Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market (SDN Switching, Controllers, Cloud Virtualization application, Network Virtualization Security, End-Users) - Global Advancements, Market Forecasts and Analysis (2014 - 2019)

Enterprises are inclining more toward network virtualization and data center consolidation, both the trends lead to high-performance computing and complex networks. The solution offered to cater to the needs of current trend is Software-Defined Networking (SDN), an emerging approach for designing, building, and managing networks. The architecture used in SDN makes it ideal for high-bandwidth and dynamic applications. This architecture helps to decouple the network control and forwarding functions enabling easy programmability of the entire network control.

SDN solutions provide features such as direct programmability of network control, increases agility of network to adjust to the traffic flow, enables the entire network to be managed through a single interface, helps to simplify network designs and operations, use of this architecture leads to reduction in capital expenditure and operational expenditure too and at the same time it enables organizations to innovate new types of services, applications, and business models.

SDN solutions find applications in majority of industrial verticals, and are majorly used by verticals such as Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), educational institutions, government, and telecom and IT industries. SDN market can be segmented by solutions among switches, controllers, cloud virtualization applications, and network virtualization security. Switches and controllers contribute to higher market share and are expected to be dominated by cloud virtualization and network virtualization security solutions by 2019.

SDN solutions are poised for quick adoption across various verticals; few of them are:
? BFSI: This vertical relies on its network infrastructure for its day-to-day business activities. Organizations pay a hefty amount to manage their globally dispersed assets. SDN solutions lower down the cost associated with the network infrastructure and also help in controlling the entire network from a single interface and cater in allocating the bandwidth for high-priority applications.
? Educational Institutions: Educational institution campuses are increasingly getting in sync with the latest technologies and are opting more for Wi-Fi-enabled campuses and much more. All the advancements come with a pre-requisite of network infrastructures. Thus, SDN solutions will be much needed by educational institutions as well.
? Government: Government institutions in developing as well as in developed countries are trying to connect all the agencies interlinked in one network. Governments, usually operating on budgetary constraints, look for solutions to reduce the expenditure and easy management of their networks. SDN provides a promising solution for the government's requirements.
? Telecom and IT Industries: Telecom and IT industries are the most network-intensive industries. Telecom operators are always looking for innovations enabling them to increase the speed of their Wide-Area Network (WAN) and also offer new services without compromising speed of their network. SDN solutions will help Telecom and IT organizations by avoiding traditional network bottle-necks and increasing flexibility and programmability of their network.
MarketsandMarkets expects the government, BFSI, academia, and telecom and IT verticals to show tremendous growth throughout the forecast period. However, the emerging revenue pockets, namely, energy and healthcare verticals will show significant increase in the period. Major challenges faced by the vendors in this space are lack of industry standards for SDN solutions and stiff competition in the market.

There are various assumptions that we have taken into consideration for market sizing and forecasting exercise. Few of global assumptions include political, economic, social, and technological factors. For instance, exchange rates, one of the economic factors, are expected to have