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Tata Communications' IZO Internet WAN Delivers MPLS-Like Quality on the Internet Published: 16 December 2015

Analyst(s): To Chee Eng

Tata Communications' new IZO Internet WAN is an enhanced Internet VPN service. IT leaders can consider the service, alongside other similar services, as an alternative to traditional Internet VPNs.

Impacts ■

IZO Internet WAN enables enterprises to run performance-sensitive applications on the Internet.

■

IZO Internet WAN's strong geographic coverage enables enterprises to build highly distributed global networks.

■

As IZO Internet WAN is a relatively new service, it's unclear whether Tata Communications can continue to maintain the service quality over time; enterprises will need to approach the service cautiously, despite its promise.

Recommendations IT leaders in multinational corporations (MNCs) can: ■

Consider using enhanced Internet VPN services, such as IZO Internet WAN, to run businesscritical applications on the Internet.

■

Continue to use MPLS for business-critical voice and video traffic, as IZO Internet WAN does not provide QoS and SLAs for these requirements.

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Consider using enhanced Internet VPN services, such as IZO Internet WAN, to connect highly distributed global networks with many small sites.

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Approach IZO Internet WAN cautiously as the service is relatively new and needs to gain maturity to provide consistent service quality.

Analysis More enterprises are deploying Internet VPNs, typically as part of a hybrid WAN that includes Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). They are typically used for backup and load-balancing purposes, and as primary networks for connecting small or remote sites where MPLS is too costly or unavailable. Internet VPNs are used extensively by MNCs for connecting highly distributed networks. However, Internet performance is inconsistent, especially in developing markets with poor Internet infrastructure. This makes it difficult for enterprises to run business-critical applications that are sensitive to network delays or packet loss. Consequently, enterprises treat the Internet as a besteffort service for general business applications. For business-critical applications, they still revert to MPLS. The inconsistency in Internet performance is due to several reasons. When the network is congested, traffic takes alternative paths, often resulting in additional latency. It can also result in packet loss, impacting application performance significantly. ISPs typically oversubscribe on the access (such as 10:1 for business DSL), which also impacts performance. To solve this issue, Tata Communications has rolled out an enhanced global Internet VPN service named IZO Internet WAN, with performance guarantees and SLAs for network latency, packet loss and network availability. This makes it possible to support business-critical applications that require consistently high performance. Tata Communications, a global Internet backbone provider, is teaming up with select local ISPs worldwide to offer the service. It implements specific routing paths and prioritization for IZO traffic across its Internet backbone and partner networks to deliver consistent network performance. However, it does not provide quality of service (QoS) for business-critical voice and video, which means customers should continue to use MPLS for these requirements. IZO Internet WAN is among several competing services that are emerging to deliver business-grade quality on the Internet for enterprise use. They include Aryaka and Akamai, both using optimized routing and WAN optimization over their global infrastructure, which allow them to improve network performance and latency significantly. There are differences in their implementations. With Aryaka, customers source Internet access themselves and tunnel to its nearest point of presence (POP). This segment is unprioritized. With Akamai, customers can use a Cisco router on their premises to provide WAN optimization to Akamai's content delivery network (CDN) node to provide better end-to-end performance. IZO Internet WAN provides extensive geographic coverage; end-to-end SLAs; single point of contact for ordering, provisioning and management; and managed router service. For security, Tata Communications provides encryption for customer traffic, as well as managed security services. This is in addition to IPsec deployed by customers. However, IZO Internet WAN is relatively new, with few customers, although they tend to be large. Tata Communications has also taken on a huge task of creating an enhanced Internet service

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through a global network of ISPs. While it has strong partners, it also has weak ones. It's not clear whether Tata Communications can deliver a globally consistent service over time. IZO Internet WAN presents an interesting new approach for creating an Internet VPN with predictable service quality. But it's one of several options, and enterprises need to evaluate the different providers to decide which implementation best suits their requirements. IZO Internet WAN is best-deployed with MPLS for hybrid networks, for the purpose of connecting a large number of small sites in many markets. However, enterprises should approach this cautiously as the service is still in its early stage of development. Enterprises should view IZO Internet WAN as a replacement for traditional Internet VPNs, but only as a complementary product to MPLS due to the need to continue using the premium service for guaranteed voice and video quality. See Figure 1 for our top recommendations. Figure 1. Impacts and Top Recommendations for IT Leaders in MNCs

Source: Gartner (December 2015)

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Impacts and Recommendations IZO Internet WAN enables enterprises to run performance-sensitive applications on the Internet Tata Communications' IZO Internet WAN service is designed to help MNCs build Internet VPNs over the public Internet, with performance comparable to MPLS for business-critical applications that require performance guarantees for latency and packet loss. To demonstrate its capability, Tata Communications provided actual measured performance for both its IZO Internet WAN and MPLS services. Based on performance data, IZO WAN Internet is fairly comparable to its MPLS service (see Table 1). Table 1. IZO Internet WAN Performance Versus MPLS Sample Routes (POP to POP)

