMBs and SMEs compared to more costly market leaders. At the same time, Avaya is finally creating synergies between its compact switches and Avaya’s IP Office collaboration suite.

Market Impact

• Low on the compact Ethernet switch market, because Avaya does not have as large a presence there as some rivals, and it is still taking time and will require consistent execution to recruit its IP telephony-focused channel partners to take on selling its Ethernet switches. In addition, rivals have moved fast to refresh their compact switch lines, and there has been good innovation in the space over the last 18 to 24 months.

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

• Avaya included enterprise class features in the new ERS 3500s at an aggressive price point, making it between 30% to 50% less than some comparable switches by Avaya’s reckoning, and over 50% less than Cisco Catalyst 2960 C switches.

• Avaya in the next software release for the switches will have very compelling stacking capabilities with the new ERS 3500 switches, enabling four times the performance and capacity available with Cisco’s stacking, and it won’t require a separate license to take advantage of it. The Resilient Stacking feature will allow up to eight units to be stacked for a virtual backplane capacity of 80 Gbps, delivering high performance in a compact form factor.

• Avaya has created a compelling bundle combining the IP Office collaboration suite and the new compact switches, making deployment of both very quick and simple. A built-in configuration script allows a simple “Run IP Office” command to enable the Avaya IP PBX and VoIP phones to be discovered and configured, along with the appropriate QoS services on the switch ports. The combination has also been pre-validated for interoperability and includes a solutions guide for best practices to make it easier for voice-focused channel partners to add switching to their sales and expand their share of wallet.

• The ERS 3500 switches deliver great flexibility, enabling chassis-like features for a fixed form factor price, and the ability to operate in fanless or fan mode, depending on the power budget (60 watts or greater requires a fan, less than 60 watts doesn’t).

• Initial interest in the new ERS 3500 compact switches appears to be stronger than Avaya initially anticipated, but the company is prepared to meet that demand. This likely reflects a market need greater than being satisfied today by the vendors in this space.

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

• Avaya is battling the perception that it is becoming irrelevant in the Ethernet switching market. Vendors that are natural rivals say they never see Avaya in competitive deals, and at least one quantitative analysis house claims that Avaya has lost market share over the last couple of years. Avaya claims otherwise, but the dispute is not helping it.

• Avaya has been slow to create synergies between its data networking and UC products, and it is just now promoting combined solutions bundles a good two years after the Nortel acquisition closed.

• Avaya has seen some significant churn in the executive ranks, and it’s caused some real concern and hesitancy among channel partners, who worry about whether the current strategy will remain in place. At the same time, partners have not been happy with the margins that Avaya has enabled, and the company pared back a number of channel partners, even while it was looking to recruit in other areas.

• Market leader Cisco sells a broader portfolio of compact switches, with separate lines for small businesses and SMEs, allowing it to segment the market to a greater extent. Cisco’s compact switches include a robust feature set, including innovative power pass through capabilities that enable downstream devices to take advantage of power available in other switches to power wireless APs, surveillance cameras and VoIP phones.

• Avaya’s existing UC/VoIP customer base relies fairly heavily on HP switches, which are also aggressively priced, and it won’t be easy to displace those switches.

Response & Recommendations

• Avaya needs to stop changing horses in mid-stream. The executive turnover is unsettling for channel partners, and gives them a reason to hesitate, rather than embrace the combined IP Office and ERS 3500 switch sales they’re promoting among partners and prospects.

• While Avaya claims that it is growing its data networking business, at least one quant house does not seem to agree. If that organization is incorrect in its figures, Avaya should work with them to correct the mistake. The perception that it is losing “relevancy,” as one trade publication put it, is damaging to Avaya’s reputation and momentum.

• As Avaya promotes cross functional selling among its voice partners, it should also demonstrate its commitment to their profitability. Partners have complained of squeezed margins, even as Avaya has worked to expand its channel. Channel partners have other alternatives, and their profitability should not be sacrificed for a planned IPO or debt reduction to private investors.

• Avaya is gunning for Enterasys’ sweet spot with these switches, and they could have a significant impact if Avaya is successful in getting its VoIP partners to sell the bundled solutions that include these new switches. Enterasys meanwhile has done little to create synergies with its Siemens Enterprise joint venture. The combined companies may want to create more cross-selling opportunities.

• HP has the second largest market footprint in this segment of the market and offers an aggressively priced portfolio of comparably featured products as well. HP should take action within its sizable channel to fend off this new competitive offering and ensure it achieves feature parity where it may be slightly deficient in order to strengthen the offering and eliminate an insertion point.

Buyer Actions

• The once-moribund campus edge switching market has seen significant new innovations over the last 18 months, and any enterprise looking to refresh the edge of these networks would do well to try to future proof those locations by taking advantage of the new innovations being made in compact switches.

• Enterprises using unmanaged switches on an ad hoc basis because of cost sensitivities would do well to evaluate the new Avaya 3500 series compact switches. Boardrooms, movable classrooms and other locations could benefit from using a low cost managed switch with enterprise features by reducing operational costs without sacrificing policy control or security features (among others).

• Avaya VoIP and UC customers using HP (or other vendor) compact Ethernet switches may want to examine the benefits of the solutions bundles Avaya is creating around the new ERS 3500 switches. Avaya has priced them aggressively, insured interoperability and made it simpler to deploy them together.

Analytical Perspective

The introduction of the new ERS 3500 compact switches for SMBs, SMEs, and branch offices completes a total refresh of Avaya’s entire switching portfolio over the last two years, demonstrating from a product portfolio perspective that Avaya is solidly committed to competing in the space and regaining its former standing as a top tier contender. The ERS 3500 line of six switches, ranging from ten to 24 ports and promising much greater stacking capabilities than more expensive market leaders, extends more enterprise-oriented features to smaller businesses while offering lower costs than leading rivals in the segment. From a price, performance and features standpoint, it has given prospects every reason to consider the Avaya compact switches along with much more widely recognized competitors. At the same time, it is finally creating product and sales synergies between its lower end switches and its IP Office products, enabling it to push Avaya VoIP channel partners to actively sell Avaya switching (and wireless) products as a bundle with the VoIP solutions. But it will have to do a better job of convincing channel partners that it is committed to its strategic direction, and to their profitability. Too much churn over the last two years in Avaya’s executive ranks has caused resellers to worry about whether initiatives begun by a predecessor would carry over with a new regime. Early this year Avaya appointed a new general manager of its data networking unit, naming former Cisco executive Marc Randall to the post, while it executed a reorganization that reduced the number of operating units from seven down to three. And as Avaya investors angled for an IPO, channel partners have seen their margins erode.

Still, Randall believes Avaya has the opportunity to grow its data networking business, and his aim is high: he was recently quoted as saying he’d like Avaya to be the third largest networking company in the world.

Back to Operaciones Integradas, S.A. de C.V.

Avaya IP Office

2012-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Current Perspective

Threatening

Avaya IP Office is threatening in the market for communications platforms for SMBs. It is an all-in-one communications platform running on purpose-built hardware, scaling up to 384 IP lines, and based on a proprietary operating system. Communications applications and functionality included on the platform includes firewall and VPN, data connectivity via Ethernet switch and software-based router, DHCP server, voice mail (basic and preferred editions), call recording, IVR, mobility, auto attendant, call accounting, a 128-port audio conference bridge, point to point video and four-party HD video conferencing, and either basic ACD software or a more advanced contact center software that can scale to 150 agents. This makes it easy and cost-effective for businesses to purchase and deploy the solution. IP Office version 7 shipped in early 2011 and included a BCM migration wizard, support for Nortel Audio Conferencing, support for various BCM and Norstar handsets, IP Office-to-Norstar and IP Office-to-BCM interworking, and other functionality helping facilitate gradual migration from legacy Nortel systems to IP Office.

However, IP Office lacks tight integration with Avaya’s data networking products. This will not necessarily hamper its ability to deliver a quality voice over IP experience, but it could complicate the deployment and management of the disparate voice and data components that make up the larger solution set. Lack of encryption between IP stations could cause concerns about the system’s VoIP security capabilities. And limited hardware (i.e., call processors, power supply) redundancy options could lead to reliability issues. And finally, despite Avaya’s dominant position in North America, it enjoys only limited market share and visibility in the SMB market in Europe. This could hamper IP Office’s ability to establish itself in the region where there is already considerable competition in the SMB PBX space.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Weaknesses

Strengths• IP Office is Avaya’s primary go-to-market SMB telephony solution. Though Nortel’s Business Communication Manager and various legacy key systems remain in the Avaya portfolio, each of these can now be migrated to IP Office and will gradually be weeded out of the Avaya product portfolio.

• IP Office is a very mature product, having been actively sold in the SMB market for many years. This provides a large installed base into which Avaya and its partners can sell add-ons and services.

• IP Office provides a migration path from BCM and various key systems. This has potential of greatly expanding IP Office installed base as Nortel and Avaya key systems move to it. PARTNER Version and Norstar version, combined with key system mode, facilitate migration from legacy Avaya and Nortel key systems.

• IP Office consists of a single hardware model (IP Office 500 V2) that is capable of scaling to both large and small businesses within the SMB market. This not only allows customers to scale their communications system up or down without purchasing and deploying new hardware, it can also simplify reseller training and support processes since Avaya partners do not need to support many hardware systems.

