face="Times New Roman, serif">Going
from
2010 to 2011, SonicWALL sees numerous trends reaching turning
points. Better days are ahead of us with organizations starting to
increase their expenditure to grow. However, the recent economic
downturn has made them conscious and lead them to seek value through
service consolidation and application virtualization. At the same
time, the explosion of mobile business device platforms and ongoing
move to cloud-based applications has irrevocably altered the
landscape for both bandwidth and security. Drawing upon our detailed
knowledge and unique global perspective of global security issues,
coupled with feedback from its leading partners the field, SonicWALL
looks back at 2010, and predicts the following industry trends for
2011.
face="Times New Roman, serif">The
MSP
model goes mainstream
face="Times New Roman, serif">In
2010,
SonicWALL saw the MSP model go mainstream in the partner
channel. SonicWALL saw its partners evolve their business models to
sell value of services and solutions as a service as many customers
were asking for more value added services and professional services.
As we come into 2011, customers will continue to ask for more value
out of its services providers.
face="Times New Roman, serif">Customers
switch
from credit to cash
face="Times New Roman, serif">The
recession
put the SMBs on a cautious note, because of which they were
unwilling to take technology on credit even though many VARs offered.
However, with things looking up towards the end of 2010 companies
couldn't delay IT purchases. They were no longer being able to push
purchasing critical infrastructure that they held off buying over the
last few years. SonicWALL anticipates this buying trend to continue
in 2011. Worldwide enterprise IT spending will increase by 3.1
percent, from USD 2.38 trillion in 2010 to USD 2.46 trillion in
2011.
style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">
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face="Times New Roman, serif">Virtualization
Changes
Security
face="Times New Roman, serif">By
2011,
the installed base of virtual machines will have grown tenfold
in only five years.
face="Times New Roman, serif">
During 2010, virtualization moved beyond its early hype into much
broader deployment, and business applications have moved from
dedicated servers to virtual servers and, increasingly, to the cloud.
More companies are virtualizing their IT infrastructures driven by
cost. SonicWALL expects that businesses will continue the
virtualization of datacenters in 2011, and increasingly look to the
cloud for virtualized application services, including virtualized
security services. Because of this trend, SonicWALL anticipates
demand for improved security for virtualization.
face="Times New Roman, serif">VAR
consolidation
continues
face="Times New Roman, serif">SonicWALL
predicts
VAR consolidation will continue throughout 2011. With the
consolidating landscape, SonicWALL sees other SPs becoming much more
sales-and-marketing driven to compete in 2011.
face="Times New Roman, serif">Mobility
drives
data leakage
face="Times New Roman, serif">By
the
end of 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of
rich, mobile commerce providing an ideal environment for the
convergence of mobility and the Web.
color="#333333">
style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">
Shipments of mobile devices will outnumber PC shipments within 18
months, and fourteen percent of adult Americans will use a mobile
healthcare application in 2011.
style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">Over
this past year, SonicWALL and its partners began seeing security and
data leakage concerns develop with the corporate adoption of Apple
iPhone and iPad, Google Android, and other mobile device platforms.
In 2011, SPs will need to help clients implement strategies to
maintain stricter security policies and security requirements around
managing the diversity of these devices.
face="Times New Roman, serif">MSPs
embrace
the cloud
face="Times New Roman, serif">Small-and
medium-sized
business cloud use will surge in 2011, with adoption of
some cloud resources topping 33 percent, and spending on public IT
cloud services will grow at more than five times the rate of the IT
industry in 2011.
face="Times New Roman, serif">
Cloud
computing was extremely important to IT solution providers in 2010,
yet while there was much hype in the marketplace, full industry
acceptance will take longer to evolve than anticipated. SonicWALL saw
customers create a hybrid approach to the cloud, virtualizing mission
critical applications both onsite and the cloud. In 2011, leveraging
the cloud needs to be a top priority to solution providers. Solution
providers will need to figure out how to confront the realities of
the cloud and bake it into their services. Managing bandwidth,
Internet access and application control for mission critical
information in the cloud becomes more important.
face="Times New Roman, serif">The
need
for bandwidth control grows
face="Times New Roman, serif">15
percent
of available corporate bandwidth is used by websites that are
probably not being used for business purposes, and that percentage is
rising sharply.
face="Times New Roman, serif">
SonicWALL
predicts that managing bandwidth, Internet access, and application
control for mission critical information in the cloud will become
more important in 2011.
face="Times New Roman, serif">With
the
proliferation of devices, companies are already seeing an impact
on their corporate networks. Application intelligence, control and
visualization will become a higher priority for companies now trying
to better control bandwidth and applications.
face="Times New Roman, serif">Opportunities
for
SPs in 2011
face="Times New Roman, serif">Ultimately,
the
coming year will bring opportunities for the SPs who best take
advantage of these trends. In the wake of industry consolidation,
service providers will need to stay as competitive as possible,
leveraging cost-savings from virtual and cloud-based architectures.
The customer shift away from credit may delay large capital purchases
for IT infrastructure, but make virtualized and cloud-based offerings
more attractive as operating expenses. SPs will find increasing
opportunities to provide and maintain virtualized and cloud-based
services, including security services. Contending with the onslaught
of emerging threats and bandwidth consumption from Web 2.0, social
media and mobile device applications, SPs also have a greater
opportunity to leverage high-performance deep packet inspection,
application intelligence and control, and real-time visualization
solutions.