enterprise lan vendor landscape

8/2/2019 Enterprise LAN Vendor Landscape

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1Info-Tech Research Group

Vendor Landscape: Enterprise LAN

Be the talk of the campus by choosing the right LAN vendor.


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Today, few basic features differentiate LAN solutions, but examine advanced

features, price, and viability to make the right decision.

Introduction

Organizations seeking to select a solution forenterprise LAN (also known as campus LAN).

Their enterprise LAN use cases may include:

Initial deployment of an enterprise network.

Upgrading an existing network with newcomponents.

This Research Is Designed For: This Research Will Help You:

Understand whats new in the enterprise LAN

market.

Evaluate enterprise LAN vendors and products foryour enterprise needs.

Determine which products are most appropriate forparticular use cases and scenarios.


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Executive Summary

Info-Tech evaluated eight competitors in the enterprise LAN market,including the following notable performers:

Champions:

Avaya: Balancing a strong product with a stable vendor, Avayashould be a contender on most organizations shortlists.

Cisco: Cisco remains the leader in the enterprise networkingmarket in both mind share and market share, and continues tocarry a broad, comprehensive, full-featured product lineup.

Enterasys: Enterasys enterprise LAN products contain manyadvanced features, including an admin interface that ties the wholenetwork together.

HP Networking: HP is a strong vendor with a complete enterpriseLAN portfolio that is gaining mind share and market share in a verycompetitive market.

Value Award:

Alcatel-Lucent: Alcatel-Lucent secured the award by havingslightly lower list pricing than competitors.

Trend Setter Award:

Extreme Networks: Extreme Networks pushes the boundaries ofraw performance. Advancing other unique features and enteringkey partnerships keeps Extreme Networks viable in a verycompetitive market.

1. The Network of the Future is Wireless:

The LAN solutions reviewed here are wired,but the network edge will become almostentirely wireless soon. Consider vendorsthat offer wired hardware that is compatiblewith wireless hardware.

2. Management is Key:

Often, ease of management is more of adifferentiating feature than hardware specs.Look for single pane of glass managementacross all parts of the network, and demointerfaces to see which one feels right.

3. Price Still Matters:

The commoditization of the market is

reflected in the very close list pricing fromvendors that provided pricing. However, listpricing does not even remotely resemblestreet pricing, and vendors will vie forbusiness in competitive situations. Expect aminimum of 40% discounts off list pricing,and in some cases vendors will discount inexcess of 50%.

Info-Tech Insight


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Market Overview

The evolution of networking technology has beenextensive and rapid reliability has increasedexponentially, features and standards development havebeen staggering, and speeds have increased 1000times (10Mbit to 10Gbit) in the last 20 years.

While features and speeds have increasedexponentially, prices have remained relatively stable. A

10Mbit port on a shared hub in 1992 was $192, while a2012 64 port Mellanox switch comes in at $188 per10Gbit port. Based on speed alone that is a 100,000%price to performance improvement.

The LAN hardware market is now near-commodity, withvendors attempting to differentiate through featureadditions, convergence, and ease of management.

With the commoditization and standardization of coreLAN infrastructure, vendors strive to differentiate by:

Unifying and converging across networks fromdata center to wireless edge.

Providing unified visibility, administration,monitoring, and management through a singlepane of glass network management system.

Driving performance, reliability, and resiliency

through proprietary protocols and techniques.

Mobility and cloud computing are changing the demandsof enterprise LAN users. The next generation of theenterprise LAN access network will be largely wireless,and vendors are adapting and differentiating enterpriseLAN offerings with WLAN offerings.

Network management has been added to this Vendor

Landscape, and WLAN will be amalgamated with thenext version of this Vendor Landscape.

How it got here Where its going

As the market evolves, capabilities that were once new and innovative become default and newfunctionality becomes differentiating. Quality of service and traffic visibility have become Table Stakescapabilities and should no longer be used to differentiate solutions. Instead focus on network managementand end-to-end network unification to get the best fit for your requirements.


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Enterprise LAN vendor selection / knock-out criteria: marketshare, mind share, and comprehensiveness

Alcatel-Lucent. A European contender coming to enterprise LAN from a telephony background.

Avaya.After acquiring Nortels networking technology, Avaya is back in the enterprise LAN market.

Brocade. Brocade wields a recently boosted LAN portfolio after its acquisition of Foundry.

Cisco. The networking heavyweight, Cisco has a comprehensive line of enterprise LAN products.

Enterasys. Enterasys has collaborated with Siemens to take on the campus LAN market.

Extreme Networks. Purple and proud, Extreme Networks offers high performance hardware.

HP Networking. One of the leaders in networking, HPs FlexCampus portfolio puts it in the enterprise LAN competition.

Juniper. Juniper is a quickly rising contender in the enterprise networking market.

Included in this Vendor Landscape:

In a largely commoditized market, vendors need more than functioning LAN hardware. Integration with other networkcomponents, and unified management across all aspects of the network, were some of the criteria that warrantedinclusion in this vendor landscape.

For this Vendor Landscape, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that offer a broad portfolio of enterprise LAN productsand that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among mid-sized enterprises.


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Criteria Weighting:The Table Stakes

Enterprise LAN criteria & weighting factors

15%

10%

35%

40%

50%

50%

Vendor is committed to the space and has afuture product and portfolio roadmap.

Strategy

Vendor offers global coverage and is able to selland provide post-sales support.

Reach

Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be

around for the long-term.Viability

Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and thechannels themselves are strong.

Channel

The three year TCO of the solution iseconomical.Affordability

The delivery method of the solution aligns withwhat is expected within the space.

