Video Usage vs. Enterprise Networks

As video streaming threatens enterprise networks, Gartner research vice president Joe Skopura said video caching and stream-splitting can help IT manage the impact of video on a company’s WAN or Internet gateway. David Needle reports.

Some IT shops may view such dire warnings the same way an earlier generation scoffed at that Noah guy. But network service provider Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) is convinced video floods are, or soon will be, a very real threat to enterprise networks.

The company points to a recent Telegeography study that said streaming media now accounts for 18 percent of worldwide Internet traffic. Combine that with other video-heavy applications and video now makes up over half (52 percent) of worldwide Internet traffic, the research firm said.

“We know for a fact that video represents a sizable portion of corporate traffic. Not as bad as 50 percent, but it’s significant,” Steve Schick, Blue Coats’ director of communications, told InternetNews.com.

Schick points to several recent developments for the increase in video traffic. For example, in July the popular YouTube video-sharing service increased the time limit on videos by 50 percent, letting users upload videos up to 15 minutes long. He also noted advances in live streaming, making videos easier to launch from mobile devices.

Read the rest at Enterprise Networking Planet.