Archive

Study Gauges Growth of TCP/IP-Based Intranets

Jan. 13, 2005

The long battle of competing network standards and architecture for corporate intranets is over, according to a study just published by International Data Corp.an IT marketing and research consulting firm. In the future, corporate planning for networks will focus on one solution--an intranet based on TCP/IP (Internet protocols), says IDC. Forecasts and findings from the study supporting this conclusion include:

The worldwide installed base of PC TCP/IP will increase from 102 million units to 353 million units by 2001, representing a compound annual growth rate of 28%. Primary drivers include desktop operating-system bundling of the base protocol stack and customer demand for Internet access.

By 2001, 38,150 high-end servers will have TCP/IP software, up 118% from 1996. The growth of TCP/IP on high-end servers results from high-end server usage for intranet and Internet applications.

TCP/IP on the mainframe increased from 34% in 1994 to 74% in 1996. The extent of TCP/IP reach is most evident in traditional IBM environments where the need to create Internet-friendly communication servers is boosting the demand for TCP/IP on S/390 systems.