The News: Graphiant, a provider of next-generation edge services, announced a collaboration with Rampart CIO, a municipal cybersecurity consulting firm. Read the full press release on the Graphiant website.
Graphiant Network Edge: Innovating Law Enforcement Data Assurance
Analyst Take: Graphiant is collaborating with Rampart CIO in working with a municipality in South Carolina that faced the challenge of securely transmitting end-to-end encrypted communications from remote locations, particularly law enforcement vehicles collecting vital data and video throughout their shifts. As a result, Rampart CIO prioritized finding a solution that is both cost-effective and efficient.
Rampart CIO implemented Graphiant edges at remote locations and established access points, enabling officers to upload data without returning to the city core. This approach enhanced data security alongside optimizing operational efficiency, allowing officers to remain in their deployment areas and fulfill their missions without disruption.
Why Graphiant Network Edge Is Disrupting the Edge
In 2023, Graphiant came out of stealth mode and is already generating competitive waves and disruption in the first half of 2024. Graphiant already had production customer deployments in key verticals such as financial services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and now public safety/law enforcement. As such, I also expect that Graphiant is well-positioned to make inroads across the defense agency and communications service provider (CSP) market segments.
The enterprise use cases Graphiant has identified as ripe for Graphiant Network Edge traction consist of enterprise connectivity for any-to-any connectivity with guaranteed delivery for services and applications, cloud gateway for secure and optimized connectivity from any customer site to any cloud environment, and business-to-business (B2B) connectivity that is a ready-to-consume service that eases connectivity to partners and customers. CSP use cases also include enterprise connectivity as well as managed cloud gateway and provider-hosted B2B exchange service for enterprises that streamlines connectivity with customers and partners.
Graphiant’s Sharp Sustainability and Data Assurance Competitive Advantages
I find that what sharply differentiates the Graphiant Network Edge from existing network edge SD-WAN and MPLS solutions is key sustainability metrics. Graphiant promotes providing up to 84% reduction in power consumption at each point of presence across edge environments plus up to 86% reduction in real estate against Cisco solutions, 94% reduction against Juniper solutions, and 91% reduction against Huawei solutions.
Such stark competitive edges are underpinned by Graphiant Network Edge requiring only 1000W of power in relation to the equivalent Cisco, Juniper, and Huawei solutions all requiring 6000W. For the real estate space metrics, Graphiant requires only a 2-rack unit (2RU) implementation while the equivalent Cisco solution requires 14RU, Juniper 34RU, and Huawei 23RU.
Accordingly, Graphiant can deliver breakthrough data assurance benefits that traditional service provider backbone networks are limited in providing as they have been built around a single best route determined by the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). Essentially, each hop in the network must follow the routing decision established by the initial router in the service provider network.
Through the evolutionary advances of networking technologies, Graphiant takes advantage of Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) technologies that allow for the creation of alternate network topologies. From my view, this represents a departure from the rigid single-route approach, offering greater flexibility and adaptability.
As such, Graphiant’s competitive advantages revolve around source-based routing within its stateless core. Instead of individual hops making routing decisions, the source or application can directly program the network. This dynamic model avoids the accumulation of excessive state within the network, which is often a challenge with traditional vendor implementations.
Moreover, in Graphiant’s model, the application becomes network aware rather than the network being application aware. This shift empowers applications to shape the behavior of the network, optimizing performance and efficiency. An example is the selection of network paths based on regulatory compliance considerations. For instance, if the shortest path between two cities traverses a third country with regulatory restrictions, an alternative path may be chosen. Ultimately, Graphiant’s stateless core provides visibility into traffic flows, enabling informed regulatory compliance and path selection.
By offering a full view of traffic as it traverses the network, Graphiant’s solution can provide greater control and flexibility against existing competitive solutions. This enables organizations to adapt their network infrastructure to meet specific requirements and constraints efficiently.
Key Takeaway: Graphiant Networks Readies
Through the Rampart CIO deal, I find that Graphiant Network Edge can streamline the provisioning of connectivity solutions with built-in security at a fraction of the cost, including real estate costs, of existing SD-WAN or MPLS implementations alongside delivering significant power savings. When addressing multiple sites, Graphiant’s approach delivers a consistently efficient and replicable approach, eliminating the inherent complexities of previous architectures.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
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Author Information
Ron is an experienced, customer-focused research expert and analyst, with over 20 years of experience in the digital and IT transformation markets, working with businesses to drive consistent revenue and sales growth.
Ron holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from University of Nevada — Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Arts in political science/government from William and Mary.
