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The promise ofintegrated communicationsConstant presence, continuous collaboration

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No. 50

BUSINESS BRIEFING

BT cover logo on white 23/8/05 3:46 pm

INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS

INFORMATIONAGE BUSINESS BRIEFING 2005 B3

B4 FROM VISION TO REALITYThe convergence of telecoms and IT is coming at last. The implications will be profound for all operators and all customers. By Andrew Lawrence

B6 THE UNIFIED FOUNDATIONSUnified does not mean simple. The technical foundations of the integrated IP network are proving complex and expensive. By Andrew Lawrence

B10 FASTER, SMARTER, CHEAPEREnormous efficiencies can be achieved by merging voice and data networks.By Kate Adair

B12 LIFE AFTER POTSThe business of charging per minute to connect two telephones across a network is dying, so telcos are planning to drive revenues from new services.Plus: BT’s £10 billion national communications network. By Phil Jones

B16 POWERFUL CONNECTIONSApplications on unified networks are able to exploit video, voice and data.Businesses that use them can become far more productive. By Pete Swabey

B19 A WORLD UNWIRED Technical and business barriers must be overcome before businesses canbenefit from fixed line and wireless convergence. By Tim Bradshaw

B22 VOICING CONCERNSThe business benefits are many – but first, the converged IP network must be made secure and resilient. By Abi Carter

B25 HELPING HANDSA range of companies are clamouring to help manage integrated communications platforms. By Gareth Morgan

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EditorKenny MacIverDeputy editorGareth MorganAssociate editorPhil JonesSenior staff writerTim BradshawConsulting editorJoanna ManceyStaff writersKate Adair, Abi Carter,Pete SwabeyProduction editorIvan LeeAssistant production editorElton Lam

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The promise of integrated

communications

CONTENTSBUSINESS BRIEFING

www.infoconomy.com

03-BB50-Contents 11/8/05 2:22 pm

The computing and the telecommunicationsindustries have been talking about their

imminent marriage for a long, long time. Butsomehow, the dream has never quite been realised.The two worlds of two-way, real-time voice calls onthe one hand, and information processing andmanagement on the other, have become tangled buthave never quite merged.

That continued separation – in technologies,vocabulary, business models – has cost the IT businessconsumer dearly. Fixed voice calls, mobile calls, emails,video links, broadcast – all these communicationschannels remain essentially separate. Coupled with thefact that IT applications themselves are usually lessintegrated than they could be, and it is no surprise thatelectronic communication has become dysfunctional.

“Communications, sometimes referred to as ‘thegreat liberator of our age’, is gradually turning it into anera of inefficiency,” said communications consultancyXierus in a recent report, The era of over communications.Many of the gains resulting from increased functionand mobility are being lost because users are distractedand overwhelmed by the need to mentally integrateoverlapping and competing systems.

Until now, no amount of preaching, forecasting or

investment has been enough to force the issue ofconvergence. Computer companies have boughttelecoms companies, telecoms companies have boughtcomputer makers, and services companies from bothcamps have attempted to bridge the divide withcreative programming.

Many have produced innovative technologies, andsome customers have implemented them, but nonehas managed to deliver to its customers or itsshareholders the kind of compelling advances thatconvergence has always promised.

Instead, the two industries have developedalongside each other: IT has become ubiquitous, withintelligence and processing power distributed aroundthe globe and across the Internet; voice and videocommunications, meanwhile, have advanced at thesame furious pace, but their circuits, mobile or fixed,have been largely closed off to the powerful,sometimes anarchic, but clearly liberating world ofopen, digital computing.

REVOLUTION Over the next five to 10 years, all that is set to changedramatically and irrevocably. The worlds of computingand telecommunications – and that ultimately includesmobile and broadcasting too – will all move onto onecommon, open and programmable infrastructure.While there will continue to be a patchwork ofunderlying transport mechanisms, all the services thatrun across these networks will be based on standard,manageable packets of information using the Internetprotocol (IP).

Above this, new standard sets, such as the SIP(session initiation protocol) and IMS (IP multimediasubsystem) will enable all IT companies – from bothsides of the old computing/telecoms divide – to build,distribute and manage a wide range of integratedservices that work smoothly together.

Some of the implications of this can already be seenin the kind of services that the Internet and IP-basedcommunications of 2005 are able to offer. But fargreater, more profound implications are to come.

“This is not about voice over the Internet, or aboutreplacing PBX [private telephone exchanges]. This isabout a phased migration from one world to another,”says Steve Masters, general manager, IP Infrastructure,for BT Global Services, which has a huge commitmentto this new order. “The implications will be profound.Everything will be more efficient and cost effective.”

“In terms of this being an important development tothe enterprise, I think this is actually being underplayedat the moment,” says Jerry Caron, principle telecomsanalyst with research company Current Analysis. Apart


OVERVIEW

B4 INFORMATIONAGE BUSINESS BRIEFING 2005 www.infoconomy.com

From vision to realityThe convergence of telecoms and IT is coming atlast. The implications will be profound for alloperators and all customers.

04-05-BB50-Vision 12/8/05 2:39 pm


OVERVIEW

INFORMATIONAGE BUSINESS BRIEFING 2005 B5www.infoconomy.com

from the opportunities to cut costs throughintegrating services, a swathe of new applications andservices, empowered with voice, video and presencetechnology, will soon appear (see table, Convergedcommunications).

All of these will ultimately be based on a new, unifiedcommunications base, provided by service providersand sometimes, but perhaps less and less, built in-house on standard components.

The goal of the providers, says Neil Sutton, generalmanager, IT Services for BT, will be to build and offernear ubiquitous networks that are always available, arehigh bandwidth, secure, cost effective andmanageable, and are layered with services – such as theability to sense ‘presence’. Their ease of use andopenness will belie their underlying complexity.

Analysts agree that, this time, convergence is nofalse start. Major telecoms companies around theworld are taking risky and irrevocable steps, rebuildingtheir infrastructure and business models, andbroadcasters are preparing to do the same. In the UK,BT’s £10 billion investment in its new IP-based 21st

century network (21CN) is an example of the scale ofthe changes being made (see page 14).

“Part of 21CN is a realisation that 15 years from now,BT will not be a carrier. It will be an applicationintegrator,” says Caron. BT is ahead, but all providerswill have to make similar commitments or establishtheir strategy, he says.

Kai-Uwe Ricke, CEO of German operator DeutscheTelekom (DT), is certainly thinking along the samelines, as are all of the former national telcos (see page12). “It is the services surrounding the provision oftelephone calls, such as billing and service levelguarantees, that will bring these companies theirrevenue, not selling telephone call minutes.”

For the mobile service providers, the implicationsare equally profound. Although at present they arewedded to a business model based on minutes ofconnection time, several are preparing to put in theinfrastructure to offer advanced, integrated services –including, eventually, voice-over-IP (VoIP). Others areexamining the implications.

“The world will move to IMS,” says PaulMankiewich, chief technology officer for mobility atBell Labs, the research arm of telecoms equipmentprovider Lucent Technologies, referring to the open, IPmultimedia system that will enable operators to deliverintegrated IP services over their networks.

A recent report by Analysys, a telecoms consultancy,concluded that most mobile operators will install anIMS within five years. “And our advice to them is tomove to SIP as fast as you can,” says Mankiewich. SIP

gives the system the ability to sense a user’s ‘presence’on the network and to tailor services according to thedevice they are using.

For the enterprise customer, the choices are no lessimportant. Tactical implementations to install VoIP, forexample, may fail to adequately support moreadvanced collaborative applications. “It is important tohave a roadmap, a cunning plan,” says Sutton. BT itselfadvocates a strategy that moves from consolidation (ofboth equipment and services), through convergence,and finally to new, extended applications. In each case,it argues, there is a clear financial case for investing.

Gartner, the IT advisory company, has warned thatthe convergence of email, instant messaging, and fixedand mobile voice services will overwhelm CIOs that donot plan for this change: “We’re talking about acomplete change in role; businesses are going to needa communications czar or some kind of chief processofficer to manage this,” Neil Rickard told a recentGartner Symposium.

This may be the most important first step. Thechanges in the next ten years may prove as disruptiveas the Internet has in the past ten.

Article by Andrew [email protected]

UNIFIED MATURITY MATURITY VALUE TOAPPLICATION FIXED MOBILE BUSINESS

Voice over IP ★★★ ★ £££££

Ad hoc video/audio conferencing ★ ★ £££

Video on demand ★★ ★ ££

Push to talk ★ ★ ££

Embedded voice in applications ★★ ★ ££££

Video telephone ★ ★★ ££

Unified messaging ★★ ★ £££

Embedded video in applications ★ ★ £££

Wireless-fixed roaming ★ ★ ££

Selection of best connection ★ ★ ££

Presence and device awareness ★★ ★ £££

Instant message/presence ★★★ ★ ££

Digital management of audio ★★★ ★★ ££££(store, analyse etc)

Digital management of video ★ ★ ££(store, analyse etc)

Ubiquitous web/application access ★★★ ★★ ££££

IP centrex (call management) ★★★ ★ £££

★ Test, early pilot ★★★★★ Established in market

CONVERGED COMMUNICATIONS: THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES

04-05-BB50-Vision 12/8/05 2:39 pm

For most CIOs (chief information officers), thegoal of putting all their organisation’s

applications, including voice and video, onto one big,simple and intelligent Internet protocol (IP)backbone is a top priority. Many have already doneso, and, according to Forrester Research, an ITadvisory company, about one-third of allorganisations will have a unified IP network by 2010.

This rush to convergence is understandable. Manybusinesses, notes a recent report from Bearing Point,an analyst firm, currently have a patchwork ofnetworks that are “cobbled together, often resulting ininefficiencies, high costs, inadequate disaster recoveryand an inability to deliver new bandwidth-intensiveapplications”. Even if the economic arguments werenot so overwhelmingly in favour of standardising onone network, the technical ones – in terms ofmanageability and ease of use – would be.

But there are some big riders to this otherwisesimple proposition. Building a successful, unifiedinfrastructure, it turns out, is a far more complicated,

and longer-term, project than many managers areanticipating. Most of the big projects publicised todayare still in their early stages.

BASIC BEGINNINGSFirst, the assertion that full convergence is happeningtoday needs clarification. Sometimes, the IP backbonecovers only certain applications or geographies, andnone so far reaches effectively into the all importantarea of mobile applications (see box, Going mobile).

