Ciaran Roche, lead technical consultant, Vanco, says, “Wide Area Ethernet is, for many Enterprises, the Holy Grail of connectivity: with a single technology, you can connect to any service in any location, eliminating both duplicate skill sets and dependence on expensive leased lines. But take-up of this new technology, as with many before it, has been hampered by the Achilles Heel of Asset-Based Carriers (ABCs) - their inability to map their network footprints to meet the complex needs of multinational customers. For the first time, Vanco’s Ethernet Engaged links this patchwork of services into a single fabric, making the cost-savings and efficiencies of Wide Area Ethernet available to customers today - wherever they are located.”
As ABCs abandon plans for global expansion and focus on core markets, customers must make a ‘least-worst’ decision. Some will choose the comprehensive in-country connectivity of national carriers and knit these together themselves into a global solution: however, the challenges of doing so - and the resources required - are compounded by the lack of consistent wide area Ethernet products. Others will select the global ABC with the best match to their own geographic locations, accepting that some important locations will be out of the reach of that provider.
Roche continues, “The independence provided by the VNO model gives Vanco tremendous insight into the way that the ABCs have implemented their Ethernet services. This enables us to take a different approach, linking the Ethernet networks of the ABCs at key integration points around the world. So we can offer Enterprises a network that fits their needs - not the other way around.”
Wide Area Ethernet is primarily viewed as a faster, lower-cost alternative to expensive leased lines, enabling LAN-speed connectivity across great distances. Vanco believes that Ethernet Engaged will primarily be used to connect large offices or data centres, where the amount of traffic carried over the link makes it unsuitable for technologies such as MPLS, as the port charges can be extremely high at these larger sites. Ethernet Engaged complements the other offerings in Vanco’s Data Services portfolio - MPLS Matrix and IP Secure - to provide the most comprehensive range of Enterprise connectivity solutions.