Infonetics Survey: SDN and NFV Moving from Lab to Field Trials; Operators Name Top NFV Use Case

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its 2014 SDN and NFV Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, for which leading operators—representing 51% of worldwide telecom capex—were interviewed to determine the timing and priority of the many use cases for their software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) projects.

ANALYST NOTE

“This is the year that SDN and NFV move from the lab to field trials. Many carriers are in the process of moving from SDN/NFV proof-of-concept projects to working with vendors in the development and ‘productization’ of software that will become the basis for commercial deployments. I saw a lot of this software running in demos in vendor and operator stands at the recent Mobile World Congress, and it’s easy to see it is much more real this year,” notes Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks at Infonetics Research.

Howard adds: “Over the coming months, a few operators will move to actual commercial deployments, mostly specific NFV use cases, but only a few. It won’t be until 2015 that we’ll see commercial deployments kick into motion, still most likely on a limited basis, as operators put one or two use cases to the test under real world conditions, in their live networks.”

SDN AND NFV STRATEGIES SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

• 29% of survey participants are currently implementing SDNs, and 52% plan to evaluate SDNs by the end of 2014
• Nearly every operator Infonetics surveyed plans to deploy SDN (97%) or NFV (93%) in some aspect of their network at some point
  • A majority of respondents are targeting the MPLS backbone core and cloud services for SDN first, then multilayer transport
• Survey respondents rated business vE-CPE (using NFV for the delivery of services to businesses/enterprises) the #1 use case overall for NFV in 2014–2015; business vE-CPE is also ranked the top use case for revenue generation
• Meanwhile, back office OSS/BSS was cited as the biggest barrier to deploying NFV by respondents
• Telecom and data center equipment vendors are well positioned to take considerable market share in SDN/NFV, with virtually all respondents stating they are likely to buy from the major vendors
• As carriers expect to eventually reduce spending on telecom hardware and software, a good way for vendors to increase revenue is by beefing up integration services to meet customers’ needs and expectations

NFV: THE NITTY GRITTY WEBINAR

Join Infonetics Co-founder and Principal Analyst Michael Howard May 8 for NFV: The Nitty Gritty, a live event looking at network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies and how carriers, cloud data centers, and enterprises can create their own field trials and deployments: http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=753277&s=1&k=1CE0FA8C06CEB57C4E995F51AAE899D7

SDN AND NFV SURVEY SYNOPSIS

Infonetics' 2014 35-page SDN and NFV survey is based on interviews with purchase-decision makers at 31 incumbent, competitive, independent wireless, and cable operators from EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia Pacific, and North America that have evaluated SDN projects or plan to do so. Infonetics asked operators about their strategies and timing for SDN and NFV, including deployment drivers and barriers, target domains and use cases, and suppliers. The carriers participating in the study represent 51% of the world’s telecom capex and 47% of revenue. To buy the report, contact Infonetics: http://www.infonetics.com/contact.asp.

RELATED REPORT EXCERPTS

• Infonetics’ April SDN and NFV research brief: http://bit.ly/1dOu5g0
• SDN is leading carrier router/switch market into a period of hesitation
• Infinera, Fujitsu, Cisco, Ciena, and Huawei top Infonetics’ new optical networking vendor scorecard
• Data center and enterprise SDN market will top $3 billion by 2017
• Virtual servers and switches to dominate data center by 2015, paving the way to SDN

RECENT AND UPCOMING MARKET FORECAST REPORTS AND SURVEYS

Download Infonetics’ 2014 market research brochure, publication calendar, events brochure, report highlights, tables of contents, and more at http://www.infonetics.com/login.

• Analyst Note: Service Provider SDN & NFV: Top 2014 Trends (Feb.)
• Analyst Note: Dell Helps Firms Be More Like Google: SDNs & White Box Switches (Feb.)
• Analyst Note: SDN & NFV Timeline 2013-2020: Report from MWC 2014 (Mar.)
• Analyst Note: SDN & NFV Disrupt the Status Quo: ONS 2014 (Mar.)
• SDN Strategies: North American Enterprise Survey (Apr.)
• Data Center SDN Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey (May)

INFONETICS WEBINARS

Visit https://www.infonetics.com/infonetics-events to register for upcoming webinars, view recent webinars on demand, or learn about sponsoring a webinar.

• Deploying IMS in the Cloud with NFV (Apr. 16: Attend)
• NFV: The Nitty Gritty (May 8: Attend)
• Virtualizing Networks with SDN NVOs and Bare Metal Switches (View on-demand)
• Incorporating Policy and Charging Control into SDNs (June 17: Sponsor)
• NFV: An Easier Initial Target than SDN? (June 19: Sponsor)
• Making Your Network Run Hotter With SDN (Aug. 12: Sponsor)

TO BUY REPORTS, CONTACT:

N. America (West), Asia Pacific: Larry Howard, [e-mail], [phone]

N. America (East, Midwest), L. America: Scott Coyne, [e-mail], [phone]

EMEA, India, Singapore: George Stojsavljevic, [e-mail], [phone]

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

ABOUT INFONETICS

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. View Infonetics’ About Us slides at http://bit.ly/QUrbrV.