A few months ago we asked 600 IT professionals and executives about network monitoring and troubleshooting practices. One area we covered was using NetFlow to monitor and troubleshoot network and application performance. Earlier this week, I explored NetFlow use and trends more in-depth.
Overall we found that 23% of respondents used NetFlow to monitor network performance, while 60% did not use flow technologies. 17% were unsure whether they had any type of flow collector.
Significance of Size
A strong correlation exists between network size and whether an organization relies on NetFlow to monitor performance. Enterprise-sized organizations (33%) were the leaders in NetFlow use, followed by networks of between 500-2499 users (26%). There was a clear drop off in NetFlow use (16%) by smaller organizations.
We illustrate this trend below. Use is classified by network size.
NetFlow
Impact of Geography
Another variable I looked at was the organization’s location. With only a 4% difference between North American (20%) and European (24%) organizations using NetFlow, I didn’t think geography was a statistically relevant factor. Interestingly, 32% of Asian respondents said they used NetFlow. The sample size of Asian organizations, however, wasn’t large enough to allow me to compare it to other locations.
The NetFlow Takeaway
Many respondents were unaware of NetFlow or didn’t leverage the technology for monitoring. These answers accounted for 77% of respondents. This clearly suggests an opportunity to help people affordably gain network visibility with NetFlow.
To place the numbers into perspective, I searched for other studies on NetFlow use. I found a study by the Aberdeen Group that fell in line with our results, especially at the enterprise level.
In a recent E-Commerce Times interview of Derek E. Brink, vice president and research director for the IT research firm:
“In recent studies we’ve asked questions about current use versus planned use of solutions that leverage network flow data. One study in particular showed that 31 percent of all respondents currently use such solutions, with an additional 36 percent indicating plans to use it within the next two years. Companies are definitely looking to improve their network security, and also the efficiency of their operations…”
June 27, 2008 at 2:03 pm |
[...] are some interesting NetFlow use stats from our friends at Network Instruments. In a survey they did a few months ago, only 23% of [...]