Networking Budgets Continue to Grow: TheInfoPro

Organizations are continuing to invest in networking projects, though the focus is shifting from upgrading aging hardware to security and wireless networking, according to a new study.

The study conducted by TheInfoPro, a service of the analyst firm 451 Research, found that networking budgets will continue to be strong this year and in 2014, with network managers growing their overall networking spending in 2013 by 40 percent.

TheInfoPro conducted interviews with technology professionals and primary decision-makers at enterprises in both the United States and Europe.

“Network budgets for the majority of network managers continued to climb in 2013, with 40 percent noting a spending increase over what was a positive 2012,” Daniel Kennedy, TheInfoPro’s research director for information security and networking, said in a statement. “The previous study saw core upgrades as the top project—this year, wireless took the top spot followed by switch upgrades, indicating that the general network refresh is expanding into network campuses.”

Last year, the number-one project was upgrading the network, according to the study. This year, the top project is rolling out and expanding wireless networks in the enterprise. Unified communications (UC) also is a top issue.

In addition, the study found that 10 Gigabit Ethernet is becoming the standard in the network core, with 75 percent of enterprises having rolled it out. It’s now moving into the campus networks; 64 percent of the study’s respondents say they have 10GbE in place in the campus and another 6 percent say they are deploying it soon.