2/12/2004 -- According to market research firm In-Stat/MDR, a majority of organizations -- approximately 54 percent -- have not deployed Gigabit Ethernet-based network infrastructures. Although SOHO or small-and-medium-sized business customers comprise a large percentage of this total, In-Stat/MDR researchers say that the lack of a killer-app for Gigabit Ethernet has precluded its broad adoption at the enterprise level, as well.

Nevertheless, In-Stat/MDR identifies several market forces it believes are working in favor of Gigabit Ethernet adoption -- especially on the enterprise desktop -- and researchers speculate that 2004 could be a key break-out year for the technology.

In 2004, researchers say, conditions are such that Gigabit Ethernet uptake wont just be confined to the data center or business campus infrastructure, but could occur on the enterprise desktop, as well. In this regard, In-Stat/MDR cites the rapid drop in Gigabit Ethernet ASPs, along with the increasingly common practice on the part of major OEMs of incorporating Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces in desktop PCs, as contributing factors.

Theres one caveat, however: In an era of tight budgets, organizations remain indifferent to the promise of a fat Gigabit Ethernet pipe, in spite of the increasing prevalence of both interfaces throughout many organizations.

[T]he most significant barrier to adoption of GigE and 10 GigE appears to be the common perception among potential customers of the simple lack of need for a full Gigabit of bandwidth to the desktop, or a full 10 Gigabits of bandwidth anywhere in the organization, wrote analyst Sam Lucero, in a statement.

Whats needed, researchers say, is a killer-app to drive Gigabit Ethernet uptake at all levels of the enterprise. When organizations do implement Gigabit Ethernet-based infrastructures, In-Stat/MDR says, theyre spurred to do so mainly as a result of vendor price reductions, and then only to future-proof" their infrastructures. Very few are doing so because they need the additional bandwidth to support new applications or services.

In a recent In-Stat/MDR survey, for example, 64 percent of respondents said that the reason that they hadnt deployed Gigabit Ethernet-based networks was because they dont believe that they need the bandwidth. Many of these same respondents also shared the perception that Gigabit bandwidth is not justified by the current prices of Gigabit Ethernet gear.

Meanwhile, respondents who have deployed Gigabit Ethernet-based infrastructures typically say that theyve done so as a result of a desire to prepare for future expected bandwidth requirements. Other top reasons for deploying Gigabit Ethernet-based infrastructures included provisioning sufficient bandwidth for converged networks and reducing delay and/or latency in the network.

Another impediment to Gigabit Ethernet uptick in many environments could be the overwhelming prevalence of CAT 5 cable, which was identified as the most commonly deployed cabling infrastructure by the vast majority of survey respondents. Not surprisingly, respondents identified CAT 5e as the second most common cabling infrastructure.

In-Stat/MDR says it has based its conclusions on discussions that it has held with manufacturers of LAN connectivity equipment, along with analysis of quarterly LAN connectivity shipment trends through the third-quarter of 2003. -Stephen Swoyer