You are on page 1of 8

2017 State of the Network Study

Technology Adoption Trends & Their Influence on the


Networking Role

Whats Happening with the Networking Team?

Q: Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements.

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

Top Challenges Related to Security & Access to Data


39%
37%
35%
35%

Protecting Against Data Breaches/Leaks


Ensuring Availability (Uptime)
Ensuring Business Continuity
Finding, Hiring and Retaining the Right IT Talent

19%

Faster Network Service Configuration and Delivery

18%

Reducing OPEX Costs

Optimizing End-to-End IT Service Delivery

Integrating Cloud Services into a Seamless IT Resource Pool


Attaining End-to-End Visibility into Infrastructure Performance

Building in Agility to Address Resource Scaling

7%
7%

14%
16%
13%
15%
11%
11%
13%
10%

6%
7%

Q: What are the top network/data center-related challenges and obstacles that your organization is facing?

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

22%

18%
19%
18%

Integrating Emerging Tools with Legacy Systems and Applications

Commitment/Buy-In From Business Stakeholders

26%

22%

11%

Finding the Right Balance of On-Premise and Cloud-Based IT Resources

Attaining End-to-End Visibility into Application Performance

23%
23%

Enterprise
SMB

23%

IT Budgets Continue to Show Growth

Q: How will your organizations total IT budget change over the next 12 months? AND Q: You mentioned that your overall IT
budget will change in the next 12 months compared to the past 12 months. What percentage will this change by?

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

Dedicated Cloud, Security & App Dev Budgets Expect to Increase


Cloud Services (PaaS, IaaS)

69%

Network Security

55%

Application Development

40%

Data Storage

39%

Software (including Software-as-a-Service)

38%

Computing Hardware (servers, clients, mobile devices)

30%

Programming (Development)

30%

IT Operations

29%

Network/Systems Management

29%

Data Center

25%

IT Governance

25%

Telecommunications
Systems Engineering

10%

53%
45%

5%
9%

61%

7%

55%

13%

60%

7%

69%

13%

2% 4%
5%

14%

72%
Remain the Same

6%
12%

Decrease

4%
3%

20%

60%

4%
3%

21%

53%

1%

7% 2%

59%

20%

2%

14%

51%

1%

6% 3%

56%

Q: Please indicate whether the percent of your organizations total IT budget dedicated to the following areas will increase,
decrease or remain the same over the next 12 months.

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

10%

49%

23%

Increase

6% 3%

49%

35%

Compliance

6% 3%

49%

36%

Internet/Intranet

4% 3%

41%

43%

Architecture

3%

38%

50%

Data Management/Analytics

Database

28%

Not Sure

2%

Speed, Security & Availability Fuel Network Investments


Improving Network Speed/Performance

61%

Improving Data Security

55%

Ensuring Availability (Uptime)

55%

Ensuring Business Continuity

51%

Improving Business Process Efficiency

42%

Improving IT Process Efficiency

35%

Improving Agility/Flexibility to React to Business Changes

34%

Reducing OPEX

23%

Enabling new initiatives such as the Internet of Things

22%

Reducing CAPEX

Enterprise: 67%
vs.
SMB: 55%

18%

Q: Which of the following are primary drivers of your organizations networking investments? AND Q: Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements.

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

Network Team Plays Key Role in IT Daily Activities

Q: How frequently does the networking team collaborate with the following areas of your organization?

Source: 2017 State of the Network Study, Network World

Conclusion
The network team collaborates frequently with a diverse and key group of
business departments, with IT Operations, Systems Administration & IT Security
ranking high in daily/weekly meetings.
Speed, security and availability continue to be primary factors driving network
technology investments.
Organizations expect their IT budgets dedicated to cloud, security and application
development to increase over the next 12 months.
Employee awareness and cooperation, and protection against outsider threats
are the top security challenges the network team is facing.
Emerging network technologies including SD-WAN, Converged Infrastructure and
Wave 2 Gigabit Wi-Fi rank high on enterprise organizations future plans.

You might also like