Best Practice Report

Wading Through The Quagmire Of US Ethernet Services

Critical Criteria For RFPs

April 5th, 2007
LP
Lisa Pierce
With contributors:
Christine Ferrusi Ross , Francesca Bartolomey

Summary

Customer interest in Ethernet services is exploding, as is the number of service provider offerings. But the dissimilarities between provider offers are so great that it can be overwhelming. Moreover, the variations between Ethernet services, even within a particular provider's portfolio, can be as great. Given such vast differentiation, it is essential that customers issue requests for proposals (RFPs); many will benefit from issuing requests for information (RFIs) simply around technology issues first. Forrester recommends that buyers evaluate Ethernet services by first winnowing the potential pool of providers using 10 first-order service evaluation criteria and another six second-order criteria. Wading through the US Ethernet quagmire can take a great deal of time, so it is important to begin this journey long before you ever plan to use the service.

Want to read the full report?

Contact us to become a client

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).

Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.