avaya current analysis

7/31/2019 AVAYA Current Analysis

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Quick Take

Event Summary

February 22, 2011 -- Avaya extended its Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA) to the campus network

via a simple software upgrade to its Ethernet Routing Switch 8800 and 8600 chassis switches. VENA, based on

the IEEEs Shortest Path Bridging standard, delivers faster time to deployment by greatly simplifying provisioning

Intelligence Report: Avayas VENA Next-Generation Network Architecture: Not Justfor Data Centers

Report Date: February 25, 2011

Analyst: Musich, Paula

Service:Hot Topics , Business Technology and Software

Market:Cloud Services , Data Center , Enterprise Security , Enterprise Networking , Enterprise

Security

Competitive Positives

Eliminating provisioning errors takes away a big pain point

No forklift upgrade required

Apps do not have to move to the data center to be virtualized

Launch demonstrates VENA has staying power

VENA tells an end-to-end story, not just a data center play

Competitive Concerns

NAC is a new, but not very welcome element of VENA

Great independent data networking story, but where are the synergies?

Some arguments for VENA in the campus ring hollow

Installed base of customers who can take advantage of the simple upgrade is limited

Standards are great, but only if others implement them


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for new applications and services in the network.

Analytical Summary

Perspective

Positive on Avayas extension of its virtual networking architecture to campus networks, because

it gives customers a single, cohesive architecture that addresses network scaling and efficiency issues not only in

the data center, but also in the rest of the enterprise. This is unique among the next-generation network

architectures described by Avaya rivals.

Vendor Importance

Moderate to Avaya, because this is a follow-on to the VENA architecture introduction the

company made late last fall, and it was hinted at then (see Avayas VENA Makes a Mark in the Data Center Fray,

November 11, 2010.) Still, it demonstrates Avayas commitment to the architecture and sets the stage for

additional supporting elements to come.

Market Impact

Moderate on the campus networking market, because while the VENA campus launch provides

real promise for existing Avaya data networking customers, it is not at all clear that it will help Avaya move

beyond that customer base.

Competitive Strengths

Competitive Positives

Eliminating manual human error in provisioning is probably the biggest pain point for network operators in the

current state of affairs when it comes to re-configuring the core of the network to accommodate major new

applications. Studies have shown that operator error accounts for anywhere from 30% to over 50% of network

outages, due to the complexity of that task. If VENA meets its promise of greatly reducing that occurrence,

Avaya will significantly boost customer satisfaction and set itself apart from competitors.

With a simple software upgrade, existing Avaya ERS 8600 and 8800 customers can begin to roll out the VENA

architecture in campus networks. Avoiding a forklift upgrade is a competitive differentiator, and it reinforces the

good relationship between Avaya and its data networking customers.

Some applications (such as contact centers) do not live in the data center, but as enterprises look to virtualize

them, they have to be moved to the data center. With VENA, those applications or services can stay put or be

placed where they logically fit best. That resonates for existing Avaya customers, and Avaya is unique in that

capability, although the company expects others to catch up.

Avaya is doing a good job of keeping up the VENA drumbeat by following up fairly quickly on the architecture

launch with deliverables. Such consistency is important, because it reinforces Avayas commitment to the

architecture for customers and prospects. In addition, each successive VENA rollout puts the former Nortel

struggles to rest and proves that Avaya is indeed a serious contender in enterprise networks.

By jumping out ahead of competitors in extending its virtualization optimization architecture into campus

networks, Avaya is in a better position to gain mindshare as a technology leader and set itself apart as a

visionary in the brave new world of virtual networking. For the most part, rivals have focused their vision and

architectures on the data center. This gives Avaya the high ground in looking after customers end-to-end

requirements for simplified network provisioning as complexity increases.

Competitive Weaknesses

Competitive Concerns

Avaya introduced a new element to the VENA vision, but one that will not likely be met with applause by

customers and prospects. NAC is a fundamental part of the architecture, and it is called for in order to


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authenticate users and assign them to the appropriate VLANs or virtual services networks. The much-maligned

technology has not seen widespread adoption in the market, and it is more often than not a project that never

got off the ground for many enterprises. Although Avaya believes its NAC technology, acquired with Nortels

acquisition of Identity Engines, has great potential, and customers who have seen it gave it high marks, other

issues have kept it on the drawing boards. NAC was one of the first projects to be shelved with the recession,

and it is likely not the first to be put back into the queue.

The launch of the VENA architecture late last year helped to establish Avaya as a true contender in the data

networking space, rather than positioning the Nortel portfolio as an adjunct to Avayas UC, contact center, and

business collaboration businesses. With this follow-on, however, Avaya is not really demonstrating the synergies

that exist between those different sides of the business. That will become an issue down the road as Avaya looks

to sell networking products beyond the installed base of existing Nortel data networking customers.