• Though not as highly scalable as some SMB platforms, IP Office supports identical numbers of IP, digital and other kinds of end stations. This compares well against a number of competing platforms that support comparatively fewer digital lines than IP or vice versa.

• IP Office is not only a communications platform for SMBs, it can have a role in Avaya-based enterprise telephony solution deployments as well. Specifically, IP Office can serve as a remote site solution networked back to a centralized Avaya Aura Communication Manager PBX using Session Manager. This adds to the flexibility of the platform.

• Though IP Office is Avaya’s primary got-to-market communications system for SMBs, it shares the portfolio with Business Communication Manager, Nortel’s SMB telephony system which continues to be actively sold. This situation creates competition for IP Office within Avaya’s own portfolio of SMB products.

• IP Office is based on a proprietary operating system (IP Office OS) rather than on Linux like a number of rival products in the market for SMB communications solutions. Linux is generally favored as an OS for communications systems because it is comparatively stable platform and cost-effective to deploy.

• Many of IP Office’s recent updates have been focused on introducing features that facilitate migration from and interworking with Nortel SMB communications systems. While this is certainly valuable given ongoing product consolidation initiatives following Avaya’s acquisition of Nortel, existing IP Office customer without legacy Nortel products in place could become concerned about IP Office software releases becoming too-Nortel centric.

• IP Office has undergone many changes to the underlying technology in recent years, with the 406 and 412 models, as well as a platform specific to small businesses, being introduced, then withdrawn. This could cause concern among resellers seeking a stable SMB communications platform to sell, service and support. Moreover, version 7 of the IP Office software run only on the IP500 and IP500v2 control units, not on the 406 and 412. There are of course advantages to delivering customers a single platform, however companies with older IP Office hardware in place will not be able to upgrade to the new hardware without purchasing and deploying new control units
.

Back to Operaciones Integradas

Riverbed Proves Again Why It’s the Market and Technology Leader in WAN Optimization

2012-07-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Quick Take

Competitive Positives

• Riverbed beats chief rivals to market with UDP optimization
• Riverbed extends lead in feature-richness and customer focus
• Riverbed expands VDI support with ability to optimize Citrix ICA over SSL
• Riverbed well-positioned to increase its market dominance

Competitive Concerns

• UDP optimization is late
• Cisco’s renewed push on VDI and video optimization will give Riverbed a run for its money
• Rival Blue Coat delivers greater security integration and synergies
• Third quarter revenue shortfall a potential worry

Event Summary

December 5, 2011 – In its Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS) 7.0 software, Riverbed broadened the appeal of its WAN performance booster with acceleration for HTTP-based video, UDP applications, VDI, and integrated network performance monitoring and IPv6. The integration of its Cascade Shark packet capture and analysis allows enterprises to troubleshoot branch office networking problems remotely, without the need to install separate hardware probes.

View Full Press Release

Analytical SummaryPerspective

Positive on the release of Riverbed’s RiOS 7.0 software update, because it greatly broadens the appeal of Riverbed’s WAN optimization solutions, which already offered great feature-richness. The mixed bag of enhancements demonstrates Riverbed’s intent to focus on meeting customer requirements and reinforce its technology as well as market leadership.

Vendor Importance

Moderate to Riverbed, because the long list of new (and in some cases market-leading) enhancements essentially polish the crown jewels of Riverbed’s business to a high gloss, showing off even more facets of those gems. The enhancements also allow Riverbed to better capitalize on acquisitions by integrating acquired technologies into its Steelhead appliances, thereby increasing their value. Several new functions such as UDP acceleration, expanded video support, and VDI help to expand the addressable market for its Steelhead appliances.

Market Impact

High on the WAN optimization market, because in total, the wide range of new features could very likely spur even greater distance between Riverbed and its next closest rivals. Riverbed has already opened up a large lead in its dominance in the WAN optimization market, and these enhancements will only serve to extend that.

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

• Despite the fact that Riverbed did not release its UDP support when promised, it is still fairly unique in offering that acceleration; Cisco and Blue Coat do not yet have such support in their WAN optimization appliances. This gives Riverbed time-to-market advantages over its chief rivals and addresses an underserved part of the market for optimizing disaster recovery services, some VDI, and other UPD-based applications.

• Riverbed continues to demonstrate what has made it the dominant WAN optimization provider by a large margin; that is its continued focus on making its appliances among the most feature-rich in the market by adding capabilities important to its large and growing base of customers.

• Riverbed is positioning its Steelhead WAN optimization line to capitalize on the growing interest in VDI by expanding its already broad support for Citrix VMware and Microsoft VDI environments to include optimization for Citrix ICA over SSL encrypted links, as well as a new client drive mapping feature that enables the acceleration of content accessed directly from thin clients including thumb drives.

• Over the last several quarters, Riverbed has pulled away from its major competitors, now commanding just over half of the market and twice the share of its next closest competitor. With such strong momentum at its back, and its continued aggressive push to deliver consistent feature expansion based on customer requirements, Riverbed is well positioned to increase its dominance.

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

• Riverbed was due to deliver UDP acceleration and application visibility on the Steelhead appliances in H1 2011. The late delivery of those capabilities could cause it to lose time-to-market advantages and raise the ire of customers counting on that functionality earlier.

• Cisco has carved out a strong position in optimizing performance for VDI and video with the 4.4 release of its WAAS software, which includes context-aware data redundancy elimination features focused specifically on VDI and video traffic (see Cisco Looks to VDI and Video to Gain Advantage in WAN Optimization Market, October 7, 2011). It received good initial validation from third-party reviewers. Its renewed push in VDI traffic optimization will give Riverbed a run for its money.

• Despite the addition of new security features in RiOS 7.0, Riverbed does not deliver the same level of security that rival Blue Coat can offer by virtue of its existing WAN security business. Blue Coat recently integrated key Web security in its MACH 5 appliances that exploits the company’s new cloud-based Web security service, eliminating the need to backhaul Web traffic to a central location from remote locations.

• Despite its strong momentum, Riverbed did not achieve revenues it had anticipated in its most recently reported quarter, which resulted in a drop in its stock price. Should the next quarter come up short, it will fuel fears that the enterprise WAN optimization market is nearing saturation and open up more opportunities for vendors which do not command the same premium that Riverbed enjoys.

Response & Recommendations

• If Cisco’s context-aware DRE (data redundancy elimination) does in fact improve the user experience, especially compared to Riverbed’s VDI and video optimization, Cisco should hire third-party testers to validate that advantage. Cisco is hanging its WAN optimization hat on that innovation, and it should be prepared to demonstrate its superiority (if that exists) over the market leader.

• Once Blue Coat develops a customer base for its new Web security services integration with its MACH 5 WAN optimization appliances, it should highlight the benefits in customer case studies, looking for ways to quantify the benefits of that integration and publicizing those metrics. That integration gives Blue Coat good differentiation as well as a good cloud story, something which Riverbed does not yet have.

• Cisco needs to quash rumors that it will abandon its WAAS appliance line in favor of integrated router features/blades if it is to continue to compete successfully against Riverbed. If Cisco is committed to being a top-tier competitor in the WAN optimization market, it needs to demonstrate that commitment clearly. One of the ways to do that is to maintain better feature parity with market leader Riverbed.

• A little paranoia can be a good thing, if it motivates an organization to be vigilant for shifts in market dynamics. Riverbed has done a great job of focusing on customer requirements, but its success could blind it to subtle changes in market demands. Competitive pricing and responsiveness to partners and prospects should not be sacrificed as Riverbed continues to pull away from its nearest competitors.

Buyer Actions

• It is only a matter of time before latency-sensitive VDI pervades the enterprise network, and video has already achieved mainstream status as a tool for a variety of enterprise activities. Network operators should verse themselves on how those applications behave across the network, what their requirements are in terms of latency, and what options exist to better support them across far-flung enterprises.

• Existing Riverbed customers should be heartened by the wide range of new features Riverbed has included in the latest RiOS release (7.0). Its ‘something for everyone’ update reflects the diversity in Riverbed’s broad customer base and demonstrates the vendor’s commitment to its customers.

• Prospects looking to add WAN optimization to their networks, especially to support new latency-sensitive applications traffic such as VDI and video, should evaluate the different approaches to accelerating those newer traffic types. Each competitor brings unique techniques to the battle, along with differentiated feature sets.

Analytical Perspective

Borrowing a page from rival Cisco, Riverbed is doing a good job of integrating acquired technologies into its Steelhead appliances, thereby increasing the value of the products. Just as Cisco has integrated a variety of network services into its switches and routers, so too is Riverbed integrating acquired technologies such as its Cascade Shark packet capture and network performance management as well as Skipware satellite communications optimization into RiOS 7.0. At the same time, RiOS 7.0 addresses a wide range of customer requirements that reflect the diversity of its customer base, enabling Riverbed to broaden the appeal of its Steelhead appliances. New UDP optimization now enables Riverbed to optimize bulk file transfers used in replication or disaster recovery applications as well as some VDI implementations, such as VMware’s PCoIP protocol for VMware View. At the same time, all major WAN optimization providers recognize the new opportunities for expanding the addressable market with the enterprise adoption of video as a tool for a variety of purposes, including training, employee communications, marketing, and more. Chief rivals Cisco and Blue Coat have recently expanded their video optimization techniques. Blue Coat, in particular, added stream-splitting for Adobe Flash just one month earlier; it had already delivered the ability to cache Microsoft Silverlight content locally, although it does not claim to provide stream-splitting or application layer multicasting for Silverlight yet.

