The new 46-page report provides detailed analysis of the SDN and NFV markets and their many facets—from SDN router and switch hardware and software, to the many categories of NFV, particularly the virtualized network functions (VNFs) comprising policy (policy and charging rules function [PCRF] and deep packet inspection [DPI]), the mobile packet core and evolved packet core (EPC), IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), and security.
Some highlights:
- NFV represents the lion’s share of the combined SDN and NFV market, from 2014 out to 2018
- The value of NFV is in the virtualized network functions software—the applications—rather than the orchestration and control; VNF makes up over 90% of the NFV software segment
- SDN and NFV exemplify the telecom industry’s shift from hardware to software: SDN and NFV software are projected to make up of three-quarters of total SDN/NFV revenue in 2018
“For three years, the telecom industry has been abuzz over SDN and NFV, with anticipation and hard work developing the vision, goals, architectures, use cases, proof-of-concept projects, field trials, and even some commercial deployments. We’ve been gathering data in this early market for nearly two years and are projecting the global service provider SDN and NFV market to reach $11 billion in 2018,” says Michael Howard, Infonetics Research’s co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks.
http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2014/Carrier-SDN-NFV-Market-Highlights.asp