Second, many integrated networks have not beendesigned to support the requirements of the trulyunified networks that will emerge over the next severalyears. At the very least, networks will be required tosupport low latency applications such as voice, highbandwidth applications, such as video streaming, andresource hungry applications, such as transactionmanagement. They must also be able to differentiatebetween applications so that their performance can beprotected if necessary. Furthermore, few networkshave been modelled to anticipate how usage patternsmight change once modern, converged applicationsare installed – and how these applications affect eachother. Many businesses, having switched to IP-onlynetworks, have encountered performance problems.

A third issue is that converging different coreservices onto the backbone, and even adding in


INFRASTRUCTURE


The unified foundationsUnified does not mean simple. The technicalfoundations of the integrated IP network areproving complex and expensive.

EVENTUALLY, local area and wide area wirelessnetworks will link seamlessly into fixed networks –with handover of services and billing occurring qui-etly in the background. Building out IP networksinto the wireless world, however, is a difficult techni-cal challenge that is further complicated by intensecompetition and by regulatory pressures.

The development of SIP and IMS technology willprovide mobile operators with a technical platformto deliver presence and device ‘awareness’ to IP-based networks, enabling application layer conver-gence of the mobile and fixed communicationsworlds. “Once you have a SIP-enabled phone, youwon’t even know you are on an IP network,” saysPaul Mankiewich, chief technology officer of mobili-ty for Lucent’s Bell Laboratories.

Rolling out the technology, say analysts, will takefive to 10 years. At this point, services such asmobile VoIP, push-to-talk, and ad hoc voice andvideo conferencing should all become available.

But one big question remains: how will the

mobile network operators support the all importantreal-time voice packets? At present, 3G cellular net-works have too much latency to support VoIP.

The solution will come in the form of 3.5G –HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access). Initialservices are likely to run at about 3.4 megabits persecond (Mbits/s), but this will rapidly increase.Equipment manufacturers believe they can reachspeeds of 100 Mbits/s. According to Mankiewich,Bell Labs has conducted trials where it has been ableto get better voice perfomance using VoIP thanusing circuit switched technology and GSM phones.

WiMax networks offer another wireless alterna-tive. By 2007/8, WiMax networks covering a radiusof some 4-6 kilometres should be widely available.With connectivity of between 0.5 Mbits/s and 75Mbits/s, and little latency, they will be able to com-fortably support VoIP.

The technology for the truly converged networkis, therefore, in place. The major concern for opera-tors is how they transform their business models.

Going mobile

06-08-BB50-NewInfrastructure 11/8/05 2:24 pm


INFRASTRUCTURE


continues >>

advanced features such as ‘presence’, using the sessioninitiation protocol (SIP), is of limited value withoutupgrading, extending and even rethinking the array ofapplications and processes that will exploit thetechnology. “If you see this is a way of ripping out costs,you’ve missed the point of convergence,” says JohnWright, general manager, Mobility, BT Retail.

In most cases, enhancements will be handled by themajor application providers, such as SAP andMicrosoft; but in other areas, extensive upgrading andre-engineering will be necessary. A centralisedplatform to deliver services may be required.

Leading operators and equipment providers areaware of all of these issues, and are designingnetworks that are ‘application aware’. These vary insophistication, in their adoption levels and in their‘openness’. But none of these technologies are yetused on the ‘open’ Internet, so quality of service of,for example, voice over IP (VoIP), cannot beguaranteed unless it is supported from end-to-end bya network operator.

NEW STANDARDSOne widely adopted standard for improving quality isMPLS – multi-protocol label switching. This method,now widely supported by equipment makers, involvesidentifying the source of IP packets and attaching alabel to them according to agreed priorities. From thenon, all routers and switches on the network canprioritise the traffic.

In June this year, Cisco, the leading provider of IPtelecoms equipment, introduced a more advanced setof products as part of its AON (application-orientednetworking) architecture. This involves installingdevices on a network (or upgrading some existing

routers) that are capable of rapidly reading andunderstanding the context of the messages. Forexample, it might be able to differentiate between apurchase order and an invoice.

Nick Earle, vice president of marketing, planning andoperations for Cisco, EMEA, says the innovation willhave an “impact on enterprise IT architecture asprofound as the migration from mainframe toclient/server in the 1980s”.

Many service operators and system integrators alsoaddress the potential application performance issues.BT, for example, takes a thorough, services-orientedapproach based on taking a centralised view of theentire unified network. Its application assuredinfrastructure (AAI) involves analysing networkrequirements in advance, building performancemodels, and then implementing a converged networkbased on technology from a number of vendors.

IT analyst company Gartner says that serviceproviders could soon be delivering application-levelguarantees to more than one-third of their clients. Buttheir challenge, it says, is to turn project work into aregular service.

Perhaps the biggest infrastructure challenge,however, is architectural. How are these new, unifiedIP-based services and applications to be delivered andintegrated – and how is it be done rapidly, flexibly andcost effectively?

The telecoms companies, both mobile and fixed,have the answer, in the form of the IP multimediasubsystem (IMS), which will ultimately work on top ofa pure IP infrastructure. IMS is an open platform basedon SIP and enables the service providers to develop,deliver and manage IP-based services that are end-userand device aware. To those with an enterprise IT

VISION The network will be unified in every

sense: for the user, the handover from a cellular serv-ice to a WiFi service or an ethernet connection will beseamless, whether the application is voice or data. Allservices and all users will be accessible from any-where, one directory will serve all services, and com-munications between devices will intelligently senseformats and the context in which the service is beingsent. For CIOS, it will be possible to manage thiswhole network with one set of tools and one set ofservice level agreements.

REALITY Most user organisations do not yet have unified net-works and VoIP, the first big converged application,has only just reached maturity. Public telephonenetworks have yet to switch over from old style cir-cuit connections, and mobile services lack band-width and full IP support. Most enterprise applica-tions do not yet exploit convergence, and mostinstalled networks do not yet use all the manage-ment functions becoming available. Convergence formost is five or ten years away, but early adopters arealready seeing benefits.

The vision… and the reality


background, it is analogous to the way that webservices orchestration platforms can be used to deliverplug in services for the service-oriented architecture.

The IMS is capable of supporting a large number ofadd-on services, and will be able to manage importantfunctions such as security, identity management andbilling. For this reason, the service operators see it asvital – if expensive. Forrester Research recently saidthat IMS systems could cost operators hundreds ofmillions of dollars each to build.

Analysys, a telecoms research company, recentlyforecast that all the major mobile operators woulddeploy IMS systems within five years – even though itwarned that these systems are expensive and risky.

Although IMS platforms were originated by mobileoperators, however, they are likely to be more widelyadopted, with major fixed-line operators also seeingthis as a way to gain a competitive edge over rivals. By

installing a good IMS, operators will be able to delivera richer variety of services to their customers, oftenmore quickly and more flexibly than those usingalternative approaches.

This raises the question: Will IMS also be importantto enterprise customers? “We think so. But it probablywon’t be called IMS,” says Jerry Caron, an analyst withCurrent Analysis, who foresees the development ofsimilar tools for use by enterprises.

Using the IMS model, he says, it will be possible forenterprises to build a framework for cost effectivelydelivering IP services, such as VoIP, video-enabledapplications and ‘presence’. These networks will beable to link seamlessly into external networks, so in thisway, some business will be able to become their owncarriers – at least for part of the network.

APPLICATION PLATFORMOne of the benefits of SIP and the IMS model is that itshould prove flexible enough for operators (andenterprises) to add in new application functions – eventhose have yet to be invented or articulated. IMS hasbeen compared to enterprise resource planning (ERP)systems, in that it could support a huge range ofcorporate applications.

One example is the use of context and profile data,which is not yet supported by SIP and IMS . “There is athird leg (after signalling and traffic bearing) that’scoming into telecommunications – a hiddenrevolution, and that is context data,” says Rick Hull,head of network data and service research for BellLabs, now part of Lucent Technologies.

Context may involve, for example, giving themessaging service information on user context as wellas explicit preferences, possibly by profiling recentphone calls and analysing the user’s relationships andhistory. Without this, the new infrastructure could addmore complexity, rather than make it easier to use.

With so much complexity, one question repeatedlyarises. How much of this will businesses hand over toservice operators, and how much will they dothemselves? In theory, it will be possible to build orenhance most next generation network applicationsin-house, especially using tools such as Microsoft’sLiveLink server, and link these to SIP-aware servicesrunning on remote networks. But most CIOs are likelyto weigh up the risks and rewards and opt for anoutsourced service, even if they retain some criticalapplications in house.


INFRASTRUCTURE


Article by Andrew [email protected]

IMS (OR IPMS): The IP multimedia subsystem is a standardised architecture thatspecifies how network operators can provide converged multimedia servicesregardless of access technology, wired or wireless. Applications include push-to-talk, videoconferencing and content sharing. The advantages for operatorsinclude faster launches for new services and a central repository of user data. IP: As communications mechanisms and access technologies converge uponthe Internet protocol, truly unified communications become possible, with allvoice and data carried over the same network. SIP: The session initation protocol is the control mechanism at the heart of anyconverged network and device. Connection addresses can be associated withpeople rather than their communications mechanism, thus allowing one num-ber for all devices. SIP provides ‘presence’ awareness. HSDPA: Also known as ‘3.5G’, high-speed downlink packet access is a mobiledata service capable of transfers as speeds of up to 10 Mbit per second. Thiswill enable it to support IP multimedia services. Mobile operators plan todeploy HSDPA in 2005-6. AON: Application-oriented networking devices from vendors such as Cisco and3Com intelligently process XML and other messages to help tune the IT infra-structure for a service-oriented architecture, application acceleration, qualityof service and integration. MPLS: Multiprotocol label switching is a data-carrying mechanism, designed tounite traditional circuit-switched and new packet-switched networks. It alsoprioritises the transmission of data packets depending on their needs. 3G: Third-generation mobile data services technology brings faster transmissionspeeds to phones and laptops than exsiting GPRS systems and enables videocalling and other real-time data intensive services. WIMAX: A wide-area (4-6 kilometres) wireless broadband technology, initiallyused by service providers for backhaul. When the latest 802.16e standard isratified, it will be used by individuals’ mobile devices in much the same way asWiFi networks are now. Trial services are already underway.

