I recently completed a report for Mind Commerce entitled: “IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Status Report: Emerging from the Trough of Disillusionment?” This report provides a valuable independent IMS status report that can help all in the industry have a clear view on its current status and the likely paths operators will take in the evolution of their networks.  Its available from Mind Commerce.

A previous weblog entry asked for responses to a small IMS survey. This weblog article presents some of the results.  The respondents came from across the world, across operators and suppliers, and across all functions.  Though there is a bias towards suppliers, Europe and the technology office.

The figure below shows the response to the question, “If you’re an Operator what is your IMS status?”  Most of the operators are either “watching and waiting,” or in lab trial; none were deploying.  In the IMS Status Report 8% of those operators surveyed were deploying IMS.

The figure below shows the response to the question, “What do you see as the main barriers to IMS deployment?”  Clearly business case dominates, as was the finding in IMS Status Report. With complexity, lack of devices and cheaper alternatives following in importance.

The figure below shows the response to the question, “What do you think will be the initial problem IMS solves when deployed?”  Converged voice / multimedia platform is the clear leader.  In the IMS Status Report multimedia was less of a focus, given the poor performance of video communication services; however, the online survey had a greater percentage of suppliers; while the IMS Status Report focused on operators.

The figure below shows the response to the question, “Do you think any of the following will be a driver for IMS within the next 4 years?”  LTE takes the lead, again the greater vendor component to the survey has a significant shift in the results.  For most GSM-based mobile / converged operators LTE is unlikely to be such a driver.

The final figure below shows the response to the question, “Do you think any of the following present a viable alternative to IMS for the next 4 years?”  This result was more consistent with the IMS Status Report with a broad range of technology alternatives either delaying, or providing a stepping stone towards an IMS core.

Its interesting to compare and contrast the results of the online survey to that of the IMS Status Report. Its clear there remains a significant gap between operators’ and suppliers’ views on this topic. The IMS Status Report. provides an independent and quantified view of what is happening in the industry on IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), through the presentation of results from an industry-wide survey that encompasses 137 interviews, 101 of them being operators.  Its available from Mind Commerce.