NETWORK INTEGRATING: Integrating with client's business

As Indian companies expand to multiple locations and come out to upgrade

their network and IT infra structure, the network integration business surely

has sunny days ahead.

After the dotcom bust and slowdown in the telecom sector, the market again

seems to be picking up and companies across all segments are busy evaluating

revamping of their network.

The companies are ready to invest in fresh round of network integration and

there is enough cash in the market for renewed research and development in this

field.

"In last couple of years, companies have started investing in network

upgradation. This trend would continue for another two—three years. Add to

this RBI guideline on banks' IT infrastructure and network, and the boom in

IT-enabled and BPO services. All this is fuelling the growth of network

integration market," said Arup Chakraborty, general manger, network

services, HCL Comnet.

However, the growth is not limited to just revamping and upgradation.

Companies are going beyond the local area networks and asking to connect their

offices over a wide area network. This has increased the market scope and even

telecom companies and equipment vendors-apart from IT and technology companies-have

pitched in with end-to-end integration and management solutions.

Countering the Competition



Though the pure-play integrators admit to increased competition, they are

confident of retaining their market share. The reason for this confidence

emanates from the fact that the network integrators (NIs) have developed domain

expertise in their field. Whereas the new integrators in the market,

particularly the OEMs and telcos, would have to start from scratch. Also, till

now the NIs have shared a good relation with the OEMs and have been the biggest

consumers of their products. The vendors would definitely not want to disturb

this balance.

Further the new players are typically offering managed services in a WAN

environment, where as traditional network integrators have been operating in the

LAN space and are now looking at WAN.

With CIOs/CTOs looking at consultation, evaluation, rollout (integration),

and management from the same company, the companies who can offer best in breed

services are set to succeed.

Many vendors do not get involve in the integration services themselves and

sub-contract it to a pure-play NIs with their own equipments.

"This limits the choice of the client who is now increasingly looking at

utility-based buying and pricing," Chakraborty added.

Buy SLA, not Equipment



The biggest shift that has come in the network integration market is that

the CIOs/CTOs are now looking at maximum return on their investment and are

buying service level agreements (SLA) rather than the equipment. For segments

like banking and ITeS, where operations are mission critical, 99 percent uptime

is taken for granted.

Buying of SLAs has brought in the outsourcing phenomenon where the network

integrator gives consultation and evaluates, integrates, and manages the network

for the client. He takes the technology risk and assures business availability

of the network.

More

and more buyers are looking at the network uptime and application delivery

rather than racking their brains on the type and brand of equipment being

supplied.

"Demands have moved from product commissioning to network and

infrastructure commissioning on a large scale and single point of

accountability. The client wants one vendor to do consulting, integration and

support," said Sanjesh Gupta, business head, SI services, Wipro.

The customer is no longer looking at multiple vendors and companies to deal

with, he wants a single contract taking care of all his needs. "In the 90s

the customer was looking for vendors who specialized in individual active or

passive components. As IT infrastructure grew rapidly, the complexities have

also increased exponentially. This has generated the need to have a single owner

for deploying and maintaining the new complex networking solutions," said

Sandeep Ganguly, senior manager, Hughes Escorts Communications.

While the integrator assuring reliability, it wins the space to choose

best-in-market equipment and is not tied to a particular vendor. This technology

agnostic stand by the customers is also paving the way for pay-per-use and

pay-by-success kind of business models. 

"It is important to have a single NI or SI since multiple vendor

integration is complex and the clients should focus on business problems rather

than integration issues," Gupta said.

The integrator should consider the requirement of the customer and decide

accordingly, instead of safeguarding the OEMs interests.

"The CIO/CTO is under tremendous pressure to justify the investment and

therefore expects his NI to have a thorough understanding of long-term business

requirements of the organization," said SK Jha, regional director India,

SAARC, and, Middle East, 3D Networks.

This concept of a total solution provider has also led to a segregation of

market according to the sectors being served. Not every network integrator can

serve all the market segments. It has to develop the understanding and domain

knowledge of a particular industry. And today, the customer wants his NI to

understand his business needs for better service.

"NIs today are partnering with multiple OEMs to meet the customer's

expectations. Though the delivery models are still evolving to meet the

expectations," Ganguly said.

As companies go out to network their front offices and dealer networks, the

demand for single-window dealing is on the rise. Accompanying this comes the

24x7 helpdesk, which is usually remotely managed.

In fact, the management part of the network is also getting remotely done.

And, as long as the SLA gets fulfilled and total cost of ownership is low,

customers are also happy.

"The high levels of skill sets, expertise, and certifications ensure

that the customer investment is optimized and maximized for return on

efficiency, investment, and scalability," Jha said.

Anurag Prasad

How to select your Netwok Integrator

History of the network integrator



Industry has totally discounted the new players. The number of years having

been put in integrating and managing networks should always be kept in mind. The

company should have seen and participated in the evolution of networks-both

during the boom and bust period-and be capable of taking the client up the

value curve.

Proof of competence



References from customers and globally recognized certifications, both from

the OEMs and independent bodies, reflect the competence of an integrator.

Scale of the Network Integrators



As there is no place for new and small players in the industry, the coming

days would witness a major round of mergers and acquisitions. The takeover of

smaller companies would help the industry grow. And, there is plenty of cash to

carry out the acquisitions. The larger the company would have better reach and

services.

Understanding of Customers' Business



A network integrator is supposed to have the domain understanding of the

customer's business segment. The NI should be able to align and adjust his

services according to fluctuations in the customer's business. He should be

sensitive to client's success and crisis periods.

Investment in Future Technologies



The integrator should be able to give the right technology direction to

customers and should author the path of evolution. The NI should emerge as a

long-term business advisor.