Find out where MPLS fits in today's IT environments and the best ways to use MPLS networking to increase productivity and efficiencies for your business.

1.
Making Your Business More Productive
with MPLS Networking
with Yankee Group Research Fellow Sandra Palumbo!
August 30, 2011!
© 2011 Windstream Communications, Inc.!

2. Introduction!
!
!
Sandra Palumbo, Yankee Group!
Research Fellow !
Palumbo reports into Yankee Group's Research Council. Her research focuses on
cloud computing, enterprise mobility and service provider strategies, with particular
emphasis on software as a service (SaaS), mobile applications, Web portals,
managed services, professional services and wholesale.!
Terry OʼBrian, Windstream !
Enterprise Product Development!
OʼBrian currently leads Windstreamʼs Enterprise Product Development team and has
over 25 years experience in voice and data technologies, business development,
and product marketing. !

3. Today s Business Environments!
! New Economic Realities
• Global Economy
• Shareholder Expectations
• New Business Models
• Business Boundaries Blurring
Social Trends Accelerating
• Blend Lifestyle
• Social Networking
• Environmental responsibility
Technology Enablers
• Network, device, and application everywhere
• Automation/standardization
• Presence and Mobility
• Virtual office
3!

4. Selection Criteria for WAN/MAN Network Services!
Which
are
the
most
important
criteria
when
selecting
networking
services?
(n=240)
! Service
r eliability 19% 15% 13%
Security
13% 17% 13%
Service
a vailability
11% 8% 7%
Price
points 9% 4% 4%
Operation
c osts 9% 13% 9%
Adequate
bandwidth
9% 10% 11%
Flexibility/scalability 7% 3% 7%
Pricing
s tructure 4% 4% 9%
Network
s implification
3% 3% 3%
Integration
of
mobile
a nd
fixed
wireless
technologies 3% 6% 2%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Percent
of
r espondents
1st
r anked 2nd
r anked 3rd
r anked Enterprises' understand
that sometimes you get
what you pay for.!
Reliability!
Base: Asked those who use or plan to use (in 12 or 24 months) at least one!
WAN or MAN networking service ! Security!
Availability!
4!

5. Improving the Customer Experience !
Is the Highest Strategic Priority for Most CIOs!
On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate how strong a priority
91% ! the largest enterprises
of the following items are for your business? (n=100)
surveyed (10K+ employees) rate
“improve customer experience” a Improve customer experience
top strategic priority
! Drive business growth
No CIO respondent rates “increase
Increase employee productivity
employee productivity” not a priority;
while only third in terms of strategic
Reduce business costs
priorities, it is still a big driver!
Create and agile IT environment
While reducing costs and solution
Reduce IT costs
prices are important to enterprise
CIOs, strategic business growth and
Execute businesses initatives
success goals take top billing!
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percent of respondents
Strategic Priority (Rating 8, 9 and 10)
Not a Priority (Rating: 1, 2 and 3)
5!

6. Enterprises: Key connectivity-linked challenges!
Legacy infrastructure Disparate technologies are
! lacks capacity and flexibility
! difficult & expensive to manage
Need: Granular scalability Need: Simplified
of connectivity
! infrastructure
New applications demand Workforces are distributed,
high network performance! global and mobile
Need: Scalable infrastructure Need: Unified management
to support across all required
standard apps & mash-ups ICT services
To address these challenges, look for providers that offer
• Simplification via converged voice & data IP VPN
Building • Scalability via Network Connectivity
blocks
• Collaboration, UC & remote access solutions
• Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery
6!

7. Data connectivity is a critical foundation for !
other ICT services – and how they perform!
!
High Streaming Video
Video Conferencing
Bandwidth requirements
FTP Transfer
1000% 10-fold
bandwidth network end point
growth growth
E-mail with
attachments
User-generated
mashups
dominate
Streaming
Audio Voice
Text E-mail
Predictions
Transaction Medical for next 5 years
Processing Telemetry
Low Enterprise
applications
Low Latency sensitivity High
7!

