Security is top concern for enterprise access networks, finds Infonetics

Infonetics Research has released highlights from its 2014 Wireless LAN Strategies and Vendor Leadership: North America Enterprise Survey, which takes an in-depth look at how medium and large organizations are evolving their access networks to deliver wireless connectivity to users.

“Our annual study of WLAN deployments shows that enterprise access networks are undergoing a major transformation, driven by an influx of new devices, greater device diversity, and new application models,” says Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.

Infonetics reports that respondent companies in its Wireless LAN survey say they intend to grow the number of access points in their wireless networks by about 19% per year over the next 2 years. The current installed base of access points is heavily tilted toward older WLAN generations, finds the study -- but for new access point deployments, respondents preferred 802.11ac Wi-Fi by a margin of 2:1 over 802.11a/b/g/n.

The survey also estimates number of bring-your-own devices is growing from 29% of all devices today to almost 40% by 2016, driven by wider user adoption within existing BYOD companies, as well as multiple devices per user. Respondents said they expect their user population to grow by 10% per year over the next 2 years, driven to a large extent by guest access, which will account for only 18% of the user population by 2016.

“Not only are companies upgrading and expanding coverage to accommodate their growing needs, they’re also rethinking their approach to network operations and are looking to unify network silos and implement more flexible management approaches," notes Infonetics' Machowinski.

Significantly, he adds, “But the biggest change of all over the next year is improving the security of access networks. The last year has seen a number of high profile data breaches, and companies can’t afford to become the next victim.”

Learn more about the report.