Telecommunications Predictions 2010 (Part 2)

To read Part 1 of this article please click here

Nixing the nines: reliability redefined and reassessed

In 2010, we expect enterprises to become increasingly pragmatic about their need for quality of service in the telecommunications services they acquire. Enterprises are less likely to default to 99.999 percent or "five nines" reliability for all services contracted. They are likely to start determining quality levels on a per-application or per-process level, rather than unthinkingly opting for the highest availability levels across their portfolio of services⁷³.

A principal driver for this change is cost. A fragile economic recovery this year is likely to keep businesses focused on identifying unnecessary products or services⁷⁴. Some businesses may decide to lower their reliability requirements from five nines, which is equivalent to just five minutes of downtime per year⁷⁵. Moving to "three nines" would mean 525 minutes of downtime. Some enterprises may be