8. Proof Point: The Nature of Work is Transforming!
• Collaboration across the • Collaboration outside the
enterprise! enterprise!
!
• Support dynamic supply
• Speeds innovations, makes
chains and effective
best use of (expensive) customer engagement!
human resources!
Channel partner
EMEA sales
Manager Global director
APAC sales
Manager
US office
Manager
Remote worker
8!

9. Situation Analysis 1!
IP telephony is on the road to mass adoption.!
• ! Enterprises understand the benefits of IPT but total adoption does take time!
• Vendors should sell IP telephony as part of an end-to-end solution, which
includes FMC and UC!
For most organizations, the value proposition still revolves around cost savings!
• Lowered LD, MAC savings, IT admin savings !
• VoIP remains a nice-to-have more than a need-to-have !
• VoIP as a pure replacement for TDM voice limits the value proposition !
Unified communications has become the latest wave with VoIP as the underlying
platform !
• Integration of voice, data, collaboration tools and mobility!
• Promises to streamline many communications processes with a high degree of
human latency !
• Brings VoIP out of the network and up the next desktop !
• Microsoft has created another wave of interest in UC!
9!

10. Situation Analysis 2 !
Conferencing is on the rise; video and web conferencing will see uptake. !
!
Cloud based services are becoming better understood by customers !
• It s not just centrex!
Virtualization allows for branded cloud based services!
Although Microsoft has gained mind share, enterprises are still hesitant
around MS OCS business readiness. !
• Business will expect enterprise grade IP telephony and UC. And
therefore may look to full service providers for assistance.!
Solution providers must create simple migration paths for enterprises hat
want to add mobility and UC in the future.!
• Technical specifications, integration and ease-of-use lead for end-user
selection criteria.!
10!

11. IT Priorities for CIOs!
Securing and Protecting the Business from Outages or Failure Lead
the! IT Priorities for CIOs!
Strategic IT priorities focus on On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate how strong a priority
the following items are for your IT organization?
core foundational areas that (n=100)
support, protect and insure the Back-up and disaster recovery
business! Security technologies
Virtualization
Storage
IT management tools
MPLS networks provide Collaboration tools or unified
communications
enterprises with the right type of Mobility solutions
foundation to achieve these Network upgrades
priorities.
! Cloud computing
Managed services and outsourcing
0 20 40 60 80
Percent of respondents
Strategic Priority (Rating 8, 9 and 10)
Not a Priority (Rating: 1, 2 and 3) 11!

12. Cloud services have many interdependencies !
Holistic service management!
• Physical & virtual IT assets
! • Self-service & monitoring portal
High-speed network! Next-gen data centers!
• Ubiquitous coverage • Converged data centre fabric
• Access-agnostic • Rapid dc-to-dc interconnect
service persistence
Cloud
access
device
Security!
Interconnect! • Audited controls
• Cloud interoperability • Identity mgmt
and portability • Intrusion detection
• etc...
• 3rd party billing
& settlement
Dual stack IP!
• IPv6 for virtual
machine provisioning
Few cloud services are road tested for mission-critical reliability 12!

13. Top Applications for Cloud Computing!
Cloud
use
cases
Production-ready apps point to the
!
maturity and widespread adoption of Production-­‐ready
a pplication
deployment
2010
(n=138),
2011
(n=295)
49%
55%
SaaS!
Storage, backup and recovery are Application
d evelopment
a nd
tes ting
2010
(n=124),
2011
(n=197)
33%
44%
still top use cases !
• Slight increase from 2010! Storage
2010
(n=129),
2011
(n=325) 44%
54%
Beyond SaaS, cloud is viewed as a
Acces s ing
to
e xtra
computing
p ower
o n 39%
way to outsource commodity IT demand
2010
(n=105),
2011
(n=233) 43%
tasks!
Backup/recovery
2010
(n=134),
2011 60%
Drop in PaaS demonstrates SMB (n=361) 40%
influence on survey!
Data
m ining/analys is
2010
(n=112), 35%
• SMBs less likely to seek custom 2011
(n=203) 39%
development!
Databas e
p rovis ioning
2010
(n=102), 33%
2011
(n=197) 30%
Batch
p roces s ing
2010
(n=85),
2011 22%
(n=134) 26%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent
o f
res pondents
Base: Organizations that already deployed or plan to deploy PaaS or IaaS
within 24 months
2010 2011
13!

