Recent research conducted by CommScope, Inc., a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, has revealed what the enterprise IT industry is hoping to find in its Christmas stocking…
Improving network reliability:
Improving network reliability was high on everyone’s wish lists, with 18% of survey respondents saying it was the most important objective in the short-term. Heading-off issues around network visibility (identified by 37% of enterprises), errors by technicians (21%) and power failures (17%) were seen as the most crucial reliability problems to deal with.
Deploying intelligence:
Despite the stormy economic outlook, the majority of businesses (55%) expected investment in network infrastructure to grow by 10-25% in 2012. Investment to enhance network visibility, eliminate blind spots and reduce human error is expected through the continued integration of intelligence into networks at the infrastructure level. The research found that 38% of enterprises are either currently using or installing intelligent infrastructure solutions and a further 23% are ensuring they have a clear upgrade path.
“Intelligent infrastructure provides the missing link between real-time network management tools and the traditionally passive structured cabling infrastructures that connect network devices together. Our research shows that network managers are focused on a strategy to achieve cost efficiencies by investing in solutions that are proven to optimise performance and increase reliability, as opposed to simply reducing expenditure or opting for lesser quality alternatives,” said Koen ter Linde, vice president of Enterprise Sales for Europe, CommScope. “The importance of these issues is only going to grow during 2012 and we fully expect organisations, at the very least, to ensure they have a clear upgrade path to energy efficient and intelligent infrastructure, allowing them to deploy full-scale upgrades when the time is right.”
Hosted solutions:
In the longer term, CommScope also found a trend towards using hosted data centres, with 64% of enterprises either currently using or considering deployment of colocation solutions in the next three years. This approach is rapidly gaining popularity because of the time and cost savings and risk mitigation that a company can see as result of using shared data centre infrastructure.
Linde adds: “With the penalties for downtime greater than ever, hosted data centres allow enterprises to shift much of the responsibility and liability to third-party companies. As dedicated data centre facilities, hosting companies are able to focus exclusively on ensuring reliability from the moment of initial construction. World-class hosting providers invest heavily in properly designed, robust, high-performance infrastructure across their entire facility.”
· Data taken from a survey of 100 enterprise network managers and systems integrators, London, September 2011
· Summary of key findings:
o 55% expect investment in network infrastructure to grow by 10 – 25% in 2012
o 55% expect investment in network infrastructure to grow by 10 – 25% in 2012
o 84% have moved towards deploying green IT solutions in the last year
o 46% believe green IT is the most effective approach to achieving cost efficiencies in the network
o The biggest priorities of 2012 are achieving cost efficiencies in the network (49%) and improving network reliability (18%)
o Reliability concerns are being driven by a lack of network visibility (37%), errors by technicians (21%) and power failures (17%)
o 38% of enterprises are either currently using or installing intelligent infrastructure solutions
o Of those not using or installing intelligent infrastructure solutions, 23% are ensuring they have a clear upgrade path
o 64% of enterprises either currently using or considering deployment of collocation/hosted data centres in the next three years
o According to research published today by CommScope, investment in UK enterprise IT networks is forecast to grow by up to 25% in 2012.
About CommScope
CommScope (www.commscope.com) has played a role in virtually all the world’s best communication networks. We create the infrastructure that connects people and technologies through every evolution. Our portfolio of end-to-end solutions includes critical infrastructure our customers need to build high-performing wired and wireless networks. As much as technology changes, our goal remains the same: to help our customers create, innovate, design, and build faster and better. We’ll never stop connecting and evolving networks for the business of life at home, at work, and on the go.
