Huawei announces White Paper on Enterprise Network Maturity

— Defining Five Maturity Levels for Fully Wireless Campus Networks

[Shenzhen, China, October 26, 2021] Recently, Huawei commissioned IDC to survey 504 enterprises across nine industries in nine countries, to gain insight into their wireless network maturity. The result based on the survey findings, is the IDC White Paper, white paper Enterprise Network Maturity: Wireless Networking's Key Role in Digital Transformation.

This IDC white paper proposes a Wireless LAN (WLAN) Maturity Index for assisting enterprise chief information officers (CIOs) in obtaining a more objective evaluation of how mature their networks are. This Index can also be used by enterprises as an important and practical reference for building a future-proof digital service campus network that aligns with their digital strategies.

Over the past decade, cloud and mobile computing have become the primary technology enablers of enterprise digital transformation. Meanwhile, as a mission-critical infrastructure of enterprises, the campus network not only connects numerous office and production terminals, but also underpins cloud-based digital services.

Today, Wi-Fi 6 is the new norm, rapidly becoming the first-choice access mode on enterprise office networks, school campus networks, and even production networks across industries such as healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. Indeed, it's no surprise that many enterprises are moving towards "wireless-first" infrastructures.

However, most enterprise wireless networks are still in the early days. According to IDC's findings, only 24% of respondents are "satisfied" with their existing Wi-Fi networks. Against this backdrop, this white paper is intended to help CIOs in various industries to establish wireless network evaluation criteria and construction guidelines based on their own levels of digitalization.

Digital transformation is driving enterprises to transform their networks, especially wireless networks. As such, this white paper defines five maturity levels (Level 1 to Level 5) across 10 categories of wireless networking, helping enterprises evaluate their digital transformation stages and wireless network maturity as well as quickly find their own benchmarks.

As outlined in the white paper, different vertical industries are at varying stages of wireless maturity. Specifically, financial and manufacturing industries are the most mature in wireless networking, while industries such as government, education, healthcare, and stadiums/entertainment venues are at mixed stages of maturity.

IDC analyst Brandon Butler commented: "All organizations should strive to have a mature wireless network. However, IDC's WLAN Maturity Index shows that enterprises are at varying stages of maturity. Organizations can take certain steps to increase the maturity of their networks. For this, we have provided eight recommended actions in the white paper."

Dr. Li Xing, President of the Campus Network Domain, Huawei's Data Communication Product Line, said: "Wi-Fi technology is now in its sixth generation. And although Wi-Fi technology can already provide near-gigabit speeds for each user, we've observed that many enterprises do not enjoy the best wireless network experience. With this in mind, we're glad to collaborate with IDC to conduct in-depth market research, helping enterprises build an 'experience first' fully wireless network in a scientific and quantitative way."

To learn more about IDC survey findings and recommendations, download IDC White Paper, sponsored by Huawei, Enterprise Network Maturity: Wireless Networking's Key Role in Digital Transformation (doc#US47545421).