Shiva, Part II
nfoWorld: So remote access is really about bridging these worlds?
Zucco: Remote access, up to today, has really delivered to you the challenges of both worlds
and the worst of both worlds. Simply stated, we need to move some of this technology out of the
enterprise into the [telephone company] with virtual private networks and leverage the Internet
cloud with secure tunnels that get data off the PSTN as quickly as you can. This means spend
as much time on the packet network as you can.
So for the next five years the opportunity in this space is how can we make this stuff ubiquitous
enough in order for everybody to get it at a very reasonable cost. Because by driving the cost
down, supply will create more demand.
InfoWorld: What's the impact of this increased demand on corporations?
Zucco: All of the sudden, remote-access servers started running mission-critical applications
and people wanted some degree of concentration. So the modem technology and remote-access
technology is moving from the LAN closet and into the domain of the IT organization. And
concentration went from up to 12 to 16 ports to 72 ports in the enterprise space. We're seeing
an average switch with about 50 ports.
InfoWorld: So are corporations now the primary customers for remote-access servers?
Zucco: If I look at the Internet, the first wave of the Internet was driven by education spending
or governmental spending; the second wave of the Internet was driven by all-you-can-eat
consumer access. There are 4,500 Internet Service Providers today, of which, maybe 500 will
survive for three years. The next wave, though, is to get after the business dollar. The next
wave of capitalization for the Internet is really going to be funded by business.
InfoWorld: Companies like 3Com, Hayes and Compaq have low-cost, remote-access servers.
Is this an end of the business that you're going to be able to continue to compete in?
Zucco: We see markets segmenting pretty dramatically. We really refused early-on to
unbundle and compete on price, but recently we've unbundled this technology. The base
technology allows us to compete on price, essentially by allowing customers to buy software
feature packages and upgrades.
InfoWorld: But at the high end, you've also got companies like Cisco saying remote access is a
natural part of their switches and routers.
Zucco: The distinction between us and a Cisco or Bay [Networks] is that they tout
uniprocessor architectures. What we're saying is you need a processor for each modem. And
with Cisco's new box, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In fact, this is a good example of
the difference between remote access and routing. In routing you don't need to look at the
session; in remote access you're managing individual sessions. As the next wave of networking
happens with tunneling and encryption, the processor requirements will be extraordinarily high. |
