As carriers reduce their spending on test and measurement (T&M) products for IP networks, the market is likely to experience vendor consolidation as a result, according to Light Reading's (News - Alert) VoIP Services Insider.

 

This overall budget tightening by carriers spending is likely to stimulate a new round of vendor consolidation over the next 12 months.

 

A new report, “IP Test & Measurement: The Coming Consolidation” outlines and assesses the motivating factors behind vendor consolidation in the IP T&M market in coming months.

 

In addition, the report identifies new product initiatives from top vendors and looks at vendor product and growth strategies. It also compares the current market positions of the top 16 vendors in the IP T&M market.

 

According toDenise Culver, research analyst with Light Reading's VoIP Services Insider and author of the report, "Communication providers now are looking even more seriously at ways to maximize their investments and control operational expenditures to deploy, manage, monitor, and control their networks," "Operators will continue to shift from network-centric operations to service-centric operations made possible by next-generation networks and the power of IP."

 

As part of the cost-cutting initiative, network operators are likely to restrict the number of suppliers they use for T&M products. This will help drive industry consolidation on the supply side, Culver said.

 

"Many in the IP industry see a desire on carriers' parts to move away from boutique, specialty T&M vendors to those that can provide all-in-one solutions in order to assure better customer service at a cheaper rate. This is expected to not only fuel more consolidation in the market, but also continue fueling the trend of savvier solutions that solve multiple problems from one interface,” explained Culver.

 

It was also discovered that consolidation in the T&M market is expected to gain momentum over the next year, as service providers really begin to feel the economic downturn.

 

The report revealed that the emergence of 40-Gbit/s Ethernet is a major trend that T&M vendors are focusing on with their newest solutions.

 

Moreover, as the economy pleases an increased importance on keeping customers around, IT departments will need to focus on improved service assurance.

 

In addition, the increased need for bandwidth among IP and wireless providers is motivating a rising demand for QoS metrics.