State of the Network

VIAVI Solutions completes 16th global State of the Network Study

Since 2007, we have surveyed IT professionals responsible for network, infrastructure, and application support to understand their status, successes, and challenges, as well as their plans for the next three years. The insights gathered provide valuable, independent information for anyone in similar roles looking to stay ahead of emerging challenges. 

As we approach our sixteenth consecutive year, we have partnered with TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group and Principal Analyst Jim Frey to enhance the report's depth. This partnership not only includes surveying IT professionals but also involves expert analysis to compare current market trends and industry developments with the realities faced by organizations today. 



2024/25 State of the Network Study

2024/25 State of the Network Study

Over 750 IT networking and security professionals from various industries across 10 countries have shared their biggest successes and challenges with us. Our goal is to provide insights and analysis of the ever-evolving challenges these professionals face, driven by the proliferation of cloud-native applications and increasingly complex network infrastructure. This research evaluates the strategic innovations that help address these issues. 

The objective of this ongoing research is to examine the evolution of network performance and security tools over the past 16 years and assess their impact on the operational and security posture of enterprise organizations. 

See the Study

2023 State of the Network

Captures the tenacity of IT teams as they rise to the many challenges of maintaining peak application and network performance.

2021 State of the Network

As we emerge from the ashes of challenging times, IT embraces digital transformation to resolve the skills gap, UC issues, and cyberattack response.

2020 State of the Network

In this age of dynamic disruption, this year's study uncovers that comprehensive visibility is essential to maintaining optimal IT service delivery.

2019 State of the Network

Increasing partnerships between network and security teams proves to be a critical strategy for enterprise IT data and resource protection.

2018 State of the Network

With evolving network infrastructure, IT teams are challenged to maintain visibility into performance.

2017 State of the Network

New threats emerge prompting increased involvement of network teams in security issues.

2016 State of the Network

The adoption and management of new cloud and hybrid IT environments has challenged the enterprise in surprising ways.

2015 State of the Network

Network teams are taking on additional responsibilities in response to more sophisticated attacks. Security has become everyone's business.

2014 State of the Network

Network professionals reveal application challenges, bandwidth demand, and real attitudes towards SDN defining it as a "road trip without a map."

2013 State of the Network

Uncover how IT teams stretched thin monitoring new technologies of Cloud, Big Data, and mobile, are best coping with these opportunities.

2012 State of the Network

Application troubleshooting challenges are top of mind for IT professionals, how do they deal with bandwidth crunches and the impact of cloud?

2010 State of the Network

With cloud and virtualization really hitting mainstream, how are network professionals dealing with these new black holes?

2009 State of the Network

Facing an economic downturn and tightening budgets, cost-conscious network engineers are embracing to maximize productivity and visibility.

2008 State of the Network

Discover critical troubleshooting trends and delve in-depth into the adoption and challenges of VoIP, MPLS and higher network speeds.

2007 State of the Network

With VoIP shifting to near mainstream with 45 percent adoption, what are the chief performance and monitoring concerns network teams face?