Architecture

The solutions dashboard and reporting tools are

intuitive and easy to use.Usability

The solution provides basicand advanced feature/functionality.

Features

35%

20%15%

30%

Features

Usability

Architecture

Affordability

Product

Vendor

Viability Strategy

Channel Reach

Product Evaluation Criteria

Vendor Evaluation Criteria


7/457Info-Tech Research Group

The Info-Tech Enterprise LANVendor Landscape

Champions receive high scores for most evaluationcriteria and offer excellent value. They have a strongmarket presence and are usually the trend settersfor the industry.

Market Pillars are established players with verystrong vendor credentials, but with more averageproduct scores.

Innovators have demonstrated innovative productstrengths that act as their competitive advantage inappealing to niche segments of the market.

Emerging players are newer vendors that arestarting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. Theybalance product and vendor attributes, though scorelower relative to market Champions.

For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape is created, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.

The Zones of the Landscape

Alcatel-Lucent

Avaya

Brocade

CiscoEnterasys

ExtremeNetworks

HP

Juniper



=Exemplary =Good =Adequate =Inadequate =Poor

Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for yourenterprise

Product Vendor

Features Usability Viability Strategy Channel

ExtremeNetworks

Brocade

Avaya

Cisco

Enterasys

Alcatel-Lucent

ReachOverall Overall

HP

Juniper

Legend

Afford. Arch.

Pricing was not available for Brocade, Cisco, HP, or Juniper.

For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.



What is a Value Score?

The Info-Tech Enterprise LAN Value Index

4050

6070

8090

30 2010

The Value Score indexes each vendorsproduct offering and business strengthrelative to its price point. It doesnot indicate vendor ranking.

Vendors that score high offer greater value foryour money (e.g. features, usability, stability,etc.) than the average vendor, while theinverse is true for those that score lower.

Price-conscious enterprises may wish to givethe Value Score more consideration thanthose who are more focused on specificvendor/product attributes.

*Note that list pricing provided by vendorswas very close (~10% difference between

the highest and lowest), but even thevendor with the highest value score notedthat street price is less than 50% of listprice. As a result, affordability has a lowerweighting in this Vendor Landscape.

Champion

100

141423

For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Value Index is calculated, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.

* Pricing was not available for Brocade, Cisco, HP, or Juniper.For an explanation of how Price is determined, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.

On a relative basis, Alcatel-Lucentmaintained the highest Info-Tech ValueScoreTM of the vendor group. Vendorswere indexed against Alcatel-Lucentsperformance to provide a relative view ofits product offerings.

Average Score: 18



Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these,a product doesnt even get reviewed

If Table Stakes are all you need from your enterprise LAN solution, the only true differentiator for theorganization is price. Otherwise, extend your search to find the right feature-set at the best price.

The products assessed in this VendorLandscapeTM meet, at the very least, therequirements outlined as Table Stakes.

Many of the vendors go above and beyond theoutlined Table Stakes, some even do so inmultiple categories. This section aims tohighlight the products capabilities in excess

of the criteria listed here.

The Table Stakes What Does This Mean?

Power over Ethernet plus (PoE+) on at leastsome hardware.

Power overEthernet plus

VRRP, HSRP, or other redundancy protocols.Redundancyand failover

Direct traffic using the IPv6 protocol.IPv6 hardware

support

Integration with LDAP / Active Directory.Directory

integration

Port-based 802.1x authentication.Simple

authentication

Standards-based QoS for real-time services,such as voice and video.

Quality ofservice

What it is:Feature



Advanced Features are the capabilities that allow for granularmarket differentiation

Info-Tech scored each vendors featuresoffering as a summation of its individual scoresacross the listed advanced features. Vendorswere given one point for each feature theproduct inherently provided. Some categorieswere scored on a more granular scale, withvendors receiving half points.

Visibility into flows using technology such asNetFlow and sFlow.Flow visibility

Top of rack switches with at least 10Gbpsaggregation and 40 Gbps uplinks.

High capacityaggregation

Organizational focus on efficiency and advancedpower-saving features.

Energyefficiency

Automatically apply policy when deviceconnects, based on identity and device type.

Automatedprovisioning

Native network access control (NAC) orintegration with third-party NAC.

NAC integration

Stacking of at least eight units.Stacking

Not a necessarily a feature, but a limited lifetimewarranty on edge switches can be essential.

Support /warranty

Virtual machine switching and VEPA compliance.Virtual machine

switching

What we looked for:Feature

Advanced FeaturesScoring Methodology

For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.



=Feature Absent=Feature partially present/pending=Feature fully present

Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on whatyour organization needs

AutoProvision

EnergyEfficiency

HighCapacity

NACIntegration

WarrantyStackingFlowVisibility

VirtualSwitching

Legend

Evaluated Features

ExtremeNetworks

Brocade

Avaya

Cisco

Enterasys

Alcatel-Lucent

HP

Juniper

For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.



Products:

Employees:Headquarters:

Website:Founded:Presence:

Endpoint Security & DataProtection1,200+Abingdon, UKSophos.com1985Privately Held

Cisco comes out on top in terms of advanced features

Champion

Cisco is the competitor to beat in the enterprise LAN market,with the largest market share and mind share for LAN hardwareand software.

Overview

The most complete set of advanced features that we evaluated. Advanced troubleshooting options, such as a traffic simulator

and hop by hop troubleshooting. Cisco has the resources for strong channels and worldwide

support.

Strengths

Cisco has a reputation for being expensive, and for mostorganizations that reputation will prove to be justified, althoughthe gap is narrowing.

