MPLS-Enabled Applications: Emerging Developments and New Technologies

7.2. THE BUSINESS DRIVERS

In the simplest scenario, a customer has geographically dispersed sites and requires connectivity between them, in order to run his day-to-day business. The customer does not want to invest in the infrastructure for connecting the sites, nor in the effort of administering this infrastructure. In a competitive world, he or she would rather concentrate on the core business and outsource the task of providing connectivity between sites to the networking expert, the service provider.

From the customer's point of view, the goal is to achieve connectivity with minimum hassle. First of all, connecting the dispersed sites should have the same QoS and privacy guarantees as a private network, and should not require changes to the way the customer's network is configured or run. For example, the customer should be able to use a private address space if he or she chooses. Secondly, the operations that affect connectivity should be easy. For example, adding connectivity to a new site, changing the connectivity between sites or increasing the bandwidth between sites should not require many configuration changes and should be achievable at short notice. Finally, the solution should not require complex routing configuration at the customer's sites.

From the provider's point of view, the goal is to fulfill the customer's expectations while maximizing profits. To fulfill the customer's expectations, the provider must be able not just to provide connectivity but also to ...