This is the projection of 3Com Corp., a leading provider of network infrastructure and connectivity products, services and solutions for enterprises.
In a paper, 3Com says the stage is set for a gradual migration to fully integrated commu-nications beginning in 2004.
"Today’s fragmented networks with disparate applications and infrastructure are moving into full IP integration with the coming of new generation IP technology solutions, which are expected to gain momentum within the year," it says.
"Hybrid networks," it adds, "will be redefined by the end of 2004 because the push for innovation is expected to gain momentum throughout the year, particularly as (research firm) International Data Corp. (IDC) is predicting an uptick in IT spending worldwide this year."
3Com explains that this transition will be driven by three factors: converged voice/data solutions, which have reached a mature level of quality, availability and reliability; reduction in the maintenance cost of legacy systems because of new IP-based systems; and the inherent complexity of fragmented applications which limits enterprise executives from achieving new business objectives.
"If enterprises don’t invest in the evolving infrastructure to stay current with the intelligence in the network, then integrated applications won’t have an enterprise communications platform on which to work as well as they could," it says.
However, the company stresses that for those enterprises that optimize the network and proactively move from fragmented to integrated infrastructure, "there will be an alignment between the IP infrastructure and Web applications for improving user productivity, expanding services and increasing the efficiency of operations."
With hybrid networks, 3Com says enterprise customers will be able to create value-added services that will also lower operational costs. These include new services for both PBX and IP users such as the delivery of protocol-agnostic open IP architecture, which will support SIP, H.323 and common legacy protocols.
SIP, it said, is an economical protocol that provides the foundation for all integrated communications.
Thus, "IP-based voice support, multiple dial plans and call back options, options for centralized services using SIP phones, control through Web-based provisioning, multiple routing options (including least cost routing), authentication, validation and rating, number translation, enhanced voice mail, unified communications, IP-based conferencing and presence detection will benefit end-users.
According to 3Com, these developments in IP telephony will be buttressed by the availability of solutions that consolidate various security applications and products onto a security hardware platform, thus changing the way security is addressed in enterprises.
"A more centralized and standards-based approach to network security and full-scale information security controls are most effective to protect against both the insider threat as well as external threat," it says.
Quoting the research firm Yankee Group, 3Com says customers will be interested, more than ever, in wireless switching technology as security issues can be addressed from a centralized switching perspective.
"The interest in 2004 is expected to be more around increasing the efficiencies of wireless and eliminating compatibility issues by creating enterprise wireless networks that give secure wireless access to virtually all users," it says.
In addition, public area wireless LANs, known as "hot spots," will continue to be part of the wireless trend, it says.
In the area of desktop computing, 3Com says the trend to watch out for is the inclusion of Gigabit on the motherboards of PCs. "Ten-Gigabit-ready" networks will rise in the next 12 to 24 months, and this, in turn, will create requirements for greater bandwidth.
The company says the larger networks are the ones that will likely migrate to 10 Gigabit and will also be more interested in the possibility of 40 Gigabit.
Subsequently, 3Com predicts the deployment of IP-based storage solutions, which include Gigabit Ethernet for the infrastructure supporting storage disk arrays and servers. — Eden Estopace