Some proprietary solutions can lead to vendor lock-in, but Ciscoalso supports open standards. Each organization must choosehow deeply to entrench themselves in Ciscos ecosystem.

Challenges

Catalyst SwitchesCisco Network Control System73,408San Jose, CAcisco.com1984NASDAQ: CSCO

The vendor declined to provide pricing, andpublicly available pricing could not be found.

$1 $1M+
http://www.cisco.com/http://www.cisco.com/http://www.cisco.com/



Cisco

Features

Info-Tech Recommends:

Cisco offers the most full-featured LAN evaluated, and it is a stable vendor that continues to innovate. Just be prepared topay for Ciscos quality.

NAValue Index

Vendor Landscape

Cisco offers a broad suite of products that allow for consistency across theenterprise, and integrate well with their own server solution, as well as other vendors.

Tom, Technical Director, Hosting Service

What clients dont like about the product:

Price.Israel, Advisor, Information Industry

What were hearing

Product Vendor

Feat. Use. Afford. Via. Strat. Chan.ReachArch. OverallOverall

Price.Vladimir, Officer, Finance

AutoProvision

EnergyEfficiency

HighCapacity

NACIntegration

FlowVisibility Stacking Warranty

VirtualSwitching



Products:




Enterasys stands out with unified management

Champion

Enterasys recently entered into a joint venture with SiemensEnterprise Communications, providing opportunities forintegration with voice services as the merger solidifies.

Overview

A full-featured admin interface, OneFabric Control Center, thatunifies management across the network, including wired and

wireless components. Integrated NAC, also managed through OneFabric Control

Center.

Strengths

Hardware is lagging behind in some areas; for example, it lacks40Gbps uplinks.

Enterasys, while a healthy private company involved in a fruitfuljoint venture with Siemens, struggles to shed the reputation thatit caters almost exclusively to large enterprises, and regain mindshare in the mid-market.

Challenges

Enterprise LAN SwitchingProducts and OneFabricControl Center1,000+Andover, MAenterasys.com1983 (as Cabletron)Privately held

3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricingtier 9, between $500,000 and $1,000,000.

$1 $1M+

Pricing provided by vendor.
http://www.enterasys.com/http://www.enterasys.com/http://www.enterasys.com/



Enterasys

Features


Enterasys offers feature-rich hardware and an impressive admin interface. Its solutions should be a consideration for anybusiness shopping for enterprise LAN.

232nd out of 8

Value Index

Vendor Landscape

Enterasys was one of the top rated enterprise LAN vendors in a small survey of Info-Tech clients, citing good feedback and ease of use as reasons for choosingEnterasys.

What were hearing

Product Vendor


AutoProvision

EnergyEfficiency

HighCapacity

NACIntegration

FlowVisibility Stacking Warranty

VirtualSwitching



Products:




HP has a full range of innovative enterprise LANproducts

Champion

Through innovation and acquisitions, HP has become one of themost significant networking vendors. Its FlexCampus portfolio istargeted at enterprise LAN customers.

Overview

HP is at the forefront of efforts to optimize virtualization in thenetwork (along with Cisco), giving its LAN products an edge in

virtualized IT environments. With an enormous client base and a worldwide presence, HP is

a stable vendor likely to support its products for years to come. HP was at the forefront of vendors offering lifetime warranties

on networking products.

Strengths

HP has made some progress digesting 3Com and rationalizingits product portfolio, but the product lineup retains a sometimesconfusing combination of former 3Com and HP ProCurveswitches.

Challenges

FlexCampus NetworkingSolutions324,600Palo Alto, CAhp.com1939NYSE: HPQ

$1 $1M+

http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/



HP

Features


HPs enterprise LAN portfolio is strong, and products have a lifetime warranty to back them up. Most businesses should

have HP on their shortlist.

NAValue Index

Vendor Landscape

We like having a single cohesive product line in the E-series, and a lifetimewarranty.

Scott, IT, Educational Services

Consumer-based mentality with limited product life cycles for upgrades andupdates. Ordering an HP product and receiving a device that says HP on the frontand 3Com on the back can be disconcerting.

John, Information Systems Manager, Legal Services

What were hearing

Product Vendor


Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow

Visibility Stacking Warranty

Virtual

Switching


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Products:Employees:

Headquarters:Website:

Founded:Presence:


Avaya has strong virtualization features

Champion

Avaya acquired Nortels enterprise solutions technology andtalent in 2009, boosting its networking line.

Overview

Strong energy saving features for cost savings and greeninitiatives.

A focus on virtualization results in products that can support ahighly virtualized business.

Excellent integration with Avayas telephony and

communications products.

Strengths

While Avaya has high-port density 10Gbps, high-capacitystackable switches, it does not yet support 40Gbps uplinks onenterprise LAN products.

A single management interface for wired and wireless doesexist, but it lacks the level of integration of other leadingsolutions. Tighter integration and simplified single pane of glassadministration are expected in 2012.

Challenges

5000 Series Switches19,000Basking Ridge, NJavaya.com2000Privately held


$1 $1M+

http://www.avaya.com/usa/http://www.avaya.com/usa/http://www.avaya.com/usa/


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Avaya

Features


Avayas virtualization features and energy efficiency make for solid hardware, and it is a stable vendor. However, the

current lack of a unified management interface provides reason for caution.

143rd out of 8

Value Index

Vendor Landscape

Reliable equipment, operates well in adverse conditions. Local specialists havehigh skills, but they are under-resourced. Next day replacement of parts or hardwaredoes not occur because spares are held for higher value clients.

