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RAS Roundup: What’s New in Global Remote Access?| Sep 26, 2008 | Enteprise Mobility | Advisory Report
SummaryCurrent Analysis has completed its roundup on the market leaders for global remote access services (RAS). The service providers tracked include AT&T, BT Global Services, Orange Business Services, iPass, Fiberlink, and Verizon Business. This advisory looks at how these market players have improved their services over the past six months and considers what the various product roadmaps imply about the general direction of the global RAS market. PerspectiveAlthough the initial building block of a RAS product is multi-bearer access, security and value-added services are still providing the most relevant differentiation between the players. Related issues such as bundled price plans, SLAs, WLAN integration, 3G handsets and applications, and VoIP strategies remain areas that continue to be developed by all players. All six leading global RAS players in the round-up have invested in their access footprints, usability and manageability enhancements, and value-added service capabilities over the past six months. Some interesting examples of recent developments are cited below, although these represent just a small subset. Market Moves The global RAS market falls into two broad camps: telecom carriers and aggregators/managed service providers. AT&T, BT Global Services, Orange Business Services, and Verizon Business fall into the carrier camp and iPass and Fiberlink into the aggregator/managed services provider camp. Carrier Moves Carriers that offer global RAS have certain built-in advantages, including name recognition, extensive professional and managed services and support organizations, and the ability to be quite aggressive on pricing especially when offering integrated access for facilities-based offerings such as dial, 3G, and fixed broadband for home or office connectivity. Over the past six months, all carriers have enhanced their access numbers, although primarily for WiFi, where all RAS providers have to strike relationships with third-party WiFi providers. For example, AT&T has upped its WiFi hotspot numbers from 66,000 to 77,000 over the period, while Verizon Business has gone up from 48,000 to 70,000. European carriers are also enlarging their access footprint; Orange Business Services now has 120,000 hotspots in 80 countries and it offers integrated cellular in 10 countries. BT Global Services has increased its WiFi hotspots from 61,000 to over 70,000 in 81 countries.
Carriers are also actively enhancing the usability and manageability of their solutions. For example, Verizon Business added new usability features to its client, including a quick connect one-click option for WiFi. Its VZAccess Manager 6.2 includes support for WWAN access, corporate LAN (and third-party) APs, global WiFi access points, support for Vista, and graphics to indicate signal strength and the amount of data transferred. AT&T continues to add administrative control and reporting tools, with online service level reports, historical and real-time billing and usage data, and granular access controls. Versions 7.2 and 7.3 of its client added support for more devices (now up to 150 different cellular devices, including USB and embedded PC card modules). It also offers support for user-defined hotspots and persistent connections. BT Global Services has improved its user interface and offers a simplified “Always Best Connected” ("ABC") capability, which intelligently selects the best connection available to the end user. Value-added services take many forms, but European carriers have been busily rolling out services that are not necessarily integrated in with their RAS services, but which are extremely complementary. For example, Orange Business Services launched Mobile Office in March, a suite of services that includes mobile access, device security and management, deployment, infrastructure management and help desk support, targeting MNCs doing business in the U.S. BT Global Services recently launched a complementary service to its RAS offering, Work Anywhere, featuring a Quick Start service, with which BT consultants engage corporate stakeholders (primarily in HR, IT, and property management) for four to six weeks during which they do a deep dive into organizational workflows and employees’ requirements; at the end, BT spells out specific technology recommendations to allow flexible work-styles, including mobile solutions. Aggregator Moves The aggregators/managed services providers have also been busy. In June, iPass added a 3G wireless access option into its Branch Office and Retail Office managed network services to provide temporary, back-up, or primary WWAN connections in the U.S. Fiberlink continues to add to its differentiated managed security services and it added a data leakage protection service and a secure access platform for home and corporate WLANs over the last six months. iPass and Fiberlink have also enlarged their footprints, offering access to 105,000 hotspots and 87,000 hotspots, respectively. Six months ago, they provided only 90,000 and 71,000. iPass and Fiberlink also add usability and manageability features on a regular basis. Fiberlink regularly conducts surveys of IT managers to spur on its product enhancement initiatives. Last June, it surveyed over 300 IT managers at companies with over 500 employees; the results validated its emphasis on managed security solutions, as 43% reported that an employee’s laptop had been lost and 40% reported that an employee’s laptop was stolen. Furthermore, 20% of respondents said that their companies do not have a plan in place in the event of a lost or stolen laptop. iPass offers its Mobile Broadband Index, which tracks the wireless usage patterns of mobile workers around the world. The report shows worldwide business use of iPass WiFi hotspots increased by 46% from H1 2007 to H1 2008. It also showed that users of 2.5G and 3G mobile broadband technologies in the U.S. increased their data traffic in Q2 by 59% year over year. Other key findings attest to the rapid growth of WiFi in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, including increased usage at hotels, restaurants, train stations, and public places. Future Directions of RAS
RAS players know they must address VoIP and look likely to tackle the issue in one of two ways. Either RAS client software creates a secure tunnel into the VPN, from which end users can access their standard VoIP client for calling from a remote, wide-area location, or they will consider development of a proprietary VoIP SIP client. The approach for global carriers would be to integrate unified communications solutions with their RAS services, particularly Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. As the enterprise mobility framework evolves and expands, IT departments will require additional professional services from service providers. Carriers such as BT Global Services, Orange Business Services, Verizon Business, and AT&T will continue to have an advantage over aggregators and VNOs because of the sheer scale and scope of their service portfolio and resource pool. However, aggregators such as Fiberlink and iPass have also launched their respective professional services portfolios (or use partners) and the market is likely to become increasingly competitive. Finally, in a converging world where service providers, both fixed and mobile, are aggressively marketing new services as “anywhere, anytime, and on any device,” MNCs need to receive standardized SLAs with solid guarantees for mobile services. Over time, RAS providers will not be able to avoid the SLA route across all access types, because enterprises will expect to receive commercial commitments. Another way to segment the global RAS market is to look at trends in security, infrastructure and services evolution, and device management as a way to assess where the market is going. CLIENTS ONLY | Client access - Enterprise Mobility - U.S. | More information Recommended End-User/Customer Actions• Enterprise customers must consider all key buying criteria in order to decide which service provider(s) are best qualified either on a regional or global basis. Moreover, all enterprises should consider the advantages of dealing with a single RAS vendor or evaluate if a multi-vendor approach is preferable to ensure a higher level of flexibility and competitive pressure among potential service providers. • All enterprises in Europe should consider guarantees included as a “tick the box” item when considering potential service providers for RAS services. They should ask in particular what commitments these service providers’ offerings will bring in terms of the overall business goals for the enterprises. • MNCS need to consider the long- term support and upgrade possibilities when implementing a RAS solution set from a service provider. Customers need to deal with a supplier that will be able to offer local support and upgrades in a quick and comprehensive manner. Recommended Vendor ActionsCLIENTS ONLY | Client access - Enterprise Mobility - U.S. | More information |
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