Evolution of the omnipresent

Change is generally a good thing when it comes to improving products. The transportation industry perfectly illustrates how new devices (planes, trains and automobiles) have led to new applications (mass transportation, holiday travel, even the advent of trade shows).

The networking industry also benefits from parallel types of enhancements. Multiple protocols have been developed to address different problems in the networking world, and they often build upon their previous versions to improve their capabilities. Sonet, frame relay, ATM and IP are common transport mechanisms. Each is optimized for a slightly different purpose, and each addresses different problems in the networking model.

Now the protocol wars appear to have subsided. No camp will convert the others. All sides have declared a cease-fire and have realized the benefits of working together.

The most effective approach for growth in this environment, therefore, is to enhance or improve the less desirable aspects of each protocol while maintaining the positive attributes of each.

"Today, the telephone architecture, which is circuit-switched, offers a degree of security that is far greater than that of the IP network," says Charu Gupta, senior manager at Renaissance Strategy.

Times are changing, and IP is, too. The new and improved version of IP - starting with IPv6 and including future incarnations - promises to take up where IPv4 leaves off. Differentiated service levels, increased traffic management control and a new addressing scheme to accommodate the surge in networkable devices are issues that developers of the new IP hope to address.

Moreover, with those improvements, service providers are realizing the strong business case for migrating to IP and are banking on possible revenue opportunities.

Future applications are beyond imagination, and vendors are touting everything from cheap long-distance to voice mail apps. But the industry still is determining what consumers actually want. For example, despite all the talk about the great killer app for voice over IP, few industry players actually can name an application that will have mass appeal. Many point to Internet-based content as the key to unlocking its potential, but the ultimate path voice over IP will take still is uncertain.

What is certain is that IP will be the delivery method of the future. Its flexibility and ubiquity have enabled IP to outpace its counterparts. New IP-based and Internet applications are created with reckless abandon - it's just a matter of time before one of these applications usurps e-mail as the killer app for IP networks.

But how do we get there? And who is leading the charge? This series of articles help answer those questions - and ask new ones. One thing is certain: In the case of IP, new means improved.