5 Networking Trends To Watch In 2008

As companies and vendors become more and more environmentally conscious, going green will be a strong focus for vendors and VARs, with potential incentives for offering power efficient tools and solutions.

3Com's Doggart estimated roughly two to three percent of all commercial power is in networking and connectivity, not including servers and other devices computers.

"How can we help costs through power?" will be a big question next year, Doggart said. "If you don't need power, don't buy it. Go bare bones. Companies will have to weigh their carbon footprint over performance."

Rany Polany, president of San Jose, Calif.-based systems integrator and managed service provider PWT-IT Solutions, added "being green is something a lot of companies are going to start to look at."

Kerravala agreed that green will be huge next year.

"2008 will be the year green IT hits the US, driven a lot by initiatives in Europe," he said.

According to Kerravala, there are few companies today that don't have a corporate social responsibility officer, but so far IT hasn't fallen under that umbrella. The focus next year will be in energy efficiency, and some powerhouse vendors may lose out if they haven't made their green initiatives clear. For example, a Cisco shop may not again buy Cisco gear once a refresh begins, unless Cisco can present a compelling story around going green. In recent months, Cisco has stepped up its green initiatives for 2008.

"Cisco plays lip service to it, but going green has really just started to touch networking," he said, adding that green initiatives currently focus on the data center, but "the network will come next year."

4. Mobility And Fixed Mobile Convergence

A lot was said about fixed mobile convergence (FMC) in 2007, but 2008 will be the year that mobility initiatives take strong hold and dual mode devices will enable access to the network regardless of connection type, whether it be Wi-Fi, cellular or something else entirely.

The ultimate goal of FMC is to offer single number access and single voicemail capabilities. But FMC is not just roaming between the Wi-Fi and cellular networks, it's also wrapping in VoIP, presence and unified communications, all while ensuring the best method of connectivity at a given time and location.

"Dual mode is really heating up," Hiebert said. "The ability to come in and automatically and transparently do a hand off between wireless networks will really bubble up next year."

Hiebert said FMC will play into many intelligent communication strategies.

Along side FMC will be the mobilization of applications other than just email, Kerravala predicted. He noted, however, that mobile workers will be less interested in the applications themselves and more concerned about what mobile data those applications can present.

"The thing that vendors don't understand is people don't want mobile applications, they want mobile information," he said. "You don't want mobile SAP, you want your info from SAP on a mobile device. I don't think users give two hoots about the application itself, they want the information that's provided by the application.

5. Juniper's First Ethernet Switch?

Kerravala said 2008 will also likely be the year Hurricane, Juniper's long-awaited Ethernet switch, makes its public debut, something the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based vendor's portfolio has sorely lacked.

"They've never had one before," he said. "It'll be based on JUNOS technology. I'm not sure if the world needs another Ethernet switch, but it could act as a replacement for Cisco or Foundry switches."

Juniper has declined to comment on the possibility if adding an Ethernet switch to its lineup, saying "Juniper has a policy not to comment on rumor and speculation."

ROI Networks' Hiebert, a Juniper partner, said an Ethernet switch from Juniper would round out the vendor's offerings give it, and its resellers, the ability to offer more end to end solutions.

"We would love to have just one Ethernet switch to support," he said, adding he also works with Extreme Networks because Juniper lacks an Ethernet switch. "In order to be viable, you need a more end to end solution. We think an Ethernet switch from Juniper would be received very well in the enterprise space. It will minimize the number of vendors they have to deal with."

Hiebert said Juniper solutions are ROI Networks' fastest growing products in terms of revenue and going to market with an Ethernet switch would make that grow further.

"To be a formidable #2 to Cisco, you need an Ethernet switch play," he said.