Considering Convergence

Matthew Nickasch

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Why SIP Standardization is Critical

By Matthew Nickasch on Wed, 08/06/08 - 3:51pm.

If you're even remotely interested in the convergence / VoIP / unified communications field and haven't read Steve Taylor and Jim Metzler's article on SIP interoperability, you should. I would like to expand a bit on why SIP is so incredibly important, and why the future of IP communications depends on it.

In my honest opinion, we have a quiet, yet major problem developing in the industry. There are simply too many systems and environments that are utilizing proprietary or "modified" protocols for signaling. So, development in this area has been vendor-centric and closed, and not towards a common and unified technology.

Take a close look at the technologies in the user-facing telecommunications field that have been extremely successful. In a recent blog post, I discussed the past, present, and future of the PRI. What is hidden behind the success of this trunking technology is something that is key: all major telecommunications platforms can interface to, and "speak", PRI. This example proves one thing: if we're going to promote an interoperable industry, then we need to be, well, interoperable.

SIP is a great thing. Vendors who take the core protocol set and add their own proprietary enhancements or deductions are endangering the future of the protocol. The standardization process of SIP is too slow, simply put. Even today, the industry seems to move backwards in SIP development, detracting from the common goal of being an "interoperable" protocol. The open-source-focused platforms (Asterisk, sipX, Sip Express Router) are doing the right thing, even if it requires additional development in "assisting protocols" for feature enhancements, etc.

Until we can get the "big boy" vendors on board, we're stuck. If we're going to have a "standards-based-protocol", then let's keep it inter operable. With vendor proprietary modifications, is it really SIP?

About Considering Convergence

Matthew Nickasch is an independent consultant and analyst in the IP communication and convergence fields. His current and previous consulting experience includes systems architecture, virtualization, telecommunications, and converged networks for the financial, education, and healthcare industries. In addition to his consulting responsibilities, he has been active in the research realm, recently publishing and presenting on topics including routing protocol security and ERP and transactional database auditing. While his interests include directory services and corporate compliance, Nickasch's focus is on converged networks and IP communications.