Enterprise Networks to Undergo Significant Architectural Changes

Enterprise networks are about to undergo significant architectural changes, says Burton Group in a recently published report: "VantagePoint 2004-2005 Network and Telecom Strategies Overview." In this report, Burton Group asserts that new developments in remote access and site-to-site virtual private networks (VPNs), wireless and mobility, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, data center networking, and uses of the public Internet will have a significant impact on how organizations deploy their network and IT infrastructures.

David Passmore, Burton Group research director says, "These changes are happening in the midst of a major transition in the network and telecommunications industry. Service providers are striving to adapt to disruptive effects of IP networking, an outmoded regulatory framework (that still doesn't recognize the existence of the Internet), and developments that make many of their business models obsolete. The result will be a challenging environment for enterprise network planners and operations staff."

In-depth discussion of these trends will be featured in the Network and Telecom Strategies conference track at Burton Group's annual Catalyst Conference 2004, taking place July 21-23 in San Diego. Hundreds of Burton Group clients, including network planners, architects, and IT decision makers will attend to learn more about these trends and how to prepare for and capitalize on them in today's challenging business environment.

In the report, Burton Group states that network infrastructure changes are being driven by the following trends:

Remote Access and Site-to-Site Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): Enterprises are moving from testbed Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPNs to widespread business use, causing major vendors and service providers to acquire SSL startups or introduce their own SSL products/services for remote access. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based VPNs are increasing in popularity for site-to-site connectivity, with Layer 2 and 3 transport services becoming available.

Wireless and Mobility: The new emphasis is on dense access point (AP) deployment to provide higher and more deterministic performance, driven by voice over WLANs. This, in turn, is causing the introduction and adoption of WLAN system products that can centrally manage channel assignments and power levels.

Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony: Public IP telephony services (e.g., IP Centrex) will come on strong, particularly for those customers requiring less than full "enterprise-class" feature sets. Emerging technical challenges include "islands of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)" and multivendor Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) interoperability.

Data Center Networking: Consolidated data centers will be based on a "three-box" architecture: multifunction virtualized infrastructure devices for front-ending servers, blade servers that save space and reduce interconnection costs, and back-end storage that will rely on IP/Ethernet networks.

Internetworking: Larger enterprises are leveraging carrier-class technologies like optical wavelengths and multihoming, and the need to locate their data centers at Internet data centers for peering. Prospects for interprovider MPLS VPNs, quality of service (QoS), IPv6 transit, or VoIP services are not likely to occur soon.

About Burton Group

Burton Group -- www.burtongroup.com -- is the only enterprise IT research and advisory services firm focused exclusively on infrastructure technologies. Burton Group's unbiased, in-depth, technical research and advice helps IT technologists and architects make smart enterprise architecture decisions in increasingly complex environments.

Burton Group covers directories, security, identity management, application platforms, architecture, and network and telecom infrastructure topics.

Contact: Amie G. Johnson Burton Group PR Manager 801-304-8136 ajohnson@burtongroup.com