PDF of this tutorialService Differentiation
With programmable switches, customization can be done on an application-by-application basis, thereby giving service providers the ability to differentiate their service from the competition quickly and cost effectively.
Matching Feature Costs to Feature Revenues
Often, promising new applications never make it to market because the initial investment may be deemed too high for unclear revenues. Programmable-switching architectures can address this issue by evenly matching initial system sizing to initial revenue projections. Thus, new services can be deployed and market-tested cost effectively with minimal risk. Should demand for a new service take hold, a programmable switch–based platform will easily and cost effectively scale to meet the service provider's needs.
Return on Investment
Through scalability, service providers need never outgrow their initial systems nor lose their start-up investment. The system can be grown as the demand grows. Through openness and configurability, programmable switches have the versatility to provide a platform for multiservice applications. The ability to tailor and adapt programmable switches for the future protects current investments in the face of upcoming trends and uncertainties. As a result, there is no need to worry about having to write-off a piece of hardware long before it is depreciated. The risk of stranded investments that may occur with proprietary or inflexible alternatives is eliminated.
Programmable switches provide a superior return on investment for two primary reasons. First, because of outstanding price performance, programmable switches enable more capacity and throughput for a given investment. Thus, a service provider can support larger subscriber populations—and consequently, receive greater revenues—per configuration. Second, because the programmable switch is flexible and adaptable, it delivers a greater versatility of function per system. This can result in more utility available to the service provider, increasing opportunities for additional revenues. Figure 6 demonstrates the variety of functionality that, through chassis flexibility and programmability, can be deployed within a compact and open switch.
Figure 6. A Compact and Open Switch
Reduced Time to Market
Programmable switches give service providers control of their own destiny. Even if service providers purchase third-party applications, the openness of the platform gives them competitive choices and enables the provider or third-party developer to add new features or services at any time. The bottom line is reduced time to market, lower development costs, and a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Flexibility to Enhance the Application
The open architecture of a programmable switch allows the service provider to enhance an application rapidly, when needed. This flexibility allows service providers to be in control of their own network and service offerings, meeting their customers' needs.
Flexible, Cost-Effective Reliability
Reliability is a key issue in CO switching. The configurability of programmable switches provides cost-effective choices in this regard. Their architecture can be made as reliable as the application demands. Service providers can build extremely robust, fully redundant systems that provide the same hardware reliability as any existing alternative. They can also dramatically reduce costs while still providing high reliability by selecting the specific features that are appropriate to the application.
Deployability
Telecommunications infrastructure is expanding into remote regions worldwide. Programmable switching expedites and enhances this expansion by offering ease of configuration and maintenance, compact size, and local, open programmability. If programmability encompasses switching resources such as protocols for network interfaces, systems can be tailored to comply with widely varying local standards and protocols. In addition, a distributed architecture makes it possible to deliver resources to remote nodes in the network, transparently, on demand. The result is added flexibility, versatility, and performance in remote locations.
Furthermore, telecommunications in even highly industrialized nations are changing dramatically and possess many characteristics of emerging markets. Landline and wireless environments are evolving, enhanced services are spreading, and competition is increasing. If carriers select a single open, programmable platform that supports broad standards and a variety of services, they will not only survive but thrive in the face of these developmental challenges and market demands.
