Adapting to a changing marketplace

"As 802.11n [the next phase of Wi-Fi] is released, offering far greater speed and area of coverage, wireless will become far more widespread with the integration of today’s dedicated wireless security devices into a complete product," she says.

Further, shrinking costs for 10GBE networks will seriously challenge traditional Fibre Channel SAN technology for network storage, Lowe notes.

Chippendale agrees Gigabit Ethernet and wireless will continue as major growth areas. But he is squarely focused on My Telecom’s presence in the growth of IP solution provision to SMBs. "There has never been more recognition of converged networks within this market."

EDC’s Lowy says more and more companies will jump on the IP telephony solutions bandwagon now they’re confi dent of technological robustness and reliability. "Most companies that move into a new office or need to replace a legacy PABX are looking for IP telephony solutions," he says.

EDC has composed what Lowy calls a ‘path to convergence’, where SMBs can invest in infrastructure in stages that position them for a future convergent network. Once customers understand the ‘power of one network’ concept and the benefi ts achieved through controlling all aspects of their communications, they are sold on the technology, he argues.

ASI’s Lowe says VoIP products and services also open other doors into a customer’s IT business. "When clients are looking to change addresses, choose a new phone system or expand offices, that is when they look at VoIP solutions. They also tend to look at these products when their phone system’s lease period is ending," she says. "Lots of our clients have considerable IT knowledge and now look very closely at bandwidth and other IT costs. Telecommunications is part of the growth strategy for all businesses."

Sarkis says such applications will become cheaper than traditional private WAN connections. However, core values will remain important. "Is what we are implementing right for the customer, is the customer happy, has what we implemented benefited the company and is it good value for money?" he says.