Bandwidth requirements set to surge

But budget priorities lie elsewhere, say IT managers

Half of IT managers expect their bandwidth requirements to more than double over the next five years, but few are confident they will be allocated enough budget to deal with this, according to new research from business comms provider Viatel.

The growth in email and web traffic was cited as the number one reason for the increasing burden on corporate networks. Video on-demand, Voice over IP and the growth in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems were also highlighted.

"If companies do not have sufficient bandwidth, a number of problems can occur, including delays to external communications and business critical applications such as order processing, billing, ERP, finance and sales," explained Viatel product director Michael Davies.

Yet despite the recognition that bandwidth needs are set to rocket, IT managers surveyed said their priorities lay elsewhere with things like security and business continuity taking precedent.