David, IT Director, Entertainment Industry

What were hearing

Product Vendor


Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow


Virtual

Switching


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Product:




Extreme Networks is all about networking

Innovator

Extreme Networks has been in the networking business since1996, and continues to do well in the enterprise LAN market.

Overview

Extreme Networks purple hardware is powerful in terms of raw

numbers.

Automatic provisioning is a focus of Extreme Networks. A partnership with McAfee allows for powerful integrated NAC

and other security options.

Strengths

Pure-play networking vendors like Extreme Networks aresusceptible to market volatility.

Challenges

Summit SwitchesRidgeline Network Mgmt800Santa Clara, CAextremenetworks.com1996NASDAQ: EXTR


$1 $1M+

http://www.extremenetworks.com/http://www.extremenetworks.com/http://www.extremenetworks.com/


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Extreme Networks

Features


Extreme Networks is ideal for demanding networks, but it also has easy deployment and provisioning. Businesses withbusy networks should resort to Extreme Networks measures.

143rd out of 8

Value Index

Vendor Landscape

Info-Tech was unable to solicit third-party insights for this solution.

What were hearing

Product Vendor


Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow


Virtual

Switching


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Products:




Juniper stands out with a unified network operating system

Emerging Player

Juniper has been growing in the enterprise networking marketfor several years. Its Simply Connected Campus portfolio offersa full range of enterprise LAN products.

Overview

Junipers networking client, Junos Pulse, unlocks advancedfeatures, such as integrated security.

Junos has a single network operating system that underlies andunifies all of its network equipment, simplifying deployment andmaintenance.

Strengths

Coming from a background of service provider networking andsecurity, Junipers main focus is not small-medium enterprisenetwork hardware.

Challenges

EX Series SwitchesJunos Pulse9,000Sunnyvale, CAjuniper.net1996NYSE: JNPR

$1 $1M+

http://www.juniper.net/us/en/http://www.juniper.net/us/en/http://www.juniper.net/us/en/


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Juniper

Features


Although not as strong as some larger competitors, Juniper balances solid enterprise LAN products with a vendor that isincreasing its market share. Stay up to date with Junipers growth.

NAValue Index

Vendor Landscape

Clients were impressed with Junipers ease of use, but less enthusiastic about its

technical support and availability of channel partners.

What were hearing

Product Vendor


Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow


Virtual

Switching


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Products:Employees:

Headquarters:Website:

Founded:Presence:


Brocade doesnt stand out from the crowd, and may be a riskychoice

Emerging Player

Brocade has been in business since 1995, and boosted itsenterprise LAN offerings with its acquisition of FoundryNetworks in 2008.

Overview

Brocades management interface allows admins to manage

both wired and wireless Brocade infrastructure in one pane of

glass. Energy efficiency is a priority for Brocade.

Strengths

It is widely rumored that Brocade is actively up for sale, makingthe long-term viability of the company uncertain.

High-capacity aggregation on top of rack switches is laggingbehind competitors.

Challenges

ICX 6610 Series Switch4,000San Jose, CAbrocade.com1995NASDAQ: BRCD

$1 $1M+

http://www.brocade.com/index.pagehttp://www.brocade.com/index.pagehttp://www.brocade.com/index.page


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Brocade

Features


Brocades hardware stands up to competitors in basic features, but is falling behind on innovation, and disruptions in the

business could affect customers.

NAValue Index

Vendor Landscape


What were hearing

Product Vendor


Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow


Virtual

Switching


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Products:




Alcatel-Lucent has a competitive product, but comeswith some limitations

Emerging Player

Better known for its telephony products, Alcatel-Lucent has asmall, but significant presence in the enterprise LAN market aswell.

Overview

Energy efficiency is a priority for Alcatel-Lucent. It claims that itsdynamic power over Ethernet hardware is the most efficient in

its class. The OmniSwitch product line is economical, and the recipient of

our value award as a result.

Strengths

Alcatel-Lucents client base and operations are primarily inEurope. Although expanding, its presence in North America isstill limited.

Networking is not Alcatel-Lucents primary focus, and it is nottargeted at the mid-market.

Challenges

OmniSwitch SwitchesOmniVista Network Mgmt79, 796Paris, Francealcatel-lucent.com1986EPA: ALUFY10 Revenue: $21.4B


$1 $1M+

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/


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Alcatel-Lucent

Auto

Provision

Energy

Efficiency

High

Capacity

NAC

Integration

Flow

Visibility

Features


Alcatel-Lucents LAN hardware and management is functional, but with limited geographical reach and limited viability inthe LAN market, many businesses will have better options.

Stacking Warranty

Virtual

Switching

1001st out of 8

Value Index

Vendor Landscape


What were hearing

Product Vendor



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The Info-Tech Enterprise LAN Vendor Shortlist Toolis designed to generate a

customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities.

Identify leading candidates with theEnterprise LAN VendorShortlist Tool

Overall Vendor vs. Product Weightings.

Individual product criteria weightings:Features

UsabilityAffordabilityArchitecture

Individual vendor criteria weightings:ViabilityStrategyReachChannel

This tool offers the ability to modify:
http://www.infotech.com/research/it-enterprise-lan-vendor-shortlist-toolhttp://www.infotech.com/research/it-enterprise-lan-vendor-shortlist-tool


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Standalone NAC is available, but save in costs and integration hassles by

choosing a LAN vendor with access control built in.

If network security is a priority, choose a vendor withintegrated NAC

Why Scenarios?

