Large vendors have been ramping up the rhetoric surrounding the virtue of end-to-end systems, but analysts at Gartner argue that multi-vendor networks not only reduce costs but simplify operations, writes NetworkWorld's Jim Duffy. 

Gartner makes its case in a report that takes particular issue with Cisco's (NASDAQ: CSCO) single vendor network claims. "[A]fter interviewing various organizations that have introduced a second vendor into their Cisco infrastructures, it is clear that in most cases today there is no financial, operational or functional basis for this argument," write analysts Mark Fabbi and Debra Curtis. "The reality is that a single-vendor Cisco network isn't necessarily less complex, easier to manage or more reliable than a network with multiple vendors when implemented with best practices."

If a second vendor's gear is introduced into a Cisco-based network, most organizations will lower their total cost of ownership between 15 and 25 percent, according to Gartner. What's more, they are likely to discover a reduction in network complexity. Among the organizations Gartner reviewed for its study, none needed extra network management staff after adding a second vendor, and they all saved on capital and maintenance costs.

The analysts don't mince words in encouraging organizations to reconsider a single vendor network: "Network architects and CIOs who don't re-evaluate long-held incumbent vendor decisions (with any vendor) on a periodic basis are not living up to fiduciary responsibilities to their organization."

For more:
- see Jim Duffy's article at NetworkWorld

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