VoIP vendors slam Cisco

Industry insiders claim that end-to-end multi-service LAN solutions are a myth

Vendors who claim to be able to deliver end-to-end multi-service LAN solutions supporting every communications requirement are misleading enterprise customers, according to industry insiders.

Multi-service LANs incorporate all the different elements of a company’s network infrastructure, from voice and data to fixed and wireless. Many large equipment vendors, most notably Cisco, are trying hard to convince customers that they can deliver all of these in one package.

“Cisco is saying that if you want to build a multi-service LAN which is safe, secure and efficient, you need to do no more than buy it from us, because we work in the service provider space as well,” said Jeremiah Caron, an analyst with Current Analysis.

“The arrogance of vendors that think they can be single-source suppliers for every one of a customer’s needs is quite stupendous. Cisco can build an end-to-end service with a single brand and may eventually get it working but it will be cumbersome and expensive,” argued Geoff Gudjion, European managing director of IP PBX vendor ShoreTel, who questioned the value that customers get out of multi-service LAN environments in terms or productivity benefits and business process integration.

Cliff Hannel, vice president of acquisitions and strategy for IP performance testing vendor Ixia, pointed out that Cisco cannot guarantee the performance or quality of voice over IP (VoIP) calls transmitted over service provider networks, and would be the last point of call for problem resolution.

“Cisco could not possibly solve the problem of doing a VoIP call between two offices in the UK and the US; if it's an asymmetric routing problem in the core of the network where my return path has taken twice as long as my forward path, it [Cisco] is not going to be involved in that,” he said.

Others feel that standardisation and the session initiation protocol [SIP] are the best way forward for companies seeking end-to-end IP communication solutions, but concede that SIP interoperability is an ongoing challenge.

“IT managers will want to look at other vendors [besides Cisco] that have a lot more experience in that space. Investing in a technology monoculture does not work well,” added Dave Endler, director of security research for TippingPoint and chairman of the VoIP Security Alliance (VoIPSA).

“Customers must lead and make their own decisions rather than leave it to equipment makers or service providers,” concluded Gudjion.