Unification building blocks


The year before last they were thinking about it.Last year, they thought about it some more. This

year, according to a growing body of indicators,European businesses are throwing away theirprivate branch exchanges (PBXs) and buying into thestreamlined, cost-effective world of unified Internetprotocol (IP) networking.

Certainly, an explosion in the number and variety ofnetwork providers, carriers, Internet service providers,telecoms providers and mobile and voice operators –both actual and virtual – onto the scene makes it aninnovative and ground-breaking time to be in thetelecoms business. But competition is fierce andservices are often the differentiating factor.

New applications such as web conferencing, voice-enabled websites and presence technology are beingaggressively promoted to businesses to compensatefor the plummeting prices of traditional voice calls.While voice over IP (VoIP) calls are almost free, theycarry a range of opportunities to increase the averagerevenue per user (ARPU).

In North America, market watcher Infoneticsreported that VoIP service revenue topped $1.3 billionin 2004 and is expected to soar 1431% to a dramatic$19.9 billion a year in 2009, demonstrating theinevitable boost that these extra services will have foranxious telcos.

But it is not just the VoIP arena that will be layeredwith services. Converged networks also cater for video,data, multimedia, fax and email, which all offernumerous opportunities to raise the ratio of revenueper customer.

Services such as data storage, security, higher qualityof service, remote access capabilities and scalability willall be offered to the customer at a premium or as add-ons, either as a managed/hosted service or as an in-house package.

FREE TIMEOther communications options come in the formof online competitors such as Skype, whichprovides free telephony over the public Internet,rather than private IP networks, and with over 15million end users is soon to launch a businessversion of its software. When it does, it will join agrowing coterie of independent software vendorswho believe voice-enabled and other multimediaapplications will lead the next great trend inenterprise software investment.

“A battle for the enterprise desktop is loomingbetween major IT and telecom vendors, and at thecentre of it are innovative types of user-definedcommunications and the marriage of telecom-based convergence and IT-based desktopcollaboration,” says Tom Valovic, an IDC analystspecialising in VoIP infrastructure.

Judging from statistics from analyst group Dell’Oro,showing total PBX market revenues down by 8% in thefirst quarter of 2005 and IP PBX segment revenuesgrowing by 18% in the same period, budgets aremigrating towards VoIP equipment. But howevermuch networking companies such as Cisco and Alcatelargue that converged networks are taking off, VoIP hassimply not reached a standard comparable to the plainold telephone system (POTS), in terms of reliability,quality and security (see pages 22-23).

Why part with millions of pounds to throw awaya communications system that is still fullyfunctional? Unless companies are dealing with agreen field site, implementing a converged networkis really only applicable on a large enterprise scale,or if a traditional PBX is outdated, inflexible and inneed of modernisation.

BIG ON BENEFITSBT estimates that a fully integrated environment hassignificant cost saving potential. For example, a typicalcompany comprising 800 field engineers and 200office-based/nomadic employees could almost halveits operational costs over a two to three year period.


ECONOMICS


Faster, smarter, cheaper Enormous efficiencies can be achieved bymerging voice and data networks.

Source: SAGE RESEARCH

BENEFITS SOUGHT WHEN PLANNING IP COMMUNICATIONS

0 20 40 60 80 100

% of responses "somewhat important" or "very important"

Cost savings (83%)

Need to standardize equipmentacross multiple sites (82%)

Employee productivitygains (71%)

Previous PBX was reachedingthe end of its lifecycle (71%)

Call centre volume increase (56%)

Other productivity factors (32%)

Other factors (19%)

10-11-BB50-NewEconomics 11/8/05 2:27 pm


ECONOMICS


These savings come in three main areas: consolidationof applications and infrastructure; convergence ofdisparate networks; and finally, the extension ofconvergence benefits.

Across these three areas, it is possible, says BT, tomake savings of up to 42% in travel costs byimplementing audio and web conferencing technology,and up to 20% by utilizing fixed-mobile convergence,for example.

A good example of a successful migration to aconverged IP network was Abbey National’s 2003project to update its IT infrastructure and telephonenetwork – one of the biggest of its kind in the UK.The result was an eight-fold increase in bandwidth toall Abbey branches and the installation of an IPphone network.

This was done to reduce costs and to give the bank astrategic advantage through the ability to, for example,stream video clips to branches. The £125 millioncontract with BT to provide a managed service,combined with a £70 million desktop serviceoutsourcing contract with Computacenter, resulted ina cost reduction of £57 million in 2004 alone.

And in 2004, Ford Motors signed a three-year dealworth approximately $100 million with SBC toprovide and manage an IP telephony system for50,000 business users across 110 Ford facilities inMichigan, USA, signalling that VoIP technology isslowly getting recognition as a reliable, cost-effectivealternative to circuit-switched PBXs. The transitionwill make it easier to deal with employees movingbetween various offices, and will allow Ford to scaleup or down its usage with minimal disruption – allpart of a drive to maximise operational efficiencies.

The major barrier to customers switching to aconverged network is the initial cost of deploying the

technology, and the difficulty of quantifying thefinancial benefits of such an implementation.

The cost savings of web conferencing tools due tolower travelling costs are one way to estimate returnon investment (ROI). For example, Aviva, now theUK’s largest insurance group with nearly 50,000 staffworldwide following its merger with Norwich Union,chose a web conferencing tool from collaborationspecialist Webex in a bid to cut down on internationaltravel and says it saved £75,000 in the first year alone.

Chris Rechtsteiner, VP of marketing at enterprise IMvendor Parlano, likens ROI to outer beauty – it is all inthe eye of the beholder. He says people latch on to thedecrease in telephony and email storage costs,precisely because they are tangible numbers.

“It gets more nebulous when it comes to identifyingbusiness opportunities,” he says. While it is difficult toput a price on the time saved as a result of a fullymobilised, converged network, the commonconsensus is that it is priceless.

Article by Kate [email protected]

VISION Integrated communications networks

promise savings in several areas: lower call prices,reduced travel costs and savings through device con-solidation. But the gains from productivity improve-ments will be even more significant: smarter working,perpetual ‘presence’, stronger collaboration. Leadingedge companies cut costs with converged networksbut they are also using the new applications that uni-fied communications bring to revolutionise their busi-ness processes and deliver enterprise-wide benefits.

REALITY The reliability of converged network services, suchas VoIP, is still falling short of the mark set by tradi-tional PBX systems. As a result, many organisationsare not sanctioning a wholesale move to convergednetworks, whatever the potential gains. Vendors willnot convince businesses to make the transition with-out extensive marketing and educational strategies,to expound and quantify the benefits and ROI ofbringing voice and data together on one network,and to address concerns over quality and security.


“A battle for the enterprise desktopis looming – at the centre of it is themarriage of telecoms and IT.”

10-11-BB50-NewEconomics 11/8/05 2:27 pm

At the World Conference of French telecomsequipment maker Alcatel in February 2005, the

keynote speaker, Dr James Canton, chairman of theInstitute for Global Futures and a former WhiteHouse science and technology advisor, attempted toshake up his audience by making a bold prediction:“Within 10 years telecoms companies will haveceased to charge customers for voice calls, and willinstead generate all their revenue from dataservices.” Telcos that fail to recognise this trend andrespond accordingly, he warned, will not survive.

If Canton had been expecting his prediction toprovoke shock or protest, then he chose the wrongaudience. Probably the only aspect of Canton’sremarks that the assembled telecoms professionalsmight have disagreed with was his timeframe. Many ofthem, possibly most of them, recognise that the deathof voice tariffs will happen much earlier than 2015.

Indeed, although they are sometimes still loathe toadmit it, most of the world’s telcos have beenpreparing themselves for life after POTS (the ‘plain oldtelephone service’) for sometime. The business ofcharging per minute for connecting two telephonesacross a network has been their chief revenue sourcefor the last 120 years – but not for much longer.

The writing has been on the wall for POTS ever sincea wave of widespread market deregulation hit theindustry in the 1980s. Under pressure fromcompetitors, per minute charging began to decline forthe first time; then, in the 1990s, new routing andtransmission technologies made the real cost of

making such calls infinitesimally small – sparking aninternational trade in ‘bulk’ voice minutes.

Consequently, even before voice-over-IP ‘softphone’companies (such as Net2Phone, Vonage and Skype)began to give anyone with a personal computer and anInternet connection the ability to talk to each other forfree, switched voice minutes had become a commoditybusiness. And, as Canton might have put it, most telcoshave been planning their response accordingly.

WHERE NEXT?However, recognising that it is time to create a post-POTS exit strategy is one thing; deciding on what thatstrategy should be and, crucially, when to execute it, isan altogether more challenging problem. Certainly forformer public telephone operators (PTOs) such as BT,Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, decidingovernight to abandon decades of investment in apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) is neitherviable nor necessary.

In the UK for instance, BT is still the first port-of-callfor the vast majority of the nation’s phone users —even after 23 years of competition from alternativefixed-line carriers and almost as many from wirelessnetwork operators. Critically, it is also still the soleowner of a local loop infrastructure comprised ofaround 400 million miles of copper cabling thatterminates in some 30 million homes and businesses.

Such assets aren’t cast aside lightly and BT, alone sofar among Europe’s leading telcos, has in factpublished its plan to upgrade its network infrastructureto support a new set of IP-based services (see page 14).

Given that it will be five years before BT hascompleted its 21st century network (21CN) project, it isno surprise to find that the plan has been greeted withhealthy scepticism both by BT’s rivals and by someindependent analysts. According to Margaret Hopkins,an associate analyst with telecoms consulting group,Analysys, the most significant feature of BT’s new

project is not the extent towhich it is adding newinfrastructure to thenational network, but theextent to which it ispreserving the useful lifeof existing investments.

“21CN is all aboutsticking to copper,” saysHopkins. “It means therewon’t be any roll out offibre, unless it’s to largenew housing estates orother greenfield sites.” All


SERVICE OPERATORS


Life after POTSThe business of charging per minute to connecttwo telephones across a network is dying. But themajor telcos have ambitious plans to driverevenues from new services.

VISION The post-POTS public network will

bring broadband dial-tone to the masses, significantlyreduce telco operating costs, and provide a flexibleand more responsive platform on which to developand deploy innovative, integrated business services.Operators that invest in such networks will graduallyevolve from traditional, connection-centric telcos, tomodern, application-aware network service providers.

