Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) involves the virtualization of all hardware resources, combined with elastic scaling and management automation, server virtualization is usually the starting point for SDI, but additional approaches have emerged in recent years, including software-defined networking (SDN) and software-defined storage (SDS).
Whatever the route taken SDI is growing in popularity. According to the latest data from 451 Research, 67 percent of enterprises will increase their SDI spending this year.
Improved agility and flexibility is cited by 65 percent as the top benefit of SDI. Spending on SDN is set to increase in 37.4 percent of companies, and on SDS in 26.9 percent. Less than 3 percent are planning to curb budget allocations for these two technologies. The leading SDI vendor is VMware (66.3 percent), followed by Cisco (39.2 percent) and Microsoft (28.1 percent).
"As every business becomes a digital business, decision-makers are looking to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of their overall IT environment; this is encouraging decision-makers to explore new IT delivery models". says Simon Robinson, Vice President of Research at 451 Research.
Despite plans to increase spending, just 21 percent of organizations surveyed have implemented SDI in their environments today, and there are hurdles to broader adoption. For senior management, low maturity is the top barrier to SDI adoption while for non-senior management, lack of internal skills tops the list.
"To achieve successful implementation, decision-makers should first conduct an audit of their internal skills and look to fill any gaps," says Nikolay Yamakawa, Senior Analyst at 451 Research. "Meanwhile, vendors should aim to play a more proactive role in communicating requirements and presenting case studies to help overcome these barriers".
You can find out more about the findings in a webinar to be held on March 22.
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