SDN Market to Reach $130B by 2022

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With the astounding amount of data generated, mobile devices, cloud computing, and social media are pushing traditional networks to their limit. There is an increased need for advanced network infrastructures to manage this huge amount of data. Computing and storage have benefitted with the innovations in automation and virtualization; however, these benefits are suppressed by the limitations in network capabilities.

Software defined networking (SDN) has the potential to revolutionize the legacy data centers by offering an efficient way to control network operations. SDN technology is a programmatic approach for virtually controlling, changing and managing the network behavior through software. SDN helps administrators and network engineers to swiftly respond to the changing business requirements through centralized control.

SDN comprises multiple network technologies that are designed to make network more flexible and alert to support storage infrastructure of modern data center. It offers a centralized, programmable network that can dynamically match the changing business requirements and offers benefits such as reduced capital expenditure, reduced operating expenditure, directly programmable, offers centralized management and optimization, enables innovation and delivers agility and flexibility. The global SDN market is expected to grow at an astonishing compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 47% during the period from 2016 to 2022 and reach the market size of more than $130 billion, according to a new report by market analyst Acumen Research and Consulting.

Amongst the SDN solutions, physical network infrastructure accounted for the largest share of over 45% in 2015 and is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period. The growth of this segment is attributed by the rapid shift of organizations from conventional network infrastructure to enhanced virtual networking infrastructure. These advanced networking solutions enable organizations to manage and minimize the overall IT infrastructure cost, which in turn, increases the adoption and popularity of such networking solutions and services. Enterprises was the largest revenue generating segment based on end users, and accounted for more than 40% share in 2015. Network and communication technologies have become core components for the proper functioning of all businesses. SDN offers virtual and centralized network infrastructure, which will contribute to the growth of market. Upcoming trends and technological advancements in enterprises such as use cloud computing services, mobile devices, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), IoT (Internet of things), Big Data and others are expected to drive the growth of enterprise segment in SDN market. Increasing number of companies are looking forward to virtually managing their technology and resources with the help of SDN solutions. A reduction in the capital and operational cost with utilization of SDN technology is one of the major key factors driving the growth of the SDN market.

North America was the largest market for SDN in 2015, and the region is expected to maintain its leading position throughout the forecast period. North America is one of the early adopters of SDN technology and it is being extensively adopted in various industry verticals including healthcare, BFSI, IT, energy, telecom and others. One of the major reasons for the higher adoption of this technology is the high standardization offered by this technology. Cloud computing, mobility services, and network virtualization are adopted by numerous players in North America at early stage, which further justifies the high share of this region in global SDN market.

Some of the leading companies operating in global software defined networking market include Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Dell Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., IBM Corp., Juniper Networks Inc., NEC Corp., Big Switch Networks Inc., Brocade Communications Systems Inc., VMware Inc., and Extreme Networks Inc. among others. Expansion in emerging markets, new product launches, and maintaining a diversified product portfolio are some important strategies implemented by market players to sustain market competition.

For more information on the report, click here.