Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Service Provider Deep Packet Inspection Products report, which tracks deep packet inspection (DPI) software solutions and related hardware deployed in wireless and fixed-line networks.

DPI MARKET HIGHLIGHTS:
. The global deep packet inspection (DPI) market is forecast by Infonetics to grow at a 22% CAGR from 2013 to 2018
. Sandvine maintained its leading market share position in the overall DPI market, while Cisco narrowly took the lead in mobile DPI
. Traffic management remains the primary driver behind DPI deployments, particularly in markets such as Asia where video traffic is growing exponentially
. There is a growing interest in leveraging DPI to support more innovative service plans and content bundles, particularly in markets where net neutrality is an issue
. LTE is driving spending on DPI in developed markets, where the additional bandwidth is igniting more video consumption
. DPI suppliers are capitalizing on the demand for analytics solutions by providing tools and dashboards that analyze the data their products derive, allowing operators to gain insight into network, service, application, device, and subscriber behavior

“The path that network functions virtualization (NFV) will take remains a bit uncertain as standards crystallize and operators develop their strategies, but we believe that NFV will ultimately have a significant impact on the deep packet inspection (DPI) market,” notes Shira Levine, directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence at Infonetics Research.

Rebuttal: We think NFV is years away from having an impact on any market.  There are no standards for protocols, interfaces, APIs, management & orchestration, service chaining, etc.  Therefore, all NFV solutions will be proprietary and may not be able to effectively communicate with legacy equipment with the same functionality as the “virtual appliance” using NFV which is software running on an off the shelf compute server.  There is also the issue of NFV performance, particularly if there’s no hardware assists/accelerators built into the server or NICs.  And performance is crucial for DPI support of real time/streaming video traffic which requires low latency and jitter.  For more info see:

http://viodi.com/2014/11/18/sdn-and-nfv-takeaways-from-light-readings-network-components-conference-in-santa-clara/

http://viodi.com/2014/09/25/light-readings-nfv-and-the-data-center-operator-keynotes-security-summary-part-2/

Levine continues: “As DPI functionality becomes decoupled from the underlying hardware, operators will be able to extend it further out into the network more cost effectively, driving continued market growth. As this occurs, the line between DPI platform vendors and suppliers of DPI components will begin to blur, creating a shift in the vendor landscape.” 

DPI REPORT SYNOPSIS:
Infonetics’ biannual DPI report provides worldwide and regional market size, vendor market share, forecasts through 2018, analysis, and trends for deep packet inspection products used in wireless and fixed-line service provider networks. Companies tracked: Allot, Arbor, Cisco, Huawei, Procera, Qosmos, Sandvine, and others.

To buy the report, contact Infonetics: www.infonetics.com/contact.asp

RELATED REPORT EXCERPTS (http://www.infonetics.com/market-research-report-highlights.asp)
. Infonetics forecasts carrier SDN and NFV market to reach $11 billion by 2018
. US$1 trillion to be spent on telecom and datacom equipment and software over next 5 years
. Network expansions driving convergent charging market, dominated by Asia Pacific
. Data brokering is next frontier for subscriber data management
. Huawei, Ericsson top Infonetics policy management scorecard; Oracle, Amdocs in hot pursuit

RECENT AND UPCOMING RESEARCH (http://www.infonetics.com/research.asp?cvg=NextGenOSSandPolicy)
Download Infonetics’ 2014 market research brochure, publication calendar, events brochure, report highlights, tables of contents, and more at www.infonetics.com/login.
. Infonetics’ 2015 Market Research Lineup
. Analyst Note: Service Delivery Innovation Wrap-Up: Connected Cows, the Death of the Long Tail, and Deep Thoughts about SDPs (Sept.)
. Analyst Note: Oracle OpenWorld: All about NFV (Oct.)
. Subscriber Intelligence Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey (Nov.)
. Subscriber Data Management Software and Services Forecast (Nov.)
. Policy Management Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Service Provider Survey (Dec.)