REALITY No large public network company has yet managedto create a pure Internet protocol (IP) public net-work based entirely on industry standards –although most have that ambition. Pioneers such asBT will have to work closely with suppliers and stan-dards bodies to co-develop management and billingpackages, and may still have to resort to proprietarystandards to make things work.


12-13-BB50-ServOp 11/8/05 2:18 pm


SERVICE OPERATORS


the same, she adds, “It does mean that everyresidential line will automatically get an upgrade tobroadband.”

It is this universal provision of broadband to thehome that is seen as the central point of BT’s post-POTS business strategy, which is to shift away fromconnecting people across a private metered circuit andto become a provider of a full range of broadbandservices, including voice, data and television.

The same so-called triple-play strategy is also beingadopted by other European telcos. In Italy, new carrierFastWeb is taking advantage of a slow start by theincumbent operator, Telecom Italia, and has rushedahead with a three-pronged voice, video and datapackage that has quickly caught on with subscribers.

In Germany, the former PTO Deutsche Telekom(DT) is taking a more measured approach, treatingbusiness as the primary target for its broadbandservices. “Convergence [of data and voice] is real in theenterprises, but not in residential,” explained CEO, Kai-Uwe Ricke, at a recent conference. Denying DT’s focuson business rather than residential broadband shows alack of ambition, he says DT is committed to usingbroadband as a lever for radical change: “DT is not anetwork provider anymore, it’s an ICT company,” saysRicke. “Businesses need billing services, HR services,and they need them with guaranteed service levels.These are all things that we have a history in.”

HOME ADVANTAGEAs the former UK national PTO, BT starts off withadvantages that other telcos will struggle to match,particularly the near universal access to the UKresidential market that the broadband 21CN willprovide. However, with broadband wirelessalternatives such as WiMax and 3G either set to matchor exceed the likely peak capacity of BT’s xDSLbroadband over copper technology, and with cable andsatellite TV operators already having dipped more thana toe in the telecoms space, BT’s residential playposition is by no means assured. For this reason, it ispursuing business customers with equal gusto.

Indeed, for the post-POTS telcos, the businessservices sector offers both the richest potential forimmediate top-line gains and its sternest competitivetest. BT Global Services, the company’s businessnetwork services arm, already has an enviablecustomer base both at home and abroad, thanks in nosmall measure to the company’s £520 millionacquisition of Infonet. This deal puts BT GlobalServices on a more or less equal footing with majorinternational competitors such as SBC’s AT&T andFrance Telecom’s services arm, Equant. These are the

companies BT’s Global Services business is most likelyto go head-to-head with for big multi-million fullservice contracts. However, this won’t stop BT’scustomers becoming the targets for a host of smaller,and more specialised competitors, such as Colt,Kingston Communications, Vanco and Savvis.

BT’s size and comprehensive services portfolioought to give it the edge over most rivals when itcomes to winning major contracts from businessessuch as Reuters and Unilever – who tend to favour aone-stop-shop approach to their communicationsrequirements. However, according to Larry Velez,senior European telecoms analyst with ForresterResearch, a number of companies are eschewing therisk of placing all their communications needs with oneoperator, and are instead pursuing a best-of-breedstrategy that plays into the hands of smaller players.

There is no shortage of operators that fit thisdescription, such as Colt, with its rich estate ofmetropolitan fibre ring assets, and Savvis, the IPnetwork and data centre operations specialist. Theview of the financial and IT market analysts is thattechnological convergence does not necessarily meanconsolidation of suppliers. The IP services market willbe as complex as the networks themselves.

Article by Phil [email protected]

12-13-BB50-ServOp 11/8/05 2:18 pm

The quality of any company’s communicationsservices is ultimately determined by the nature

of the network infrastructure that supports them. Inthis respect, the good news for UK business is thatthe country’s dominant carrier, BT, is building anentirely new national network for the Internet age.

Indeed, the £10 billion, five-year 21st centurynetwork (21CN) project that BT announced last year isexpected to catapult the UK’s national telecomsnetwork to the top of the global technologyinfrastructure pecking order. When it is completed,sometime in 2010, BT will become the first nationaltelco to own and operate a pure Internet protocol (IP)network. At the same time the UK, by implication, willbecome the first country in the world to ‘switch off’ itspublic switched telephone network (PSTN).

The significance of this to UK business telecomsusers should not be underestimated. For the last fourdecades, enterprises have struggled to match theirincreasingly data-centric, digital communicationsrequirements against a public network infrastructurethat was designed to support analogue voice services.To do so has involved the use of a constantly shiftingand complex mosaic of different network services.

Getting the most out of a kaleidoscope of rawleased-line bandwidth, integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) dial-up links, frame relay overlaynetworks and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)switched systems has been neither simple nor cheap.Each service has had to be separately procured;separately provisioned; separately managed; andseparately billed and paid for. But not any more.

In theory, 21CN will cure this nightmare ofoperational and management complexity at a stroke.Multiple individual networks running arcane telecomsswitching protocols will be replaced by a single, logicalnetwork based on IP. In essence, the UK is swappingthe analogue dial tone that has greeted the ear of voicecallers for more than 100 years, with a ‘broadband dialtone’ geared to the ‘voices’ of digital devices.

Customers will still be able to access different typesand standards of service over this logical network:including end-to-end ethernet for those with bigthroughput appetites and subtler, application-sensitiveservices based on multi-protocol label switching(MPLS), for others. Now though, all of these services,including voice and video, will be accessible at all pointsof the network via branch exchange devices known asmulti-service access nodes (MSANs).

Every UK business stands to benefit from this – notleast BT itself. BT expects 21CN to reduce itsoperational costs by around £1 billion a year, and toprovide its business units with a more flexible,responsive platform on which to build new services –and hence respond more quickly to shifting marketdemands. To what extent customers and businesspartners will be able to share directly in these benefitsremains to be seen.

In theory, the greater flexibility of 21CN ought tomake it easier and cheaper for other operators tolaunch new services based on BT’s infrastructure,raising the prospect of a new era of communicationsservice innovation in the UK. In practice, a lot willdepend on how successfully Ofcom can strike abalance between allowing BT the fruits of itsinvestment, whilst also ensuring that 21CN’sadvantages are not unfairly reserved for the benefit ofBT and a few chosen partners – such as Microsoft.

Much the same can be said of BT’s relationship withits business customers. So far, in its promotion of21CN, BT has talked about giving customers greatercontrol and faster access to services. At some point,this should translate into fully self-provisioningservices: allowing customers to dynamically, andautomatically, access bandwidth, storage or whateverother physical and logical resources BT and its partnersare able to offer over the network.

But how quickly that point is reached will depend onhow fast BT can develop the management systemsneeded to control, meter and bill for them and, critically,how quickly BT’s competitors can force its hand.


SERVICE OPERATORS


21st century simplicityBT’s new £10 billion national communicationsnetwork will dramatically simplify businesscommunications.

Article by Phil [email protected]

14-BB50-ServOp 11/8/05 2:07 pm

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

When Pernod Ricard and Diageojointly acquired Seagram’s wines andspirits business in 2001, one of theworld’s best-known whisky makers –Chivas Brothers – was included in thepurchase, and its manufacturing andbottling facilities went to Pernod Ricard.Headquartered in Paisley near Glasgow,and employing over 800 people, Chivasproduces a number of prestigious whiskybrands including Chivas Regal and TheGlenlivet.

Rather than subsume its new whiskymaking subsidiary into its globaloperations, Pernod Ricard gave ChivasBrothers a degree of autonomy. ForChivas Brothers, being a separate entityagain as opposed to part of a widerbusiness, had repercussions that had tobe addressed without delay. Among the

most important was the selection andimplementation of new communicationsnetworks.

Under its new owner, Chivas Brotherswanted a flexible, expandable, reliableand less expensive network solution thatwould be based on proven technology.Above all it wanted a solution that couldbe installed quickly – in about threemonths – and painlessly. “Our numberone priority was to completely avoidbusiness disruption,” recalls StuartWatson, IT Director at Chivas Brothers.

Chivas Brothers opted for a singlesupplier – BT – to help implement itscommunications strategy. Initially thefocus of that strategy was on getting adata network up and running but, in laterphases, a converged voice and data IPnetwork would be implemented. ChivasBrothers chose BT’s IP Clear service, andInternet Protocol (IP) Virtual PrivateNetwork (VPN) running over BT’s whollyowned IP MPLS (multi-protocol labelswitching) network. Apart from the IPtechnology, Chivas also wanted a serviceprovider with demonstrable projectmanagement skills to meet its tightdeadlines.

In just three months, BT installed thedata network linking Chivas’ 21 sites sothat they could share vital data –including Chivas’ main manufacturingand financial applications – as well as e-mail and internet access. Sites includerural distilleries in the Highlands ofScotland, bottling facilities in Paisley, amain distribution centre in Linwood, andadministrative offices in both Paisley andLondon. Stuart Watson says, “Thechangeover to the IP Clear data networkwas well-run and well-managed. We hadpractically no disruption to business atany of our sites, and the project came inon time, on budget and exactly to ourexpectations.”

Under the terms of the five yearcontract, BT is also fully managingChivas’ data network. Watson explains

why, “We chose a fully managed optionbecause BT was offering a good, flexibleservice at a cost effective price, and Ididn’t want to tie up one or two of my MISstaff constantly monitoring the datanetwork. It really isn’t part of our corefunction.” Included in the BT service isproactive network monitoring and faulthandling, the aim of which is to identifyand correct faults before they affectChivas’ network service. Chivas Brothersreceives network performance data andmanagement statistics from BT everymonth, which include information on thedata network’s peaks and troughs,enabling Chivas Brothers to make better-informed decisions about changes to itsnetwork.

Having a robust network is crucial toChivas’ business. Some 800 employeesrely on access to the data network toperform their daily jobs. Also, being awhisky producer, Chivas Brothers isrequired by customs and excise to trackits products from distilleries, throughbottling to distribution. However, one ofthe biggest benefits of IP Clear is that itprovides Chivas Brothers with a flexibleand assured way forward. ChivasBrothers has already installed IP-readyvoice solutions and expects networkconvergence very shortly.

Now Chivas Brothers has a moreflexible and cost-effective network, andthe reliability that its business demands.Stuart Watson says, “We’re saving up to20 per cent against the arrangementsthat we had previously, and our internalkey performance indicators show thatnetwork availability has improved from98.5 per cent to 99.9 per cent since wetook the managed IP Clear solution.”

