Network Hardware Market on the Way to $51 Billion
According to IDC, cloud computing is driving a new boom in enterprise infrastructure buying, with the overall market expected to grow to $51.4 billion by 2014.
Rohit Mehra IDC's Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, told the Interop audience that his firm is forecasting that the Network equipment market will be growing to $51.4 billion by 2014. For, 2011, IDC pegged the market to be worth $39 billion in 2011.
Mehra noted that one of the things that is a requirement for networking moving forward is convergence of wired and wireless networking infrastructures. He noted that enterprises need to take their overlay wireless networks and find ways to unify wired and wireless as the move to the cloud progresses. He added that enterprise also need to improve device visibility.
Not surprisingly, IDC is also seeing tremendous growth in 802.11n Access Points (APs). Mehra noted that in 2009, 802.11n represented only 26 percent of APs and by 2015 it will be 95 percent of all APs.
"The new normal is dynamic, it's not static," Mehra said. "Think flexibility and intelligence, that's where networks are going."
Cindy Borovick, Research Vice President for IDC's Enterprise Communications and Datacenter Networks services commented that when it comes to the cloud, though it may seem like a buzzword there are real long term benefits for the industry.
