* Interest rises for all-in-one devices, but is best-of-breed an issue?
Buying best-of-breed or staying with a single vendor is a debate that never ends in the world of networking. But the concept of a single physical device that provides multiple functions at the branch office is starting to reduce the relevance of those discussions.
All-in-one devices for the branch are starting to pick up some measurable interest among IT decision-makers. According to Nemertes Building the Successful Virtual Workplace benchmark, 31% of participants are evaluating all-in-one devices, and 17% already are using them.
What’s the draw? These products perform many functions without wrapping a box around each one. For example, rather than having separate boxes for switching (voice and data), routing, firewall, antivirus, intrusion-detection, Web filtering, and network optimization, these products provide some or all of these functions (and even more) in a single device.
What makes these products valuable? The average number of networking devices at a branch office is five to seven. That means IT staffs are installing, managing and troubleshooting multiple devices (and the links to them) at dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of branch-office locations. Reducing the number of devices offers several benefits, including reduced power and space requirements, less latency, fewer devices to install and manage, and fewer product lines to learn and program.
There are numerous types of all-in-one devices available. For example, multifunction routers, which combine routing, switching, and often security, are available from numerous vendors, including Cisco, Enterasys, and Juniper. Unified-threat management devices, which focus on combining various security tasks, are available from Fortinet, Internet Security Systems, Juniper and Zyxel.
Beyond that, organizations are adding more advanced capabilities, such as wide-area file services, VoIP, network optimization, or even collaborative applications. Vendors in this space include Cisco, Citrix, Microsoft, NetDevices, Packeteer, and Nortel.
Getting back to that debate… The challenge is for an innovator to overcome the issue of best-of-breed vs. single vendor solutions. For example, if a company wants the benefit of a single device for switching/routing, VPN, and IDS, but it wants to use a third-party for network-optimization, it would require two devices today. One solution, though, is to provide a platform that would allow best-of-breed to be integrated into a single device.
A third-party vendor could provide this platform with certifications of interoperability from any number of vendors. Or, an existing all-in-one vendor could open its platform to some limited number of vendors or functions as a way to differentiate its product from competitors.
I’ll evaluate various products at Interop this week in Las Vegas, I’m curious what you think. Do you want all-in-one devices for your branch office? If so, do you want the option of opening the platform to more than one vendor? Let me know.