By selecting BT’s IP Clear service,Chivas Brothers has an up-to-date datanetwork that can easily be expanded asthe business grows. Equally importantly, ithas a service that supports its strategicplan to converge voice and data over asingle network.

Chivas Brothers – case studyAfter its acquisition, the whisky maker needed a swift

network upgrade that would not add to the disruption.

"The changeover to theIP Clear data networkwas well-run and well-managed…We're savingup to 20 per cent againstthe arrangements wehad previously."

Stuart Watson, IT Director, Chivas Brothers

To find out more how BT's networked IT services can help your organisation thrive, go to www.bt.com/corporate/convergence

BT ad feature Chivas 23/8/05 3:38 pm Page 1

When converged networks uniting data andvoice traffic were first developed, the ‘carrot’

that vendors used to lure customers to invest in thetechnology was the saving they would make inreduced phone bills.

Although there are still some companies that haveyet to weigh up the cost benefits of shifting to voiceover Internet protocol (VoIP), the convergence pitchhas moved on. Today, network hardware suppliers,service providers and software developers are eagerlytouting applications that make use of an integratedcommunications infrastructure not just to reducecosts, but to change the way that businesses operate.

Their hope is that organisations will see the newmodes of working made possible by convergedcommunications not just as cost-saving, penny-pinching measures, but as a key source of competitiveadvantage, if not an operational necessity. As yet,though, these new applications are largely untested,and there is considerable debate over their usefulness.

COLLABORATIONCollaboration tools will certainly be both enriched andsimplified by the integration of audio and video data.By integrating VoIP with desktop calendar applicationssuch as Outlook, for example, it will be possible toarrange and execute a conference call with a few

mouse clicks, rather than having to pay costly third-party conferencing contracts.

However, many analysts still question the businessbenefit of voice-enabled collaboration tools. “Thetheory that these tools will cut down on air travel istotally specious,” says Steve Cramoysan of analystgroup Gartner. “We could easily come up with acounter argument that so much remotecommunication might reinforce the value of face toface dialogue.”

But unified communications networks will have amuch deeper impact upon collaborative work whenthe features are integrated into existing workingprocesses. Neil Sutton, general manager of IT Servicesat BT, believes, for example, that significantproductivity benefits will be derived from integratingcommunications with document management.

“Using collaborative tools on shared documents andshared content makes the process much more efficient.Rather than sending round massive emails, anemployee can use their own personal portal todistribute the information,” says Sutton. The increasedpersonal responsibility for documents engendered bythis approach, he argues, will also increase productivity.

US business intelligence company Fair Isaac is oneearly adopter of voice-enabled collaboration. It usesMicrosoft’s Live Communications Server to supportcommunications channels such as instant messagingand live conferencing both internally and withcustomers. Since the roll out of the technology in2005, the company says it has shortened the averagelength of its sales cycle by 30%.

PRESENCEThe possibilities of the new ‘presence’ applicationsenabled by integrated communications are generating


NEW APPLICATIONS


Powerful connectionsApplications on unified networks are able toexploit video, voice and data. Businesses thatuse them can become far more productive.

VISION Corporations will stream rich media

over IP networks, making remote collaboration sim-ple and intuitive and enabling staff, customers andpartners to quickly and easily share voice, video anddata. Presence technology will enable users to instant-ly see the availability of workmates and clients. All ofthe communication and collaboration technologiessupported by the converged network will be embed-ded into critical business applications, revolutionisingbusiness processes and powering a more efficient, col-laborative and auditable corporation.

REALITY Today’s Internet is providing businesses with a tasteof the interactive and collaborative applications tocome. But powerful tools such as BlackBerry emailforwarding, instant messaging and web conferenc-ing operate independently, and their reach into thevoice world is limited. Very few applications usevoice or video. Most enterprises are still analysingthe problem, consolidating their services and spend-ing, and undertaking the first stages of convergence.For most, the world of unified applications is severalyears away.


16-17-BB50-NewApps 11/8/05 2:10 pm


NEW APPLICATIONS


even more excitement. Using the session initiationprotocol (SIP) communications standard, applicationsor users can automatically see the availability ofcolleagues, clients or partners. As all forms ofcommunication are integrated over the same network,anyone can find out whether the person they are tryingto contact is on the phone, using the Internet or out ofthe office, and contact them via the most appropriatemeans – email, instant message or mobile phone.Furthermore, the message can be automaticallyadapted to suit the preferred device of the recipient.

Again, the benefit of presence applications whenused on their own is debatable. “If the only advantageis saving half an hour for an individual per day, that’s apretty weak value proposition,” says Gartner’sCramoysan. But when built into business processes, anautomated awareness of the location of key teammembers might make those processes more efficientand fail proof. If a certain level of employee is requiredto approve a purchase order, for example, presencetechnology could find which appropriate staff memberis readily available, and accelerate the process.

In the call centre, quickly being able to track thewhereabouts of an individual with specific experiencemight help manage calls more effectively. “The focusof the contact centre is the time it takes to turn aroundthe call,” says Rob House, head of business solutions atcommunications technology vendor Siemens. Usingpresence and SIP technology could reduce the time ittakes to connect the customer to the right contact.

Indeed, converged networking promises torevolutionise the way call centres are operated. Abbey,the UK Building society, recently rolled out a solutionin partnership with BT and Cisco that enables excesstraffic to its call centre to be routed to available staff inbranches around the country. Such a system couldequally be used to divert traffic to ad-hoc homeworkers, whose availability can also be monitored bypresence technology.

“It’s hard to imagine any CRM application of thefuture that will not have this technology embedded,”says Jerry Caron, an analyst with research companyCurrent Analysis.

INTEGRATING INFORMATIONMany of the new generation collaborationtechnologies being enabled by integratedcommunications are primarily designed forinformation workers. The premise is that theirknowledge is an asset that needs to be made moreavailable, more quickly, than has previously beenpossible. Examples of task-based processes that havebeen enhanced by integrated communications are not

numerous, although some such projects are underway.But although many of the applications are presented

as a justification for switching to a converged network,they may, in fact, not be dependent on a wholly IP-based infrastructure. Launching such applications on amixed circuit- and packet-switched network mayinvolve more programming, and perhaps morehardware, but for many companies this will bepreferable to throwing out their legacy systems.

Equally, the potential of converged communicationshas only begun to be explored and many of theseapplications are still in their infancy. However, the factthat the integrated communications infrastructure isbased on open, standard platforms means that newways of building multimedia into business processescan and will be developed rapidly, enabling new modesof communication that are likely to revolutionise theway businesses work.

Article by Pete [email protected]

Source: FORRESTER RESEARCH

HOW VALUABLE WOULD IT BE TO SEE YOUR COWORKERS’ STATUS

PRIOR TO CONTACTING THEM?

Not applicable (1%)

It would not have a real impact (1%)

It would be somewhat useful (15%)

It would be useful (45%)

It would significantly streamline internal communications (37%)

Source: FORRESTER RESEARCH

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT OF

REAL-TIME CONNECTIVITY?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Improved internal communications (37%)

Better and faster decision making (31%)

Increase customer satisfaction (18%)

Shortened production cycle (10%)

Other (3%)

16-17-BB50-NewApps 11/8/05 2:10 pm


The Eden Project opened to the public inMarch 2001, and in its first two yearsattracted close to four million visitors. Thisrapid rate of growth soon outstripped thecapabilities of the site’s voice and datacommunications infrastructure. In addition,the Eden Project wanted to extend its visionof promoting a greater understanding of therelationship between plants, people and theplanet’s natural resources, to a globalaudience using multimedia and the internet.These longer-term aims meant that a simpleupgrade of existing systems would not besufficient.

The Eden Project started out with amixture of telecommunications, computersand cabling from a range of suppliers. Therewas no real integration between the variousIT systems. This limited the organisation’sflexibility to develop its vision on the scale itnow dreamed of. Being a unique visitorattraction with a world-changing agenda forglobal education, it draws together state-of-the-art building architecture with some of themost ambitious botanical and

environmental features and goals the worldhas ever seen. However, it has the internalresources of a small business, limiting whatit could achieve under its own steam.

Howard Jones, OrganisationalDevelopment Director at the Eden Project,made a call to Cisco Systems, whichcatalysed a whole process that quicklyinvolved BT as a natural partner. Onceengaged, BT quickly became criticallyimportant to the Eden Project. Not only did itbring the right ethos, as an internationalbrand with a high commitment to corporatesocial responsibility, it was also able toembark upon providing certain managedservices.

The BT team worked closely with theEden Project management team to build upa deep understanding of their needs. Inconjunction with Cisco Systems, BTrecommended a converged networkinfrastructure. This would enable the EdenProject to simultaneously address twoimportant objectives: ensuring that it ranefficiently and productively with maximumcost savings, while being able to exploit thelatest interactive and multimedia technologywhen engaging with “virtual” visitors fromaround the world.

Howard Jones says, “The Eden Project isa facilitator for change: a place whereconversations can take place that will gosomewhere. What BT and Cisco have givenus is a means of enriching thoseconversations and extending them to includea global audience. These are people whoreally do give a damn about corporatesocial responsibility, and that’s crucial.”

The Eden Project is located in difficultterrain in a remote location. Localtelecommunications infrastructure is sparseand a single optical fibre provided theorganisation’s link with the outside world.Although that link has never failed, the EdenProject’s success has dictated the need forgreater business resilience and a BTmicrowave link is planned, providing 2mbpsof alternatively routed bandwidth. Mobility isalso important to the Eden Project, and there

are already broadband BT Openzonewireless access points at key locationsaround the site to enable visitors to connectto the internet.

As well as providing the right mix ofinformation and communicationstechnologies, selected and combined toaddress the Eden Project’s uniquerequirements, BT implements, manages andsupports elements of these on theorganisation’s behalf, so that its staff canfocus on their broader vision without havingto concern themselves with the technologythat makes it possible.

The Eden Project is enjoying multiplebenefits from its new infrastructure, bothinternally in helping it to run more efficiently,and externally in taking its vision to the widerworld. In addition, the Eden Project isrealising all the bottom line benefitsassociated with a converged network,including lower total cost of ownership overthe life of the system. “The convergednetwork brings immediate and dramaticsavings. And, since this is the Eden Project,the system is designed for long-termsustainability and evolution,” says PhilWharton, Head of ICT at the Eden Project.

