Network Function Virtualization

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Market Size (2022 - 2027)

The global network functions virtualization (NFV) market is projected to grow from $ 18.74 billion in 2021 to $ 51.2 billion in 2027, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.7% over the course of the time in future.

The global network virtualization market is expected to grow during the forecast period, driven by growing demand for administration and deployment of network services. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) decouples functions such as firewalls, network address translation (NAT), domain name service (DNS), intrusion detection and others. The mobile industry has experienced increasing demand for data-intensive applications, which also requires better network capacity to meet customer requirements, which should drive growth in the global NFV market. Reducing power, cooling and space requirements for equipment and simplifying the management of network services have greatly encouraged market demand for NFV.

Network Function Virtualization represents a shift in focus from hardware to software in the telecommunications industry, with operators making more investments in software than in storage, server, and switch hardware. The software segment represents a significant part of the network functions virtualization market in terms of revenue contribution.

Market Growth and Trends

Virtual Appliance Segment to Grow More During Forecast Period

The virtual appliance comprises network functions, which include traffic forwarding, monitoring, protection, caching, IDS, DNS, and others. These operations are largely carried out onboard Virtual Customer Premise (VCPe) teams. This has significantly affected companies to streamline the complexity of their network, and therefore the segment is expected to experience decent momentum in the coming years.

The orchestration and automation segment will have the largest size during the outlook period.

Orchestration and automation involve elements like software-defined network (SDN) drivers, virtual infrastructure managers, NFV orchestrator, and WAN configuration. The primary task of orchestration is to automate and enhance the creation of network services through a combination of virtualized network (VNF) functions, scaling, auto repair, and cycle management.

Business customers quickly embrace NFV because it offers significant benefits such as increased network efficiency through centralized management, increased IT agility, and network customization through fast and reliable application services. Business customers have been classified into various vertical sectors such as banking, finance, and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, retail, healthcare, education, transportation and logistics, energy and public services, and others, including hotels, transport and logistics, means of communication. entertainment and utilities. In the current scenario, the deployment of NFV prevails in the vertical BFSI, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare markets.

Market Drivers and Restraints

The growing need for cloud-based services and the demand for data-hungry applications should fuel market demand. In addition, technological advances and the use of routers, switches, mobile edges and optical transport due to improved performance and reduced costs are expected to stimulate the global NFV market over the forecast period. NFV is a central structural change in the way a telecommunications infrastructure is implemented and brings a dramatic change in the way applications are delivered to service providers.

Increased deployment of virtualized software in enterprise data centers, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), is driving market growth. However, the delay in adopting this technology hinders this market. In addition, the increased demand for data-intensive applications and the need for cloud-based services should offer great opportunities for market expansion.

NETWORK FUNCTION VIRTUALIZATION (NFV) MARKET REPORT COVERAGE:

Market Segmentation

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Market - By Component:

• Software
• Infrastructure
• Services

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Market - By Application:

• Switching Elements (Routers)
• Service Guarantee
• Next-Generation Signaling
• Safety Function
• Others

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Market - By Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• LAMEA 

It is estimated that North America would represent the majority of the NFV market in 2021. The North America NFV market is promoted by the rapid adoption of technologies like cloud computing, all defined software (SDx) and IoT. Strong industrialization in countries like the United States and Canada has always been a positive factor in promoting rapid growth in various sectors of activity. North American countries have favorable network standards and regulations that help drive growth in the NFV market. North America has several market giants like IBM, Juniper Networks, Cisco, and others. Due to the increase in 5G implementations, the adoption of NFV is increasing in the region. However, in NFV, control of the entire network is done with the controller; therefore, implementation requires various organizational, functional, and cultural changes within organizations.

Key Market Players

1. Cisco (United States)
2. Ericsson (United States)
3. Huawei (China)
4. VMware (United States)
5. Nokia (Finland)
6. HPE (United States)
7. Dell EMC (USA)
8. Juniper Networks (USA)
9. Affirmed Networks (USA)
10. NETSCOUT (USA)
11. NEC (Japan)
12. Ribbon Communications (USA)
13. ZTE Corporation (China)
14. Fujitsu (Japan)
15. Ciena (States) (United States)
16. ECI Telecom (Israel)
17. Metaswitch (United Kingdom)
18. Mavenir (United States)
19. Radisys (United States)
20. Wind River (UNITED STATES)

These players have adopted various growth strategies, including partnerships, agreements, and collaborations, as well as new product launches and product improvements to further increase their presence in the NFV market and to increase their customer base.

Recent developments:

• In September 2019, Cisco introduced a new version 3.12.x of Cisco Enterprise NFVIS. New and improved features include enhancements to the Data Plan Development Kit (DPDK), such as extending the service bridge to platforms and migrating virtual machines (VMs) with the Physical Network Adapter (PNIC)) () associated with the DPDK bridge.
• In October 2019, Nokia implemented and introduced new optical packet switches for the RAN 5G Cloud. These recently introduced optical packet transport switches offer time-sensitive networking (TSN), ultra-low latency, and cloud-native radio architectures necessary to support critical 5G services.
• In November 2019, VMware expanded its partnership with Nokia to simplify multi-cloud operations on a large scale. This partnership also aims to increase investment, as well as technology collaboration and advanced research and development, to develop integrated solutions.
• In March 2019, Huawei developed a novel solution, Telco Cloud Networking. The solution will help operators provide innovative services that will strengthen 5G, IoT and virtual reality (VR).
• Ericsson partnered with NVIDIA in October 2019 to offer 5G Radio Access Networks (RAN). As part of this collaboration, the two companies will focus on developing technologies that will enable communication service providers to create a virtualized 5G RAN.