As Alianza shapes the future of Metaswitch, service providers are asking tough questions: Should we stay on our current platform? Migrate to something new? Wait for Fusion? We sat down with Brian Tate, VP and Senior Member of Technical Staff at ECG, to get his take on what service providers need to know about Metaswitch, its roadmap, and the options ahead.
Q: What's the first step service providers should take when evaluating their Metaswitch strategy?
Brian Tate:
The first step is really understanding what you have. A lot of people talk about “Metaswitch” like it’s one thing, but it’s actually a family of components. Depending on how it was deployed, your platform could include different elements from Metaswitch or Microsoft, running on bare metal or in a virtualized environment.
Some of those components have already been declared end-of-life. Others were rumored to be discontinued, but now, with Alianza owning the Metaswitch brand, some are going to be enhanced and actively supported. That was a big part of the messaging at the Navigate 25 conference.
So my advice is: don’t treat your Metaswitch setup like a black box. Identify each product in your deployment and determine the roadmap for each one. Only then can you make an informed decision about what comes next.
Q: Once you understand your current Metaswitch components, what are the migration or modernization options?
Brian Tate:
There are multiple paths, and it's not just stay or go. Some service providers may move to the Alianza cloud, which includes a few different infrastructure options now under the "Intelligent Communications Fabric" umbrella. Right now, that includes:
- Core – which resembles the traditional Metaswitch stack
- One – a full-stack cloud platform Alianza had before acquiring Metaswitch
- Fusion – a new hybrid solution that blends both approaches
Fusion sounds promising, but it’s still under development. From what I’ve heard in conversations with their engineers, it may become available in the next 6 to 12 months – but it’s not something most providers can count on today.
So if you need to act soon, Fusion probably isn’t your answer. Some of the larger providers are already working with Alianza to test Fusion in labs, but smaller providers – especially independent phone companies and rural carriers – are going to need to make decisions sooner.
Q: What if you're on older infrastructure? How do you approach planning a migration?
Brian Tate:
If your current platform includes components that are past end-of-maintenance – or even end-of-life – you’ve probably already squeezed a lot of value out of that investment. But now it’s time to start looking forward.
That means evaluating migration options from both a technical and cost standpoint. Yes, Alianza’s offerings are worth considering. But they’re not the only ones. There are other software and cloud platforms that compete with what Metaswitch and Alianza provide. The key is choosing what aligns with your long-term goals.
At ECG, we’ve worked with a wide range of platforms – so we can help map out what makes the most sense for your specific environment, whether you’re sticking with Metaswitch, shifting to Alianza’s cloud, or going a completely different direction.
Q: How does ECG support providers navigating this transition?
Brian Tate:
We bring deep expertise, not just in Metaswitch, but across multiple platforms. That’s a big differentiator. We’re not tied to any single vendor, so we’re focused on what’s best for you.
We help providers understand their current deployments, map out migration strategies, and even handle tricky provisioning or productization challenges. That’s especially important if there’s not a one-to-one replacement for what you’re moving off of.
We also help with the customer-facing side of the transition. If you're changing core components, you don’t want your users to experience disruption without explanation. Start communicating early. Explain that this isn’t just an upgrade – it’s part of an overall effort to improve the value of their service, introduce new features, and future-proof their experience.
Q: Speaking of value, how should providers message this kind of change to their customers?
Brian Tate:
If you're going to be migrating service to or from the Metaswitch - Alianza Core platform to Alianza Cloud or anything else, you want to position it as a positive evolution, not a panic move. You want to communicate in advance what is improving and how it will help their business outcomes to get this new service upgrade. If you suddenly tell customers, “We're doing maintenance tomorrow, service may be affected,” that's not a great look.
Instead, give them a heads-up. Frame the change as part of your long-term investment in better reliability, enhanced features, or even AI-powered services. If prices are changing, explain why. Show them the value behind it. In competitive markets, the narrative you share with customers matters.
This is especially true for rural or independent providers who are often deeply tied to their communities. Communication builds trust. A proactive messaging strategy can make all the difference.
Q: What's the biggest risk providers face right now?
Brian Tate:
Trying to make a move without understanding what you’re starting with. If you don’t know what components are in your environment, what their support timelines are, and how they interact, then any migration discussion is premature.
For example, do you have ATCA or media gateways? Is that VP3510 still a key part of your network? Do you have EAS servers? If so, how are they being sold? Are there N-Series services still in operation? Do you have the SIP Provisioning Server (SIPPS)?
Once you know that, you can start to plan: Would it make more sense to move UCaaS and Hosted PBX features to an updated platform, but keep some call control locally? Can you keep local media gateways for connections to local tandems and regulatory compliance, but relocate other services?
It’s not just about moving to the cloud or choosing a new vendor. It’s about building a clear path forward that aligns with your business goals – and making sure your customers are with you every step of the way.
Ready To Talk About Your Metaswitch Roadmap?
At ECG, we help service providers make smart, informed decisions about their voice platforms – whether that means optimizing what you have or migrating to something new. Let’s map out your next steps.
