VPN

VPN RFP Lab Eval: Final Thoughts —continued

by Lisa Phifer VP Core Competence, Inc. [January 4, 2002]

Support Programs
We asked each vendor to describe how they work with ISP resellers who deliver managed security services. We also requested a list of active ISP partners and at least one ISP reference. Consult each vendor's RFP response and our evaluations (see links below) for reseller programs and ISP customer interviews.

Lab evaluations are not the best way to assess technical support. In particular, ISP partners forge on-going sales and support relationships that simply are not an option during press evals. Nonetheless, here is our impression of technical support programs available to end users like us:

Help Us Pick The Winner
In this series, we narrowed a crowded field down to three solid solutions for delivering managed VPN services to broadband-enabled small businesses. We considered how ISPs activate, provision, and monitor these appliances to offer managed services. We highlighted features that simplify integration and facilitate large-scale deployment to hundreds or thousands of SMB customers. We noted limitations discovered during hands-on evaluation. We summarized features for side-by-side comparison. We told you what we really liked, and what we didn't.

Now, it's your turn…

ISP-Planet readers include ISPs large and small, their customers, and their suppliers. We'd like to know what you think:

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