IZO Internet WAN

MPLS

RTD (ms)

Packet Loss (%)

RTD (ms)

Packet Loss (%)

40

0.30

39

0.01 to 1 (by class of service)

Hong Kong Singapore Singapore London

195

202

90

88

London Hong Kong

230

211

London Mumbai

135

123

Mumbai Santa Clara

255

260

Santa Clara Rio de Janeiro

223

211

London Ashburn

ms = millisecond; RTD = round-trip delay Source: Gartner (December 2015)

To provide guaranteed service quality, Tata Communications and its partners jointly implement deterministic routing to ensure more direct routes from end to end across their networks. They also use QoS mechanisms to give IZO Internet WAN data higher priority over consumer Internet traffic, essentially creating a fast-lane network over the Internet. The performance is superior to traditional Internet VPNs, which are based on broadband access with no prioritization or SLAs. Tata Communications also requires its partners to provide only uncontended 1:1 access. It does not offer contended access for the IZO Internet WAN service and requires its partners to adhere with the performance guarantees, including deterministic routing, latency and packet loss. IZO Internet WAN offers site-to-site SLAs for latency (RTDs), packet loss, mean time to restore, and availability for both backbone and access. The overall service quality is comparable to a Class 2 Page 4 of 12

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service on traditional MPLS, making it well-suited for enterprise applications that require a consistent network performance, such as databases, ERP and e-commerce. In contrast, Internet performance can be highly inconsistent due to network congestion and unpredictable routing, especially during peak Internet access hours. To illustrate the point, Tata Communications provided performance data using IZO Internet WAN and broadband access from local ISPs in China for connectivity between China and several Asian markets (see Table 2). Table 2. IZO Internet WAN Performance Versus Broadband Access Sample Routes (POP to POP)

IZO Internet WAN

China Broadband Access

RTD

RTD

Beijing Hong Kong

~38 ms

~78 ms

Beijing Singapore

~73 ms

~330 ms

~118 ms

~344 ms

Beijing Chennai Source: Gartner (December 2015)

The data showed big differences between IZO Internet WAN and broadband access services, with 73 ms latency for IZO WAN and 330 ms for business Internet for traffic between Beijing and Singapore. Detailed data showed that most problems are due to congestion in China's domestic Internet. In some instances, traffic is also routed via the U.S. instead of direct to Asia, increasing the latency dramatically. It's important to note that the data provides a view of the extreme end of the performance. At other times, the performance could be significantly better, although not consistent. China's Internet performance is also impacted by its "great firewall," which can add significant latency. China's Internet performance may not represent performance issues in other markets and is shown here to illustrate Internet consistency only. Nevertheless, understanding China's Internet challenges provides good insights into the issues of running an Internet VPN for business use. However, IZO Internet WAN does not provide QoS for voice and video. Enterprises still need to use MPLS if they want guaranteed high-quality voice and video, which are supported in the Class 1 service of MPLS. Consequently, most enterprises will need to run a hybrid MPLS and IZO Internet WAN network for their full network requirements. IZO Internet WAN offers significant cost savings. Tata Communications says it is 30% to 40% less expensive than its MPLS service, depending on the size of network, location and configuration. Its pricing scheme is based on installation and port charges, making it simple to compare against MPLS services for cost comparison. In some regions of the world, notably Europe, typical pricing for Internet access is not greatly different from MPLS connectivity. As such, we recommend that enterprises still ensure they competitively bid IZO Internet WAN against current MPLS services.

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Tata Communications offers a one-stop shop service for ordering, provisioning and management of the service, including end-to-end network monitoring and reporting of service performance. Delivery of connection ranges from two and eight weeks, depending on location. It also offers a range of managed services, including routers, encryption and security services (such as distributed denial of service and unified threat management), and WAN optimization. It also offers local Internet breakouts in every IZO location and direct connectivity to major public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google. Recommendations: ■

Enterprises can consider using enhanced Internet VPN services, such as IZO Internet WAN, to run business-critical applications on the Internet.

■

Enterprises should continue to use MPLS for business-critical voice and video traffic as IZO Internet WAN does not provide QoS and SLAs for these requirements.

IZO Internet WAN's strong geographic coverage enables enterprises to build highly distributed global networks Tata Communications has improved the geographic coverage of IZO Internet WAN dramatically since it launched the service in end 2014. It covers more than 50 countries, with plans to increase the coverage to 100 countries in 2016. It can provide coverage in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America, but does not yet have coverage in the Middle East and Africa (see the Appendix for IZO Internet WAN's geographic coverage). IZO Internet WAN will interconnect with Tata Communications' own MPLS network for in-fill where IZO Internet WAN is not available. Its coverage is now sufficiently broad to support MNCs with global requirements. IZO Internet WAN is particularly relevant for the manufacturing, logistics and retail industries, which tend to have a large number of small sites spread over many markets, and where cost control is a bigger concern than MNCs with large sites in key markets only. Tata Communications is currently deploying IZO Internet WAN for several large MNCs with extensive geographic requirements. An early customer is a large European manufacturer with 350 sites in 55 countries, including France, Italy, the U.S., Brazil, India and China, using a combination of MPLS and self-provisioned Internet VPN. It managed more than 70 providers globally, with different SLAs, terms and conditions, payment schedules, and support. It also faced issues with network latency and reliability with Internet VPNs. The manufacturer is now in an advanced stage of cutting its entire network over to IZO Internet WAN. It is using a hub-and-spoke topology, with seven regional sites, each connected with dual POPs and dual customer premises equipment (CPE) for redundancy. It has consolidated 70 providers into one, with end-to-end SLAs and a full managed service. Recommendations:

