Global revenues from virtual application delivery controller (ADC) is growing fast as cloud services, hybrid cloud, and the shift to cloud-architected data centers create demand for virtual appliances.
Market research firm Infonetics also said market revenue for data center Ethernet switches and Ethernet switches sold in bundles.
Cliff Grossner, directing analyst for data center and cloud at Infonetics Research, said “Hardware-based ADCs aren’t going away anytime soon. They still provide the performance required by larger-scale deployments, and vendors are working to fold in other services such as security, application traffic monitoring, and predictive analytics. This will keep the market for hardware-based appliances healthy even as a portion of the ADC market turns to virtual appliances.
Infonetic also said global ADC revenue grew 10% in the fourth quarter of 2013 from the third quarter, and finished 2013 at $1.75 billion, up 4% over 2012, when the previous record high was set
ADC virtual appliances are going mainstream, accounting for 14% of ADC revenue in the fourth quarter with Citrix is the market share leader in this segment, Infonetics said.
F5 continues to lead the overall ADC market, but Citrix was the big winner upon Cisco’s exit from the space, gaining 5 points in market share, the analyst said.
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