Gartner defines 5G network infrastructure as “components and capabilities that support communications service providers (CSPs) in providing connectivity services such as mobile broadband, fixed wireless access and voice communication over a 5G network.” Gartner considers 5G to be foundational technology, implemented to evolve a CSP’s core business process, including in the consumer business and enterprise business sectors.
Gartner defines customer management and experience solutions as part of business support systems (BSS) solutions for CSPs, and as commercial off-the-shelf software solutions that address CSPs’ all customer-facing operational requirements. This includes managing customer channels, customer information, incidents, products, pricing, quotes and offers, order and partner management. CM&X solutions often work together with revenue management and monetization solutions as part of a complete BSS stack.
Gartner defines CSP revenue management and monetization as a part of BSS, as commercial off-the-shelf software solutions that enable CSPs to manage their revenue management (rating, charging, billing, payments, collections, revenue assurance and fraud management) and monetization initiatives. RM&M solutions also enable CSPs with billing and payments associated customer care. Monetization refers to revenue growth initiatives and activities using levers, such as solutions for mobile banking, supporting as-a-service propositions and new business models.
Gartner defines cloud AI developer services (CAIDS) as cloud-hosted or containerized services and products that enable software developers who are not data science experts to use artificial intelligence (AI) models via APIs, software development kits (SDKs) or applications. Core capabilities include automated machine learning (autoML) including automated data preparation, automated feature engineering and automated model building, and model management and operationalization for language, vision and tabular use cases. Optional and important complementary capabilities include AI code models and assistants. Cloud AI developer services help organizations embed intelligence, such as AI and ML insights, into their applications. While that is what cloud AI developer services offer, it is more important to note how they accomplish this. These services democratize and increase the availability of AI and ML to software engineers through the automation and features offered. Traditional activities regarding data acquisition, data quality, feature engineering, algorithm selection and model training are augmented by the technology. Cloud AI developer services open up a world of possibilities for software engineers to build AI and ML production capabilities and features for enterprise-built applications.
Gartner defines the market for cloud database management systems (DBMSs) as the market for software products that store and manipulate data and that are primarily delivered as software as a service (SaaS) in the cloud. Cloud DBMSs may optionally be capable of running on-premises, or in hybrid, multicloud or intercloud configurations. They can be used for transactional work and/or analytical work. They may have features that enable them to participate in a wider data ecosystem. Must-have capabilities for this market include: Availability as SaaS on provider-managed public or private cloud systems; Management of data within cloud storage — that is, cloud DBMSs are not hosted in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), such as in a virtual machine or a container managed by the customer.
Gartner defines cloud WAAP as a category of security solutions designed to protect web applications irrespective of their hosted locations. Typically delivered as a service, cloud WAAP is offered as a series of security modules that provide protection from a broad range of runtime attacks. It offers protection from the Top 10 web application security risks defined by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and automated threats, provides API security, and can detect and protect against multiple sophisticated Layer 7 attacks targeted at web applications. Cloud WAAP’s core features include web application firewall (WAF), bot management, distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation and API protection.
The CCI market covers solutions that include the equipment, software and services that enable customer service organizations to manage multichannel customer interactions holistically (using self-service and assisted service) from a customer experience and an employee engagement perspective. Central to the definition of CCI is that the solutions are dedicated to supporting a single customer or tenant on each instance of the system, even if that customer or tenant supports multiple contact center operations on that dedicated instance. CCI solutions are used by customer service and telemarketing centers, employee service and support centers, help desk service centers, and other types of structured communications operations.
Gartner defines container management as offerings that enable the deployment and operation of containerized workloads. Delivery methods include stand-alone software or as a service. Delivery methods include cloud, managed service and software for containers running on-premises, in the public cloud and/or at the edge. Container management automates the provisioning, operation and life cycle management of containerized workloads at scale. Centralized governance and security policies are used to manage container workloads and associated resources. Container management supports the requirements of modern applications (also refactoring legacy applications), including platform engineering, cloud management and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Benefits include improved agility, elasticity and access to innovation.
