State of the Network: SDN emerging, BYOD widely deployed

More than 1 in 5 IT professionals expect to deploy software-defined networking this year, and about one-third are expecting deployments by 2015, according to the seventh annual State of the Network report from Network Instruments.
The report says that there is “a strategic shift in how IT resources are delivered and consumed,” including the use of mobile devices as well as SDN and 40GB/100GB networking. Those new technologies “promise long-term changes in how traffic is routed through the network and the method by which end users connect,” Network Instruments concluded.
However, despite the support of SDN enthusiasts, many in the industry are taking a wait-and-see approach. Among network engineers, the report found that 53% saw value in SDN, but took a skeptical view and planned to ride out the hype before adoption.
Almost 40% of the participating IT professionals said that they already have bring-your-own-device and mobile technology deployed, with another 18% saying they would have such technologies in use by the end of this year. However, a full 38% also said they had no plans to utilize BYOD.
40Gb network technology had slightly higher interest than 100Gb, with about 25% of respondents expecting to have 40Gb networks deployed by 2015, compared to 16% for 100Gb.
In terms of network troubleshooting, the report found that the primary problem continues to be determining whether problems are caused by the network, system, or applications; nearly 75% of report participants cited this issue. Network Instruments said that this was an increase over its 2013 data, and “may be an indicator that performance monitoring tools are struggling to maintain effective visibility with the many new technologies that are being introduced.”
Network Instruments was acquired by JDSU in January. The report is based on interview responses from nearly 250 respondents around the world, including network engineers, CIOs and IT directors. It was conducted via online surveys between January and March of this year, and can be downloaded here. An infographic summarizing the report data is available here.