Virtualization and security driving innovation: CCIE survey

MUMBAI, INDIA: Cisco today announced the results of the most comprehensive end-customer survey ever conducted of the international CCIE community.

Commissioned as part of Cisco’s overall 25th anniversary celebration, the research was conducted by Illuminas, a strategic research firm, to explore the unique perspective of some of the most knowledgeable and well-respected information technology professionals in the networking industry, a release said.

According to the release the study reveals the top trends that are driving innovation, including virtualization, security and risk management, unified communications, video, and real-time collaboration. A total of 970 CCIE holders  from 79 countries participated; their employers range from Fortune 500 enterprises to small- and midsize organizations representing a wide variety of industries.

Survey Highlights:

Rapid Adoption of Virtualization

More than two-thirds of the CCIE holders surveyed said virtualization will be the top networking investment over the next five years as chief information officers continue to be hyper-focused on reducing IT costs.

Organizations are increasingly adopting virtualization as an energy-, space- and cost-saving measure. A holistic and comprehensive virtualization strategy can provide a significant competitive advantage to organizations by increasing operational efficiency and simplifying management.

CCIE holders expect energy efficiency in the data center to be the top green networking initiative impacting networks over the next five years.

Increasing Security Requirements for Increasingly Sophisticated Networks

 

CCIE holders believe it is critical that networking professionals stay ahead of the increasing number of internal and external security breaches that jeopardize today’s networks. Over the next three to five years, security and risk management will be the networking skills in greatest demand, according to 64 percent of the survey participants. One out of three expects network and information security breaches to remain a top concern of CIOs over the next five years.

As organizations embrace collaboration technologies across business and geographic boundaries, network security will continue to be a critical component of IT strategy. Network vulnerabilities and threats to network security, as well as the skill and sophistication of attackers, are constantly evolving.

Collaboration via Unified Communications and Video

 

Unified communications will lead to increased collaboration in the workforce, 47 percent of the CCIE holders said. Thirty percent of the respondents expect that accommodating the needs of a highly collaborative, global workforce will be a top CIO concern over the next five years.

Collaboration and Web conferencing solutions will play a key role as enterprises prepare to address the complexities of this highly mobile, highly collaborative global business environment.

Fifty-two percent of the respondents believe that real-time video solutions, such as Cisco TelePresence, will be one of the top green initiatives affecting networks and network engineers. CCIE holders agree that using video for collaboration is increasing, with 25 percent of those surveyed stating that video will be a top networking trend over the next five years.