The corporate telephony market is evolving from a focus on innovation in proprietary hardware to use of commodity hardware and standards-based software. While most telephony solutions are Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled or IP-PBX solutions, the associated endpoints are a mix of time division multiplexing (TDM) and IP. Corporate telephony platforms focus on high-availability, scalable solutions, which support Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), desktop and soft phone functionality, and the ability to integrate with enterprise IT applications while delivering toll-grade voice quality.
The data center and cloud networking vendors covered in this market provide hardware and/or software solutions to deliver connectivity primarily within enterprise data centers. This includes data center core/spine switches, access switches (top of rack [ToR], leaf), virtual switching, Ethernet fabrics, network operating systems (NOSs) and network overlays, and the requisite management, automation and orchestration of those components.
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Gartner defines desktop as a service (DaaS) as the provision of virtual desktops by public cloud or other service providers. DaaS provides desktop or application end-user experiences from virtual machines (VMs) accessed using a remote display protocol. DaaS vendors incorporate a fully managed control plane service into their offerings, which facilitates user connections and provides a management interface. DaaS can be delivered preconfigured as a service. Alternatively, it can be delivered as a platform, in which case the client is responsible for assembly, configuration and management. DaaS is charged for using subscription- or usage-based payment structures. DaaS solutions allow remote workers, offshore workers, third-party employees, contractors, home workers and office workers to access virtual desktops hosted in the cloud. DaaS solutions include technology that enables centralized management of all VMs. DaaS virtual desktops can be configured for a variety of use cases associated with contact center workers, process workers, information workers, and workers who require high-performance computing or rich graphics.
Gartner defines DevOps platforms as those that provide fully integrated capabilities to enable continuous delivery of software using Agile and DevOps practices. The capabilities span the development and delivery life cycle built around the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline and include aspects such as versioning, testing, security, documentation and compliance. DevOps platforms support team collaboration, consistency, tool simplification and measurement of software delivery metrics. DevOps platforms simplify the creation, maintenance and management of the components required for the delivery of modern software applications. Platforms create common workflows and data models, simplify user access, and provide a consistent user experience (UX) to reduce cognitive load. They lead to improved visibility, auditability and traceability into the software development value stream. This end-to-end view encourages a systems-thinking mindset and accelerates feedback loops.
Edge Distribution Platform (EDP) is a highly distributed, edge-based, integrated network and cloud delivery infrastructure. It provides as-a-service functionalities such as edge compute and storage, web application and perimeter security, content and API acceleration, and data and analytics and AI applications. Edge distribution platform providers offer these functionalities by deploying network, compute, storage and caching nodes across geographically distributed self-owned or third party data center locations. Figure 1 shows the functionalities and potential offerings provided from an edge distribution platform
An embedded operating system (OS) is a type of OS that is used in embedded computing devices. The term 'embedded' refers to devices that are installed (that is, embedded) as built-in components of a wider system, in which they serve a special, functional purpose. Embedded OSs differ from other types of OSs by their optimized design. Form factors, price points and other parameters of embedded devices set constraints on the OS, for example, in terms of functionality, user interface, memory space and driver support. Consequently, the architectures of embedded OSs tend to be extensively optimized for single-purpose deployment, stripped out of anything that is considered unnecessary for their use. This does not mean that embedded OSs cannot be applied outside of embedded devices. For instance, it is common to see embedded real-time operating systems (RTOSs) being used to handle the baseband functionality in smartphones.
Gartner defines enterprise backup and recovery software solutions as technology that captures a point-in-time copy (backup) of enterprise data in on-premises, hybrid, multicloud and software as a service (SaaS) environments. These solutions write this data to one or more secondary storage targets for the primary purpose of recovering it in case of loss. Protecting and recovering business application data, irrespective of the underlying infrastructure type and its location, is more important than ever. As enterprises move toward more complex environments that include large and expansive amounts of business-critical data, enterprise backup and recovery software solutions protect these workloads, whether they reside in on-premises, hybrid, multicloud or software as a service (SaaS) environments. These solutions are vital to organizations’ ability to recover data following events that cause it to become inaccessible. Whether such an event is accidental, malicious or environmental, organizations use these solutions to recover and restore access to the affected data accurately and efficiently. Solutions must offer effective capabilities to simplify the management of data protection across complex enterprise environments. They must also ensure reliable recovery not just from accidental or operational errors but also from data loss arising from constantly changing threats, and expedite and orchestrate data recovery responses to traditional disaster and ransomware events.
