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.