Synergy Research Group Case Study

     In today’s quickly changing business environment, strategically deployed networks are at the forefront of creating a competitive advantage. The highest cost component of a network infrastructure is the ownership and operation of a network across geographically dispersed branch offices. It is conceivable that a branch office could have a dozen distinct appliances. While dedicated hardware can offer a relatively quick way to deploy new technologies, this set-up can lead to appliance overload because of the generally limited availability of administrative staff and resources, such as rack space.

     A recommendation to address this widely encountered problem is to employ a systematic and planned reduction of appliance clutter in the branch office by investing in devices that can combine previously distinct functions. Network solutions that integrate voice, data, security, wireless and wired networks help to simplify operations, improve reliability, provide better quality of service, and reduce infrastructure costs. Additionally, it is imperative that the network offer end-to-end consistency at all organizational levels – from corporate to branch office. If not, branch office productivity may be negatively impacted, and network costs may grow exponentially.

     Synergy Research Group conducted a case study on this topic to determine the advantages of implementing a Cisco Integrated Services Router, which takes branch office network productivity to a different level. The ISR 3845 is a single device that can meet a variety of branch needs including:

• WAN Connectivity
• Security Services (firewall, ACL, IDS, URL filtering)
• Secure Connectivity (encryption, VPN)
• Voice Services (QoS, compression, call processing, VM, auto-attendant, SRST gateway, conferencing)
• Wired and Wireless LAN
• Application Acceleration (caching, pre-positioning, streaming, URL filtering)
• Advanced Management (full RMON services)

     We compared this device to six different appliances, including a router, switch, IP-PBX, WLAN controller, compression device, VPN concentrator and firewall device. In comprehensively architecting a branch office’s network infrastructure, we took into account the costs and complexity of owning and operating a branch over a specific time period. Some hard questions that were raised included:

• Does the existing equipment have enough headroom to support a branch office’s growth needs?
• What are the complexities in introducing a new application in the branch office?
• Is there a significant cost and learning curve to implement a new solution?

     In our analysis the Cisco Integrated Services Router performed remarkably better than other devices because of several reasons. They include:

• Better quality of support to the branch offices due to less equipment needed at the branch.
• Increased manageability of branch’s infrastructure.
• Total cost of ownership per user at the branch over a three-year period was three times higher for those that selected overlay appliances.
• Companies in this case study showed a 4X savings on operational cost in three years, which allowed them to use the saving to expand their business and open other branch office

     When determining equipment needs, it is equally important to address the service velocity, or speed, at which businesses can deliver services to their customers. Fast, effective, flexible service delivery improves customers’ experiences and increases customers’ loyalty. Strategic decision makers also like to consider the increase in the value of their business, optimization of their return on investment (ROI), total cost of ownership (TCO) and productivity improvement when looking at network equipment choices.

     Simply put, the integrated approach of the Cisco Integrated Services Router helps decrease total cost of ownership; – it has revolutionized the bit-per-dollar game at the branch office level.

     While offering a distinct 5 to 30 percent capital expenditure advantage, owning a Cisco Integrated Services Router over a 3-year period, in comparison to owning overlay appliances, constitutes a saving of more than 70 percent per year. Therefore, an enterprise network with 10 branches and 50 employees will end up spending 4 times more for diverse, overlay point products in their network. Furthermore, they will need to deal with multiple layers of complexity related to ongoing operations, support and troubleshooting.

     Our model was conservative; it does not account for the corporate revenue gained from the increased network availability attained by deploying a fully integrated solution. Additional refinement of the model accounting for the number of revenue generating employees that are affected by network downtime would further demonstrate the dramatic benefits of an integrated solution.

     Owning a Cisco Integrated Services Router clearly provides a lower TCO and generates an extremely compelling return on investment (ROI) for the network. Refer to the summary of the amounts amortized over a 3-year life-cycle of the equipment in Table 1.

• Direct Costs: - Network management and hardware management tools, annual maintenance contracts, facility costs (space, power, and cooling requirements), and implementation (deployment and provisioning) costs.
• Indirect Costs: - Availability costs, such as planned downtime, unplanned down-time, loss of employee productivity, and revenue loss due to network downtime.

     Before committing to significant capital outlays for new networking equipment, companies must assess how much investment is really required for the branch office’s infrastructure. This means taking a hard look at all of the costs associated with the network, including operation of and maintenance of the network, apart from accounting for the strategic needs of the company from the corporate perspective. When making this determination, it is important that a company not be blinded by just the price per performance issue.

     With quality appliances and the right combination of features within the Integrated Services Router, enterprises are finding that they can satisfy the demand for new technologies relatively quickly, often expending fewer staff and budget resources than traditional software stacks require.

SUMMARY

     An integrated solution validates a system approach to architecting a network while minimizing related complexity, management and costs. The inherent flexibility and service density that allows businesses to consolidate networking devices also increases the impact of each network device. The cost savings can be gainfully deployed toward expanding business operations and utilizing dedicated resources to focus on revenue and profit generating efforts. An integrated solution for a branch office can support the rapid pace of growth and innovation required to remain competitive in today's business environment.

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Synergy Research Group - Consulting Division
www.srgresearch.com