Having the right infrastructure in placemeans the difference between being able toshare knowledge with a classroom ofchildren on site in Cornwall, and being ableto extend the same experience to aninternational audience over the web, usingsound, video and images as well as text andgraphics. The Eden Project has also beenable to deploy web cams and a flying robotin its domes during temporary exhibitions. Itaims to allow people all over the world toconduct virtual tours via the internet. “It is insuch areas that the strategic return oninvestment will really be achieved,” saysHoward Jones.

The Eden Project’s CEO, Tim Smit,concludes, “Quite simply, we felt BT was acompany we could do business with. Byworking in partnership at the leading edgeof technology and responsible practice, thepossibilities are enormous.”

The Eden Project – case studyA converged network transformed the attraction's IT

systems from constraint to competitive differentiator.

"Quite simply, we felt BTwas a company we could do business with. By working in partner-ship at the leading edge of technology andresponsible practise, the possibilities are enormous."

Tim Smit, CEO, The Eden Project


BT ad feature Eden Project 23/8/05 3:40 pm Page 1

It is a staggering statistic. According to JohnWright, general manager of mobility at BT Retail,

four out of ten mobile calls are made from insideoffices. Forget the cost – the modern day businessexecutive rates convenience above everything;there may be cheaper communications methodsavailable, but they cannot compete with the easeand familiarity of the mobile phone.

For the businesses that, in many cases, pick up thetab for those calls, it is a large and growing problem –but one that could shortly be resolved. Networkoperators and infrastructure providers are poised tolaunch a raft of new products and services that promiseseamless communication unrestricted by location.

In-building wireless (WiFi) networks that cansupport voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) to theoutdoor cellular network promise to preserve all thebenefits of mobile technology, while slashing callcharges. Globetrotting executives visiting officesabroad, for example, can still use their mobile phonebut will no longer need to ‘roam’ onto expensiveforeign networks. Other benefits include betterintegration with enterprise phone systems, allowingimproved transferring, parking, monitoring andfiltering of calls. Users will also be contactable on thesame phone number regardless of device or location.

The general release date for many of these newservices is 2006, but some functions are becomingavailable sooner as vendors such as Avaya and Ciscoput their software onto smartphones – programmablemobiles with advanced operating systems. However,not all of these devices can provide seamless roamingbetween networks, which proponents suggest is vital ifphones are to use the cheapest available network.

“It needs to be simple and easy. People are too busyfor that extra keystroke,” says Wright of BT. “The visionwe have is convergence whereby the [calling]experience is notdegraded whether theuser is linked locally, at theoffice, at home, or outand about.”

He envisages thatphones will also connectvia emerging wirelessnetworks, such as WiMaxor high speed downloadpacket access (HSPDA),but warns that as accesstechnologies multiply,switching between themmanually will becomeproblematic.

COMMUNICATIONS FUSIONProving that seamless handover could be achieved wasthe key success of Fusion, BT’s long-awaited convergedphone service. “This is a watershed – separate fixed andmobile telephony services are no longer discrete butare intertwined,” gushed UK market watchers Ovumat the launch in June.

BT may have achieved a world-first with a regularmobile phone (in this case, a Motorola V560) that canuse both a landline and mobile networks. However,Fusion is aimed at consumers and small businesses. Theuse of Bluetooth, a short-range radio technology, toconnect the phone to the in-house hub, and unlicensedmobile access (UMA), a technology for handing thecall from the home network to the public one, meansit is not suitable for large enterprises. Businesses needsuch a device to make use of existing WiFi networksand to integrate better with their private branchexchanges (PBX). However, BT is working on a WiFiversion to replace Bluetooth. This will also be able tomake VoIP calls in BT’s Openzone wireless hotspots.

Taking advantage of the price benefits of VoIPbeyond office wireless local area networks (WLANs) isa key selling point of such systems. BT’s Wrightsuggests that mobile calls might typically take up 10%of the volume of all calls on an enterprise phone bill,but 50% of the cost. “Fusion is looking to bringtogether the best of the fixed world – in quality ofservice, cost and control – and add mobility.”


MOBILE AND FIXED SERVICES

A world unwiredThe convergence of next-generation services ontowireless devices promises to deliver huge costand productivity benefits. First, several technicaland business barriers must be overcome.


continues >>

VISION As wireless technologies multiply,

mobile phones will be able to take advantage of thecheapest available network, using VoIP where possi-ble for near cost-free calling and enabling truly real-time communications. Calls will be handed over fromone network to the next automatically, without inter-ruption and concealing the underlying technologicalcomplexities from the user. As well as cost, other ben-efits include having only one contact number andgreater portability of enterprise applications.

REALITY Although fixed-mobile convergence services arealready available for consumers, the challenge ofintegrating enterprise telephony systems with exist-ing mobile networks and WiFi zones is much greater,particularly when it comes to achieving seamlesshandover. Competing service provider interests haveimpeded progress, as have issues of device cost, sizeand battery life. The uncertain progress of otherhigh-speed wireless networks, such as 3G andWiMax, will further complicate convergence.


19-20-BB50-MobServs 11/8/05 2:29 pm

However, enterprise-class Fusion will not beavailable until mid-2006, partly due to handset delays.Few affordable devices capable of both WiFi and GSMcalls are available, but many are in development. Cisco,for example, is working with both Nokia and Motorolaon ‘dual-mode’ phones, which will enable continuouscalling across cellular networks and WLANs. Both aredue for release in 2006 and will tie into existing Ciscoequipment, tackling the tricky issues of seamless mid-call network roaming and device authentication.

Nokia has also developed a dual-mode WiFi andcellular handset with networking equipment providerAvaya, which can detect and use WiFi when available.But while supporting the fundamentals of convergedcommunications – one phone number, one mailbox,cheaper in-office calls – it will not be able to sustaincalls moving between WiFi and cellular networks.

FINE FORMBut then not everyone agrees with BT that seamlesshandover is so crucial. “How often do you walk from theoffice to the car while on the phone?” asks Jerry Caron,principle analyst at research firm Current Analysis. “Is itthat big a deal to say ‘I’ll call you right back’?”

The final form factor and functionality of dual-modehandsets is more important, says Caron. “Thosedevices really need to be multi-mode – the exact samepeople who benefit from PDAs, smartphones orBlackBerrys today are the people who will benefit fromdual mode devices. So whatever beast comes outcannot be voice only, it has to be able to supportbusiness applications.”

Avaya and Research in Motion have already joinedforces to extend applications to the latter’s BlackBerrydevice using the session initiation protocol (SIP), whichcan make any device communicate with any other.They are starting with VoIP but plan to developbusiness applications for the handheld general packetradio service (GPRS) emailer. But GPRS will notprovide enough bandwidth for applications such as

videoconferencing, which means for truly seamlessconvergence of applications and services from wired towireless, 3G networks will have to come into play.

Here again, device design is key. “Most high-endphones are becoming 3G anyway and to do voice overWLAN you need a high-end phone because you needa fast processor and a smart operating system,” saysDean Bubley, a wireless VoIP expert with DisruptiveAnalysis. Battery life is also an issue, he says. “A phoneis very tightly engineered to a power budget. WiFi andVoIP applications make more demands on processorrequirements and on the battery. Running [freeconsumer VoIP service] Skype on a PDA requires atleast a 400mhz processor but even Symbiansmartphones today rarely have more than 200mhz.”

CHANGING RELATIONSHIPSThe technical challenges of passing voice calls between3G and WiFi are more than enough to keep developersand engineers busy. But there are also some trickybusiness issues to overcome. VoIP calls are not meteredby the minute, undermining most operators’ currentbusiness models. Even diverting in-office calls fromtheir networks could seriously dent their revenues.

Vodafone has not taken kindly to the threat. ItsGerman unit has threatened to block some VoIP callsto its network and has introduced aggressive newinternational roaming tariffs with its ‘Passport’ service– all designed to encourage customers to ditchlandlines altogether and go completely mobile.

Analysts are certainly divided on the size of theconverged opportunity: Infonetics Research’s latestsurvey into voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) foundthat 36% of respondents are planningimplementations, up from 13% in 2003. Specialistwireless advisory group Farpoint estimates that half ofall mobile phones will have WiFi functionality by 2010,but Bubley of Disruptive Analysis predicts SIP-baseddual-mode handsets will make up only 5% of themarket by 2009, with 5.8 million sales worldwide.

That caution may well reflect the potentialcomplexities of managing and integrating so manyproducts and services from different vendors –described by one IT manager as “finger pointing hell”.Few operators have even worked out their billing plansand business models for this converged world.

While the business goals of ubiquitous, real-timecommunications are clear, the technology that willenable it remains a topic of fierce debate.


MOBILE AND FIXED SERVICES


Article by Tim [email protected]

Source: DISRUPTIVE ANALYSIS, JUNE 2005

ENTERPRISE VoWLAN HANDSET SHIPMENT VOLUMES,

BY TYPE, WORLDWIDE, 2001-09

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20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

2009

Un

its,

mill

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Dual-mode SIP VoWLAN/cellular Dual-mode UMA/GAN CoWLAN

Cordless IP — Single-mode VoWLAN

19-20-BB50-MobServs 11/8/05 2:29 pm


Criminal Justice is a major area of publicservice in the country. Some 400,000 peopleserve it, from court ushers, judges andCrown Prosecution Service lawyers to police,prison and probation officers. In order tofunction effectively, the service and relatedGovernment departments need to besupported by robust IT systems.

The Criminal Justice IT (CJIT)programme was set up in spring 2002 witha vision of enabling anyone involved inCriminal Justice – including professionals,victims and witnesses – to have easy accessto all available information relating to theirpart in the criminal justice process.

Over the past three years the demandson the CJIT team have grown. Most recently

it has been tasked with enabling employeesto work more flexibly. Ian Baker, AssistantDirector of Infrastructure Services, CJIT,explains, “We wanted to provide individualswith greater choice over how they work, andgain improved productivity through the useof enabling technology.”

In addition, the introduction of flexibleworking procedures was seen as a means toreduce the need for formal office space andhelp utilise what was left more efficiently. AsIan Baker comments, “What we needed wasa new model that would push the envelopefrom current fixed desk working or basicremote access – allowing intrinsically securetransmission and access to informationirrespective of where the person wasworking.”

