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MagicQuadrantforGlobalNetworkServiceProvidersGartnerRASCoreResearchNoteG00210009,NeilRickard,RobertF.Mason,31March2011,RA107052011Competitionintheglobalnetworkserviceprovidermarketisintense.Thegrowinginterconnectionofproviders’networksisdiminishingtheimportanceofcoverageasadifferentiator,andshiftingthefocustothevalue-addedserviceportfolioandcustomerexperience.WHATYOUNEEDTOKNOWTheglobalnetworkserviceprovider(NSP)marketremainshighlycompetitive,withadditionalpressurefromregionalsourcingoptions.Thisisgoodnewsforenterprises,because,whencombinedwithcompetitivepurchasingstrategies,itensurescontinueddownwardpressureonpricing(ofasmuchas10%to15%peryear,dependingonserviceandgeography),whichweexpecttocontinueforatleastthenextthreeyears,aswellastheopportunitytogainmore-favorablecommercialterms.Theincreasinguseofpartnershipsandnetwork-to-networkinterconnects(NNIs)isgraduallydiminishingtheimportanceonownershipofnetworkassets;however,sucharrangementsareseldomentirelyequivalenttoasinglenetworksolution,andenterprisesneedtofocusontheoutcomes,especiallySLAs,whencomparingproviderswithdifferentquantitiesoftheirowninfrastructures.MultiprotocolLabelSwitching(MPLS)andInternetvirtualprivatenetworks(VPNs)havebeenjoinedbyEthernetservicesasthestandardportfolioofunderlyingtransportservices.Overlayingtheseservicesareanever-broadeningarrayofvalue-addedcapabilities,withWANoptimization,managedLAN,cloud(infrastructureasaservice)andSIPtrunkingjoininghostedInternetProtocol(IP)telephony,unifiedcommunications,remoteaccess,telepresenceandsecurityservices.Whilefeworganizationswilltakealloftheseservicesfromasingleprovider,globalNSPsaregainingcredibilityinsupplyingthesestrategicservices.2Enterprisenetworkinghasbeenahorizontalmarket,withmostprovidersinterestedinwinningclientsfromanyindustrysector.However,weareseeingstronggrowthinverticalindustrysolutions,withmanyprovidersofferinguniquevalue-addedsolutionsforahandfulofsectors,suchasultra-lowlatencynetworksforthefinancialtradingcommunityorcontentdistributionandmanagementforthemediasector.Weexpectthisverticalapproachtobecomeanareaforincreasingdifferentiation.Enterprisesshouldfocusonthecriticalcapabilitytointegratenetworkelementssuccessfullyfromdifferentsourcesintoanend-to-endsolution.EnterprisesshouldlookforseamlessSLAsand©2011Gartner,Inc.and/oritsaffiliates.Allrightsreserved.GartnerisaregisteredtrademarkofGartner,Inc.oritsaffiliates.ThispublicationmaynotbereproducedordistributedinanyformwithoutGartner’spriorwrittenpermission.Theinformationcontainedinthispublicationhasbeenobtainedfromsourcesbelievedtobereliable.Gartnerdisclaimsallwarrantiesastotheaccuracy,completenessoradequacyofsuchinformationandshallhavenoliabilityforerrors,omissionsorinadequaciesinsuchinformation.ThispublicationconsistsoftheopinionsofGartner’sresearchorganizationandshouldnotbeconstruedasstatementsoffact.Theopinionsexpressedhereinaresubjecttochangewithoutnotice.AlthoughGartnerresearchmayincludeadiscussionofrelatedlegalissues,Gartnerdoesnotprovidelegaladviceorservicesanditsresearchshouldnotbeconstruedorusedassuch.Gartnerisapubliccompany,anditsshareholdersmayincludefirmsandfundsthathavefinancialinterestsinentitiescoveredinGartnerresearch.Gartner’sBoardofDirectorsmayincludeseniormanagersofthesefirmsorfunds.Gartnerresearchisproducedindependentlybyitsresearchorganizationwithoutinputorinfluencefromthesefirms,fundsortheirmanagers.ForfurtherinformationontheindependenceandintegrityofGartnerresearch,see“GuidingPrinciplesonIndependenceandObjectivity”onitswebsite,’sMagicQuadrantareunchangedfromthepreviousedition.Takentogether,withtheoptionofusingregionalproviders,especiallyasenterprisescentralizetheirITintofewerlargerdatacenters,thisensuresafiercelycompetitivemarket.Reapingthebenefitsofthisenvironment,however,willstillrequireenterprisestomaximizeleveragethroughcompetitivesourcingpractice.Thisyearsawthegradualevolutionofthelargestnetworkdeals,withthetrendawayfromclassical“yourmessforless”outsourcing,wheretheclient’sexistingassets,staffandservicesweretransferredtoaproviderandrunwithlittlechange,towarddealsbuiltfromacollectionofstandardizedmanaged-servicecomponents,withaminimalprofessionalservicewrapperandlittleornotransferofassets,existingcontractsorpeople.Thistrendisincreasinglyblurringthelinesbetweenoutsourcingandmanagedservicesourcingapproaches.Theuseofthesestandardmanagedservicebuildingblocksisdrivinglowercostsandbetterscalability,butdoesrequireenterprisestobepreparedtoacceptoff-the-shelfofferingsthatare“goodenough,”ratherthaninsistingoncustomsolutions,wheretheyspecifyeverydetail.Agrowingfocusofcompetitivedifferentiationhasmovedtovalue-addedserviceportfoliosandservicequality.Transportservices,likeMPLSandvoice,arethecoreservicesforthisMagicQuadrant,butthesearetypicallysoldaspartofamanagedservicebundle.Suchabundlenormallyincludesmanagedrouters,andoftenwillincludeadditionalserviceslikemanagedsecurityservices,managedLANsandWLANs,andhostedIPtelephony.