All this comes at a time when Riverbed is distancing itself from its major rivals. By some estimates, Riverbed owns just over 50% of the WAN optimization market, which is about twice that of its next major rival, Cisco Systems. That is up from about 34% of the market just two years ago. Common wisdom suggests that WAN optimization is a three-horse race between Riverbed, Cisco, and Blue Coat, despite the healthy number of smaller rivals still competing in the market. Of course, as the clear market leader, Riverbed has a very large bull’s eye on its back, and competitors will be keen to take advantage of any missteps it makes. At the same time, nervous investors will keep the pure-play focused to some extent on the short term, although Riverbed has demonstrated good long-term vision in its acquisitions and partnerships.

Deal confirmed, RADVISION to be bought by Avaya.

2012-03-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Bringing to end end many months of speculation, both verbal and financial, Avaya Inc. today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire RADVISION Ltd.

Upon closing, RADVISION's enterprise video infrastructure and high value endpoints will be integrated with Avaya's Aura(R) Unified Communications (UC) platform to create a compelling and differentiated solution designed to accelerate the adoption of video collaboration.

The RADVISION portfolio includes a full range of videoconferencing products, technologies and expertise serving enterprises, small business, and service providers. It includes standards-based applications, open infrastructure and endpoints for ad-hoc and scheduled videoconferencing with room-based systems, desktop, and mobile consumer devices. The integrated Avaya and RADVISION portfolios will extend intra-company business to business (b2b) and business to customer (b2c) video communications, and also supports internal "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) initiatives.

RADVISION's SCOPIA Video product line and expertise integrated with the open architecture of Avaya Aura(R) will bridge existing H.323 communications networks and SIP-based environments, delivering scalability and a user experience designed to be intuitive and easy to operate. At the close of the transaction, RADVISION and Avaya channel partners will be positioned to deliver complete UC Video integration, operational support, and professional services.

In the transaction, which has been approved by each company's Board of Directors, RADVISION shareholders will receive US$11.85 per share, valuing the transaction at approximately $230 million. The acquisition is expected to close within approximately 90 days assuming the satisfaction of agreed-upon closing conditions.

Entering into this agreement highlights Avaya's commitment to bring The Power of We(TM) to every Avaya customer, helping businesses to drive faster collaboration, smarter decisions and better business results.

Kevin Kennedy, president and CEO, Avaya said "The opportunity for personal workspace is now. Customers demand a rich, collaborative user experience that is interoperable and easy to use. In addition, we believe this transaction will leverage a highly-skilled, incredibly talented and experienced workforce ready to deliver video to enterprise customers. With this acquisition we will seek to extend videoconferencing to any device, anytime, anywhere, making it as easy as a phone call, seizing the opportunity to deliver a fully-integrated solution and architecture that we believe sets us apart from the competition."

Boaz Raviv, CEO, RADVISION said "RADVISION has a strong heritage of developing and delivering innovative videoconferencing products and technologies deployed by Fortune 500(R) companies and global service providers. As companies and their customers seek to deploy a wide range of video capabilities as part of their daily collaboration, the combination of Avaya and RADVISION's portfolio will provide flexible and easy to use solutions. Avaya's commitment to quality, innovation, open architectures and industry standards is an ideal fit to advance RADVISION's vision for making video part of everyday life."

Commenting on the deal Ira M. Weinstein, of Wainhouse Research said, "The addition of the RADVISION video portfolio to Avaya's business collaboration solutions is a powerful combination. RADVISION's video management capabilities, video bridging solutions, and video endpoint portfolio complement the Avaya Aura(R) unified communications platform. This is a win for both of these companies, their channel partners, and their end-user customers."

"Avaya's pending acquisition of RADVISION is welcome news. It will bring Avaya an end-to-end video solution including a mature and reliable suite of infrastructure components, and provide RADVISION access to a global distribution channel and brand association with Avaya. Customers are demanding more powerful collaboration tools, with integrated video and voice solutions that leverage existing video investments, and enable them to benefit from new state-of-the-art technology. Integrating these complementary technologies will help minimize interoperability concerns and provide Avaya customers with a flexible collaboration solution." said Michael Brandofino, EVP, Video and Unified Communications, AVI-SPL.

Avaya comprará al proveedor de videoconferencias Radvision

2012-01-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

El proveedor de comunicaciones unificadas está en negociaciones para comprar Radvision, que hace soluciones de videoconferencia para redes 3G e IP por unos 200 millones de dólares

Avaya está estudiando la compra de Radvision por 200 millones de dólares, lo que le ayudaría a competir mejor con Cisco y Polycom, e incluso como el negocio LifeSize Communications de Logitech, anunció Globes, una publicación de Israel.

Al mismo tiempo parece que hay otros interesados en Radvision, muy afectado por la compra de Tandberg por parte de Cisco en 2009 –aunque cerrado el año pasado, por 3,300 millones de dólares. Este acuerdo ofreció a Cisco una amplia variedad de productos para el mercado de gama medio, un área en la que la compañía no tenía presencia.

Tanto la videoconferencia como la colaboración es un mercado que está creciendo rápidamente y que tiene un brillante futuro porque es la opción en que la mayoría de las empresas buscan la manera de reducir costes, particularmente los de viajes, además de aumentar la productividad de sus empleados. Por otra parte, es un tendencia cada vez mayor utilizar estas tecnologías no sólo para reuniones, sino para comunicarse con los trabajadores, partners y clientes.

A principios de esta semana, la empresa de investigación de mercado IDC dijo que el mercado de videoconferencia y telepresencia creció un 24.3% en el tercer trimestre respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior, con ingresos de 680.4 millones de dólares.

Cisco es el líder del mercado con una cuota del 51.6%, algo más del 48.4% que tenía en el tercer trimestre de 2011. En cuanto a Polycom, sus ingresos crecieron un 19.4% en el trimestre. Radvision, por el contrario, perdió 7.4 millones de dólares en el tercer trimestre, con ingresos cayendo hasta los 17.3 millones de dólares frente a los 24.5 millones del mismo periodo del año anterior.

No parece que la decisión de Radvision de comprar los activos de videoconferencia de Aethra por diez millones de dólares haya dado resultados.

Globes asegura que el año pasado HP mantuvo negociaciones con Radvision, pero que el precio de compra acabó con ellas. Finalmente HP vendió su negocio de telepresencia y videoconferencia a Polycom. Como parte del acuerdo, Polycom es ahora el partner exclusivo de HP para los productos de videoconferencia y telepresencia.

Riverbed Proves Again Why It’s the Market and Technology Leader in WAN Optimization

2011-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Event Summary

In its Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS) 7.0 software, Riverbed broadened the appeal of its WAN performance booster with acceleration for HTTP-based video, UDP applications, VDI, and integrated network performance monitoring and IPv6. The integration of its Cascade Shark packet capture and analysis allows enterprises to troubleshoot branch office networking problems remotely, without the need to install separate hardware probes.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

Vendor Importance

Market Impact

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

Response & Recommendations

Buyer Actions

Analytical Perspective

Solución de Colaboración de Avaya gana el premio de la revista PC World En Español en la categoría de mejor software para solución de movilidad

2011-11-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

Avaya Flare® Experience y Avaya Aura® Collaboration Server fueron elegidas como las soluciones líderes para la comunicación y la colaboración en tiempo real

BASKING RIDGE, Nueva Jersey – Avaya anunció hoy que PC World En Español, líder en la región como fuente de noticias especializada en tecnologías de la información, distinguió a Avaya Flare® Experience y Avaya Aura® Collaboration Server con el premio al mejor software para solución de movilidad. Este premio es un reconocimiento al liderazgo demostrado al ofrecer una plataforma de comunicaciones con sólidas herramientas de colaboración que permite aumentar la productividad de las empresas.

Avaya Flare Experience es un software de colaboración que aprovecha al máximo la plataforma de comunicaciones basada en SIP Avaya Aura para brindar comunicaciones optimizadas multi-sesión y multi-modales en tiempo real desde el escritorio. Con este software, los usuarios se comunican y colaboran sin importar el tipo de red que utilicen o cómo accedan a ella.

Avaya Aura Collaboration Server brinda los elementos básicos de Avaya Aura® en un único servidor. Permite que empresas con una infraestructura existente, ya sea de Avaya como de otros proveedores, evalúen las novedosas terminales y aplicaciones SIP de Avaya sin la necesidad de actualizar la totalidad de su red de comunicaciones.