At the centre of CJIT’s plans was thedevelopment of an advanced Wireless LAN,which would meet Government-levelsecurity specifications for connection to theGovernment Secure Intranet (GSI). Indeveloping this solution, CJIT also looked toinstigate an improved definition of theWireless LAN specification, which conformsto the Manual V Government securitystandard defined by CESG, the InformationAssurance arm of GCHQ.

CJIT chose BT to design and deliver theWireless LAN solution, which now providessecure end-to-end access between laptopsand offices while CJIT employees workremotely. The new infrastructure wasdesigned to meet the operational needs ofCriminal Justice users whilst complying withthe strict accreditation requirements for GSIsecurity, for both CJIT and otherGovernment users.

Working closely with CJIT throughout thedesign stages and implementation, BTconducted a number of exercises tomaximise the effectiveness of the finalsolution. For example, it carried out researchinto the best places to deploy the wirelesshotspots, as well as a technical audit ofpossible sources of radio frequencyinterference. Critically BT identified andminimised security risks from nearby wireless

networks or potential drive-by hacking. The infrastructure design underwent

thorough testing before it was grantedCESG approval and deemed secure forconnection to the GSI. The CESG teamundertook an intense period of penetrationtesting, which included mimicking possiblehacking attacks that might take place, toactively and realistically evaluate thenetwork’s security measures. Only oncethese tests were passed was the network fullyapproved.

Wireless LAN working is now helping tomake the Criminal Justice service moreefficient in a number of ways that create a‘win-win’ situation both for the organisationand its employees. For example, people areable to use their time more productively andrespond faster and more accurately to adhoc requests through better and ubiquitousaccess to information. These efficiencysavings are vital in helping the service todeliver the savings demanded by theGershon Review of public sector spending.

The new network can also help reduceoffice relocation costs. For example, whenthe CJIT teams in London moved offices inFebruary 2005, those people with fixed andwireless VPN access suffered only aweekend of downtime as opposed to threedays or more for those on the fixed network.This move was fully supported by BT with thesame security and Wireless LAN expertscarrying out a new survey, re-installing thenetwork and ensuring that all steps weretaken to preserve the security of the CJITnetwork to maintain GSI accreditation.

This project underlines the value offlexible working within the sector anddemonstrates the potential for introducingsecure Wireless LAN solutions into otherareas of Criminal Justice such as the CrownProsecution Service and Prison Service. TheCJIT model could be instrumental in anyfuture roll-out, providing the research,experience and best practice that will enablefast, secure deployment of flexible workingand remote access to even moreprofessionals in these sectors.

Criminal Justice IT – case studyA new wireless network allows the justice service to

balance remote access with tight security.

"We needed a newmodel allowing intrinsically secure transmission and accessto information irrespective of where theperson was working."

Ian Baker, Assistant Director ofInfrastructure Services, Criminal Justice IT


BT ad feature Criminal Justice 23/8/05 3:41 pm Page 1

Today’s network security managers spend littletime worrying about telephones. Most are too

busy trying to protect their data network fromhacking, viruses, spam and a myriad of other threatsthat have become part of day-to-day business.

But as more companies take the decision to movevoice traffic off traditional circuit-switched networksand onto a converged communications platform, theproblems of securing voice look set to make datamanagement look simple.

Many analysts have expressed concern thatbusinesses do not fully understand the challenges ofmanaging and protecting voice traffic on Internetprotocol (IP) networks, presuming that the measuresin place to protect data traffic will be sufficient to alsoprotect voice. Elizabeth Herrell, a vice president atindustry analyst Forrester Research, for example,believes there is widespread complacency: “Manymistakenly believe that if they have security for theirdata network, it will be adequate for their voice. This isnot true and additional security is needed.”

To help highlight this issue and help developsolutions, the Voice over IP Security Alliance (VoIPSA)was formed in February 2005, bringing together arange of vendors, researchers and consultants. Its viewon the risks associated with converged networks:

“Successful attacks against a combined voice and datanetwork can cripple an enterprise, haltcommunications required for productivity, and resultin irate customers and lost revenue.”

David Lacey, chief security officer of the Royal Mail,is equally alarmist. “Putting VoIP into the data networkwill drive a coach and horses through existing firewallsecurity,” he says.

SPEED VERSUS SAFETYThe main problem lies in the fact that the time-criticalnature of voice packets means they cannot bequarantined for inspection in the same way as data.Firewalls, understandably, tend to slow the transfer ofdata by anything from a matter of seconds to a fewminutes while they scan the contents of the datapacket, but even a minimal delay to a voice packetwould render a voice call unintelligible. However,opening up firewall ports to ensure fastercommunication leaves the voice network open tothreats, such as denial of services and toll fraud.

A Gartner study, ‘IP Telephony Security Demystified’,recommends that to minimise the security threat, “thefirewall must scan VoIP messages and open portsdynamically only for calls approved by the call controlserver. At call disconnection, the firewall must close thesession as well as any open ports.”

There is an added complication. Because people areused to the high availability and quality of the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), expectations forVoIP are also sky high. Most converged networks cannow ensure four or five ‘nines’ of reliability – that is,they are up for 99.99% or 99.999% of the time – butthere are still a plethora of quality of service issues.

Any delay over 50 milliseconds, for example, cancreate echo on a VoIP call and delays over 250milliseconds can lead to participants talking over eachother. Jitter – the disruption in sound that is the resultof packets being delivered at different times – can beminimised by holding the packets long enough for theslowest to arrive, but that causes delay.

Such delays can be alleviated by prioritising voicetraffic over data, meaning that although they may usethe same routes, a voice packet will always get throughahead of a data packet. Gabor Szabo, security businessdevelopment manager from networking vendor3Com, says, “Switches should be able to automaticallyunderstand voice. An application-oriented network[AON] better understands how traffic should behandled.” A converged voice and data AON could putvoice above other applications, such as a supply chainor enterprise resource planning system.

Craig Pollard, head of security products and services


SECURITY & RESILIENCE


Voicing concernsIntegrated communications brings many businessbenefits, but securing converged platforms is aconsiderable challenge.

22-23-BB50-ResSec 12/8/05 2:39 pm


SECURITY & RESILIENCE


at network equipment maker Siemens Com-munications, agrees that the network needs to bemore intelligent, “because more openings to thatnetwork are intelligent”. For example, he says: “Whenyou pick up an IP handset, you’re essentially picking upa computer.”

All the networking vendors are now working onadding more intelligence – and resilience – to theirproducts. That there is work to be done with regards totightening vendors’ offerings was made clear in July2005 when Cisco, the undoubted leader in the field,had to issue a patch for a major vulnerability in itsCallManager software which, if seized upon, could beused to launch denial of service attacks. CallManager isthe call-processing component of Cisco’s architecturefor voice, video and integrated data (AVVID).

The session initiation protocol (SIP), whichfacilitates communication across differing networksand devices, is also susceptible to security breachessince its relative immaturity as a standard means itdoes not have clearly-defined security requirements.

Herrell of Forrester Research believes that this is acause for concern: “The lack of firm specifications onSIP standards allows vendors to determine how muchsecurity is built into the system. Standard securitytools for data networks are ineffective with SIP andmust be upgraded.”

RECOVERY RAMIFICATIONSConverging voice and data also has implications forbusiness continuity and disaster recovery – but theseare not all bad. Putting voice and data on the samenetwork increases the risk of voice going down,because IP networks fail more often than a PSTN.However, since IP extends across the whole network, if

there is a disaster it is easy for employees workingremotely to access the system, and thus, in the case ofa converged network, maintain communications.There is no need for a remote site with dedicated, pre-wired lines to be set up. Instead the workforce just hasto have access to broadband and business willcontinue as usual. “It’s a boon to business continuitynot a threat to it, otherwise why would you bother?”asks Neil Sutton, general manager of IT services at BT.“Businesses need a tangible benefit.”

Others also see communications convergence ashaving a positive impact on overall security – ifbusinesses are willing to take the threats seriously. Theintroduction of a new architecture, they argue,presents a valuable opportunity to invest in protectionsimultaneously, meaning the technology is secure fromthe start rather than having to play catch-up ashappened with data. Ari Takenen, CEO ofCodenomicon, a provider of tools that automatesoftware testing, says that it is important that VoIP isnot allowed to fall “into the patch-and-penetrate racewe have had to witness with other widely deployedcommunication software”.

Protecting converged networks undoubtedlyrequires a radically different way of thinking aboutsecurity, says Lacey of the Royal Mail, and, he argues,there are gaps in understanding risks and solving them.But, he says: “It is do-able.” Moreover, he agrees thatputting another valuable application – voice – over thedata network could pave the way for investment in acomprehensive, secure infrastructure.

Article by Abi [email protected]

VISION Converging voice and data on to an

integrated platform provides the opportunity tosecure both the network and the applications on it.Because access policies can be built in, and devicessecured, there will be no need to have separate fire-walls and intrusion detection systems to secure data.Intelligent networks prioritise different kinds of traf-fic and detect voice and data application breaches.New opportunities to distribute critical voice anddata capabilities over a common network infrastruc-ture also aids business continuity.

REALITY Most companies are reasonably confident in thesecurity of their data networks and the reliabilityand quality of their existing phone systems. Put thetwo together, however, and the picture is not quiteas rosy. VoIP introduces vulnerabilities to which theprevious PBX was impervious. Product developersand users are still learning how to secure a con-verged network, but many do not realise the needfor a new approach. The relative immaturity of newcommunications protocols – even the ubiquitous SIP– adds to the risk of instability.


22-23-BB50-ResSec 12/8/05 2:39 pm


VisaNet is the processing system thatenables Visa transactions to be authorisedand monies transferred from cardholder tomerchant. It connects every single bankwhich issues Visa cards. Processing up to5,000 authorisation transactions per secondand settling as much as US$5 billion and100 million transactions in a single day, it isthe world’s leading financial transactionprocessing system.

Visa’s CEMEA (Central & EasternEurope, Middle East & Africa) business hasgrown rapidly since it was formed in 1995.As new banks join Visa, the network that

connects them to VisaNet expands. To copewith this, Visa used fit-for-purpose solutionsfor each individual market. However, by2002 Visa CEMEA found itself with anincreasing number of contracts to manageand problems identifying which supplierowned a specific connectivity issue. Therewere also increasing costs of running thenetwork, which though solid, was based onout-dated technology.

