Virtualization
The trend towards Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is driving virtualization, as this market segment is growing at high double-digit growth rates up to 75% year on year. The move from hardware to software is driving NFV adoption.
Similar to the distinction between passive probe monitoring and active probe monitoring, the wireless test & monitoring market today is divided between the traditional vendors and new vendors who provide virtualized monitoring. This is more prevalent in the U.S. and is expected to expand to other regions as virtualization becomes prominent.
Virtualization and automation are expected to boost market growth for testing solutions. As networks become more complex, the need for automation is rising. Also, using test equipment remotely will help operators to handle big data and analysis more quickly and cost effectively. Virtualization has helped reduce the barrier to entry in the wireless test equipment market as niche and small companies have the opportunity to enter the market with software-based products. More acquisitions are expected to occur as virtualization gains momentum and offers openness to work with new vendors.
LTE, VoLTE and Carrier Aggregation
LTE, VoLTE, and carrier aggregation are some of the key trends that are boosting market growth for test equipment. From an operator standpoint, differentiating themselves from one another to gain new customers is crucial. On the other hand, retaining customers is also a big challenge, which means test equipment vendors need to be providing sophisticated LTE solutions.
A decade ago, operators were more knowledgeable than they are today regarding the test equipment available in the market. With outsourcing and cost reduction measures, it has become difficult for operators to be up to-date on the various test equipment and its features and functionalities. In such a scenario, system integrators have become more prevalent in assisting operators with the various test equipment and vendor options in the market. These system integrators are expected to play a major role in the sales of network testing equipment during the forecast period.
Mobility
Mobility is one of the latest buzzwords today. Communication plays a major role in built-in facilities in an automobile. After-market insurance, driverless cars, connectivity between cars and so on require proper functioning of the network and network testing becomes a critical part of the product life cycle. Japan, China, Korea along with US and Europe are expected to witness significant growth from this sector until 2022. Data consumption from these cars is huge and SPs need to differentiate themselves to increase their customer base.
5G
5G will enable the industry to have many more devices connected. This will obviously increase the amount of data and optimization in a network, which marks a very important growth aspect for test equipment. 5G will represent the integration of different technologies in a virtual infrastructure.
In addition, 5G prefigures different purposes—it is the technology that will bring true IoT to life. 5G, however, is expected to open up another level of complexity to networking as the complexity of network infrastructure is expected to increase exponentially. Demand for end-to-end solutions will increase with 5G adoption.
IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is already having a major impact on businesses, governments and consumers alike and it will gain even more prominence in 2017. Connectivity will continue to enable solutions to integrate with enterprise management solutions and help businesses improve efficiency and increase productivity.
Every person globally eventually will be impacted by IoT; its emergence will most definitely disrupt traditional business models across every industry.
In order to survive in this quickly changing environment, companies have to define their digital strategies and be cognizant of how IoT can help them to gain a competitive edge.
Test equipment is expected to continue playing a crucial role in the deployment of new technologies and ensuring positive quality of user experience to prevent customer churn. Increasingly networks are becoming more complex and ensuring prober quality of service is no longer an afterthought.
