VoIP sets the pace

Voice over IP is perhaps the hottest technology in the telecommunications

industry today. VoIP-based services will grow even more as a mainstream

technology for business use. Expect a lot of competition for the trillions of

minutes and billions of dollars' worth of voice calls that business users make

each year.

VoIP-once the domain of cash-strapped start-ups-now counts some of the

biggest names in telecom among its providers. In March, AT&T introduced

residential VoIP service in New Jersey and Texas, and it expects to expand to

100 US markets by the end of the year. Look for cable companies to start pushing

VoIP big-time as well. By sending voice traffic over private IP networks, the

big carriers and cable providers have been able to boost call quality, which

often lagged when calls were sent over the public Internet. The next big step

for VoIP will likely be its integration with cellular and Wi-Fi technologies,

resulting in a hybrid device that works as a cellphone when you're out of the

office but can recognize a Wi-Fi network and transmit calls via VoIP. The first

devices should launch in healthcare by 2006.

ESPs abound



Enterprise Solutions Platforms (ESPs) will reshape the application software

business. These include application integration platforms like SAP's NetWeaver,

Oracle Information Architecture, PeopleSoft's AppConnect, Siebel's Universal

Application Network, and to some degree IBM's WebSphere, BEA's WebLogic and

Microsoft's .Net.

Centralized network planning and architecture



The consolidation and commoditization of IT hardware infrastructure will

accelerate industry realignment. Reducing complexity in the datacenter and

improving operational efficiency will be high on the agenda of enterprise users

in 2005. The hardware infrastructure upgrade cycle that picked up steam in 2004

will continue-though at a slower rate. Organizations will centralize network

planning and architecture, as well as vendor management. Areas of emphasis

during 2005-06 will be security, convergence, and mobility, while application

awareness and optimization (especially XML/SOAP) will become key drivers during

2007-09.

A broad view of remote access



Enterprises will expand their definition of remote access to all forms of

access, moving beyond dial-up into any available wireless and wire line

broadband. End users will drive demand for wireless connectivity, with more

options available (eg, 3G, Wi-Fi, WiMAX). Single-user remote access will be

dominated by SSL VPNs, while IPSec-based installations will prevail for

network-to-network use. By 2006/07, mobile devices will include cross-network

roaming capability (eg, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), with WiMAX integration by 2009.

A wide angle on WAN



IP-based wide-area networks will continue to gain dominance, surpassing

traditional services (eg, frame relay) by 2007. Pricing for IP services will

decline by 8%-18% per year through 2007 and 8%-10% annually during 2007-10. A

mix of private Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) carrier services and public

Internet-based transport will be the typical approach, with Internet services

playing an increasing role.

Service-oriented architecture will be hot



SOA is an infrastructure strategy that relies on middleware, the connective
tissue that binds together different applications so companies get more mileage

out of the software they've spent untold dollars and man-hours to develop and

maintain. SOA essentially "wraps" existing applications in a way that

lets them share data.

With businesses today spending 40% of their IT budgets on integration-mostly

labor-the motivation to go the middleware route is powerful. With the emergence

of the Internet, wireless networks, and a class of software known as Web

services, SOA promises to automate integration.

Sourced from Dataquest