Visa recognised that a switch to aconsolidated network, combined withrationalising its supplier contracts, was thebest solution. It embarked on a thoroughmarket evaluation to identify key businessdrivers and create a technology roadmapwith which to move forward.

Remote areas were a seriousgeographical and environmental challengefor maintaining Visa’s service levels andproviding the required resilience. Inaddition, most CEMEA countries are casheconomies. For Visa cards to compete withcash, being more secure is not enough. VisaCEMEA needs to offer a service that is atleast as quick and as reliable as cash.

In CEMEA, the cultural shift towardelectronic payment began with Visa Electrondebit cards. Many of these have been issuedas ‘salary cards’ where an employer workswith a bank to issue cards to all itsemployees enabling it to switch from payingsalaries in cash to electronic payment. Oneexample of this is the City of Moscowbenefits system, where over two million Visacards have been issued to pensioners,students and public sector employees. Thenew system has improved services, reducedfraud and brought many new people intothe banking system.

To offer this type of service in CEMEArequired the right infrastructure. Visa begannegotiation with 250 different suppliers witha view to delivering a new network for theCEMEA region. In April 2003, Visa offeredthe five-year contract to BT, encompassing a265-site, 51-country migration path. Thenetwork would need to be highly availableand fully resilient. Visa was confident that BTacting as prime supplier would guarantee

those attributes. Head of VisaNet ServiceManagement for Visa CEMEA, Raj Haider,says: “We created a strategic partnershipwith a strategic direction. The concept of ‘in-sourcing’ was agreed between the twoparties, with BT people working inside theVisa organisation. This has helped BT gain adeep understanding of the business andmade for an efficient partnership.”

There were plenty of challenges indelivering the project on time – from powersupplies to shipping to engineeringchallenges, as well as cultural and politicalobstacles. Many challenges were unique tothe areas in which the projects were beingcarried out – from the blistering heat of theSahara Desert to the freezing tundra of Siberia, BT had to ensure it solutions worked.

Ninety per cent of the 265 sites were liveby July 2004, with the last site migrated inFebruary 2005. “The new BT infrastructureoffers the scalability and flexibility required tomeet the challenge of Visa’s growth inemerging markets, as well as providing aplatform for Visa to develop and deliverinnovative products in the CEMEA region.BT has enabled us to provide a much betterservice to our members while reducing costsand simplifying supplier and networkmanagement,” says Brian Huckett, CFO &CIO, Visa CEMEA

During the implementation, BT joinedVisa and local members in negotiating witheach government, as well as participating injoint marketing to drive new Visa membertake up. Visa says that the new architectureis providing better security then ever before,significantly higher availability than with theprevious network, forty per centimprovement in response times for cardprocessing, and improved network visibility,management and control capabilities.

“Most importantly, the BT network givesthe card holder a much better experience inall 51 countries where VisaNet operates –lifting the individual’s experience of the Visapayment. Member banks are also muchhappier with the day-to-day experience ofdoing business with Visa,” says Raj Haider.

Visa CEMEA – case studySwitching to a consolidated infrastructure cut running costs

and facilitated future expansion for Visa's processing system.

“The new BT infrastruc-ture offers the scalabilityand flexibility required tomeet the challenge ofVisa’s growth in emerging markets, as well as providing a platform for Visa to develop and deliver innovative products in the CEMEAregion. BT has enabledus to provide a much better service to ourmembers while reducingcosts and simplifying supplier and networkmanagement.”

Brian Huckett,CFO & CIO,Visa CEMEA


BT ad feature Visa CEMEA 23/8/05 3:40 pm Page 1

The days of separate enterprise voice and datasystems are numbered: unifying voice and data

onto a single IP-based network not only offerscompelling cost savings, but it can power radicalimprovements to business processes.

Integrated communications platforms enableenterprises to use a mix of services, from fixed line orwireless, to email or instant messaging and audio orvideo, to reach out to employees, customers andpartners in a timely, cost-effective manner.Increasingly, the network will operate independentlyfrom devices, enabling organisations to treat voice inexactly the same way as any other piece of data – andthat includes integrating it into business applications.

The benefits of these technology advances arealready being put to good use by a range of forward-thinking companies.

At financial services company Prudential, forexample, the transition to a voice over Internetprotocol (VoIP) network has not only helped cut costsbut is at the heart of a drive to improve customersatisfaction. The company is in the process of rollingout a VoIP network that can identify customers fromtheir incoming call number, and, based on previousinteractions, automatically route them to the operatormost likely to be able to help them.

High street bank Lloyds TSB is using its IP networkto improve bandwidth allocations, allowing it to useapplications previously regarded as too demanding forits network.

For low cost airline Ryanair, the roll out of VoIPcontact centre, coupled with an upgrade of its widearea network (WAN) is the first step in a move to acompletely converged network. Although the initialVoIP implementation will only cover the company’score sites, it will eventually be rolled out to more than100 sites across Europe. “This will deliver significantcost savings while allowing Ryanair to grow to 34million passengers across 19 countries,” says BronaKernan, head of IT at the airline.

GROWING COMPLEXITYBut the rapid rise in the introduction of VoIP networksis also being accompanied by a similarly paced increasein the number of technologies that are being used atthe edge of the network. Beyond the enterprise, userswill connect laptops via WiFi, perhaps even WiMax;others will use general packet radio service (GPRS)-enabled BlackBerrys or 3G videophones. That means alot of technology and a lot of standards to support.

That growing complexity is one of the reasons whyPrudential, Lloyds TSB and Ryanair have all decided tooutsource some or all of the responsibility for their

network improvements to a third-party specialist.Indeed by 2010, more than half of all enterprises willsource and provision the majority of their networksfrom an external provider, predicts IT advisorycompany Gartner.

The sheer complexity of upgrading networks tosupport converged communications is convincingmost businesses to look at outsourcing, says TimBishop, head of strategy at telecoms equipmentmaker Siemens. “As more complexity gets put into thenetwork, companies will find they don’t have theexpertise or the resources to manage it,” he adds.

In some industries, such as financial services,investment levels in network technologies may be sohigh that the appropriate skills can be found in-house;there may also be a cultural resistance to handing overcontrol of the network – seen by many as a corecompetitive differentiator – to a third party. Butorganisations that retain responsibility for thenetwork are likely to be in a minority, says Rich Matlus,research vice president specialising in IT services andsourcing at Gartner. “Businesses are already used tooutsourcing network operations – just look at thehistory of voice calls.”

But while the prospect of removing the complexity– and the overheads – associated with upgradingnetworks will be appealing, migration will still be apainstaking process needing careful management.


MANAGING COMPLEXITY

Helping handsFew companies have the capability or capacity tomanage integrated communications platforms in-house, but a range of suppliers are clamouring tohelp out.


continues >>

25-26-BB50-ManComp 11/8/05 2:19 pm

PEOPLE AND PROCESSESThere are a number of simple steps that businessesneed to take to help them ready themselves forconverged networks, says Steve Masters, generalmanager of IP Infrastructure at BT Global Services.“The initial phase of convergence is about making thebest use of your current infrastructure. That mightentail email server consolidation, or mobile costmanagement.”

Matlus of Gartner agrees that going through aprocess of infrastructure consolidation is essentialgroundwork to enabling businesses to migrate to aconverged network in a planned, piecemeal manner.But alongside the infrastructure overhaul, businessesalso need to take a careful look at their skill resources.

As businesses transform themselves into smoothlyefficient messaging machines, the role of many withinthe IT department will change, and some roles maydisappear altogether, says Matlus. “But if you don’tretain some of the network expertise in-house, you’rereally in no position to know what service level you’repaying for,” he warns.

In some cases, building an enterprise-wide unifiedcommunications system will involve purchasingservices from a large number of different providers.These include local area network services, fixed lineconnectivity, 3G and other mobile services such asWiMax and WiFi. The upshot is that enterprises willhave to monitor and manage a wide array of servicelevel agreements with different providers.

Alternatively, some organisations will choose toappoint a single lead partner to manage that complexweb of relationships for them. Telecoms providersincluding BT, Cable & Wireless and Equant are,understandably, eager to position themselves as theprime contractor, either by offering an end-to-endservice, or by acting as the integrator, bringing

together the various components of theinfrastructure. Lloyds TSB’s VoIP implementationincludes the introduction of 70,000 VoIP-enabledhandsets from Cisco Systems, but it is BT that is taskedwith installing them.

Neil Sutton, general manager, IT Services at BT saysthat to avoid conflict, the job of managing service levelagreements (SLAs) has to rest with a single company.In some cases, he says, customers are currentlygrappling with 250 separate SLAs.

But the telecoms providers are going to face stiffopposition for this business from the systemsintegrators, such as Accenture, and data centrehosting giants, such as IBM. These companies willoffer not just to run the network or a business process,but all the applications too.

“Businesses are going to need some sort of coalitionto meet all of their needs,” concludes Matlus, “but it isnot yet clear which companies are best positioned.”

What is certain is that there is much to play for. Thevalue of these contracts is likely to be vast and theirimpact will be felt well beyond the enterprise sector.Some analysts suggest, for example, that as integratedcommunications platforms become morecommonplace, many employees will end up havingtheir personal communications services bought bytheir company too. Many people, they point out,already use their company email for personalcommunications, so why not use the company instantmessaging, VoIP and other services too?

If this happens then the service providers thatcontrol the corporate market will, by default, controllarge swathes of the consumer market as well.


MANAGING COMPLEXITY


Article by Gareth [email protected]

VISION The drive towards a unified communi-

cations infrastructure, based on a combination of IPnetworks and mobile technologies, will enable com-panies to reshape and revitalise corporate communi-cations. Instead of owning parts of the network, busi-nesses will buy services – from device independentcommunications to business processes – without hav-ing the physical costs of managing and running a net-work. In this world, service levels will be the primarymechanism for deciding costs, not metered usage.

REALITY The convergence of communications requires manyskills that may not readily be found within mostorganisations. As a result, most businesses are tak-ing a piecemeal approach to implementation. Formany, the leaping-off point is migrating legacy cir-cuit-switched voice networks to IP systems –although not all are thinking about the strategicimplications of this. Many businesses, however,remain satisfied with their traditional voice net-works, and are biding their time.


25-26-BB50-ManComp 11/8/05 2:19 pm

bt cover logo on white 23/8/05 3:46 pm page 1 no. 50 ... · bt cover logo on white 23/8/05 3:46 pm...

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