STATE OF THE NETWORK STUDY - PDF Free Download

10TH ANNUAL STUDY 2017 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Tenth Annual State of the Network Global Study focuses a lens on the network team s role in security investigations. Results indicate that 88 percent of network teams are now spending time on security issues. In fact, out of 1,035 respondents, nearly 3 out of 4 spend up to 10 hours per week working exclusively on these types of problems - in addition to managing network upgrades, SDN, cloud, and big data initiatives. When it comes to technology adoption, both cloud and 100 GbE deployment continue to grow aggressively. VoIP adoption is closing in on 60 percent and software-defined networking (SDN) is projected to cross the halfway mark, indicating compounding network complexity amidst the ongoing struggle to ID security threats. With growth comes change and some trends identified in this year s survey include a rise in email and browser-based malware attacks (63 percent) and an increase in sophistication (52 percent). Nearly 1 in 3 also report a surge in DDoS attacks, signaling a need for potential strategy changes for IT teams. 2

KEY STATISTICS TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION Since 2015, 40 GbE adoption remains steady at 26 percent While 100 GbE adoption jumps from 15 percent to nearly 20 percent in the same time frame Nearly half of respondents plan to deploy 100 GbE within 24 months SECURITY TRENDS 88 percent of respondents are now involved in troubleshooting security-related issues Of those, 80 percent report an increase in the time they spend on security Nearly 3 out of 4 spend up to 10 hours per week on security-related issues APPLICATION AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING Over half expect their organization s bandwidth consumption to grow by up to 50 percent in the next 12 months Determining whether problems are caused by the network, system, or application was the top challenge overall, cited by 52 percent of respondents However, measuring latency and delay issues snagged the top spot for respondents with job title of VP level and above 3

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Over 50 percent of organizations will have moved to 100 GbE by the end of 2018. Converged environments created by private cloud and SDN implementations are likely fueling much of the need for larger pipes to run between servers. While 40 GbE had been on the uptick, survey results from 2015, compared to today, show a plateau of this technology at 26 percent adoption with 100 GbE now gaining ground. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENTS YES YES, IN 2017 YES, IN 2018 NO 25 GbE 26% 15% 4% 55% 40 GbE 26% 20% 15% 39% 100 GbE 18% 15% 22% 44% Mobile Devices/BYOD 43% 29% 12% 16% Private Cloud 33% 31% 15% 21% Public Cloud 34% 25% 18% 24% Server Virtualization 49% 21% 19% 11% Software-Defined Networks 20% 25% 26% 29% 4

HANDLING SECURITY According to a recent Mandiant report 1, it now takes IT teams a median number of 146 days to identify threats on the network. Given the regular media coverage of high-profile breaches, it is not surprising that security teams seek additional resources to augment defenses and investigate attacks. TIME SPENT ON SECURITY Not only have more network teams spent time managing security issues but the amount of time has also increased over the past year. 88 percent of respondents are now involved in troubleshooting security-related issues, up from 85 percent in 2015 Of those, 80 percent report an increase in the time they spend on security Nearly 3 out of 4 spend up to 10 hours per week on security-related issues WHAT PERCENT OF A 40-HOUR WORK WEEK DO YOU SPEND TROUBLESHOOTING SECURITY-RELATED ISSUES? HAS THE TIME YOU SPEND TROUBLESHOOTING SECURITY INCREASED OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS? 70% NO 3% YES, BY UP TO 25% YES, BY UP TO 26-50% 20% 30% 12% NONE UP TO 10 HOURS 16% BETWEEN 10-20 HOURS 2% MORE THAN 20 HOURS YES, BY MORE THAN 50% 47% 5 ¹http://investors.fireeye.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=957111

NEW THREATS When asked how the nature of security threats have changed in the past year, IT teams have identified a rise in email and browser-based malware attacks (63 percent) and an increase in threat sophistication (52 percent). Nearly 1 in 3 also report a surge in DDoS attacks. HOW HAVE THE FOLLOWING SECURITY THREATS TO YOUR ORGANIZATION CHANGED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS? Increased email and browser malware 63% Increased sophistication of security threats 52% Increased number of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDOS) Increased attacks on database servers Increased number of ransomware attacks 33% 31% 27% Other 3% 6

KEY INSIGHT Network teams are called upon to help with many facets of network security because: The network team has visibility into all the traffic, understands what s normal behavior, and can make quick policy changes like blocking specific IP addresses Both teams often look at the same anomaly to determine if it s a security or network issue Syslogs were cited by nearly a third of respondents as the primary method for detecting security issues, followed by longterm packet capture and analysis (23 percent) and performance anomalies (16 percent). WHAT MONITORING METHODS DOES YOUR TEAM USE FOR SECURITY INCIDENTS? Syslogs 30% Long-term packet capture and analysis 23% Tracking performance anomalies SNMP 15% 16% NetFlow 10% Other 6% 7

UC ADOPTION AND CHALLENGES Though hardly an emerging technology with over 50 percent adoption, VoIP, and unified communications (UC) in general remains a challenge when it comes to ensuring performance and optimal end-user experience. WHAT UC APPLICATIONS HAS YOUR ORGANIZATION DEPLOYED? (check all that apply) VoIP Videoconferencing Enterprise Instant Messaging Web Collaboration Applications 56% 53% 50% 47% Fax over IP 19% Other 2% WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN MANAGING UC PERFORMANCE OVER THE? (check all that apply) Inability to view into network edge and branch environments Lack visibility into multi-vendor UC environments 42% 41% Inability to assess impact of UC deployments on other applications 40% Lack of visibility into each session for UC technologies 36% Lack visibility into bandwidth utilization 29% 8 Lack visibility into the quality of user experience 15%

APPLICATION AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING Projected bandwidth growth is a clear factor driving the rollout of larger network capacities. The most significant takeaway is that nearly 2 out of 3 expect bandwidth demand for their organizations to grow by up to 50 percent in 2017. INCREASED BANDWIDTH DEMAND According to respondents, more than half predicted that their bandwidth usage could double by the end of 2018, nearly 20 percent by 2017. HOW MUCH DO YOU EXPECT THE BANDWIDTH DEMAND FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION S TO GROW FROM ITS CURRENT LEVELS? No change Up to 50% 51-100% 101-150% 5% 13% 61% 21% 10% 44% 34% 12% 9 IN 2017 IN 2018

CHALLENGES BY TITLE Top application monitoring challenges differed by job title with VP-level and above pointing to measuring latency and delay issues as their number one challenge, versus nearly 2 out of 3 network and systems administrators indicating that determining whether problems are caused by the network, system, or applications is the top challenge. WHAT ARE YOUR MOST COMMON PROBLEMS WHEN TROUBLESHOOTING APPLICATIONS? (check all that apply) Network and Systems Administrators VP Level and Above Determining Whether Problem Caused by Network, System or Apps 33% 65% Measuring Latency and Delay Issues 51% 53% Handling user complaints and errors 21% 49% Monitoring Bandwidth Consumption 41% 44% Tracking Application Bugs and Patches 40% 44% 10

RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY Study questions were designed based upon interviews with network professionals and IT analysts. Results were compiled from the insights of 1,035 respondents, including network engineers, IT directors, and CIOs from around the world. WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED? North America 86% Europe 6% South America 4% Asia Africa 2% 1% Australia Less than 1% WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY JOB FUNCTION? For more information about the study s methodology or the results, contact Stephen Brown at steve.brown@ viavisolutions.com. IT Manager/Director Network Administrator/Engineer System Administrator/Engineer CIO/VP of IT 14% 19% 23% 33% 11 IT Consultant 11%