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At present, network objectives of enterprises are aligned with business objectives. Thus, one needs to build the right network to achieve this objective. One way to do this is to have the best network solution available without compromising on quality even at a premium.

Cost is a major concern for enterprises for entire lifecycle services on network plus ICT infrastructure-starting from design, rollout, implementation and integration, support and management, audit/capacity planning and redesign for expansion. Though, cost may be very reasonable as compared to the cost of project and product cost, with more and more competition in the market, companies are still squeezing their margins and implementation cost day by day.

Budgetary constraints and competitive pressure have forced the industry to drive down costs. Enterprises are asking for lower level of integration pricing. The concept of end-to-end solutions or one-stop solutions has gained momentum. Enterprises do not have to spend money on different vendors. Also, bandwidth prices have come down considerably, and device functionalities are increasing disproportionately to price. However, the cost of resources and expertise is rapidly rising, as is the trend in other related industries too.

IMPROVE QUALITY/COST EFFICIENCY
The increase in project implementation costs is being seen on account of increase in spending on the training of resources, increase in the timeframe of deployments, increase in the cost of resources (attrition and general salary hikes), new technologies available in the market, etc.

Cost efficiency can be achieved by using a single vendor for the complete integration job. The unified network plus security gateway software, based on open source that can sit on a PC, will help proliferate the network to far-flung areas at very low cost. As the network vendors have gathered an end-to-end solution expertise without depending on third parties, the implementation costs have come down. Due to the immense involvement of network entities over the last 6-7 years, certain standard implementation parameters have emerged. This helps in cost reduction during implementation. Further, the increase in standardization of network framework and technology, though the per site network integration costs are coming down, and spurt in volumes of business, the overall revenue continues to increase.

Partners should upgrade their skills regularly and OEMs should take more initiative to train partners in order to add value to the client. Also, more training institutes may be a good option.

In the global market for outsourcing, both vendors and enterprises quickly need to move up the value chain and quality levels if they have to grow their market share at previous levels. Other countries may soon begin to match our cost levels and frankly, it may be difficult to reduce costs beyond a certain limit. However, along with the first mover advantage, vendors have the benefit of a well-established clientele and hence it is the right moment to entrench as niche quality players. Vendors believe that Indian companies should look forward to be known for their quality, value addition and technical capabilities.

Factors such as draft comprehensive SLAs keeping in mind the requirements of the organization and the strengths of the vendor, utilizing the Opex models, deploying the open standards based infrastructure as far as possible, utilization of the services of vendors having expertise on multiple platforms and technologies, will have a positive impact on the implementation cost.

DEMAND FROM OPERATORS
The Indian operators are increasingly focusing on providing enterprise solutions to their enterprise customers to achieve lock in and earn greater share of the customers spend. Operators will continue to focus on leveraging its existing backbone and further expanding for adding more value added services on the same network. Top enterprise customers are continuously on lookout for reducing their operating costs that in turn put pressure on operators also. Few examples in India are operators offering Centrex based services, variable IPLC, bulk minutes sale, BPO seats to name a few.

Main steps that the operators are taking include promoting CENTREX to eliminate CPE (EPABX), targeting network enabled IT services, IT infrastructure management, managed security, offering bandwidth/traffic hungry business applications/value added services, WEBEX, voice portals, etc.

TIPS FOR NETWORK MANAGERS
With the market seeing more technologies, more voice interactions are happening through different modes of communications. In the wake of the ongoing changes, network managers should gear up to face challenging situations. They need to look at a number of factors while implementing a new network or while going for a new one. The main points they should look into could include maximizing investments into current infrastructure, looking at applications that enhance the productivity utilizing current infrastructure, restrict the vendors to two or three, utilizing the Opex models offered by vendors if Capex is an issue, existence of ITIL framework and documentation for greater availability of network, etc.

Better remember to invest in tools (auditing tools, performance analysis tools etc) for managing WAN, since the networks are now "mission critical" and downtimes and application response problems can invite the wrath of CEO/CIO. Engaging integrator as a partner (not a vendor to negotiate only for lower prices) so that you can utilize their skills to solve your critical issues and involving pro-actively in planning for disaster recovery (as part of overall DR plan) would fetch better result.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES
As Indian companies look to expand while at the same time consolidating their strengths, networking has gained importance. But so have other applications and technologies that ride on the network.

The introduction of MPLS technology has brought both the traditional frame relay/ATM market and the IP market under one umbrella. This has simplified the service offering. From an access perspective, MPLS technology is highly complementary because it supports Virtual Private LAN service (VPLS) that provides many-to-many LAN connectivity. This will continue to grow at a rapid rate in most of the metros by virtue of TELCO having built MANs.

More and more voice interactions are happening through different modes of communications. In the wake of the ongoing changes, network managers should gear up to face challenging situations

Provider based transport (PBT) is the latest technology for operators for reducing reliance on an IP/MPLS core backbone. Such a move, however, will be a big blow to vendors of core IP/MPLS routers. PBT is a transport concept that employs carrier Ethernet to deliver point-to-point services with high levels of service reliability, manageability and scaleability. It is intended to make Ethernet transport much more attractive to telcos that are used to SONET/SDH networking, potentially replacing Ethernet as a long-term option.

The other technologies that are gaining traction are WiMax, third generation contact centers, MPLS deployments, voice portals and self-service applications, passive optical network (PON) & VPLS, Wi-Fi with over 100Mbps in the WLAN space, augmented CAT6 for 10 Giga support in the wired LAN space, 10 Giga backbone fiber using single mode OFC for large campuses, SSL VPN with hybrid technology integration between LAN, WAN and Mobile GPRS and broadband with ADSL2+/VDSL, etc.

VoIP has reached the common man and IP surveillance is very affordable. Next level of technology now connects humans rather than networks and physical security. Also, huge investments are being made in the field of security and data management and optimization.

A few other emerging technologies are digital video security surveillance (DVSS), IP communications (though this is an existing technology, its acceptance and usage is expected to increase tremendously in the near future), email archival, enterprise dashboards with integrated network and security monitoring along with event correlation, workforce optimization, etc.

Almost all service providers are increasing their reliance on these technologies to have a larger footprint in the market. In the networking business, not only are the networks becoming bigger, the technology is also getting complex. Enterprise customers are deploying wireless to increase productive and deliver newer applications to the business users.