5 game changers that will impact DCs and enterprise networks

CommScope recently conducted a Global Enterprise Survey with 1,100 IT professionals across 63 countries to identify certain game-changers in IT. According to the survey five trends or game changers that will impact data centers and enterprise networks in 2013 include:

1.Enterprise mobility: Forty-four percent of surveyed participants

see the widespread use of mobile technology as a game-changer. On

average, respondents estimated that forty-three percent of all

phone calls in enterprise buildings involve mobile phones.

Thirty-five percent reported having a Distributed Antenna System

(DAS) deployed on site to support the indoor wireless traffic.

2.Cloud services: Forty-four percent of surveyed respondents also

pointed to cloud services as a game-changer. Seventy-four percent

of respondents currently use cloud services of some kind. While

twenty one percent currently rely on cloud technology to run more

than half of their applications, by 2017, fifty-two percent

believe that more than half of their applications will reside

off-site in the cloud.

3.40GbE and 100GbE: Thirty-two percent of respondents indicated

that 40GbE and 100GbE would have a significant impact on their

future operations, with a majority citing the emergence of

laser-optimized multimode. There was also consensus among the

respondents as to their installation strategies for future data

centers. Sixty-one percent of operators favored a pre-terminated

data center solution as opposed to a field-terminated solution.

4.Infrastructure intelligence: Nearly one in three of surveyed

participants mentioned the need for intelligent infrastructure as

an IT infrastructure game-changer. The key driver, cited in

sixty-one percent of the surveys, is the increasing demand for

greater productivity.

5.Green, reliable power: Energy usage is still near the top of

many respondents' minds. Twenty-four percent indicated that energy

and green initiatives would be a game-changer over the next five

years. On average, respondents are looking to reduce energy

consumption by eighteen percent; their strategies involve server

virtualization, consolidations and cloud computing.