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Remote-worker Bandwidth Market 2008
06/05/08
Bandwidth
demands at branch locations are skyrocketing, according to Nemertes
Research's Advanced Communications Services benchmark. The study
found that IT executives expect an 84% increase in bandwidth
available in 2008, and a 99% increase in 2009, up from a 72%
increase in 2007.
"The continued
demand by remote workers for high-performance collaborative and
centralised business applications is the driving force behind these
increases," says Robin Gareiss, Nemertes' executive vice president
and senior founding partner.
Nemertes also
found the adoption of managed services at the branch is increasing,
and has been for the past three years. Now, 63% of companies use
some type of managed service at the branch, compared with 46% in
2007, and 27% in 2006. Participants tend to use traditional carriers
for network-based services, such as router management, WAN
management and implementations. With resellers, the focus is ongoing
management of applications, installation and training. With systems
integrators, the focus is on design and implementation.
Outsourcers
centre on network or application management.
Other key
findings of the research include: -- Video applications (including
desktop, room-based and telepresence) top the list of reasons for
bandwidth growth. -- New collaborative applications, multimedia
Web-based applications, and IP telephony are also drivers for
bandwidth increase. -- Management and monitoring tools are crucial
for benchmarking costs, performance and utilization. -- Robust,
reliable, high-performance networks are crucial, especially in light
of new applications and bandwidth requirements. -- Optimisation
tools can assist with curtailing bandwidth spending and improve
network monitoring. -- Forty-nine percent of benchmark participants
use managed routers or other network gear at the branch, followed by
22% using IP telephony management.
The benchmark,
in which 93 IT professionals also looked at MPLS adoption, indicates
that the percentage of companies using MPLS increased from 56% in
2007 to 73% in 2008.
Nick Gibson, editor
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