OpenFlow: Distributed Network Nirvana or Academic Science Project

2011-10-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

OpenFlow will move from the academic to the commercial in the next 24 months
Vendors’ perception of OpenFlow will determine whether they resist or embrace the technology

From its beginnings at Stanford as a research project to becoming a technology movement that has start-ups building businesses around it, OpenFlow has emerged as a topic of discussion in many networking circles today. OpenFlow is essentially the proposal to add a hook into an existing network device that enables control and forwarding actions to be centrally managed off-device and then implemented identically across all devices in the network. Whether this control includes table replication, routing actions, security policies, or even access control list (ACL) population, all are possible with the OpenFlow architecture. Consider that a device could merely execute packet handling directions versus actually having to determine which decision to make. This, in turn, could radically reduce the processing requirements on the device itself, in addition to enabling a consistent policy application across a very large number of devices (theoretically, tens to hundreds of thousands), which would vastly simplify management. OpenFlow also offers the operator the ability to integrate intelligence into the network without relying on the network device’s operating system or even application awareness that can then execute and apply QoS and security policies. While some vendors offer devices that possess this ability today on a select portion of their portfolio, there are exceptionally few environments that are 100% standardized on a single vendor’s latest generation of products.

LifeSize Adds Mobile HD Streaming To Video Center Play

2011-02-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

By Chad Berndtson, CRN
feb. 15, 2011 2:22 PM EST

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LifeSize Communications on Tuesday added HD video content streaming for mobile devices to its flagship video management appliance, the latest step for the video company's expansion beyond its well-known video endpoints and into the broader infrastructurearena.

Specifically, the LifeSize Video Center will now be enabled for mobile streaming, meaning users can access live and on-demand HD video content from PCs, but also Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) iPhones, iPads and iPods connected to Wi-Fi or cellular networks. The one-way streams, such as from corporate or classroom presentations, are accessed via Web browser without any additional softwareneeded, according to LifeSize.

In addition, the Video Center now includes automatic adaptive streaming, meaning that users can stream an HD recording from a LifeSize 220 Series video endpoint at up to four different bitrates -- preserving the quality of video on mobile devices or even in instances of choppy bandwidth.

Users can also access and store video content using their existing network attached storage (NAS), and the LifeSize Video Center'sAPI is enhanced to let developers build Video Center content into third-party systems.

LifeSize first debuted the Video Center in April 2010 -- an appliance that processes HD video where it's created and offers advanced management of video content for network administrators and users to stream, record, auto-publish and store video, audio and data content.

The new enhancements will all be part of LifeSize Video Center Version 1.2, which will be available for download in March. Video Center is currently listed at $29,999 MSRP.

Cost savings and ease-of-use are two of LifeSize's most important value propositions to VARs and customers, said Rafi Anuar, product manager -- especially as a compelling alternative to video channel heavyweights like Cisco (NSDQ:CSCO) and Polycom.

"These are built from scratch, in house: both the endpoint side of the portfolio, and the infrastructure side of the portfolio, which includes Video Center and our bridge products," Anuar told CRN.

"When we set out to do Video Center, we looked at how existing solutions were architected," he added. "We use the LifeSize 200 series to transcode the video before it ever leaves the endpoint -- all that heavy transcoding work is being done right on the endpoint."

Video Center can offer up to 20 concurrent HD recordings, and 50 in standard definition. It can also enable up to 1,000 live video streams and up to 350 simultaneous on-demand streams, all in 720p30 HD video.

LifeSize, which was acquired by Logitech in 2009, has about 15,000 customers in 100 countries, according to its executives.

Its channel program, which LifeSize retooled about a year ago, numbers about 1,500 VARs, and OEM and integration partnerships with the likes of Avaya and Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT).

HP Networking Unified Communications Platforms Face Less Than Certain Future

2011-02-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Competitive Positives

• The VCX Unified Communications Platforms remain on offer within the HP Networking portfolio.
Customers can still purchase them; channels can still actively sell them.
• HP has committed to releasing at least one additional software update – VCX 9.8 which will be available later this year.
• HP has a wide range of relationships with developers of telephony systems and software.
These can be leveraged to help transition VCX customers to other products when and if the need arises.

Competitive Concerns

• HP has not the committed marketing and sales resources vital to raising awareness of VCX in the market.
• Without a significant amount of marketing and sales resources dedicated to VCX the product is highly likely
to fail in the extremely competitive UC market.
• For much of 2010 HP worked to integrate VCX into its portfolio of networking products, giving customers
and channel partners every indication that it was committed to the product.
• Without VCX HP will have no unified communications products in its portfolio,
a weakness compared with Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent and Siemens Enterprise, all of which deliver an end-to-end portfolio
of voice and data products.

Event Summary

January 27, 2011 – HP Networking has placed its VCX Unified Communications Platforms into maintenance mode. The company will continue supporting the products but ongoing development of them has by and large ceased.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

• Very negative on HP placing into maintenance-only mode the UC systems and software that came with its acquisition of 3Com. Since its acquisition of 3Com HP added the VCX line of PBXs and ancillary communications software to portfolio of networking systems, narrowing its market focus to the SMB rather than to both SMBs and enterprises as the products were positioned under 3Com. HP stopped short of actually discontinuing the VCX line of communications solutions. But with HP not committing to its long-term development or dedicating marketing resources that would raise its visibility in the UC market, HP will very likely create a downward spiral from which the VCX will be unable to survive as a viable UC offering.

Vendor Importance

• High to HP, because without VCX as a viable product HP will not be able to execute on the portion of its UC strategy which, for the past few months, has been to sell its own branded telephony systems to SMBs. Though HP could simplify technology partner relationships with Avaya and others made complicated by a UC product line under the HP Networking brand, it would leave HP without a telephony platform of its own. As a result HP would not be able to offer an end-to-end line of voice and data solutions as Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent and Siemens Enterprise can deliver.

Market Impact

• High to HP customers and resellers with investments in VCX systems and software because it is looking like the VCX’s days are numbered. If the product slips from maintenance-only to end-of-sale, VCX customers and resellers will gradually need to seek other options for the business communications solutions they respectively buy and sell. Low to HP’s competitors in the UC market because VCX does not have much visibility not does it often appear on RFPs.

Avaya Acquires Konftel

2011-01-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

The acquisition of Konftel by Avaya is most interesting, and undoubtedly of much more significance than might be represented by the tiny acquisition price ($15M). We suspect the deal signals a significant hardening of the rift between Avaya and Polycom. At one level, the acquisition gives Ayava

some significant voice technology which Avaya might embed in its overall product portfolio. Indeed, the press release states that Avaya intends to leverage Konftel’s product portfolio with Avaya’s multi-modal technologies and user experiences to deliver innovative and differentiated capabilities that reach

across Avaya’s platforms. A t another level the acquisition gives Avaya a wired and wireless voice endpoint product line and reduces Avaya’s reliance on Polycom.

One year ago, Polycom listed Avaya as one of its seven strategic partners. In the interim, however, Avaya signed an OEM agreement with LifeSize / Logitech and has now acquired Konftel, a company that has had a strong speakerphone presence in Europe and is a major Polycom competitor there.

On another front, Polycom has tightened its relationship with Microsoft and made much ado of that strategic partnership while Microsoft has released Lync and positioned this strong UC offering as the next PBX killer –a direct threat to Avaya’s current business if not its future vision.

If the enemy of your enemy is your friend, what about the friend of your enemy’s enemy’s friend?

Polycom Enhances Unified Communication Solutions for Microsoft Lync Server 2010

2011-01-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Polycom, a provider of unified communications (UC) solutions and a Microsoft (News - Alert) Gold Certified partner,announced enhancements to its comprehensive portfolio of voice and video solutions for Microsoft Lync Server 2010

Industry analysts say the partnership between Microsoft andPolycom (News - Alert) will offer the interoperability, a rich feature set, and simplified management and administration capabilities that customers demand today.

“Polycom is teaming with Microsoft to transform business communications by offering our customers the most comprehensive, intuitive, interoperable, end-to-end UC experience,” said Joe Burton, Polycom chief technology and strategy officer, in a statement.

“Through our shared commitment with Microsoft to deliver flexible standard-based solutions, we offer an enterprise-grade, personalized communications experience to customers—one that is more collaborative, engaging, and accessible—and with demonstrated ROI for customers.”

Polycom HDX series telepresence systems and Polycom UC Intelligent Core Infrastructure are the industry’s first telepresence solution designed to be fully interoperable with Microsoft Lync, according to company officials.

Lync offers a single interface that unites voice, IM/presence, audio-, video-, and Web-conferencing into a richer, more contextual offering and a single identity making it easier and more efficient for users to find contacts, check their availability and connect with them.

Supporting standard-based H.264 High Profile technology, Polycom telepresence solutions reduce bandwidth requirements for HD video communication by up to 50 percent, while also working with Lync.

The HDX series telepresence systems and RMX conference platform are now part of a full portfolio of Polycom UC endpoints optimized for Lync. Other solutions included in the portfolio are the Polycom CX500 and CX600 UC devices and the Polycom CX3000 IP conference phone, the only conference phone optimized for Lync.

Polycom’s devices optimized for Microsoft Lync offer Polycom HD Voice, time-saving features such as single sign-in, calendar access, and advanced presence on vibrant color screen displays.

These video solutions from Polycom incorporate Microsoft’s RTV codec, enabling communications throughout enterprises as well as B2B environments and across multiple collaboration tools.

The Polycom solutions also enable customers to collaborate from their desks, on the road, at home, or in a conference room using standards-based Polycom solutions.

