Expenditures on wide area network (WAN) optimization gear fell this year while investments in application delivery controllers (ADC) registered growth, according to a report from telecom market research firm Infonetics Research.
A lack of push from the cloud services sector is among the chief reasons why many companies have not been purchasing WAN optimization gear, according to Matthias Machowinski, an analyst with the company.
An Infonetics report scheduled to be released this month, shows that ADC revenues grew by seven per cent on a quarterly basis and four per cent year-over-year. By contrast, WAN optimizations failed to see similar spending growth.
Among the top three ADC vendors were: F5 Networks Inc., followed by Citrix Systems, and Radware.
ADC is also closely associated with specific application projects and budgets, said Jim Frey, research vice-president of Enterprise Management Associates.
Each time businesses roll out new apps they have a need for ADC, he said. By comparison, demand for WAN optimization gear is less frequent.
There are also alternative networking methods that cut the need for WAN optimization, he said, such as the use of multiple public Internet links to replace fixed WAN links or shared network services.