8/25/2009 -- Cisco Systems Inc.'s announcement this week of a major update for its Aggregation Services Router (ASR) Series is a timely one. According to market watcher Infonetics Research, archrival Juniper Networks leads Cisco in the IP edge router segment, with service providers admitting to a preference for Juniper solutions in edge implementations.

Cisco's ASR 9000 refresh, of course, is intended to help shore up its position in the increasingly cut-throat IP edge, where -- thanks to strong demand for mobile- and Internet video-on-demand services -- service providers are investing in high-capacity IP Edge technologies.

On the other hand, carriers also continue to invest in Ethernet switching infrastructure solutions, where Cisco is the perennial market leader.

Market watcher Infonetics Research sampled decision-makers at 27 carriers in the North America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions, asking them to assess a total of six carrier Ethernet and IP edge router vendors in terms of eight different criteria (technology, product roadmap, security, management, price-to-performance ratio, pricing, financial stability, and service and support). It found that Cisco and Juniper came out tops, respectively, in the Ethernet switching and IP Edge segments.

No surprise there, according to researchers.

"In our carrier Ethernet switch and IP edge router survey, service providers rated market leader Cisco the highest overall for carrier Ethernet switches, further validating their CES leadership position -- although they were beat by the competition in some categories," said Infonetics analyst Michael Howard in a statement. "Juniper is first among IP edge router manufacturers in the survey, with the highest overall rating from service providers. There are a few other nice surprises in the survey; for example, Foundry receives the highest average rating for CES price-to-performance (or value), even above Huawei." --Stephen Swoyer