Networking budgets for different services including WLAN, unified communications and mobile device management (MDM) solutions has seen a leveling off this year after a significant increase between 2010 and 2011, according to TheInfoPro, a service of 451 Research.

In its latest comprehensive IT networking study, TheInfoPro said this year 38 percent of respondents reported a budget increase in IT networking, while 23 percent reported a budget decrease. Between 2010 and 2011, 48 percent of respondents reported a budget increase.

The Networking Reference Reports are based on in-depth interviews with IT decision-makers at large North American enterprises. Top network project priorities are core router and switch upgrades while general 'technology refresh' ranked third. This conforms to their earlier assumption that aging hardware is the main pain point at organizations.

WLAN implementations and expansions, unified communication solutions, and mobile device management rollouts top TheInfoPro's heat index, which measure the networking technologies based on the immediacy of user needs around each technology.

The rapidly rising wireless networks in organizations and the growing popularity of enterprise communications technologies such as video conferencing and telepresence have boosted the demand for these network technologies. With Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) gaining momentum among enterprises, mobile device management becomes imperative.

"It's clear that network technology spending is still in catch-up mode as network managers continue addressing performance and capacity needs in the core network brought on by new business requirements and aging network equipment," said Daniel Kennedy, research director for Information Security and Networking.

"Planned network projects, such as the continued rollout of wireless LANs, unified communication solutions, and mobile device management are a direct response to evolving business needs,” Kennedy added.

The reports detail current and planned usage and spending trends for key technologies; ratings on leading vendors; and trends on budgets, pain points, and top projects.

To discuss the findings of the study, 451 Research will host a Networking webinar on September 27, titled, “New Business Requirements and Aging Network Equipment: Pain Points, Spending Drivers, and Vendor Preferences.” at 1 pm EDT.

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