January 18, 2013

Research & Analytics...

Juniper Will Be SDN Toaster, Not The Toast
With company leaders admitting that "if you don't embrace the software-defined network (SDN) model, you'll be in trouble," Juniper Networks now says will be rolling out a new strategy centered on SDNs in a few months; the move follows its $176 million acquisition of software networking start-up Contrail Systems last month. The SDN market is expected to balloon to $3.7 billion by 2016, predicts IDC. According to National Traders Association, this move will help Juniper recover from a less-than-satisfactory sales year that brought in $4.4 billion compared with Cisco's $36.3 billion.  In a business-model shift, Juniper plans to sell any new software based on usage, i.e., the amount of packets going through a system and the number of people using the network. This differs from its usual model of selling by the box.
 
The Bad/Good News For Global Wireless Capex
Global wireless operator capital-infrastructure spending this year will differ greatly by region, according to ABI Research. In North America, for example, capex will grow 2.1 percent, to $13.4 billion, as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and others really start buying and deploying LTE equipment. However, in Western Europe, capex will contract 1.1 percent, due to maturing networks and economic uncertainty. As a result, total global wireless capex this year is expected to slide by 7 percent, to $98.6 billion, but LTE contracts could help the industry recover to $104.5 billion next year. Those vendors with LTE products either ready to sell or on the drawing board stand the best chance of boosting wireless networking orders.