Gartner defines enterprise low-code application platforms (LCAPs) as platforms for accelerated development and maintenance of applications, using model-driven tools for the entire application’s technology stack, generative AI and prebuilt component catalogs. Enterprise LCAPs target software engineering teams responsible for custom application development and maintenance. Enterprise LCAP features include support for the collaborative development of all application components; runtime environments for high performance, availability and scalability of applications; application deployment and monitoring with detailed usage insights. Enterprise LCAP platforms feature governance controls and success management through self-service capabilities and APIs, developer documentation and training, and service-level agreements for platform operations. Enterprise LCAPs provide the foundation for developing a wide range of application types and application components, including complex front ends, business process automation and distributed data sources.
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Gartner defines the enterprise wired and wireless LAN infrastructure market as wired and wireless networking hardware and the related network software. Related components of the solution include enterprise switches, access points and the requisite tools to secure, manage, test and optimize the network infrastructure that provides connectivity for users, devices and applications that may reside on the network or on other networks. Enterprises in all vertical markets use enterprise wired and wireless networks to connect and transport data for fixed and end-user devices to applications that may be local or remote to the physical end user. In addition to physical connectivity, these solutions provide the following capabilities in diverse markets, including the ability to: 1. Discover, identify, secure, manage and segment Internet of Things (IoT)/operational technology (OT) devices 2. Support, test and maintain network infrastructure components 3. Provide a resilience infrastructure 4. Secure the network infrastructure 5. Provide scalability and flexibility for management and control plane communication processes 6. Provide no-touch/low-touch Day 2 environment
Gartner defines file and object storage platforms as software and/or hardware platforms that offer object and distributed file system technologies for storing and managing unstructured data over NFS, SMB and Amazon S3 access protocols. File and object storage platforms store, secure, protect and scale an organization’s unstructured data with access over the network using protocols such as NFS, SMB and Amazon S3. Use cases include analytics, workload consolidation, backup and archiving, hybrid cloud, object-native applications, cloud IT operations, and high-performance files.
Full-stack HCI software provides a complete software solution that includes virtualized compute, storage and networking from a single instantiation designed to run on-premises or in a colocation environment. This market consists of those vendors that develop and sell hyperconverged infrastructure software that comprises the vendor’s own server virtualization, software-defined storage and network management tools. The full-stack software solution may also be integrated with a hardware stack as a complete offering spanning both software and hardware. In the last year, the full-stack HCI market has been heavily influenced by the positioning of storage virtualization and private cloud infrastructure looking to revirtualize compute, as well as considering alternatives to incumbent vendors.
Hadoop distributions are used to provide scalable, distributed computing against on-premises and cloud-based file store data. Distributions are composed of commercially packaged and supported editions of open-source Apache Hadoop-related projects. Distributions provide access to applications, query/reporting tools, machine learning and data management infrastructure components. First introduced as collections of components for any use case, distributions are now often delivered as part of a specific solution for data lakes, machine learning or other uses. They subsequently grow into additional, expanded roles, competing with both older technologies like database management systems (DBMSs) and newer ones like Apache Spark.
Gartner defines IT Services for Communication Service Providers (ITS-CSP) as multivendor IT services CSPs buy to: ■ Enable solutions to their customers, particularly enterprises ■ Transform their customer, partner, workforce, service or infrastructure management IT must deliver a cloud-first, agile, automation- and intelligence-based “digital factory” that can support broader corporate goals of product diversification, innovation, revenue growth and improved digital customer journeys. Geopolitical issues, ecosystems, transparency, trust and security are mission-critical in the uncertain world and add to the factors affecting CSPs’ competitiveness. Communications service providers want to buy and understand business outcomes over technology. They want their IT service partners to have a personal investment. CIOs in large CSPs would like to work with a smaller number of more strategic IT service partners. At the same time, business unit leaders also want to speed up their initiatives, creating possibilities for IT service providers. CSPs want help with revenue growth from enterprises, including joint go-to-market and new digital technology capabilities from IT service providers. Communications service providers expect cost-efficiency from automation, from IT enabling their networks and from using more cloud-delivered software capability. All this is underpinned by the CSP’s desire to run data-focused businesses, including digital key performance indicators (KPIs).
