Corporates ready to invest in networks

Enterprise networks around the world are currently unprepared for the future, but new research suggests that companies are gearing up to spend.

In a survey of 254 executives with control of budgets, 94 per cent indicated that their networks were inadequate for 'all of the business challenges of the next two years'.

But far from burying their heads in the sand, 61 per cent reported that they were planning 'significant' or 'very significant' spending, up from 48 per cent in last year's survey.

"After three years of cost cutting we do not see an irrational exuberance at the board level," said Andrew Palmer, global director of executive services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, which carried out the AT&T sponsored survey.

"Instead we see a more realistic attitude that will not abandon the savings of the past three years. But those surveyed are moving to take advantages of new technologies in their future network plans."

Better network security was the top challenge identified by those surveyed (78 per cent), with the ability to keep the network up and running coming second at 70 per cent.

As for the goals of those surveyed, the most popular was to enable remote working, with two thirds wanting to open up full and secure access to network applications.

Digitising and accessing customer data, and ensuring 24/7 network availability, were also popular at 60 per cent.

Voice over IP was the fastest growing area of potential investment, with over 50 per cent planning to implement the technology. Over 40 per cent were also planning to deploy Wi-Fi and utility computing within their enterprises.