Avayas arguments about why VENA in the campus is a good thing include more efficient delivery of new

services via a few mouse clicks and the reduction in configuration errors, ensuring regulatory compliance and

multi-tenant partitioning through traffic separation, and providing the only optimized end-to-end cloud

architecture. For most enterprises, however, the only one of those arguments that resonates is the fast and

error-free delivery of new services (or applications).

Although it is a simple software update, only customers which have a premium maintenance contract get that

upgrade for free. Still, at $9,995 for the list price of the premium license, the price is reasonable. Then again, the

ERS 8800 is a new switch; thus, it has a limited installed base that can take advantage of that no-forklift

upgrade.

The value of SPB support is both flexibility and ease of deployment; however, the lack of broader vendor

support negates some of the value of having a ratified standard, as it is not currently universally supported.

Response & Recommendations

Avaya should focus its messaging on what really matters to customers; today, that is being able to do more

with less. Fast and error-free provisioning for new services should be the focal point of Avayas VENA in the

campus messaging, and Avaya should expand on that in a way that brings it home for customers.

Once customers have had a chance to work with the VENA deliverables, Avaya should move quickly to developreferences and case studies that show the real-world benefits on the architecture, including documented TCO

benefits, reduced configuration errors and their associated downtime, faster time to deploy new applications, and

so on.

Avaya could not help but jump on the cloud bandwagon by highlighting how VENA simplifies creating private

clouds. It would be unwise to emphasize private clouds, something that VMware is pushing, because the

implementation of those comes with a lot of baggage and is already being skewered in the press. Customers are

not in a hurry to go there.

Avaya is fairly new at this architecture game, which Cisco has refined to the point of owning it. With VENA,

Avaya would do well to remind customers what VENA is all about, clearly describing with each successive product

launch how that particular element fits into its VENA vision. That will give the architecture greater credibility anddemonstrate its staying power in the market.

Since Nortels bad times, rivals have been working overtime to poach those customers, many of which refused

to jump ship. Avaya has clearly demonstrated not only commitment to the portfolio, but also strong innovation

and focus on solving new challenges posed by virtualization as well as old problems such as those posed by the

limitations of the Spanning Tree Protocol. Competitors would do better to focus on communicating the benefits of

their own solutions to those problems to existing customers and greenfield prospects, rather than to continuing

to try to lure away Avayas customers.

Buyer Actions


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Existing Avaya ERS 8600 and 8800 customers struggling with having to reconfigure the core of the network to

accommodate major new applications or services and dealing with the production outages that occur when

configuration complexity causes human error should evaluate the new VENA support and put it through a proof of

concept. Avayas claims of six-click provisioning, if true, hold great promise in solving a serious operational

problem.

Customers and prospects interested in Avayas end-to-end VENA story should press Avaya to share its roadmap

with them, especially as more and more of their applications are virtualized.

Customers and prospects should keep in mind that a foundational element of the VENA architecture involves

deploying NAC, an exercise many have avoided to date. That could be a deal-breaker if all parties affected by

such a deployment are not in agreement.

Analytical Perspective

In this round of VENA news, Avaya emphasized the campus network, with a simple software upgrade for the

8600 and 8800 core campus switches. The ability for existing customers to avoid a rip-and-replace scenario to

gain the benefits of Avayas architecture in the campus is compelling. It is also clear that the architecture will be

extended further out to the edge of the network into wiring closet switches, and Avaya officials publicly hinted

that with VENA at the edge, there will be more partnerships.

The VENA architecture, launched last November with a good deal of fanfare, helped to put Avaya and the former

Nortel data networking business back on the map. It offers a compelling mix of standard protocols and

proprietary enhancements that promise to solve both old Spanning Tree Protocol problems and new virtualization

complexities. VENA not only includes IEEE 802.1 aq Shortest Path Bridging, which enables multiple active links to

be utilized, but it also includes enhancements that enable more flexible network designs such as the ability to

support Layer 3 extensions, route between the multiple Virtual Service Networks, and provide dual homing for

devices connecting to the network fabric.

This round of news peels the VENA onion down another layer, exposing another component of the architecture:

NAC. Avayas NAC, based on the portfolio Nortel acquired with Identity Engines, allows users to be authenticated

and assigned to the appropriate VLANs or Virtual Service Networks. While Avaya positions this as complementary

to the other VENA elements, customers may not take the same view. NAC has not been widely adopted, largelybecause of incomplete products, competing standards, a poorly defined problem, and Ciscos internal conflicts

and attempts to freeze the market.

Other key elements not touched upon in this launch include Avayas Configuration and Orchestration Manager,

which Avaya had earlier enhanced with a new Virtual Services Manager. The VSM enables centralized

provisioning of VENAs Virtual Services Fabric and Virtual Service Networks and simplifies the Shortest Path

Bridging configuration. Another promising tool in development, for now dubbed the Data Network Planner, will

allow operators to create a VSN and it will graphically display where all the virtual networks exist and what their

relationships are. It will also display how logical and physical networks map together.

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