Enterprise Interest in SDN Adoption Picks Up Steam

Conventional wisdom currently holds that the adoption of software-defined networking (SDN) will be led by carriers that need ways to more simply manage networks that sprawl around the globe. However, traditional enterprise IT organizations might now actually be leading the way in SDN adoption. A new survey of 466 IT professionals finds that more than one-fourth already are using some form of SDN, more than one-fifth plan to deploy it in the next two years and one-fourth are considering it but have not specified a time frame. Key benefits include cost savings, better network performance, increased productivity and improved security, according to the study, conducted by QuinStreet Enterprise, publisher of Channel Insider. From the perspective of solution providers in the channel, the fact that Cisco currently leads in terms of network preference should not be surprising, but VMware, Citrix, Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are also strong contenders. It remains to be seen just how quickly software-defined networking will be implemented, but given the pressure on enterprise IT organizations to reduce costs and become more agile, it's clear that SDN has become a major priority.