The integration of existing networks and systems is a prime concern among major companies, with the future of access devices showing little real change in the short-term, according to the results of a survey commissioned by Alcatel NV’s Alcatel Data Networks unit. In the backbone, however, there will be a rapid transition to Integrated Services Digital Network and Asynchronous Transfer Mode. The report, which questioned 620 UK-based information technology and communications managers, half of whom represented businesses with a turnover of above รบ100m, found that 48% of organisations viewed the integration of different environments into a single network as very important, with 28% viewing it as important. A third of respondents claimed to be fully integrated already, with 43% planning to become so over the next one to four years – most within the next 18 months.
Traditonal access
These figures tally with the recent findings of Dataquest in its User Strategies For Networking report. Most (55%) of the organisations that claimed to be fully integrated, or which had made a start towards integration, said they used routers and bridges as access devices. However, traditional access devices are still being used in large numbers, with modems being employed in 211 organisations and multiplexers in 196. On the backbone, X25 is being used by 175 organisations, with Internet Protocol accounting for 199 businesses. Frame Relay was the preference of only 49 interviewees, but ISDN has a surprisingly high penetration of 187 companies. This is attributed to steady tariff reductions and greater recognition of the benefits of digital bandwidth-on-demand. On the access front, the reported death of the modem and multiplexer has been premature. While there is a marked reduction in the planned use of these devices, users still see a role for them, with 155 organisations sticking with modems and 149 with multiplexers over the next few years. But the survey pointed to increased router domination, with 395 respondents nominating them the future access method of choice, chiefly because of the need to provide intelligent access in multiprotocol environments. Simple bridge usage will decrease slightly, with 293 interviewees stating them as their preference. This is due to greater router functionality taking over some of the traditional bridge functions, concludes the report. Overall, the methods of access showed little dramatic change over the next few years. Changes are more dramatic in the backbone arena, with 201 organisations saying that they plan to use Asynchronous Transfer Mode as a future backbone technology, compared with nobody using it today. Although there is a conservative rump – 138 organisations plan to preserve their investments and continue using X25 packet switching in the backbone, and 138 are sticking with Internet Protocol – Frame Relay will grow markedly from 49 businesses now to 126 over the next two to three years. This is attributed to the increase in availability of Frame Relay services. Switched Multimegabit Data Service will make an appearance on 37 backbones, but the most dramatic growth is reserved for ISDN, which will go from being used in 187 backbones now to 310 in the future. Feedback from the respondents indicated that it is faster connection times and greater reliability over modems, combined with the increased desire of public telecommunications operators to attract users, were prime motivations for moving to the new technology. Figures from the Dataquest report bear this out, with the forecast that European sales of ISDN terminals will rise to more than 580,000 in 1997 from just over 93,000 in 1992.
