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Software-Defined Networking Poised for Massive Growth
Software-defined networking (SDN) is gaining momentum and is expected to
experience a massive increase in adoption by data centers and enterprise
networks, according to a new forecast from the
International Data Corp. (IDC), which predicts that "the worldwide SDN
market for the enterprise and cloud service provider segments will grow from
$960 million in 2014 to over $8 billion by 2018."
The report, "SDN
Momentum Builds in Datacenter and Enterprise Networks," examines the SDN
market and ecosystem and provides analysis of the opportunities and challenges
associated with SDN that may be of particular interest to data center and
enterprise network managers. The forecast covers in-use physical network
infrastructure, controller and network-virtualization software, SDN network and
security services and related applications and SDN-related professional
services.
According to IDC, factors contributing to the growth of SDN include:
- Increased adoption of cloud applications and services;
- Focus on converged infrastructures for computing, storage and networking
as well on the software-defined data center;
- Experience with benefits and best practices of server virtualization;
and
- Demand for network flexibility to support cloud, mobility, big data and
Internet of things (IoT) applications, also known as "3rd Platform"
technologies.
IDC identifies the following use cases for SDN:
- Web scaling for hosting and public cloud providers;
- Private and hybrid cloud deployments;
- Network programmability and customization; and
- Security applications.
"SDN is taking center stage among innovative approaches to some of the
networking challenges brought about by the rise of the 3rd Platform,
particularly virtualization and cloud computing," said Rohit Mehra, vice
president, network infrastructure at IDC, in a prepared statement. "With SDN's
growing traction in the datacenter for cloud deployments, enterprise IT is
beginning to see the value in potentially extending SDN to the WAN and into the
campus to meet the demand for more agile approaches to network architecture,
provisioning and operations."
The full report is available for purchase from IDC. Further information can
be found on IDC's
site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.