In reviewing the products includedin each Vendor LandscapeTM ,certain use-cases come to theforefront. Whether those use-casesare defined by applicability in

certain locations, relevance forcertain industries, or as strengths indelivering a specific capability, Info-Tech recognizes those use-casesas Scenarios, and calls attention tothem where they exist.

3

1

NAC Integration2

For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

Logo


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A vendor with a product portfolio that spans data center to wireless edge is

compelling if you are looking for consistency and simplicity.

If a unified data center, enterprise, and wireless LAN arepriorities, choose a vendor that brings the network together

Why Scenarios?

In reviewing the products includedin each Vendor LandscapeTM ,certain use-cases come to theforefront. Whether those use-casesare defined by applicability in

certain locations, relevance forcertain industries, or as strengths indelivering a specific capability, Info-Tech recognizes those use-casesas Scenarios, and calls attention tothem where they exist.

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

Adequate Performers

21

Unified Network3

For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, please see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation in the Appendix.


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Appendix

1. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Overview

2. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Product Selection & Information Gathering

3. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring

4. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation

5. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Fact Check & Publication

6. Product Pricing Scenario


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Overview

Info-Techs Vendor Landscapes are research materials that review a particular IT market space, evaluating the strengths and abilities of boththe products available in that space, as well as the vendors of those products. These materials are created by a team of dedicated analystsoperating under the direction of a senior subject matter expert over a period of six weeks.

Evaluations weigh selected vendors and their products (collectively solutions) on the following eight criteria to determine overall standing: Features: The presence of advanced and market-differentiating capabilities. Usability: The intuitiveness, power, and integrated nature of administrative consoles and client software components. Affordability: The three-year total cost of ownership of the solution. Architecture: The degree of integration with the vendors other tools, flexibility of deployment, and breadth of platform applicability. Viability: The stability of the company as measured by its history in the market, the size of its client base, and its financial performance. Strategy: The commitment to both the market-space, as well as to the various sized clients (small, mid-sized, and enterprise clients). Reach: The ability of the vendor to support its products on a global scale.

Channel: The measure of the size of the vendors channel partner program, as well as any channel strengthening strategies.Evaluated solutions are plotted on a standard two by two matrix:

Champions: Both the product and the vendor receive scores that are above the average score for the evaluated group. Innovators: The product receives a score that is above the average score for the evaluated group, but the vendor receives a score that is

below the average score for the evaluated group. Market Pillars: The product receives a score that is below the average score for the evaluated group, but the vendor receives a score that

is above the average score for the evaluated group. Emerging Players: Both the product and the vendor receive scores that are below the average score for the evaluated group.

Info-Techs Vendor Landscapes are researched and produced according to a strictly adhered to process that includes the following steps:

Vendor/product selection Information gathering Vendor/product scoring Information presentation Fact checking Publication

This document outlines how each of these steps is conducted.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Vendor/Product Selection & Information Gathering

Info-Tech works closely with its client base to solicit guidance in terms of understanding the vendors with whom clients wish to work and theproducts that they wish evaluated; this demand pool forms the basis of the vendor selection process for Vendor Landscapes. Balancing thisdemand, Info-Tech also relies upon the deep subject matter expertise and market awareness of its Senior and Lead Research Analysts toensure that appropriate solutions are included in the evaluation. As an aspect of that expertise and awareness, Info-Techs analysts may, attheir discretion, determine the specific capabilities that are required of the products under evaluation, and include in the Vendor Landscapeonly those solutions that meet all specified requirements.

Information on vendors and products is gathered in a number of ways via a number of channels.

Initially, a request package is submitted to vendors to solicit information on a broad range of topics. The request package includes: A detailed survey. A pricing scenario (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Price Evaluation and Pricing Scenario, below). A request for reference clients. A request for a briefing and, where applicable, guided product demonstration.

These request packages are distributed approximately twelve weeks prior to the initiation of the actual research project to allow vendors ampletime to consolidate the required information and schedule appropriate resources.

During the course of the research project, briefings and demonstrations are scheduled (generally for one hour each session, though more timeis scheduled as required) to allow the analyst team to discuss the information provided in the survey, validate vendor claims, and gain directexposure to the evaluated products. Additionally, an end-user survey is circulated to Info-Techs client base and vendor-supplied referenceaccounts are interviewed to solicit their feedback on their experiences with the evaluated solutions and with the vendors of those solutions.

These materials are supplemented by a thorough review of all product briefs, technical manuals, and publicly available marketing materials

about the product, as well as about the vendor itself.Refusal by a vendor to supply completed surveys or submit to participation in briefings and demonstrations does not eliminate a vendor frominclusion in the evaluation. Where analyst and client input has determined that a vendor belongs in a particular evaluation, it will be evaluatedas best as possible based on publicly available materials only. As these materials are not as comprehensive as a survey, briefing, anddemonstration, the possibility exists that the evaluation may not be as thorough or accurate. Since Info-Tech includes vendors regardless ofvendor participation, it is always in the vendors best interest to participate fully.

All information is recorded and catalogued, as required, to facilitate scoring and for future reference.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Scoring

Once all information has been gathered and evaluated for all vendors and products, the analyst team moves to scoring. All scoring isperformed at the same time so as to ensure as much consistency as possible. Each criterion is scored on a ten point scale, though the mannerof scoring for criteria differs slightly:

Features is scored via Cumulative Scoring Affordability is scored via Scalar Scoring All other criteria are scored via Base5 Scoring

In Cumulative Scoring, a single point is assigned to each evaluated feature that is regarded as being fully present, a half point to each featurethat is partially present or pending in an upcoming release, and zero points to features that are deemed to be absent. The assigned points aresummed and normalized to a value out of ten. For example, if a particular Vendor Landscape evaluates eight specific features in the FeatureCriteria, the summed score out of eight for each evaluated product would be multiplied by 1.25 to yield a value out of ten.

