Enterprises nowadays have their IT infrastructure spanning across multiple metros and even the remotest of locations across the country. A typical IT infrastructure in the modern world is required to support multiple applications and at the same time ensure access of personnel to these applications from a fixed location or while being mobile. But then there is a cost factor involved in this aspect with the modern day CIOs faced with two concerns; keeping a check on capex and reducing opex in the form of connectivity required to access the IT infrastructure. And it is here where Cisco-Tata Communications aim to cash in as the two have joined hands to offer their managed MPLS services.

The tie-up cites a research by Frost & Sullivan which highlights that adoption of managed MPLS helps organizations in cutting capex and opex significantly thereby providing a huge scope for saving especially in times of economic slowdown.

“We are focusing on customers that have convergence demands, demands to support applications and also have expectations in terms of quality because we provide quality service and would want to service customers that have similar expectations from us as well. We can provide customer services in India as well as overseas, meaning customers with international requirements as well as with domestic requirements. So we are targeting customers from all trades,” says Peter Juffernholz, Global Head MPLS Services, Tata Communications while speaking to TelecomTiger adding that the target is to grow the revenues from managed MPLS business vertical by 30-40 percent.

With enterprises migrating to cloud computing ecosystem to slash their capex, it is of high interest to know how managed MPLS can fit in the system. On this Mr. Peter comments, “We are looking at the service that is perfectly suited to support decentralized architecture that supports mass location communicating to the data centers. And to provide services for an array of different applications and transfer to the connectivity service, we do think that cloud computing, once its here, will be perfectly supported by the MPLS services.”

But then Carried Ethernet is also gaining grounds and is perceived to be giving competition to adoption of managed MPLS. Countering this perception, Mr. Peter says the two technologies are not to be seen as a valid choice but are rather complimenting technological concepts to each other with each having own role to play.

On India potential the Global Head retorts that Indian market for these services is estimated to be around $300 million-$400 million. He admits that the Indian market already has a high adoption rate for such services. “We (Cisco-Tata Comm tie-up) can support bigger services and of course above all with the same international capacity, coupled with the same reliance and security that has been expected from us. This is our differentiation,” proclaims Mr. Peter. “From our perspective we want to be a leading provider of managed MPLS services in India and also in the international space. And that is exactly what we are looking at,” declares Mr. Peter.