Utilizing Microsoft’s Edge Server, Polycom’s UC Intelligent Core infrastructure traverses firewalls and enable federation between organizations that would otherwise not be able to collaborate via video or would require the additional cost and management complexity of gateways to connect, the company said.

The company is also preparing its partner ecosystem to deliver Microsoft-optimized solutions by offering a dedicated Microsoft UC enablement program designed to assist channel partners to successfully sell, implement and service the Polycom offerings.

Polycom solutions optimized for UC increases the competitiveness of organizations by enabling people to easily leverage productivity-enhancing voice, video, presence and data collaboration tools through the familiar environment of their everyday workflow, company officials said.

“The arrival of Microsoft Lync elevates productivity and transforms business communications,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of unified communication at Microsoft. “Polycom’s support of Lync, with their new portfolio of Lync-optimized voice and video solutions, helps enable business users to stay connected from virtually anywhere, anytime.”

Polycom and Microsoft recently announced mutual R&D and go-to-market activities to ensure customers interoperable end-to-end UC solutions that encompass software, hardware, networking and services, and will enable customers to improve business productivity and reduce travel, telecom and IT operating costs.

The company now offers a full suite of standards-based UC voice, video, conferencing, and collaboration solutions optimized for Lync, with enhanced video interoperability expected in the first quarter of 2011.

The new CX series UC devices are now available through certified Polycom reseller partners, like Operaciones Integradas, S.A. de C.V., with an MSRP U.S. $199 for the CX500 IP phone, designed for use in public areas; $299 for the CX600 IP desktop phone; and $849 for the CX3000 IP conference phone, the company said.

Integrate, Automate and Innovate

2010-12-23T16:12:00.000-08:00

Englis Version

In this year several situations have occurred. Situations in years above could not have imagined:
1. 3Com and its partners: H3C and TippingPoint was acquired by HP2. Some products Aethra were purchased by Radvision. Aethra leavesworld of Video Communication.3. Nortel Networks is attached to Chapter 11 in the U.S.4. Avaya acquires the business of Nortel Networks. Nortel leaves thetelecommunications market.5. Logitech acquires LifeSize. Logitech enters the world of video communication.6. Cisco acquires Tamberg.

The world of telecommunications has changed dramatically in the last quarter the first decade of the millennium.

Nowadays it is very normal for unified communications. This type of lets the user communications in a single device: Video, Data and Voice. But most important is that today does not keep in one place.Communications are mobile. No matter where you find yourself mobile device allows you to have a presence.
With the development of the Internet every day, with the expansion of public networks Mobile technology has increased. Is it possible that in a short time the offices disappear? Does increased work at home? Is this good forconducting business? Why the increase in lifestyle?
Mobile phones, the first generation of which were introduced in mid of the 1980's have been constantly evolving since its inception. Today 2B over mobile phones are in use and about 80% of the populationworld is within reach of a mobile phone signal. Mobile phones have been traditionally used for voice communications, but now can serve as a platform for a variety of media - including data and video. 3G is the third generation mobile phone technology standards. Typical services associated with 3G include voice,wireless data and broadband telephony, all in a mobile environment. No However, with the capacity for high speed data transfer Fi, 3G has improved or made possible a large variety of applications additives, such as mobile video, mobile and secure e-commerce based location services, mobile games and audio on demand. For example, with 2.5 G (or a slightly improved version of the wireless technology second generation), a three-minute song takes about six nine for download. The use of 3G, you can download in 11 to 90 seconds.
There are nearly 100 million 3G wireless subscribers worldwide. The U.S., with over 200 million mobile phone subscribers crossed the 10% mark 3G penetration for the first time in 2006, while Japan was thehead with more than 50% of its subscribers using 3G handsets.
While the 3G market may be finally gaining ground, industry is rapidly approaching a crossroads, where the needs of different market segments can vary substantially, and the rewards potential (and losses) for different technology vendors and operators mobile communications could be considerable.
What beginning of the decade ahead? The world is changing day by day, hour after hour,every second.

Versión en Español

En éste año que termina varias situaciones han ocurrido. Situaciones que en años anteriores no se podían imaginar:

1. 3Com, y sus empresas asociadas: H3C y TippingPoint, fue adquirido por HP
2. Algunos productos de Aethra fueron adquiridos por Radvision. Aethra deja el mundo de la Videocomunicación.
3. Nortel Networks se adhiere al capitulo 11 en Estados Unidos.
4. Avaya adquiere la parte empresarial de Nortel Networks. Nortel abandona el mercado de las Telecomunicaciones.
5. Logitech adquiere a LifeSize. Logitech entra al mundo de la videocomunicación.
6. Cisco adquiere a Tamberg.

El mundo de las telecomunicaciones ha cambiado drásticamente en éste último cuarto de la primer década del milenio.

Hoy en día ya es muy normal de COMUNICACIONES UNIFICADAS. Éste tipo de comunicaciones permite al usuario tener en un solo dispositivo: Video, Datos y Voz. Pero lo más importante es que hoy en día no nos mantiene en un solo sitio. Las comunicaciones ya son móviles. No importando dónde te encuentres el dispositivo móvil te permite tener PRESENCIA.

Con el desarrollo día a día del Internet, con la ampliación de las redes públicas, la tecnología móvil se ha incrementado. ¿Será posible que en corto tiempo las oficinas desaparezcan? ¿Se incremente el trabajo en el hogar? ¿Esto es bueno para la realización de negocios? ¿Para el incremento del modo de vida?

Los teléfonos móviles, la primer generación de la cual se introdujeron a mediados de la década de 1980, han estado en constante evolución desde su creación. Hoy, más de 2B teléfonos móviles están en uso y alrededor del 80% de la población mundial está al alcance de una señal de teléfono móvil . Los teléfonos móviles han sido tradicionalmente utilizados para comunicaciones de voz, pero en la actualidad puede servir como plataforma para una variedad de productos de comunicación - incluyendo datos y vídeo . 3G es la tercera generación de móviles telefónicos estándares de tecnología. Los servicios típicos asociados con 3G incluyen voz, datos inalámbricos de telefonía y banda ancha, todo ello en un entorno móvil. Sin embargo, con la capacidad para la alta velocidad de transferencia de datos inalámbrica, 3G ha mejorado o hecho posible una gran variedad de aplicaciones adicionales, tales como video móvil, comercio electrónico móvil y segura , basado en servicios de localización, juegos móviles y audio bajo demanda. Por ejemplo, con 2,5 G (o una versión ligeramente mejorada de la tecnología inalámbrica de segunda generación), una canción de tres minutos tarda entre seis y nueve minutos para descargar. El uso de 3G, se puede descargar en 11 a 90 segundos.

En este momento hay casi 100 millones de abonados 3G inalámbrico en todo el mundo. Los EE.UU., con más de 200 millones de suscriptores móviles, cruzó la marca de 10% de penetración de 3G por primera vez en 2006, mientras que Japón se quedó a la cabeza con más del 50% de sus suscriptores el uso de teléfonos 3G.

Mientras que el mercado 3G puede ir definitivamente ganando terreno, la industria se está acercando rápidamente a una encrucijada, donde las necesidades de diferentes segmentos de mercado puede variar sustancialmente, y las recompensas potenciales (y pérdidas) para los vendedores de tecnología diferente y operadores de comunicaciones móviles podrían ser considerables.

¿Qué inicio de década nos espera? El mundo cambia día tras día, hora tras hora, segundo tras segundo.

Avaya IP Office Moves a Step Closer to Replacing Nortel BCM

2010-11-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Competitive Positives

• Linux option less expensive, more reliable, easier to install
• Beginning of Norstar- and BCM-to-IP Office migration path
• New video conferencing options
• IP Office positioned as key system alternative
• SCS positioned to help Avaya win business in select markets

Competitive Concerns

• Unclear if BCM to be developed further
• Multi-site management software doesn’t support BCM
• New installation DVD specific to Linux
• IP Office Essential Edition Partner Version not a global product
• SCS limited both in market and in Avaya portfolio

Analytical Summary

Perspective

• Positive on Avaya’s enhancements to SMB communications portfolio, because they evidence positive momentum in the company’s efforts to combine the Avaya and Nortel portfolios. Transitioning Nortel clients to Avaya has been and remains a top priority and this latest round of product updates paves the road for bringing Business Communication Manager (BCM) customers into the IP Office fold.

Vendor Importance

• Moderate to Avaya, because the company is gradually consolidating its communications initiatives in the SMB market around IP Office. This will help Avaya focus development, marketing, sales and support resources more tightly than has previously been possible.

Market Impact

• Moderate on the market for SMB PBX systems, because the product enhancements touch on IP Office, BCM, Partner, Norstar and Software Communication System (SCS) – nearly the entire base of Avaya and Nortel communications products for the SMB space. There are few Avaya SMB customers that will not benefit from the product upgrade in some way, shape or form.

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

• IP Office 6.1 introduces a Linux option that is less expensive, more secure, more reliable and, thanks to administration software enhancements specific to 6.1, easier to install than IP Office’s current Windows operating system. This gives Avaya customers a choice in underlying operating system, which is not always the case with IP PBX systems sold into the SMB space.

