The global market for network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) is predicted to reach $11 billion by 2018, according to a new report by Infonetics Research.
The research firm also expects global carrier SDN and NFV hardware and software to grow from less than $500 million in 2013 to over $11 billion in 2018.
NFV represents the lion’s share of the combined SDN and NFV market, from 2014 out to 2018, the report said, adding that the value of NFV is in the virtualized network functions software—the applications—rather than the orchestration and control.
SDN and NFV exemplify the telecom industry’s shift from hardware to software, and SDN and NFV software are projected to make up of three-quarters of total SDN/NFV revenue in 2018.
“For three years, the telecom industry has been abuzz over SDN and NFV, with anticipation and hard work developing the vision, goals, architectures, use cases, proof-of-concept projects, field trials, and even some commercial deployments, ” Michael Howard, Infonetics Research's co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks said.
“We’ve been gathering data in this early market for nearly two years and are projecting the global service provider SDN and NFV market to reach $11 billion in 2018.”