In Scalar Scoring, a score of ten is assigned to the lowest cost solution, and a score of one is assigned to the highest cost solution. All other

solutions are assigned a mathematically determined score based on their proximity to / distance from these two endpoints. For example, in anevaluation of three solutions, where the middle cost solution is closer to the low end of the pricing scale it will receive a higher score, andwhere it is closer to the high end of the pricing scale it will receive a lower score; depending on proximity to the high or low price it is entirelypossible that it could receive either ten points (if it is very close to the lowest price) or one point (if it is very close to the highest price). Wherepricing cannot be determined (vendor does not supply price and public sources do not exist), a score of 0 is automatically assigned.

In Base5 scoring a number of sub-criteria are specified for each criterion (for example, Longevity, Market Presence, and Financials are sub-criteria of the Viability criterion), and each one is scored on the following scale:

5 - The product/vendor is exemplary in this area (nothing could be done to improve the status).4 - The product/vendor is good in this area (small changes could be made that would move things to the next level).

3 - The product/vendor is adequate in this area (small changes would make it good, more significant changes required to be exemplary).2 - The product/vendor is poor in this area (this is a notable weakness and significant work is required).1 - The product/vendor is terrible/fails in this area (this is a glaring oversight and a serious impediment to adoption).

The assigned points are summed and normalized to a value out of ten as explained in Cumulative Scoring above.

Scores out of ten, known as Raw scores, are transposed as-is into Info-Techs Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool, which automaticallydetermines Vendor Landscape positioning (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Vendor Landscape, below),Criteria Score (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Criteria Score, below), and Value Index (see VendorLandscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Value Index, below).


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Vendor Landscape

Info-Techs Vendor Landscape is a two-by-two matrix that plots solutions based on thecombination of Product score and Vendor score. Placement is not determined byabsolute score, but instead by relative score. Relative scores are used to ensure aconsistent view of information and to minimize dispersion in nascent markets, whileenhancing dispersion in commodity markets to allow for quick visual analysis by clients.

Relative scores are calculated as follows:

1. Raw scores are transposed into the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool(for information on how Raw scores are determined, see Vendor LandscapeMethodology: Scoring, above).

2. Each individual criterion Raw score is multiplied by the pre-assigned weightingfactor for the Vendor Landscape in question. Weighting factors are determined

prior to the evaluation process to eliminate any possibility of bias. Weightingfactors are expressed as a percentage such that the sum of the weighting factorsfor the Vendor criteria (Viability, Strategy, Reach, Channel) is 100% and the sumof the Product criteria (Features, Usability, Affordability, Architecture) is 100%.

3. A sum-product of the weighted Vendor criteria scores and of the weighted Productcriteria scores is calculated to yield an overall Vendor score and an overall Productscore.

4. Overall Vendor scores are then normalized to a 20 point scale by calculating thearithmetic mean and standard deviation of the pool of Vendor scores. Vendors for

whom their overall Vendor score is higher than the arithmetic mean will receive anormalized Vendor score of 11-20 (exact value determined by how much higherthan the arithmetic mean their overall Vendor score is), while vendors for whomtheir overall Vendor score is lower than the arithmetic mean will receive anormalized Vendor score of between one and ten (exact value determined by howmuch lower than the arithmetic mean their overall Vendor score is).

5. Overall Product score is normalized to a 20 point scale according to the sameprocess.

6. Normalized scores are plotted on the matrix, with Vendor score being used as thex-axis, and Product score being used as the y-axis.

Vendor Landscape

Champions:solutions with above

average Vendorscores and aboveaverage Product

scores.

Innovators:solutions with below

average Vendorscores and aboveaverage Product

scores.

Market Pillars:solutions with above

average Vendorscores and belowaverage Product

scores.

Emerging Players:solutions with below

average Vendorscores and belowaverage Product

scores.


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Harvey Balls

Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls)Info-Techs Criteria Scores are visual representations of the absolute score assigned to each individual criterion, as well as of the calculatedoverall Vendor and Product scores. The visual representation used is Harvey Balls.

Harvey Balls are calculated as follows:1. Raw scores are transposed into the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool (for information on how Raw scores are determined, see

Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring, above).

2. Each individual criterion Raw score is multiplied by a pre-assigned weighting factor for the Vendor Landscape in question. Weightingfactors are determined prior to the evaluation process, based on the expertise of the Senior or Lead Research Analyst, to eliminate anypossibility of bias. Weighting factors are expressed as a percentage, such that the sum of the weighting factors for the Vendor criteria(Viability, Strategy, Reach, Channel) is 100%, and the sum of the Product criteria (Features, Usability, Affordability, Architecture) is100%.

3. A sum-product of the weighted Vendor criteria scores and of the weighted Product criteria scores is calculated to yield an overall Vendorscore and an overall Product score.

4. Both overall Vendor score / overall Product score, as well as individual criterion Raw scores are converted from a scale of one to ten toHarvey Ball scores on a scale of zero to four, where exceptional performance results in a score of four and poor performance results in ascore of zero.

5. Harvey Ball scores are converted to Harvey Balls as follows: A score of four becomes a full Harvey Ball. A score of three becomes a three-quarter full Harvey Ball. A score of two becomes a half full Harvey Ball. A score of one becomes a one-quarter full Harvey Ball. A score of zero (zero) becomes an empty Harvey Ball.