• With IP Office 6.1 Avaya introduces some of the first features that will allow Nortel customers to migrate away from BCM and to IP Office while retaining the value of investments in Nortel technology. Specifically, BCM IP phones (the 1100 and 1200 Series) can register to a IP Office 6.1 system, and IP Office 6.1 auto-discovers and auto-provisions the BCM devices. With handsets often constituting 50% of the price of a PBX system sale, BCM customers’ ability to retain existing end stations while migrating to IP Office will be a very attractive option. Furthermore, future versions of IP Office are expected to further extend investments in BCM technology, which should further contribute to Avaya retaining BCM customers and resellers.

• With version 6.1 Avaya has brought its new video conferencing products to bear on IP Office. Previously the Avaya Video Conferencing Solutions supported only its enterprise communications systems, and previously IP Office only supported point-to-point video conferences driven by its soft-phone interface. When integrated with the Avaya Video Conferencing 1040 system, IP Office can support four-way video conferences, and support for video-capable IP phones from Polycom and Grandstream opens up new end point options not previously available to IP Office customers.

• Nortel’s Norstar key system reached its end of sale in October 2010, while Avaya’s Parnter key system was discontinued this month. Both moves were expected as part of ongoing product rationalization in Avaya’s SMB portfolio and the company’s drive to penetrate the small business market where traditional key systems have been popular Avaya previously announced a version of IP Office specific to the small business market (IP Office 500v2) as a migration alternative for Partner customers. And version 6.1 introduces IP Office Essential Edition, which replicates certain Norstar features, giving it a look and feel familiar to Norstar users.

• Avaya has repositioned Software Communication System (SCS) to help it penetrate specific regions where IP Office sales have been weak or non-existent. Going forward the company will target sales of the product to Brazil, where tariffs on hardware have priced IP Office out of the market; Malaysia, where software-centric communications solutions sell well; and Japan, where Avaya has never marketed an SMB offering. Such a strategy should help the company create a presence in countries where sales have not historically been strong. Also, focusing SCS on only these markets helps Avaya to reduce the number of communications systems it sells in other key markets, and so to avoid cannibalizing IP Office sales.

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

• Though Avaya released version 6.0 of the BCM software in September, it is not clear at this time if the product will be developed further. With the end-of-life date for BCM systems not yet announced, it is not known how long new investments in the product will retain their value to customers and resellers, regardless of the announced BCM-to-IP Office migration plan. It has long been known that IP Office will eventually be Avaya’s main PBX platform for the SMB market, but how much longer BCM will remain a viable alternative is much less certain.

• IP Office’s multi-site management software, which was enhanced with version 6.1, does not support BCM. This could prove problematic for resellers and businesses with multiple BCMs installed who are planning to phase in IP Office gradually.

• The streamlined provisioning software that allows resellers to set up an IP Office system in 30 minutes works only with the new Linux option.

• The IP Office Essential Edition Norstar Version is available in Middle East and Africa only, where there is a large and vibrant community of Norstar resellers, and replicates key system features. There is also a large base of Norstar customers in North America, but they will be encouraged to migrate to IP Office Essential Edition Partner Version. While there is nothing inherently wrong with Avaya meeting the needs of specific customers and resellers, developing a region-specific version of its SMB PBX runs counter to the product rationalization and simplification efforts Avaya has under way. However, this is understood to be an interim step until the BCM/Norstar migration is complete early next year.

• Avaya is not just repositioning SCS as a communications platform for regions in which it has little to no market presence, namely Brazil, Malaysia and Japan. Avaya is restricting new sales of the product to these countries for the time being. A communications system for businesses of all sizes when it was originally a Pingtel and then a Nortel product, SCS’s target market was restricted to SMBs when Avaya took over the product.

• Under Nortel SCS was sold worldwide, whereas Avaya is now shutting down SCS sales activities in Europe, North America, Latin America and elsewhere. (Existing SCS customers in these regions, however, will continue to be supported.) With these moves and until marketed more broadly, SCS has effectively been removed as a competitive UC offering in most markets and regions, and is no longer a competitive differentiator for Avaya in the markets most relevant to its business.

Response & Recommendations

• Avaya competitors need to continue aggressively targeting the Nortel channel. Avaya remains in the midst of a long-term product consolidation process. The decisions the company is making clearly appeal to many Nortel resellers, who have been actively training on and selling Avaya products. But other resellers are likely feeling disenfranchised and are ready to count their options.

• Avaya needs to reconcile corporate messaging that it is transitioning away from hardware- and toward software-based products with its decisions to restrict the regions and markets in which the one software-only PBX in its portfolio is sold. Rather than embrace SCS’s software-centric product design, Avaya seems to be placing considerably more R&D effort behind its system-based communications products.

Avaya’s VENA Makes a Mark in the Data Center Fray

2010-11-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

November 10, 2010 – Avaya debuted its vision of how to build next generation networks that better accommodate virtualized resources and real-time applications with its Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture. VENA is intended to reduce costs and simplify network design and operation across data center and campus networks by streamlining provisioning and reducing the need to redesign networks to support new application traffic.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

• Positive on Avaya’s Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA) launch, because it demonstrates—first and foremost—the strength of Avaya’s commitment to its data networking business, and also establishes a credible approach to enabling customers to build next-generation networks. VENA draws on former Nortel network engineering talent to solve issues of scale and efficiency in virtualized environments. And it draws on its strong network management tools to provision new network services to accommodate new virtualized applications rapidly and accurately.

Vendor Importance

• High to Avaya, because it intends to grow the data networking business it acquired with Nortel as a business in its own right, rather than just play a supporting role to its UC, contact center and business collaboration business. The VENA architecture is a central element to help it revive its former competitive position in data networking, starting with the data center and moving out into the campus. The architecture also can be positioned in enterprise networks fueled by other suppliers’ equipment, offering Avaya the opportunity to grow market share.

Market Impact

• Moderate on the enterprise networking market, because while it may give the former Nortel installed base a good reason to stick with Avaya and base their next generation network designs on Avaya’s vision, it’s not clear that VENA will help to steer Avaya’s existing UC, contact center or business collaboration customers towards Avaya’s data networking, or help Avaya displace established rivals.

Competitive StrengthsCompetitive Positives

• Avaya delivered the VSP 9000 next generation 10 GbE switch in a controlled release ahead of the architecture launch, which allowed the company to develop strong customer references who can speak to the benefits of Avaya’s approach in real world terms (see Nortel Keeps Innovating with VSP 9000 Core Switch, May 20, 2009). Unlike rivals such as Juniper, who described their strategies/visions without having the key supporting technologies in place, Avaya with its VENA launch can bolster its message with endorsements from customers that already have switches in production. That sets Avaya apart from the pack.

• Avaya is addressing a significant pain point in its efforts to speed the delivery of network services in support of new applications. That has been a big point of contention between network operations and application owners. By simplifying the provisioning of new network services and increasing the level of automation to both speed delivery and reduce human error in the process, it is creating a good differentiator.

• Avaya in its January roadmap announcement said that it has added an overlay dedicated networking sales force incented to sell data networking products, and it has obviously been producing results for Avaya. Avaya in August claimed that its data networking unit has produced four consecutive quarters of quarter over quarter growth, and its data networking business increased 30% in its second quarter. Now that sales force has greater ammunition for data center sales with the VENA vision and software upgrades for the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600, 8800 and VSP 9000.

• Key to the success of Avaya’s VENA strategy is its management tools, such as the Configuration and Orchestration Manager, which Avaya enhanced with a new Virtual Services Manager. The tools provide centralized provisioning of VENA’s Virtual Services Fabric and Virtual Service Networks, and they simplify Shortest Path Bridging configuration. The inclusion of wizards that lead network operators step by step through the provisioning process should help to reduce human error, which is the single biggest factor in network outages.

• Avaya’s use of fully programmable network processors in its switches such as the ERS 8600 and new ERS 8800 allows customers to adopt these next generation capabilities through a software upgrade, rather than a rip and replace hardware upgrade. (see Spring Interop 2010: Avaya Demonstrates Commitment to Former Nortel Data Networking, April 28, 2010). That type of investment protection is unique to Avaya and should appeal to prospects outside Avaya’s existing installed base of data networking customers.

• Avaya is unique in promoting the network-wide visibility it can provide through its network monitoring tools, along with simplified end to end provisioning. This is a refreshing change from the lip service most other networking vendors give to network monitoring and management of next-generation data center networks.

Competitive WeaknessesCompetitive Concerns

• We said it before and we’ll say it again: Avaya’s high level message about being unique in delivering “always on” (reliable), efficient and scalable networking technology is the same tune being sung by every other enterprise networking vendor. That marketing message won’t be an attention grabber for any prospect that’s examined the next-generation network architectures of other rival vendors.

• Rivals will undoubtedly describe Avaya’s vision as a sincere form of flattery, given that it’s messaging seems to mimic their themes. In fact nearly every enterprise networking vendor describes their technology as scalable, reliable (always on) and efficient. And like all other vendors, Avaya is promoting flat networks (eliminating the aggregation layer in a three-tier network design) as the best way to simplify data center networks. Being just about the last one to describe your vision for next generation networks gives rivals the opportunity to say, “been there, done that.”

