* Forrester Research finds that 82% of companies surveyed have installed VPNs
IP VPNs are still in growth mode and will be throughout the next year, according to a recent Forrester Research report titled “Trends 2005: IP VPNs.”
From its survey this year of 878 IT pros at North American organizations, Forrester found that 82% of companies have installed VPNs. This is up from 55% of the 877 execs polled last year.
The report divides up three key VPN technologies – IPSec, SSL and MPLS – among businesses of varying sizes. Large enterprises will shift from IPSec to SSL and MPLS IP VPNs, while smaller businesses will spend on IPSec VPNs, according to the report by Robert Whiteley, an associate analyst for Forrester.
Smaller businesses that have foregone VPNs so far will start using them because prices have dropped, the report says. This is particularly true of IPSec VPNs. Also key to the continued adoption of the technology is increased ease of use, particularly for network IT staff to deploy the gear. Management in general has improved for VPNs, says Whiteley. For instance, many vendors’ platforms now include configuration wizards and push technology for updating many machines at once.
Vendors are targeting smaller businesses with appliances that are designed specifically to meet their needs, often by rolling in multiple security features beyond VPN, the report says.
The growth in IP VPN use is being aided by the maturation of MPLS-based VPN services that can now offer significant enough service-level agreements to lure businesses from their reliable installed frame relay, ATM and leased line services, Whiteley’s report says.
The report predicts that traditional local carriers will lead in this type of VPN service because they already have large customer bases for traditional telephony services that they can draw on.