6. Harvey Balls are plotted by solution in a chart where rows represent individual solutions and columns represent overall Vendor / overallProduct, as well as individual criteria. Solutions are ordered in the chart alphabetically by vendor name.

Product Vendor


Overall HarveyBalls representweightedaggregates.

Criteria HarveyBalls representindividual Raw

scores.


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Stop Lights

Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stop Lights)

Info-Techs Feature Ranks are visual representations of the presence/availability of individual features that collectively comprise the Featurescriterion. The visual representation used is Stop Lights.

Stop Lights are determined as follows:

1. A single point is assigned to each evaluated feature that is regarded as being fully present, a half point to each feature that is partiallypresent or pending in an upcoming release, and zero points to features that are deemed to be fully absent.

Fully present means all aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence. Fully absent means all aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence. Partially present means some, but not all, aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence, OR all aspects and

capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence, but only for some models in a line. Pending means all aspects and capabilities of the feature, as described, are anticipated to be in evidence in a future revision of the

product and that revision is to be released within the next 12 months.

2. Feature scores are converted to Stop Lights as follows: Full points become a Green light. Half points become a Yellow light. Zero points become a Red light.

3. Stop Lights are plotted by solution in a chart where rows represent individual solutions and columns represent individual features.Solutions are ordered in the chart alphabetically by vendor name.

For example, a set of applications is being reviewed and a feature of Integration with Mobile Devices that is defined as availability ofdedicated mobile device applications for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices is specified. Solution A provides such apps for all listedplatforms and scores Green, solution B provides apps foriOS and Android only and scores Yellow, while solution C provides mobile device

functionality through browser extensions, has no dedicated apps, and so scores Red.

Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 4 Feature 5Feature 3

Features

Feature 6 Feature 7 Feature 8

Yellow showspartial availability(such as in somemodels in a line).

Green means afeature is fullypresent; Red,fully absent.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Price Evaluation

Info-Techs Price Evaluation is a tiered representation of the three year Total Cost ofOwnership (TCO) of a proposed solution. Info-Tech uses this method of communicating

pricing information to provide high-level budgetary guidance to its end-user clients whilerespecting the privacy of the vendors with whom it works. The solution TCO is calculatedand then represented as belonging to one of ten pricing tiers.

Pricing tiers are as follows:

1. Between $1 and $2,500

2. Between $2,500 and $5,000

3. Between $5,000 and $10,000

4. Between $10,000 and $25,000

5. Between $25,000 and $50,0006. Between $50,000 and $100,000

7. Between $100,000 and $250,000

8. Between $250,000 and $500,000

9. Between $500,000 and $1,000,000

10. Greater than $1,000,000

Where pricing is not provided, Info-Tech makes use of publicly available sources ofinformation to determine a price. As these sources are not official price lists, the

possibility exists that they may be inaccurate or outdated, and so the source of thepricing information is provided. Since Info-Tech publishes pricing information regardlessof vendor participation, it is always in the vendors best interest to supply accurate and

up to date information.

Info-Techs Price Evaluations are based on pre-defined pricing scenarios (see ProductPricing Scenario, below) to ensure a comparison that is as close as possible betweenevaluated solutions. Pricing scenarios describe a sample business and solicit guidanceas to the appropriate product/service mix required to deliver the specified functionality,the list price for those tools/services, as well as three full years of maintenance andsupport.

Price Evaluation

Call-out bubble indicates within which pricetier the three year TCO for the solution falls,provides the brackets of that price tier, and

links to the graphical representation.

Scale along the bottom indicates that thegraphic as a whole represents a price scale

with a range of $1 to $1M+, while the notationindicates whether the pricing was supplied by

the vendor or derived from public sources.

3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricingtier 6, between $50,000 and $100,000.

$1 $1M+

Pricing solicited from public sources.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Scenarios

Info-Techs Scenarios highlight specific use cases for the evaluated solution to provide as complete (when taken in conjunction with theindividual written review, Vendor Landscape, Criteria Scores, Feature Ranks, and Value Index) a basis for comparison by end-user clients as

possible.

Scenarios are designed to reflect tiered capability in a particular set of circumstances. Determination of the Scenarios in question is at thediscretion of the analyst team assigned to the research project. Where possible, Scenarios are designed to be mutually exclusive andcollectively exhaustive, or at the very least, hierarchical such that the tiers within the Scenario represent a progressively greater or broadercapability.

Scenario ranking is determined as follows:

1. The analyst team determines an appropriate use case.For example:

Clients that have multinational presence and require vendors to provide four hour onsite support.2. The analyst team establishes the various tiers of capability.

For example: Presence in Americas Presence in EMEA Presence in APAC

3. The analyst team reviews all evaluated solutions and determines which ones meet which tiers of capability.For example:

Presence in Americas Vendor A, Vendor C, Vendor E Presence in EMEA Vendor A, Vendor B, Vendor C

Presence in APAC Vendor B, Vendor D, Vendor E4. Solutions are plotted on a grid alphabetically by vendor by tier. Where one vendor is deemed to be stronger in a tier than other vendors in

the same tier, they may be plotted non-alphabetically.For example: Vendor C is able to provide four hour onsite support to 12 countries in EMEA while Vendors A and B are only able to provide four hour

onsite support to eight countries in EMEA; Vendor C would be plotted first, followed by Vendor A, then Vendor B.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Information Presentation Vendor Awards

At the conclusion of all analyses, Info-Tech presents awards to exceptional solutions inthree distinct categories. Award presentation is discretionary; not all awards are

extended subsequent to each Vendor landscape and it is entirely possible, thoughunlikely, that no awards may be presented.