• Avaya’s reliance on its management tools to help deliver its VENA vision is a mixed blessing. While such tools are necessary for successful deployment of virtual networking, but management is almost always an afterthought in any major networking upgrade or project. Getting new customers to pony up for these tools up front before deployment will be a tough job to accomplish, as will getting sales people to push them as an essential element of the switching sale.

• Avaya is basing the core of its virtual switching fabric on the emerging IEEE 802.1AQ (Shortest Path Bridging) standard to eliminate the spanning tree hurdles. Standards are great, but their purpose is to insure interoperability and none of the other vendors that have outlined their architectures have pledged support for that emerging standard. The competing IETF emerging standard, TRILL, has generated greater support. Although Avaya is confident that SPB is a superior approach to TRILL, superior technology does not always win out.

• The VENA launch was thin on partnerships, with only four partners supporting its vision: VMware (which partners with everybody), QLogic for converged networking processors, Coraid for converged storage, and SilverPeak for data center WAN optimization. It will be important for Avaya to fill that out with more partners who can help fulfill a vision of seamless, interoperable and simplified virtualization in the data center.

• Security, which has been a huge stumbling block for cloud computing, plays a very minor role in the VENA architecture. Avaya describes its virtualization as being inherently secure by virtue of the separation of application traffic into separate virtual networks. That sounds like the same lip service server virtualization vendors such as VMware gave five years ago before they got security religion.

Buyer Actions

• Avaya customers who have, as Avaya officials described it, “hit the pause button” on their Avaya network infrastructure, can now safely hit the play button. Any needed upgrades that were put on hold can be moved forward with assurance that Avaya is strongly committed to its portfolio. And with the VENA launch, Avaya has continued the former Nortel heritage of networking innovations with its software upgrades for the ERS 8600, 8800 and now generally available VSP 9000. Avaya customers looking to upgrade their data center networks to meet the challenges of virtualization and real time applications should evaluate Avaya’s approach.

• Enterprise network and IT managers should investigate Avaya’s claims of simplified virtualization as they examine their next move in the data center. Those with Cisco, HP, Extreme, Enterasys or other investments should not discount Avaya – if only to keep the others honest about their own capabilities and commitments.

HP Has Ability to Compete in UC Market but Must Move Quickly

2010-10-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

HP has rebranded 3Com’s PBX systems and communications applications as part of its HP Networking E-Series portfolio, and recently there has been a version 9.5 release of the VCX product, including a new line of Series 350x IP telephone sets. In repositioning 3Com’s telephony, messaging, conferencing, contact center and other communications software as HP products, the company clarifies how it plans to compete in the unified communications market.

Perspective

Moderate on Hewlett-Packard relaunching 3Com’s business communications products, because despite the 3Com telephony and UC products being available for many years, HP’s current IP PBX and enterprise telephony penetration is very low and the company is well behind the competition in exploiting the market potential and capabilities of the 3Com products in terms of marketing, distribution and buyer mindset.

Vendor Importance

High to Hewlett-Packard, because the 3Com acquisition and the resulting rebranded 3Com UC products that have become part of the HP family provide an opportunity for incremental revenue in the areas of SMB telephony and unified communications. This can complement HP’s increasingly strong data networking and server businesses and tap into a rapidly-growing revenue stream.

Market Impact

Low on the unified communications industry, because HP/3Com’s UC market penetration is minimal, the established vendors have a substantial head start in terms of time and competitors are on par or ahead of HP in UC solution capabilities.

Competitive Positives

• The 3Com VCX product family of technically sophisticated, software-based SIP switches gives HP a product line that can cover SMB through large enterprise and multi-location sites. It is comprised of three major products – 3Com VCX Connect 100 (up to 100 users), 3Com VCX 200 Connect (up to 250 users) and the 3Com V7000 (up to tens of thousands of users) – providing HP with the ability to make a strong and broad attack on the enterprise IP PBX/UC market.

• Though VCX PBXs are capable of scaling to meet the needs of very large enterprises and in some cases have been deployed in businesses needing a telephony platform that supports thousands of lines, going forward HP plans to market VCX only as an SMB platform. This will help HP focus sales and product initiatives on a very specific industry segment. Additionally, unlike the enterprise PBX market, there is no very dominant leader in the SMB PBX market. This should help put HP in a better position to stake a claim in it.

• HP has formed multiple UC-related partnerships with several industry leaders including Aastra, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft and Siemens Enterprise Communications. These remain in place and will be focused mainly on sales opportunities in the enterprise market, not the SMB space, where the VCX products will be positioned. This will help minimize direct competition between HP and its UC partners in the enterprise space. It also puts HP in a better position to be a provider of UC solutions across all sizes of customer businesses.

• HP has been active in the UC market through telepresence and data networking product offerings, the latter of which can now be positioned as part of a larger voice-data solution that incorporates third-party call control technology. This market position in data networking products can allow HP to offer a converged voice communications and data networking solution, which could benefit the company when VCX is positioned to small and mid-sized enterprises seeking a more holistic UC solution from a single vendor.

• In September, HP announced the VCX 9.5 release, launched the 350x Series IP Phones and provided necessary collateral and product data sheets on the HP networking Web sites for all VCX products. This is a good demonstration of continued R&D activity behind the products as 3Com’s business is being integrated into HP. HP also has put in place VCX IP telephony certifications and authorizations on the HP partner portals for existing HP resellers to get certified on the VCX product family. This should help bring 3Com resellers into the larger HP channel program, as well as begin making 3Com VCX products more easily available to traditional HP resellers.

Competitive Concerns

• HP’s current strategy in the telephony market is to sell the VCX to SMBs, position partners’ PBXs in the enterprise market and, in the mid-market, sell either VCX or partner products depending on whether or not the customer wants an all-HP UC solution. This is a much more complicated strategy than HP has to date pursued in the UC market and it remains to be seen if HP can execute on it.

• By focusing VCX sales on the SMB market, HP tries to minimize direct competition with PBX developers in the HP AllianceONE program. This could to some extent work since HP has traditionally engaged in co-marketing and other initiatives with partners’ enterprise PBXs. However, all of HP’s PBX partners actively sell telephony and UC solutions to SMBs and HP will compete directly with them in this space. As a result, HP will have more complicated relationships with most of its UC partners going forward. These existing HP UC partnerships could confuse the competitive landscape and result in very complex cooperative/competitive relationships. This makes the future of these relationships uncertain.

• By narrowing sales and marketing initiatives on the SMB space, HP cannot leverage the full breadth of 3Com UC products. The VCX V7000 enterprise-class IP PBX remains in the HP product portfolio despite HP’s insistence that it will not compete with partners in the enterprise telephony market. A number of the VCX applications, such as the contact center platform, are optimized for enterprise, not SMB, adoption. In not rationalizing its enterprise PBX and communications applications, HP is sending out a mixed message, saying that it does not plan to compete in the enterprise UC market but is retaining products that allow it to do so.

• The VCX products are nearly invisible in the marketplace. They have a very small market share, with only about 2,800 VCX servers deployed in both enterprise and SMB settings. It will be difficult to leverage them to catch up and compete with Avaya, Cisco, Siemens Enterprise Communications and others that have been actively selling products and applications into the enterprise IP PBX and UC market for the past decade.

• While HP describes telephony as an important revenue stream, it is clearly a subset of the larger UC and collaboration market opportunity. If HP is not in fact pursuing other opportunities in the UC market – such as messaging, collaboration, video conferencing, presence and other advanced applications – the company’s ability to capitalize on its new UC product initiatives could be quite limited.

• 3Com’s UC solutions are largely software-based. The development and management of software products is not a traditional strength of HP, a company that was built largely on a hardware development and manufacturing tradition. The management and lifecycle planning of a software-centric telephony enterprise application family will likely be problematic to HP, especially if it is not deemed to be a major focus of HP success.

Cisco Consumer TelePresence Will Have Enterprise Implications

2010-10-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Cisco introduced an HD video solution for the consumer market. Cisco umi telepresence connects to an existing HD television and a broadband Internet connection to create a clear, natural and lifelike video communications experience. umi will become generally available in the U.S. on November 14. It will list for $599 plus a monthly fee of $24.99 for unlimited video calls, video messaging and video storage. Sales will be through Best Buy stores, direct from Cisco and through Verizon, which will bundle umi with its FiOS service in early 2011.

Analytical SummaryPerspective

• Perspective: Positive on Cisco’s umi, because it not only extends Cisco’s immersive video conferencing technology into the consumer space, but also because plans are already underway to integrate umi with Cisco’s larger portfolio of TelePresence products. Once this integration work is complete, umi will have increased relevance in vertical markets with a business-to-consumer focus and possibly to “prosumers” who might eventually be able to use umi as a business communications tool in a teleworker environment.

Vendor Importance

• Vendor Importance: High to Cisco, because the company has been developing a consumer-based application of its telepresence technology for more than a year. Though umi falls short of being a full-fledged member of the Cisco TelePresence portfolio for business video conferencing, this is could change over time as Cisco, its customers and resellers explore business uses of the new product.

Market Impact

• Market Impact: Low on the enterprise market, because umi will mainly challenge vendors and service providers delivering video conferencing solutions for consumers. It will take time for umi to have much meaningful impact on Polycom, LifeSize, Vidyo and other competitors in the market for video conferencing solutions for business use.

