Lector

WHITE P APER
ROI of a Complete Networking Portfolio: Delivering Value
from the Network Edge to the Core
Sponsored by: HP
Randy Perry

Rohit Mehra

September 2010

Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA P.508.872.8200 F.508.935.4015 www.idc.com

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The IT market is entering a new era in which the importance of the network is greater
than ever.Emerging architectures demand networking expertise, and tightly
integrated systems and architectures are required to solve the complex problems of
enterprise deployments. Applications such as voice, video, and converged IT
architectures and services are placing fundamentally new demands on the network.
Meanwhile, traditional applications running across the network have also become
moreubiquitous and more demanding as the needs of businesses become more
"real time."
Further, driven in part by a tougher economic environment, enterprises are examining
all budget line items and are demanding solutions that not only satisfy current and
perceived future needs but also represent a smarter financial investment. Economic
benefits being sought now include not only low acquisition andoperating costs but
also improved productivity for IT staff and end users.
IDC believes that HP has clearly recognized the changing needs of the enterprise and
is positioning itself as a leading provider of converged infrastructure solutions that
include networking. In particular, with its recent acquisition of 3Com, HP has taken an
important step toward completing its enterprise offering. Bybringing this new broader
networking portfolio to market through HP's direct and indirect sales channels and
combining it with HP service offerings, HP Networking is now positioning itself to be a
global contender and provider to enterprises and major verticals.
To determine the return on investment (ROI) associated with implementation of an
HP Networking–based network solution, IDC conducted astudy of 12 medium-sized
to large organizations with an HP Networking infrastructure deployed in their
production environment. IDC estimates that these businesses were able to reduce
their total costs of networking by 66% and achieve a 466% ROI; a three-year
(discounted) benefit of $147,250 per 100 users; and payback on their initial
investment within 8.4 months.

SITUATION OVERVIEW
NetworkInfrastructure Growth Drivers in
Today's Enterprise
After suffering through the financial crises of 2008 and 2009, the IT industry in
general and the networking market in particular are showing signs of stabilizing.
Despite the slow economy, indeed because of it, enterprises need IT solutions that
help them improve service delivery, streamline operations, and keep their operating
costs low.And given the business-critical nature of the network to the IT operations of
the enterprise, IDC sees businesses continuing to invest in their networks. Major
drivers for enterprises making investments in networking equipment today include:
Importance of IT infrastructure convergence and the enabling role of the
network. Integration and IT convergence (e.g., servers, storage, networking) area major focus of enterprises today. Businesses are integrating mission-critical
applications with an eye toward streamlining operations to drive costs out of their
critical business functions, improve service delivery, and increase customer
satisfaction. No longer does the term "network-based businesses" refer only to
Internet-based businesses such as Google or Amazon; instead, the vastmajority
of enterprises today are highly dependent on their IT infrastructure, key business
applications, and the network that enables users to access those applications. If
the network goes down, it is no longer a minor inconvenience but a serious blow
to employee productivity and company revenue.
Growth in network endpoints. Enterprises must be able to handle not only a
growing number of...