Awards categories are as follows:

Champion Awards are presented to those solutions, and only those solutions, thatland in the Champion zone of the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape (see VendorLandscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Vendor Landscape, above). Ifno solutions land in the Champion zone, no Champion Awards are presented.Similarly, if multiple solutions land in the Champion zone, multiple Champion Awardsare presented.

Trend Setter Awards are presented to those solutions, and only those solutions,that are deemed to include the most original/inventive product/service, or the mostoriginal/inventive feature/capability of a product/service. If no solution is deemed tobe markedly or sufficiently original/inventive, either as a product/service on thewhole or by feature/capability specifically, no Trend Setter Award is presented. Onlyone Trend Setter Award is available for each Vendor Landscape.

Best Overall Value Awards are presented to those solutions, and only thosesolutions, that are ranked highest on the Info-Tech Value Index (see VendorLandscape Methodology: Information Presentation Value Index, above). If

insufficient pricing information is made available for the evaluated solutions, suchthat a Value Index cannot be calculated, no Best Overall Value Award will bepresented. Only one Best Overall Value Award is available for each VendorLandscape.

Vendor Awards

Info-Techs ChampionAward is presented tosolutions in the Championzone of the VendorLandscape.

Info-Techs Trend SetterAward is presented to themost original/inventivesolution evaluated.

Info-Techs Best OverallValue Award ispresented to the solutionwith the highest ValueIndex score.


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Vendor Landscape Methodology:Fact Check & Publication

Info-Tech takes the factual accuracy of its Vendor Landscapes, and indeed of all of its published content, very seriously. To ensure the utmostaccuracy in its Vendor Landscapes, we invite all vendors of evaluated solutions (whether the vendor elected to provide a survey and/or

participate in a briefing or not) to participate in a process of Fact Check.

Once the research project is complete and the materials are deemed to be in a publication ready state, excerpts of the material specific to eachvendors solution are provided to the vendor. Info-Tech only provides material specific to the individual vendors solution forreviewencompassing the following:

All written review materials of the vendor and the vendors product that comprise the evaluated solution. Info-Techs Criteria Scores / Harvey Balls detailing the individual and overall Vendor / Product scores assigned. Info-Techs Feature Rank / Stop Lights detailing the individual feature scores of the evaluated product. Info-Techs Value Index ranking for the evaluated solution. Info-Techs Scenario ranking for all considered scenarios for the evaluated solution.

Info-Tech does not provide the following: Info-Techs Vendor Landscape placement of the evaluated solution. Info-Techs Value Score for the evaluated solution. End-user feedback gathered during the research project. Info-Techs overall recommendation in regard to the evaluated solution.

Info-Tech provides a one-week window for each vendor to provide written feedback. Feedback must be corroborated (be provided withsupporting evidence), and where it does, feedback that addresses factual errors or omissions is adopted fully, while feedback that addressesopinions is taken under consideration. The assigned analyst team makes all appropriate edits and supplies an edited copy of the materials tothe vendor within one week for final review.

Should a vendor still have concerns or objections at that time, they are invited to a conversation, initially via email, but as required and deemedappropriate by Info-Tech, subsequently via telephone, to ensure common understanding of the concerns. Where concerns relate to ongoingfactual errors or omissions they are corrected under the supervision of Info-Techs Vendor Relations personnel. Where concerns relate toongoing differences of opinion they are again taken under consideration with neither explicit not implicit indication of adoption.

Publication of materials is scheduled to occur within the six weeks immediately following the completion of the research project, but does notoccur until the Fact Check process has come to conclusion, and under no circumstances are pre-publication copies of any materials madeavailable to any client.


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Product Pricing Scenario

A mid-level clothing manufacturer/retailer with corporate offices on the US west coast, east coast, and Ireland and 2200 global employees islooking to refresh its enterprise/campus LAN infrastructure. The firm is interested in only the wired LAN (no data center or wireless).

The corporate office breakdown is as follows:

US West Coast (Head Office)

Employing 1600 people (70% of total staff), the west coast office holds Sales, Finance, Strategy, Marketing, Buyers, and the majority of IT.The IT staff here consists of 45 employees, three of which are dedicated network professionals consisting of one Network Manager and two

Network Administrators.

US East Coast (Satellite)

Employing 200 people (10% of total staff), the east coast office holds solely a Marketing department.

Ireland (Satellite)

Employing 400 people (20% of total staff), the Ireland office employs Buyers and Manufacturing, and also a DR facility. Manufacturingconsists of 300 employees. The companys remaining five IT staff are located here, though none have dedicated network responsibilities.

The expected solution capabilities are as follows:

The network will be two tiered (no distribution/aggregation layer) and requires the following:

50 layer 2/3 stackable 48 port Gigabit access/edge switches with 2x10 Gigabit uplink ports.

Redundant core chassis switches for head office with line cards to accommodate up to 72x10 Gigabit and 192 Gigabit ports.

Mini-core, non-redundant switches for satellite offices. Accommodate with either a small chassis switch or stackable switches. One for USEast coast should accommodate up to 10x10 Gigabit ports and 48 Gigabit ports. One for Ireland should accommodate up to 20x10 Gigabit

ports and 96 Gigabit ports.

Please provide annual or three year 8x5 NBD advanced hardware replacement support and maintenance costs for the solution.

Include the cost of a complete and comprehensive (not a limited free version) NMS to manage the infrastructure.

enterprise lan vendor landscape

Documents