As networks become more complex, advanced technologies will play a much larger role in the entire network. With nearly 80% of the market share in core technologies, Cisco has identified unified communications, network security, wireless, and storage as advanced technologies, and is in a leading position in many of these areas.

In the wireless space, the growth is expected from increased spending by education, large enterprises, SMBs, and the government, which is exploring large wireless projects to improve broadband connectivity. India is one of the fastest growing markets for unified communications. Advanced technologies such as security, unified communications, and wireless offer great potential in the Indian market.

Networking and Connectivity
SMBs in India will invest close to $500 mn on servers and networking hardware this year, with two-thirds of the spending going toward network-related hardware purchases alone. SMBs see investments in servers and connectivity as critical in the competitive Indian market, and only 14% of PC-owning SMBs currently deploy a local area network (LAN). This points to a significant untapped connectivity opportunity among SMBs. Small businesses (SBs) account for a relatively smaller portion of the total networking expenditure. SB contribution to the overall SMB spend is set to rise in the future as Indian SBs try to catch up with their larger counterparts.

Server usage is much lower among SBs compared with MBs, where servers are widely deployed. Of the total SMB server spending in India, approximately two-thirds come from MBs. In a recent AMI survey, more than one out of ten businesses indicated that they plan to buy new servers in the next twelve months.

As for networking, routers and hubs/LAN switches made up a large majority of the Indian SMB annual spending on networking hardware in 2006. Wireless LAN and other networking hardware like networking interface cards, cabling, etc, are following closely. SMB Wireless LAN spending is expected to more than double in the next twelve months though the current figure in absolute terms is relatively less. Wireless LAN access is also growing due to easy availability of wireless LAN connectivity at many public hotspots.