Network management predictions for 2010

In 2010, network automation will be a reality -- maybe. And virtualization will not be quite the headache in 2010 that it is for network managers today.
Virtualization management gets easier: Application-based vendors will continue to add support for and recognize more virtualized infrastructure, Frey said, lowering capital expenses and deployment times for enterprises. "Everything's going virtual," he said. "I know this is not new, but especially in the second half of next year … all the management tool [vendors will be] either adding support for virtual components … or recognizing virtual components."
Automation: Expect vendors to add more automation into network management tools, Frey said. "Virtualization has one other side impact … the need for more automation -- especially around configuration management, around auditing and around monitoring configuration," he said. "[Enterprises are] trying to keep up with monitoring the health of these investments."
Mobility: Wireless LAN is here to stay, and not all enterprises are prepared. "There's no slowing the pace of growth in the use of mobile endpoints, and a number of times they're showing up as the preferred end client," Frey said. "The challenge around this is the more and more people want to use those as their primary computing device, you've got a whole new set of challenges for measuring and [securing] the user experience."
Video on the network: Cisco's acquisition of Tandberg will translate into "a lot more aggressive deployment of video conferencing," Frey said. "Cisco does this for a reason -- it requires a lot bigger network. You need more bandwidth." Many enterprises have yet to embrace video conferencing and won't have their networks prepared for the rush, he added. "It will be sort of like voice over IP in its first years of existence," Frey said. "Once they started to roll [VoIP] out over their entire organizations, they realized how many skeletons they had in the proverbial wiring closet." If enterprises aren't prepared, he said, they can expect 10 times the wiring challenges they faced with VoIP.
Note: Network management predictions for 2010, provided by Jim Frey--research director at Enterprise Management Associates.