Cisco Unveils the ASR 9000 to Navigate Tomorrow’s Ethernet Services Edge – the Viking Has Landed

| Nov 11, 2008 | Carrier Infrastructure | Competitive Intelligence Report

| Analyst: Glen Hunt

Current Perspective: Very Positive
Vendor Importance: Very High
Market Impact: Very High

Event Summary

November 11, 2008 – Cisco announced the ASR 9000 Aggregation Services Router designed to address service provider challenges – edge scaling, non-stop video experience and reduced carbon footprint. The ASR 9000 is designed to be the new carrier Ethernet transport foundation for Video and Mobility data growth. The system has been specifically optimized to deliver video and rich media. Service provider, SOFTBANK, noted that the ASR 9000 gives them the flexibility to build to support their 4G mobile and video services.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Very positive on the announced arrival of Cisco’s new ASR 9000 edge router because it represents the next step in meeting the higher Ethernet network capacity and service delivery demands of video-centric broadband services. The new ASR 9000 offers service providers a scalable platform that is designed to deliver incremental increases in port density and speed as well as establishing a services infrastructure capable of offering flexible differentiated services such as IPTV, video streaming, and massive amounts of mobile backhaul traffic for both data and video. The announcement received a customer endorsement from SOFTBANK, one of the major service providers in Japan, who noted scale and efficiency, among others, as part of its selection criteria.

• Vendor Importance: Very high to Cisco because the ASR 9000 represents its next generation of Ethernet edge routing solutions that are needed for it to continue to meet the needs of evolving high performance edge networks. Cisco has leveraged its Quantum technology (introduced in the ASR 1000 router, 8 months ago), the modular self-healing IOS XR operating system (first introduced in 2004 on the CRS-1), and its experience in providing support for advanced services (gained through deployments of its 7600 and separate VQE devices) introduced over a period of multiple years. The launch of the new system also goes to defending its first place position in the carrier Edge switching market, where it is challenged by multiple competitors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Juniper and NSN, Huawei, and many others.

• Market Impact: Very high on the carrier Ethernet edge router market because the ASR 9000 sets a new standard for carrier Ethernet edge service routers. The system comes to market with the ability to scale up to 400 Gbps/slot and deliver switching capacities of up to 6.4 Tbps - providing head room to grow using the same platform for the next 5-7 years. In addition to the scalability, the system provides integrated advanced service support through Cisco’s Advanced Video Services Module (AVSM) which enables terabytes of streaming video at the aggregation edge plus content caching, ad insertion, fast channel change and error correction. The new system augments from the 7600 for applications that require greater than 80 Gbps/slot and where double digit growth rates prevail – as we enter the emerging zettabyte era for the Internet.

CLIENTS ONLY

Current Perspective

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

| Client access - Full report in Carrier Infrastructure | More information

Recommended Competitor Actions

• Alcatel-Lucent should highlight the performance and service delivery capabilities of its 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch such as its recent terabit performance upgrades (which are available and shipping), new I/O modules to provide the density as scale with all services enabled and its video-centric TPSDA 2.0 capabilities. Alcatel-Lucent should also highlight the density and energy efficiency of its routers such as support for full line rate 10 GigE interfaces in one-third of a rack and low power consumption.

• Ericsson should show tout its end to end approach to service delivery and highlight the subscriber management and advanced Ethernet service capabilities offered by its SmartEdge routers and its SM480 Ethernet switching platforms. Ericsson should also highlight its global professional services for mobile backhaul and its all IP-based network to support video and wireless broadband services. Ericsson should seize on this opportunity to present itself as a global green company and show its overall portfolio-wide green initiatives.

• Juniper should continue to highlight its Intelligent Services Edge strategy and associated product enhancements, because it solidifies the company’s overall direction with respect to its service provider edge offerings. As service providers continue to deploy their next generation networks, issues such as scale, convergence and the ability to deliver differentiated services becomes critical to their success. Juniper’s announcement to deliver multiple services across its M-, MX-series edge routers positions them to meet the demands of their customers.

• Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, ZTE, and other Tier 1 vendors should highlight their ability and success in delivering advanced end-to-end solutions for service providers. NSN should leverage the best of Juniper’s ISE and show how its professional services arm provides complete solutions. Huawei should stress its ability to deliver highly customized solutions to help service providers to differentiate themselves in the market. ZTE should highlight the capabilities and customer traction of its end to end services.

• Vendors such as Foundry, Extreme and Force10 should refresh their messaging around the scale, cost and energy efficiency of their Ethernet edge and core products. Each company should outline how it supports new service delivery models for service providers by offering best of breed solutions that are easily integrated in to a complete solution through strategic partnerships or system integrators.

• All vendors should highlight the “greenness” of their solutions since energy consumption has become a key issue for many providers and operators that are faced with the need to increase capacity and subscriber density in crowded PoPs and co-location facilities. Vendors should show their overall corporate initiatives toward reducing energy usage in all aspects of their operations and in all product lines.

Recommended End User / Customer Actions

• Service providers should evaluate the capabilities provided by Cisco’s blade-based distributed content delivery solution. With video becoming the primary driver for cable, wireline and wireless services, effective video handling will help insure a quality user experience. The ability to support content streaming, caching of both multicast and unicast traffic will enable service providers to support new and improved revenue models (ad insertion). Providers should contrast the capabilities offered by the ASR 9000 against competitive solutions for scale, video delivery and support for innovative services.

• Existing Cisco 7600 and 12000 series service provider customers should evaluate the new platform to determine when and where to deploy the system to satisfy growing scale and capacity requirements. With much of the functionality being equivalent to that currently available on the 7600, providers should find a smooth migration (from a services perspective) between the platforms. Since the ASR 9000 operates under IOS XR, providers should be able to support existing operational requirements but expect operational improvements that are delivered by the new operating system.

• Service providers looking to make strategic investments in their carrier Ethernet edge networks should evaluate the IP NGN portfolio from Cisco since it provides a long term solution that will grow in scale and performance based on the needs of the network. For providers faced with ultra high densities and routing performance the ASR 9000 solution can be expanded to its maximum levels incrementally as services grow. Providers should also evaluate the video services that are delivered by the content streaming blade.

• Service providers should press Cisco to provide a more detailed feature and release roadmap for the ASR 9000 which would include the timing and availability for features such as 400 Gbps capacity (per slot), availability of new 100 GigE interfaces, support for existing IP NGN interfaces and advanced services support such as content delivery, DPI, IPSec, subscriber management and other aspects of service delivery.

• Service providers should evaluate the energy efficiency of the new ASR 9000 platform and take the overall cost of ownership into consideration when making future equipment purchase decisions. The ASR 9000 uses a modular power system the enables incremental power increases when additional cards are added to the chassis. The system is also based on Cisco's low power Quantum technology (QuantumFlow Processor and Quantum Transporter) to further reduce energy consumption.

CLIENTS ONLY

Current Perspective

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

| Client access - Full report in Carrier Infrastructure | More information

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