Industry publication Network World has named its ten most powerful vendors in the networking space for 2022 — placing Cisco, Broadcom and Arista first, second and third.
According to Neal Weinberg, a contributing writer for Network World, today’s networking vendors must innovate in areas like automation, AI ops, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), secure access service edge (SASE), visibility, and multi-cloud management.
“Networking vendors have a lot on their plate. They must respond to customer preferences for subscription models and network as-a-service (NaaS) offerings,” Weinberg wrote.
“In a recent survey, IDC reported that 61% of organisations worldwide were interested in shifting to consumption-based models for IT investments rather than capital-intensive purchases.”
For Weinberg, the leading companies tend to be better at manoeuvering around supply chain problems and order backlogs yet still generate new revenue and innovation. So Network World’s top ten were rated most powerful by looking at their market impact and forward momentum — not their size.
Cisco has long been a leading vendor, and IDC analysis suggests it grew further to take 45.4% of ethernet switch market revenues in Q1, with combined service provider and enterprise router revenues surging 12% to comprise 34.6% of the full-year market.
“Cisco is investing heavily in both on-prem and cloud-based management powered by AI/ML,” Weinberg added.
In the number-two spot, chipmaker Broadcom, whose acquisition of VMware follows its buy of network management leader CA and security vendor Symantec. It could be on the way to becoming a full-stack company.
First billion-dollar quarter for Arista
Next is Arista Networks, which just recorded its first billion-dollar quarter, and saw revenues rise 48.7% in Q2 versus the same quarter in 2021.
“The company is ranked as a ‘visionary’ in Gartner’s latest evaluation of wired and wireless infrastructure vendors based on its portfolio of spine-leaf switches and wireless access points managed by the CloudVision management platform,” Weinberg wrote.
“Arista is thriving with its emphasis on cloud networking. It is also trying to get ahead of the curve when it comes to the integration of networking and security.”
Arista bought Untangle for its cloud edge threat management advantages in Q1, and is embedding network detection and response (NDR) security software into its switches for AI-driven threat protection across campus networks.
“Analyst Zeus Kerravala [of ZK Research] says network/security integration is the wave of the future and he credits Arista for catching it early,” said Weinberg.
Arista’s financial results for its Q3 ending 30 September are out 31 October 2022. Join a live webcast on the day at this link at 1330 Pacific Time / 1630 Eastern Time (USA).
( Photo by John Arano on Unsplash )