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■

MNCs operating highly distributed global networks with many small sites can consider migrating from traditional Internet VPNs to enhanced Internet VPN services, such as IZO Internet WAN.

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Enterprises should view IZO Internet WAN as a complementary service to MPLS for their full network requirements, using a hybrid WAN architecture.

As IZO Internet WAN is a relatively new service, it's unclear whether Tata Communications can continue to maintain the service quality over time; enterprises will need to approach the service cautiously, despite its promise Tata Communications is a global Internet backbone provider, selling IP transit to more than 500 ISPs worldwide. It has POPs in many markets, as well as presence in major Internet exchanges, connecting direct to ISP customers. Tata Communications is leveraging its global Internet backbone and ecosystem of downstream ISPs to build an enhanced Internet VPN service. Ideally, Tata Communications should partner with leading ISPs in each market. However, this is unlikely to happen as many of them are also major MPLS providers like Tata Communications, and they would view IZO Internet WAN as a threat to their MPLS service, even though it's not a full alternative. As such, Tata Communications is partnering mostly with secondary players. They tend to be domestic ISPs that focus on the corporate market, with some providing service quality that's comparable to leading ISPs. They also include major communications service providers, some with limited experience supporting global MNCs. Managing such a large and diverse group of providers will be a big challenge for Tata Communications. The company can deliver assured service quality through its technical implementation and the service interlock with its partners. But to deliver consistent quality over time will take effort. As such, enterprises need to approach IZO Internet WAN cautiously. Recommendation: ■

Enterprises should approach IZO Internet WAN cautiously as the service is still in its early stage of development. Ask Tata Communications for case studies of successful deployments. Cut over your network progressively, after ascertaining its capabilities.

Appendix Table 3 Shows IZO Internet WAN's geographic services, while Table 4 shows SLAs for network availability.

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Table 3. IZO Internet WAN Geographic Coverage Country

Region

Australia

Asia/Pacific

China

Asia/Pacific

Hong Kong

Asia/Pacific

Indonesia

Asia/Pacific

Japan

Asia/Pacific

Malaysia

Asia/Pacific

New Zealand

Asia/Pacific

Philippines

Asia/Pacific

Singapore

Asia/Pacific

Taiwan

Asia/Pacific

Thailand

Asia/Pacific

Vietnam

Asia/Pacific

India

Asia/Pacific

Austria

Europe

Belgium

Europe

Bosnia

Europe

Bulgaria

Europe

Croatia

Europe

Czech Republic

Europe

Estonia

Europe

Finland

Europe

France

Europe

Germany

Europe

Italy

Europe

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Country

Region

Latvia

Europe

Lithuania

Europe

Luxembourg

Europe

Macedonia

Europe

Montenegro

Europe

Netherlands

Europe

Norway

Europe

Poland

Europe

Portugal

Europe

Romania

Europe

Russia

Europe

Serbia

Europe

Slovakia

Europe

Slovenia

Europe

Spain

Europe

Sweden

Europe

Switzerland

Europe

U.K.

Europe

Ukraine

Europe

Argentina

Latin America

Brazil

Latin America

Chile

Latin America

Colombia

Latin America

Costa Rica

Latin America

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Country

Region

Mexico

Latin America

Panama

Latin America

Peru

Latin America

Uruguay

Latin America

Venezuela

Latin America

South Africa

Middle East and Africa

Turkey

Middle East and Africa

Canada

North America

U.S.

North America

Source: Gartner (December 2015)

Table 4. IZO Internet WAN SLAs for Network Availability Parameter

Details

Tier 1 (%)

Tier 2 (%)

Tier 3 (%)

Site Availability Redundant

Fully Redundant 2x CPE + 2x Access

99.999

99.99

99.99

Site Availability Resilient

Single CPE + 2x Access

99.90

99.80

99.70

Site Availability Routine

Single CPE + Single Access

99.80

99.50

99.20

Source: Gartner (December 2015)

Gartner Recommended Reading Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. "Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Global" "Critical Capabilities for Network Services, Asia/Pacific" "NTT Communications' SDN and NFV Deployment Redefines Network Value" "China Telecom Goes Global" "Hybrid Will Be the New Normal for Next Generation Enterprise WAN" "Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization" Page 10 of 12

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"Predicts 2016: Enterprise Networks and Network Services"

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