Infrastructure monitoring tools capture the health and resource utilization of IT infrastructure components, no matter where they reside (e.g., in a data center, at the edge, infrastructure as a service [IaaS] or platform as a service [PaaS] in the cloud). This enables I&O leaders to monitor and collate the availability and resource utilization data of physical and virtual entities — including servers, containers, network devices, database instances, hypervisors and storage. These tools collect data in real time and perform historical data analysis or trending of the elements they monitor.
Gartner defines integration platform as a service (iPaaS) as a vendor-managed cloud service that enables end users to implement integrations between a variety of applications, services and data sources, both internal and external to their organization. iPaaS enables end users of the platform to integrate a variety of internal and external applications, services and data sources for at least one of the three main uses of integration technology: Data consistency: The ability to monitor for or be notified by applications, services and data sources about changes, and to propagate those changes to the appropriate applications and data destinations (for example, “synchronize customer data” or “ingest into data lake”). Multistep process: The ability to implement multistep processes between applications, services and data sources (for example, to “onboard employee” or “process insurance claim”). Composite service: The ability to create composite services exposed as APIs or events and composed from existing applications, services and data sources (for example, to create a “credit check” service or to create a “generate fraud score” service). These integration processes, data pipelines, workflows, automations and composite services are most commonly created via intuitive low-code or no-code developer environments, though some vendors provide more-complex developer tooling.
The network intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) appliance market is composed of stand-alone physical and virtual appliances that inspect defined network traffic either on-premises or in the cloud. They are often located in the network to inspect traffic that has passed through perimeter security devices, such as firewalls, secure Web gateways and secure email gateways. IDPS devices are deployed in-line and perform full-stream reassembly of network traffic. They provide detection via several methods — for example, signatures, protocol anomaly detection, behavioral monitoring or heuristics, advanced threat defense (ATD) integration, and threat intelligence (TI). When deployed in-line, IDPSs can also use various techniques to detect and block attacks that are identified with high confidence; this is one of the primary benefits of this technology. Next-generation IDPSs have evolved in response to advanced targeted threats that can evade first-generation IDPSs.
Meeting solutions are real-time communication services with their associated devices that support live interactions between participants for internal and external collaboration, presentations, learning, training sessions and webinars. Meeting solutions power diverse use cases, such as one-on-one meetings, remote sales engagements, board meetings, telehealth sessions, remote banking and consulting services, to name just a few. Meeting solutions enable rich information sharing and interaction by combining audio and video, in-meeting chat, content and screen sharing, and visual collaboration and whiteboarding.
Gartner defines multienterprise collaboration networks (MCNs) as solutions that support a community of trading partners of any tier and type that need to coordinate and execute on business processes extending across multiple enterprises. Gartner considers cloud-based MCNs to be a key technology to coordinate, orchestrate and automate an organization’s extended supply chain within the overall business ecosystem they operate in. The key capabilities of MCN solutions include three layers: Network representation and management, Application functions, Embedded analytics and intelligence.
Gartner defines network access control (NAC) as technologies that enable organizations to implement policies for controlling access to corporate infrastructure by both user-oriented devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Policies may be based on authentication, endpoint configuration (posture) or users' role/identity. NAC can also implement postconnect policies based on integration with other security products. For example, NAC could enforce a policy to contain the endpoint based on an alert from a SIEM. An organization should evaluate the following capabilities: • Device visibility/profiling • Access control • Security posture check • Guest management • Bidirectional integration with other security products.
Gartner defines the network firewall market as the market for firewalls that use bidirectional stateful traffic inspection (for both egress and ingress) to secure networks. Network firewalls are enforced through hardware, virtual appliances and cloud-native controls. Network firewalls are used to secure networks. These can be on-premises, hybrid (on-premises and cloud), public cloud or private cloud networks. Network firewall products support different deployment use cases, such as for perimeters, midsize enterprises, data centers, clouds, cloud-native and distributed offices.
