We wanted to see how vendors would respond to the basic network-infrastructure needs of a company with limited IT resources. We stopped just short of using the term turnkey solution, but that's close to what we were looking for. To illustrate this, we invented NewFad Inc., a fictitious company that makes really cool scooters, and we sent an RFI (request for information) on basic network infrastructure to several vendors (see "NewFad's New Needs").
We intended to present a real-world scenario similar to one you face every day in your own business. We weren't looking to evaluate a theoretical laboratory scenario pushing terabytes of data through state-of-the-art equipment -- this was meant to be a more meat-and-potatoes type of evaluation. Of course, you'd love to have a money-is-no-object setup with virtually limitless bandwidth. That, however, won't necessarily meet the needs of your company. In this case, your interests are served best when striking a balance among capacity, affordability, reliability and support levels. Cheapest is not always best in the long term.
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To allow vendors to be creative with their responses, we purposefully scripted the RFI to be broad. We sent the NewFad RFI to 13 vendors, casting a wide net across both industry stalwarts and up-and-coming players. The field was made up of Alcatel, Allied Telesyn International, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Enterasys Networks, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Hewlett-Packard Co., Marconi, Nortel Networks, Network Peripherals Inc. (NPI), SMC Networks and 3Com Corp.
We gave the vendors three weeks to prepare their responses. We received well-prepared responses from Alcatel, Allied Telesyn, Enterasys, Extreme and Nortel. Marconi declined to participate but would not give a specific reason. Although they showed initial interest, Avaya and Cisco both asked for deadline extensions, which we granted, then they both backed out altogether. According to SMC, 80 percent of our RFI did not apply to it, so that company decided not to send a proposal.
Foundry, HP, NPI and 3Com didn't respond at all, despite our repeated attempts to contact them. Given the relatively pedestrian specifications for this RFI, we could conclude only that the vendors that failed to meet the deadlines simply chose not to put forth the effort. Nonetheless, those that responded offered us an impressive mix.
Evaluating the Responses
The RFI is broken down into six major categories: network architecture, network management, service and support, implementation, company profile, and pricing.
We asked approximately 100 questions, evenly distributed across the categories. A number of our questions involved more than yes/no answers and were best evaluated using a scale from 1 (meaning weak) to 5 (very strong).
In addition to the numeric rating given to the RFI answers, other information was considered, including company viability, market share, quality of technical response and commitment.
Although we factored the price of the solution into our final decision, it was by no means the primary factor. As you would expect with a small- to medium-sized company, support and training of limited resources are of monumental importance. We sought a balance between a well-designed basic infrastructure and an easy-to-manage support suite.
Although companies use varying methodologies to analyze potential technology suitors, a formal evaluation of hardware is usually included. But we did not attempt to do that here--our evaluation is based solely on the information received from the vendor.
Despite our relatively simplistic scenario, the responses cover a wide range from both technical and price standpoints. The lowest-cost proposal, from Allied Telesyn, comes in with a $46,542 price tag. Enterasys weighs in at the other end of the spectrum with a comprehensive package that has a total cost of $312,343, including hardware, installation, training and support services.
Because the NewFad scenario assumes we would build the network infrastructure from scratch, vendors did not have to deal with any technical migration issues. Each vendor had considerable leeway to propose a minimal or complex solution that conformed to our specifications. Premise wiring is assumed to be in place at both locations, allowing the vendors to concentrate on equipment and support.
Alcatel's Ideal Fit
In the end, Alcatel emerges with a well-rounded solution that maintains an attractive total project cost of just over $103,000. Clearly, Alcatel provides NewFad with the most bang for the buck. In its submission, Alcatel pays a good deal of attention to availability, manageability, security and potential network evolution. The balance of these factors gives this vendor the nod over other respondents, especially since our goal is to provide the understaffed NewFad networking department with a near-turnkey solution.
Nortel Networks finishes right behind Alcatel in our evaluation. As you would expect, Nortel stresses convergence with telephone and out-of-the-gate support for VoIP (voice over IP) and videoconferencing in its submission. Although voice services are not directly requested in the RFI specifications, Nortel provides us with a proposal chock-full of tantalizing options. That's not to say that the vendor doesn't devote time to the data side. The proposed solution, based on the well-equipped Passport 8600 at the core, rivals Alcatel's solution from a technology standpoint. The price of the Nortel bid is $226,000; the optional IP telephony package is $137,000.
After Nortel, things get interesting, with Enterasys and Extreme finishing nearly neck and neck. Extreme has the highest-availability solution, choosing to outfit the NewFad headquarters with a beefy setup using dual Alpine 3808 switches at the core. The Enterasys solution excels in the area of services and support, offering numerous options -- from basic installation to full-time project management. Not surprisingly, these two are also the most costly submissions, with Enterasys' bid topping Extreme's price tag of $254,000.
Although Allied Telesyn meets our minimum requirements from a technical standpoint, its proposed service and support leave much room for improvement. However, Allied Telesyn takes prides in providing simple and affordable network solutions, and that is definitely a plus here.
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