AT&T (Pan-European) EVPN (Enhanced VPN)
AT&T has a sound European IP VPN offering – coverage is good and the solution is well-specified. However, the company has to work hard to win IP VPN market share in Europe against competitors with stronger local market presence and sales momentum. (7/15/2009)

BT Global Services (Pan-European) MPLS IP VPN
BT’s MPLS IP VPN is a force in the pan-European market with in-country networks and local presence in the major markets and improved Ethernet access capabilities, but more unique selling points on the service are needed as competitors close in. (7/15/2009)

COLT Telecom (Pan-European) IP VPN Plus
COLT’s IP VPN service features impressive SLAs and xDSL and Ethernet in the first mile access across its 13-country footprint, and while competitors may have larger networks, COLT is achieving greater momentum in terms of customer wins. (7/15/2009)

Easynet Global Services MPLUS
Easynet has steadily expanded the global reach of ‘MPLUS,’ its MPLS IP VPN service, and rolled out cost-effective DSL and Ethernet access. Easynet faces larger global competitors but has found its sweet spot of customers, just below their radar. (7/28/2009)

Orange Business Services (Pan-European) Business VPN
Orange Business Services’ Business VPN service is widely available and supported by solid SLAs and a variety of access options, including extensive DSL access and new Cisco network router upgrades to support Telepresence and multicasting. (7/15/2009)

Reliance Globalcom (Pan-European) IP VPN
Reliance Globalcom combines its network with its acquisition of Vanco’s global VNO approach to MPLS IP VPN service to offer customers extensive global reach, flexibility and lower access costs; its challenge will be offering best in class SLAs. (7/15/2009)

T-Systems (Pan-European) IntraSelect VPN
T-Systems has partnered with Orange Business Services and Vanco (now Reliance Globalcom) to achieve parity with competitors in global MPLS and DSL coverage. The challenge is to increase its managed network customer numbers outside of Germany. (7/17/2009)

Verizon Business (Pan-European) Private IP
Verizon Business’ Private IP service is a solid offer, backed by six MPLS-based CoS and four sub-classes and deployed via a vast number of global PoPs, improved coverage for Ethernet access to MPLS, although DSL access to MPLS is less extensive (7/15/2009)

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Report Contents

• Current Perspective Rating
• Product Strengths and Weaknesses
• Product Buying Criteria
• Product Metrics

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BT iVPN - Buying Criteria

• Bandwidth and CPE
  • The amount of bandwidth available to customers.
• Security
  • Security is always a major source of concerns, although the rise of IPSec has reduced them somewhat thanks to the high confidence the data service community has in this encryption protocol.
• Ease of Use
  • Ease of use is a significant concern, as defining security relationships between nodes can be a giant headache. Initiatives such as public key infrastructure (PKI) are intended to ease this burden; PKI allows VPN managers to configure VPN users from a single centralized database. Tools that facilitate the management and monitoring of VPNs are major selling points.
• SLAs
  • Service level agreement. A standard guarantee from the vendor of a certain level of performance, usually with credits against the bill for failure to achieve the metrics. Having SLAs with standards is a strong sign of confidence in performance.
• Pricing
  • Pricing is not the primary factor and is highly complex for VPNs, but it can make a significant difference in landing the sale.
• Reach
  • Regions where services are available, and networks that support them.
    
    
• Internetwork Connectivity

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BT iVPN - Product Metrics

• Network
  • PoPs
  • Platform
  • Backbone
• Service
  • Service in Top 25 MSAs
  • International Service
  • Dynamic Bandwidth Alloc.
  • Voice Support
  • Network-Based VPN
  • MPLS
  • Firewall Cost
• Pricing
  • Cost of Installation
  • Cost per Month
  • Cost per Site
• SLAs
  • Proactive or Reactive
  • Delay (ms, roundtrip)
  • Network Availability
  • Busy-Free Dial
• Security
  • Tunneling Protocol
  • Network-Based Firewalls
  • Public or Private Network
  • PKI