Cisco is threatening to competitors in the collaboration platform market

2010-10-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

English Version

Cisco is threatening to established rivals within the collaboration platform market. The vendor has at last begun to make use of a series of technology investments made over the past two years, most notably the acquisitions of Jabber, PostPath, and IronPort. For example, Cisco has introduced WebEx Mail, an enterprise-grade, SaaS-based messaging product built with technology purchased from PostPath. Conversely, Cisco has also sought to develop collaborative technologies internally, building its own social networking platform, Cisco Quad, and expertise location solution, Cisco Pulse. With such additions, Cisco can now field a comprehensive unified communications (UC) and collaboration portfolio that spans the premises and cloud while maximizing the company's expertise in security, network performance, and connectivity. The overall company's focus on network-ware IP-based communications and collaboration sets it apart from its application-centric rivals such as Oracle, IBM, Google, and Microsoft.

However, across all areas of improvement, Cisco must face a number of challenges that will give its rivals a window of competitive opportunity. For example, while Cisco's recent introduction of several collaborative solutions catapults the vendor into closer competition with more traditional collaboration players, the introduction of so many new solutions calls attention to the vendor's relative immaturity within the collaboration space. It now has a number of differentiated solutions, However, those are not yet firmly established within the vendor's sales and channel organizations; nor are they technically mature or feature-complete compared with longstanding collaboration solutions from rivals such as Jive, Novell, Microsoft, IBM, and others.

Cisco is building its collaboration PaaS and SaaS solutions on top of an already well-established, global data center backbone, which currently houses the company's WebEx Web conferencing service. With seven data center hubs spread across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, the Cisco Collaboration Cloud has proven itself enterprise-worthy, boasting customers within 90% of the Fortune 500, supporting 225,000 user sessions per day across more than 150 countries, and delivering service uptime of more than 99.99%. Note that most cloud-based collaboration services only guarantee 99.9%.

Cisco's recent introduction of several collaborative solutions (Pulse, Quad, WebEx Mail, etc.) catapults the vendor into closer competition with more traditional collaboration players and plays to the company's strengths as a network-centric vendor. However, the introduction of so many new solutions calls attention to the vendor's relative immaturity within the collaboration and conferencing space. It now has a number of differentiated solutions. However, those are not yet firmly established within the vendor's sales and channel organizations; nor are they technically mature or feature-complete compared with longstanding collaboration solutions from rivals such as Jive, Microsoft, IBM, and others.

Versión en Español

Cisco es una amenaza establecido para a sus rivales en la plataforma de colaboración del mercado. El vendedor ha empezado por fin a hacer uso de una serie de inversiones en la tecnología en los últimos dos años, en particular la adquisición de Jabber, PostPath, y de IronPort. Por ejemplo, Cisco ha introducido WebEx Mail, a un nivel empresarial, producto de mensajería basados en SaaS construida con tecnología adquirida a partir de PostPath. Por el contrario, Cisco también ha tratado de desarrollar las tecnologías de colaboración internos, la creación de su propia plataforma de redes sociales, Cisco cuádruple, y la experiencia solución de localización, Cisco pulso. Con estas adiciones, Cisco puede ahora completar un campo de comunicaciones unificadas (UC) y la cartera de colaboración que se extiende a los locales y las nubes al tiempo que maximiza la experiencia de la empresa en materia de seguridad, rendimiento de la red y la conectividad. El general de la compañía se centran en las comunicaciones red-ware basadas en IP y la colaboración que la distingue de aplicaciones de rivales como Oracle, IBM, Google y Microsoft.
Sin embargo, en todas las áreas de mejora, Cisco debe enfrentarse a una serie de retos que dará a sus rivales una oportunidad competitiva. Por ejemplo, mientras que laintroducción reciente de Cisco de varias soluciones de colaboración catapulta el vendedor en estrecha competencia con jugadores de una colaboración más tradicionales, la introducción de nuevas soluciones para muchos llama la atención sobre la relación de proveedor inmadurez en el espacio de colaboración. Ahora tiene un número de soluciones de diferencia, sin embargo, aquellos que no están todavía firmemente establecido en las ventas del proveedor y las organizaciones de canal, ni están técnicamente maduros o completa de funciones en comparación con las soluciones de colaboración de rivales como Jive, Novell, Microsoft, IBM y otros.
Cisco está construyendo su colaboración PaaS y soluciones de SaaS en la parte superior y ya están bien establecidos, los datos globales columna vertebral del centro, que alberga actualmente la empresa WebEx servicio de conferencias Web. Con siete centros de datos repartidos en los centros del Norte América, Europa y Asia-Pacífico, el Cisco Collaboration Cloud ha demostrado alarde a los clientes de la empresa, dentro de los 90% de las empresas Fortune 500, el apoyo a 225.000 sesiones de usuario por día en más de 150 países, y la entrega de servicio de tiempo de actividad de más del 99,99%. Tenga en cuenta que la mayoría de colaboración basado en la nube da garantía sólo del 99,9%.
La introducción reciente de Cisco de varias soluciones de colaboración (pulso, Quad, WebEx Mail, etc) catapulta a el proveedor más cercano en la competencia con más tradicionales jugadores de la colaboración y juega a las fortalezas de la compañía como una red centrada en proveedor. Sin embargo, la introducción de nuevas soluciones para muchos llama la atención de la relativa inmadurez del proveedor en el espacio de colaboración y conferencia. Ahora tiene una serie de soluciones diferenciadas. Sin embargo, aún no están firmemente establecido en las ventas del vendedor y las organizaciones de canal, ni son técnicamente maduros o de características completas en comparación con la colaboración de soluciones de datos rivales como Jive, Microsoft, IBM y otros.

Meeting the Needs of Emerging Services with Innovative Technology

2010-10-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

COMPREHENSIVE MPLS VPN SOLUTIONS

Meeting the Needs of Emerging Services with Innovative Technology

The VPN market is growing at a record pace worldwide. IDC reports that provider- provisioned VPNs now dominate the VPN services market with VPNs deployed by over half of the multisite companies that have 50 or more employees. The worldwide VPN services market reached $24.4 billion in 2007 and is expected to climb to almost $36 billion in 2012. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that the VPN market will have a 10.4 percent CAGR increase over the next five years.1

The Challenge

The need to increase revenue while achieving operational efficiency is driving the need for increased multicast traffic, particularly for the growing deployment of voice, video, and collaboration-based applications. For instance, providers with an installed base of Layer 3 VPNs for unicast service are looking to upsell with new media-rich solutions. Numerous services, such as IPTV and financial applications, now demand scalable, reliable, and secure next-generation (NG) multicast VPN (MVPN) solutions. Service providers and cable operators are offering virtual private LAN service (VPLS) to small and medium businesses, as well as to large enterprises. Another growing revenue generator is IPv6 VPNs for new mobile applications. To address these divergent needs and in anticipation of changing environments, you would want to consider implementation flexibility, scalability of service instances, size of route tables deployed, and your ability to extend the service reach.

Multi-Access, Multiprotocol, Multidomain MPLS VPN Solutions

Juniper Networks® supports a full breadth of technologies to deliver diverse services and meet these evolving needs (Figure 1). Juniper’s comprehensive solution set enables service providers, large enterprises, telcos, cable companies, and information-intensive enterprises to cost-efficiently roll out networks that offer scalable control and forwarding planes, continuous service, and feature richness. VPN deployments using Juniper technology are standards-based and securely interwork amongst multiple providers, enabling you to exceed the most stringent service level agreements (SLAs) and resiliency requirements. Common protocols offer a consistent, streamlined operational model, thus reducing overall operating and troubleshooting costs.

Challenge

Meeting the dynamic requirements of rapidly growing, worldwide VPN markets

Solution

• Established service solutions: Next- generation multicast VPNs, VPLS, IPv6 VPNs

• Innovative technology solutions: P2MP LSP, LDP-BGP VPLS interworking

Benefits

• Better operational efficiency • Improved scalability • Enhanced flexibility • Extended service reach

• Minimized service disruption

1VPNs provide numerous services within a variety of delivery models. This wide deployment of VPN services requires the availability of multiple access connectivity options, service reach across protocol and administrative domain boundaries, and support for multiple topologies and traffic profiles. Drivers include consolidations (mergers and acquisitions), interprovider partnerships, and changing end-user requirements based on available access connectivity and protocol options. To meet these dynamic needs, Juniper has created a comprehensive and flexible MPLS VPN toolkit that offers an array of options across multiple parameters.

• Flexible access connectivity options across multiple topologies, protocol and administrative boundaries.

• Scalable control and forwarding planes.

• Maximized bandwidth and network efficiency for multicast with P2MP optimizations for VPLS and multicast VPN.

• Self-contained multihoming mechanisms for highly available edge service nodes.

• Consistent operational model for IPv4, IPv6, unicast, and multicast across L2 and L3 VPNs.

• Simplified operations with reduced template-based configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting complexity.

• Cost-efficient rollouts with minimal network disruption.

For more information, call us or write us

T: +52 722 2173030

E: dposadas@operacionesintegradas.com.mx