* Demands for capacity continue, but why purchase more bandwidth?
It was only two short years ago when I gathered data on the average speed to branch offices. At the time, 56Kbps was the most commonly referenced access speed to remote offices – and these were branch locations with up to 50 people!
Larger locations went to 128Kbps, or maybe 256Kbps. But rarely did we see companies extending T1-speed access to all branch locations.
Now, that’s the minimum. As we gather data for our upcoming research benchmark, Advanced Communications Services, T1 has become the de-facto access speed for the majority of branch locations, and many are up to dual-T1 already.
In two short years, we have witnessed a minimum 27x increase in the bandwidth available to branch offices. I want to be careful not to suggest that demand has increased accordingly. In many cases, it makes economic sense to put in the T1, even though demand may top out at 768Kbps, or some other sub-T1 speed.
But considering the vast majority of participants in the benchmark (we’ll have exact percentages early next year) say they’re expecting increases in 2008 and 2009, I can only conclude that demand continues to increase.
The key drivers are telepresence, videoconferencing, VoIP, more Web-enabled applications, and simply more people at branch locations.
The challenge I put forth is whether companies truly need to increase their bandwidth every year, as we’re finding with so many organizations. Some of the more aggressive IT organizations are putting a stop to the progressive need for more capacity by adding network-optimization tools at their remote locations.
You can add another T1 access line for about $2,000 a year, or buy an optimization device at the branch for slightly more—in addition to a more costly device (varies widely depending on capacity) at the data center. The bottom line is that companies generally see an 18- to 24-month payback on network-optimization products, which compress data, accelerate traffic, and enable companies to do more with the same or less bandwidth.
Optimization products are the most cost-effective approach to the rising demand for capacity, and they also offer monitoring data about traffic patterns across the network.
