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It was around two years back that the shift from leased lines to private networks became visible. Today, it is one of the most prominent network trends in the industry.

Until recently, IP VPN was the standard for the industry. Then came the SSL VPN using secure sockets layer, an authentication and encryption technology built into the web browser ensuring a more secure and reliable VPN. It was only after these developments that multi protocol label switching (MPLS) ushered in a whole new era in the age of networking.

The Story Behind
It was MPLS that redefined networks. Its adoption rate and its popularity are both stories in themselves and so is the number of players that sprung up seeing an opportunity in MPLS. However, a more interesting story is how these players either fizzled out or diversified as telecom giants barged into the arena and outwitted most of them.

Players like Sify buckled in front of the big service providers and diversified even as the likes of Tulip manged to survive. So heres where we are nowin a market space where telcos are investing heavily in core infrastructure and others are looking for differentiating factors.

Although not much innovation has happened off late on this front, there have been some noteworthy events in the journey to VPN. The most important one has been the dwindling of the market price points of networks. Prices have come down by at least 30% over the last two years, and there has been a conscious effort to converge various stratas of the industry within the VPM circumference.

Another significant development has been the emerging partnership trends between pure-play players and operators. Forced to look for bread elsewhere, many players found their niche in areas such as VAS applications and web conferencing, and went on to make an entry in the telecom space via partnerships.

And lastly, something not to be missed is the limited but concentrated innovation happening in this place. A prime example of this is the recent concept of broadband VPN that has been introduced by Hughes. Herein, VPN servers are built over and above the broadband network, and are a blend of WiMax, satellite, and broadband in order to provide last mile connectivitysomething that still remains a big challenge for telcos.

Challenges Ahead
The biggest challenge from a vendors perspective is last mile connectivity. Although wireless technologies are increasingly becoming an answer to that, the situation is still far from pleasing. Another challenge is security, but most telcos are tackling that with elan.

Looking from the adopters perspective, the challenges are even bigger. There is a problem right at the inception stage because a buyer has to make itself attractive enough for the telcos to take an interest in it. The next problem is the lack of IT resources that the buyer has, which in turn leads many to the managed services route. And similar to VPN, as this space has no mid-market players right now, things become a bit more complicated.

After all this, the abstinence pledge of SMBs from VPN doesnt go as unexplained as vendors would like to believe. Thus, even though the market has shown impressive growth, its potential is much more. As the clich goesthere is always scope for improvement.

Mehak Chawla
mehakc@cybermedia.co.in

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