14. Barriers to Cloud Adoption: Existing IT Investments,!
Migration and Security Concerns!
Barriers to cloud adoption
Existing IT investments and
migration trump security as chief
!
Existing IT investments (n=309) 61%
barriers to cloud adoption!
Lack of confidence in data protection (n=280) 58%
Concern about reliability of cloud Costly and difficult data migration (n=294) 55%
platforms increased slightly from
Reliability/availability of cloud platforms (n=248) 52%
2010!
• Impact of recent high-profile Regulatory compliance/corporate governance
(n=195)
45%
outages! Lack of measurable business benefits (n=190) 41%
!
Interoperability between cloud computing
37%
Cloud service providers need to platforms (n=182)
improve and better Contract lock-in with cloud provider (n=182) 35%
communicate migration skills!
Lack of transparency and auditability (n=180) 34%
• Opportunity for systems
integrators! Vendor sustainability/financial health (n=162) 33%
Lack of performance and availability monitoring
31%
Base: Organizations that already deployed or plan to (n=142)
deploy PaaS or IaaS within 24 months
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent of respondents
14!
2011

15. Top Service Provider Selection Criteria!
What
are
the
most
important
criteria
when
selecting
a
connectivity/networking
services
provider?
(n=251)
!
Service
reliability/quality
of
service
(QoS) 17% 14% 8%
Price
points 14% 10% 8%
Adequate
bandwidth
availability
13% 12% 8%
Customer
support
12% 10% 12%
Current
with
connectivity/network
technology
8% 7% 6%
Service
reach/footprint 8% 4% 4%
Comprehensive
packaged
solutions 6% 4% 5%
Customized
solutions 6% 3% 2%
Value-­‐added
services/support 4% 6% 5%
Brand
name/reputation
i n
the
i ndustry 4% 3% 4%
Single
provider
offers
all
telecom
needs 3% 8% 6%
SLAs
3% 1% 3%
Market
vertical-­‐specific
e xperience 1%2% 2%
Third-­‐party
recommendation
1%2%1%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Percent
of
respondents
1st
ranked 2nd
ranked 3rd
ranked
Base: Asked all respondents!
15!

16. A Strong Foundation is More Critical than Ever!
Consider your future IT needs as
you select the best WAN
!
infrastructure for your organization!
Work with service provider partners
to leverage existing infrastructure
and investments so a move to cloud
will need to be rational and planned!
Flexibility and service should be key
factors in selecting the best provider
partner!
Look for jurisdictional knowledge
and deep understanding of risk !
16!

17. Enterprise trend summary!
!
Expand the view of connectivity!
• Connectivity as enabler, not end in of itself!
Focus on enabling the borderless and diversified workforce!
• Remote working service wrap; mobile solutions!
Focus on infrastructure simplification!
• Datacenter consolidation, hosting & cloud !
Focus on unified ICT management!
• Greater transparency required!
17!

18. The MPLS Advantage
18!

19. MPLS for Multi-Location Networks!
Business Need Business Value
Connect your business Enterprises needing secure
locations with a secure, cost connections to:
effective network. – Share data and information
among branch offices, suppliers
or partners with maximum
security
MPLS Options
– Connect multiple locations to
VPN and VLS are similar services with a share internal business
few distinct differences: applications, servers, printers
VPN VLS – Deploy advanced applications
• Windstream manages • Customer manages
network routing network routing between locations such as VoIP,
• Generally businesses • Generally businesses distance learning, digital
with multiple locations with fewer locations medical imaging, and more
across a wide (less than 20) in a
geographic area more local setting
• Multi-protocol access • Ethernet Access
19!

