AT&T Puts Hands on SANs: Page 2 of 4

AT&T, however, insists that its managed Ultravailable Storage service has been consistently gaining momentum. Now, the company says, customers that want both their storage and the transport between sites managed for them can simply combine Ultravailable Storage with its Ultravailable Network Services and the new StorageConnect service. All three services are managed by AT&T's Integrated Global Enterprise Management System (iGEMS) management platform, with performance reporting delivered through AT&T's portal service.

Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala cautions against AT&T's positioning the offering as a business continuity service. "This is a network continuity offering," he says. "Business continuity is a different animal."

With a bit of modesty, however, AT&T really has a chance to shine in the network continuity arena, he says. "AT&T is really stepping out with services in this area," he notes, pointing out that the regional focus of the RBOCs and the troubles plaguing WorldCom give AT&T a unique opportunity to rule the market. "I think the market is there. They just have to go out and get it."

For StorageConnect, AT&T offers bandwidth ranging anywhere from 10 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s, and Fibre Channel (or Fiber Channel, as the press release states), Enterprise System Connection (Escon), or Fibre Connectivity (Ficon) storage network protocols. To deliver the service, the carrier uses CNT (Nasdaq: CMNT) routers and switches and CNT edge devices and Ultranet directors.

But those vendor picks aren't set in stone, nor are they exclusive. DiGiacomo says the carrier may swap out that equipment if the service requirements change. "We've looked at a lot of equipment," he says. "We don't sell it as a box -- we sell it as a service. We want to simplify the customer experience."