Security Still Top Priority in Enterprise Network Transformations

Written by Claire
October 27, 2014

The number of bring-your-own devices (BYOD) is growing from 29 percent of all devices today to almost 40 percent by 2016, driven by wider user adoption within existing BYOD companies, as well as multiple devices per user.

A new survey from Infonetics Research shows the security of access networks will continue to be top of mind as medium and large businesses continue to improve their technology over the next year.

“Our annual study of WLAN deployments shows that enterprise access networks are undergoing a major transformation, driven by an influx of new devices, greater device diversity, and new application models,” says Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. “Not only are companies upgrading and expanding coverage to accommodate their growing needs, they’re also rethinking their approach to network operations and are looking to unify network silos and implement more flexible management approaches.”

The survey highlights include:

Respondent companies intend to grow the number of access points in their wireless networks by about 19 percent per year over the next two years.
The current installed base of access points is heavily tilted toward older WLAN generations, but for new access point deployments, respondents prefer 802.11ac by a margin of 2:1 over 802.11a/b/g/n.
The number of bring-your-own devices (BYOD) is growing from 29 percent of all devices today to almost 40 percent by 2016, driven by wider user adoption within existing BYOD companies, as well as multiple devices per user.
Respondents expect their user population to grow by 10 percent per year over the next two years, driven to a large extent by guest access, which will account for only 18 percent of the user population by 2016.