20. Why MPLS is better!
Legacy Solution! Next-Gen Solution!
Point-to-Point and/or Frame Relay ! MPLS!
• Cost prohibitive! • More cost effective!
– Have to buy more T-1s or DS3 to expand – Ethernet makes it easier to increase bandwidth and
bandwidth or add more locations! cheaper to add new locations!
– Must buy separate voice and data circuit for each – Requires fewer connections; can run both voice
location! and data over same pipe!
• Complex to manage! • Easier to manage!
– Requires more internal or outsourced IT resources! – Requires less IT resources to support (VLS) or
• Less efficient performance! Windstream can do it for you (VPN)!
– Considerable network overheads with ATM and • Better performance!
Frame Relay! – MPLS network more robust and efficient !
MPLS Network
Windstream
IP/MPLS
20!

21. How does implementing an MPLS solution
benefit your business?!
Customized Solution – Windstream sales team can customize a solution
tailored to your specific business needs!
Operational cost savings – reduce network management expenses by
outsourcing to Windstream!
Scalability - easy to add new sites and change bandwidth, makes
budgeting for network growth simpler!
Enhanced Reliability – Windstream s MPLS carrier-grade network is
private and secure - offering you improved network resiliency!
Minimal Implementation Disruption- solution enables you to retain your
current private IP addressing plan!
21

22. How does implementing an MPLS solution
benefit your business?!
• Reduced Risk - Windstream assumes responsibility for technology
management and evolution.!
• Network Reporting – Stay informed with network health statistics via our
Windstream Network Portal. !
100% US-based Technical Support available 24/7/365!
– Highly-skilled Engineers located in redundant geographical locations
that are always available to provide support and trouble resolution!
22

23. Peering Partner IP Networks Extend Our Reach
Off-Net Locations Problem Solved!!
Off-Net Locations!
No Problem!!
Peering!
Partner!
San Francisco! IP Network! Windstream!
IP Network!
On-Net Locations!
No Problem!!
23!

24. What is IP Quality of Service (QoS)?
!
Quality of Service (QoS) is a protocol that provides
preferential treatment to IP-based voice, data, and video
packets during times of network congestion.!
Why would I need it?!
– Not all IP packets are created equal!
– Networks must be able to simultaneously transport a multitude of
applications, including real time voice, high-quality video and delay-sensitive
data.
– Networks must provide predictable, measurable, and sometimes guaranteed
performance by managing bandwidth, delay, jitter and loss parameters.!
Some examples of how QoS is applied to prioritize data:!
– Minimize latency for Business Critical applications such as video
conferencing, Citrix Applications and SAP!
– Enable consistent performance for Real-Time data such as Voice over IP
traffic!

25. Network Portal
Dynamic Visibility into Service Health
25!

26. Additional Services Available with MPLS!!
Ethernet Internet Access – Windstream s dedicated and symmetrical
internet connection that provides speeds up to 10 Gbps.!
!
Managed Router – MR is a data networking solution with customer edge
router provisioning, configuration and maintenance.!
Managed Network Security - MNS combines all the stand-alone Internet
security services required to protect your network from cyber attack by
providing anti-virus software, firewalls, intrusion protection and detection.!
!
VoIP Services - Windstream s VoIP and Data Bundle delivers data and voice
communications over a single connection, allowing businesses to benefit from
the efficiency of a converged network!
Data Center – MPLS connectivity to remote data centers for disaster recover,
cloud computing, hosted and managed services!
26

27. Q & A!
Question and Answer!
Session!
27!

28. Thank you!
For additional resources, including other Windstream/Yankee Group
presentations, please visit windstreambusiness.com or contact your
Windstream representative
!
© 2011 Windstream Communications, Inc.!