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An operational support system (OSS) is a set of programs that help a company in monitoring, controlling, analyzing and managing a computer network. OSS software is specifically dedicated to communications service providers and mainly used for supporting network planning, network provisioning, service fulfillment, and service assurance from a common core of service and resource management. Other functionality includes embedded analytics, correlation and aggregation, reporting, product life cycle management, multichannel support, resource and asset planning. OSS data is of strategic importance to measure the impact of operational technical processes on customer and business goals.
The primary storage platform (PSP) market addresses the need of I&O leaders to operate and support standardized enterprise storage products, along with platform-native service capabilities to support structured data applications. PSP products like primary enterprise storage arrays provide mandatory and common enterprise-class primary storage features and capabilities needed to support the platform. Platform-native services like storage as a service (STaaS) and ransomware protection, with PSP product capabilities, are required to support platform-native services. The PSP market has emerged at the convergence of two major enterprise storage market developments: the evolution of the PSP product market in conjunction with the demand for hybrid, multidomain platform-native storage services, extending on-premises services to public cloud, edge and colocation environments.
Gartner defines SD-WAN as functionality primarily used to connect branch locations to other enterprise and cloud locations. SD-WAN products provide dynamic path selection based on business or application policy, routing, centralized orchestration of policy and management of appliances, virtual private network (VPN), and zero-touch configuration. SD-WAN products are WAN transport/carrier-agnostic and create secure paths across physical WAN connections. SD-WAN products replace traditional branch routers and enable connectivity between enterprise branch locations as well as the cloud. They facilitate WAN connectivity’s evolution from Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-centric to public internet-centric in support of enterprise traffic shifts from private data centers to public cloud and SaaS.
SIEM is a configurable security system of record that aggregates and analyzes security event data from on-premises and cloud environments. SIEM assists with response actions to mitigate issues that cause harm to the organization and satisfy compliance and reporting requirements. The security information and event management (SIEM) system must assist with: 1. Aggregating and normalizing data from various IT and operational technology (OT) environments 2. Identifying and investigating security events of interest 3. Supporting manual and automated response actions 4. Maintaining and reporting on current and historical security events
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Gartner defines strategic cloud platform services (SCPS) as standardized, automated, public cloud offerings integrating infrastructure services (e.g., computing, network and storage), platform services (e.g., application, data and value-added services such as AI/ML) and transformation services (resources to help customers adopt cloud-oriented IT delivery models). Although owned by the service provider, infrastructure and platform services may be hosted in providers’ infrastructures or customers’ data centers. Services should be elastically scalable, metered by use, and consumable via web-based interfaces and programmable APIs. Transformation programs may be delivered by automated, self-service interfaces, and managed interactions facilitated by account teams/partners.
All unified communications (UC) solutions are intended principally to improve user productivity and enhance business processes that relate to communications and collaboration. Gartner defines UC solutions — equipment, software and services — as offerings that facilitate the use of multiple enterprise communications methods to achieve those aims. UC solutions integrate communications channels (media), networks and systems, as well as IT business applications, and, in some cases, consumer applications and devices. UC offers the ability to significantly improve how individuals, groups and companies interact and perform. The UC solutions that enterprises deploy range from stand-alone suites from single vendors, to integrated applications and platforms from multiple vendors. UC is often deployed to extend and add functionality to established communications investments.
Gartner defines a unified endpoint management (UEM) tool as a software-based tool that provides agent and agentless management of computers and mobile devices through a single console. Modern UEM tools: Provide a user-centric view of devices across device platforms; Offer agent and/or agentless management through native Windows endpoint, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS controls. Offer agentless mobile management through native Apple iOS/iPad OS and Google Android controls; Aggregate telemetry and signals from identities, apps, connectivity and devices to inform policy and related actions; Aggregate and analyze technology performance and employee experience data; Integrate with identity, security and remote access tools to support zero-trust access and contextual authentication, vulnerability, policy, and configuration and data management; Manage nontraditional devices, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, wearables and rugged handhelds.