Infonetics Carrier Survey Exposes the Hope and Hype of SDNs

Market research firm Infonetics Research published its new SDN, 40G/100G, and MPLS Control Plane Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, for which carriers with routers and carrier Ethernet switches (CES) in their data networks were interviewed to assess their needs and to analyze trends in data networks.

ANALYST NOTE

“The networking industry is riding up the hockey stick curve of hype based on the hopes of new software-defined network (SDN)/programmable network technologies,” notes Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks at Infonetics Research. “And while many uncertainties surround SDNs due to their newness, our survey confirms that the programmable network movement is real, with a good majority of service providers worldwide considering or planning purchases of SDN technologies to simplify network provisioning and to create services and virtual networks in ways not previously possible.”

Howard adds: “What’s striking here is that most of these SDNs don’t exist yet or are, at best, ill-defined.”

SDNs, 40G/100G AND MPLS SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

• OpenFlow is the most developed programmable network initiative, and 80% of survey respondents are including it in their purchase considerations
• 95% of service providers surveyed plan to deploy 100GE interfaces; most will not use 40GE
• IP/MPLS (with control plane) is much more popular than MPLS-TP among surveyed service providers

SURVEY SYNOPSIS

Infonetics' July 2012 22-page SDN survey is based on interviews with purchase-decision makers at 21 incumbent, independent wireless, and competitive operators from around the world with carrier Ethernet switches (CES) and IP edge routers in their data network. Infonetics asked operators about their deployment plans for 40G and 100G interfaces on routers or CES, reasons for considering SDNs and programmable networks, and the roles of Ethernet, IP/MPLS, and MPLS-TP and other protocols on their data networks. To buy the survey, contact Infonetics sales: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp.

RELATED MARKET RESEARCH

• Latest Infonetics Carrier Routing, Switching and Ethernet research brief: http://bit.ly/LCMLAn
• Ethernet, IP MPLS VPN services to top $81B by 2016, fueled by cloud services, surging data traffic
• Routing survey shows 50% of operators to deploy caching, CDNs; Cisco, Juniper rule the roost
• Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Juniper gain carrier IP Edge router/switch share in Q1; North America up 27%
• Ethernet access device (EAD) market to grow 81% from 2012 to 2016
• $186 billion to be spent on carrier Ethernet equipment over next 5 years
• Mobile backhaul equipment market gets a 2011 lift from surge in China
• Survey confirms carriers want to integrate IPoDWDM and OTN optics into routers
• White Paper: How Carrier Ethernet solves the challenges of LTE mobile backhaul

UPCOMING WEBINAR AND MARKET RESEARCH

See CARRIER ROUTING, SWITCHING, AND ETHERNET at http://www.infonetics.com/login for report highlights, tables of contents, etc. or log in to download Infonetics’ 2012 Research Publication Calendar at http://bit.ly/zwjcRs.

• July 24 Webinar: Unleashing LTE Backhaul with Carrier Ethernet 2.0 and SDN/Virtualization
• Service Provider Routers and Switches Market Forecasts and Full Analysis
• Total Enterprise and Service Provider Routers Pivot Market Share, Size, and Forecasts
• Total Enterprise and Carrier Ethernet Switches Pivot Market Share, Size, and Forecasts
• 1G/10G/40G/100G Networking Ports Market Size and Forecasts
• Small Cell and LTE Backhaul Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey

TO BUY REPORTS, CONTACT SALES:

N. America (West), Asia, Latin America: Larry Howard, larry@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3335

N. America (East), Texas, Midwest: Scott Coyne, scott@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3395

Europe, Middle East, Africa: George Stojsavljevic, george@infonetics.com, +44-755-488-1623

Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete effectively.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50349378&lang=en