IDC survey sponsored by Ciena reveals concerns of region’s tech leaders about network connectivity, security and performance

Ciena® Corporation (NYSE: CIEN), the network specialist, and International Data Corporation (IDC), the premier global provider of market intelligence, today announced results from a comprehensive survey of Latin American corporate IT leaders, which revealed that 80 percent expect their organizations’ connectivity needs to increase almost two-fold during the next 24 months. Respondents also said that nearly half (45 percent) of their network traffic comes from tablets and smartphones, and they expect usage from these devices to increase by 55 percent and 34 percent, respectively, over the same period.

The findings from this study illustrate that businesses in Latin America have come to recognize that their communication networks are a strategic business asset and a source of competitive differentiation by enabling a superior customer experience. According to Ciena, these survey results reveal a growing market need as well as an opportunity for service providers in the region to take steps toward modernizing their networks to handle the rising demand for advanced communications services and applications.

Key Findings:

• 68 percent of Latin American technology leaders surveyed stated that the growing need to handle additional services and applications – like video, unified communications and file sharing – is most responsible for changing their connectivity needs.
• Approximately 50 percent of respondents use video, which accounts for more than 50 percent of total bandwidth consumption. Multimedia, collaboration and Big Data solutions are the top bandwidth consumers, according to respondents surveyed. In the next 24 months, IDC expects social networking and business-related applications to drive the next wave of traffic growth.
• When asked to indicate which connectivity characteristics will be more important to their businesses in the next three years, 73 percent of survey respondents listed network security as the top concern. Adding more bandwidth to support more business processes was the second largest concern (62 percent), followed by network availability/uptime (60 percent).
• Latin American tech leaders feel that mobile solutions provide an opportunity to broaden customer channels and strengthen communication interfaces via marketing and branding efforts. This is reflected in the fact that 50 percent of leaders surveyed have deployed mobile-friendly websites and 40 percent have enabled mobile customer attention channels in the last 12 months.
• 87 percent of respondents declared that their organization possesses between one and two data centers and 77 percent have data centers in their own locations. Respondents expect capacity requirements related to data center connectivity to increase 80 percent in the next five years.
• The survey also revealed that the primary use of the network varies by country. In Argentina, 60 percent indicated a main use is as a collaborative platform; in Mexico, 49 percent indicated the main use is to gain access to the organization from remote locations, and in Brazil, 48 percent use it as an asset to sell or deliver services to their end customer.

Executive Comments:

• “Now more than ever, the network plays a key role in driving business success. The concerns captured in this survey further illustrate that point and the region’s current condition, one where rapidly changing behaviors inside and outside of companies are placing increasing pressure on networks and the carriers that support them. Service providers have an opportunity to help businesses transform their existing networks to leverage more open network architectures that are scalable, programmable and that can handle the growing demands derived from mobility, cloud computing and advanced business applications."
  -          Hector Silva, CTO and Strategic Sales Leader for Latin America, Ciena

• “This survey illustrates that companies in Latin America are starting to recognize their networks as a strategic asset as they continue to increase the integration of new applications, mobile platforms and services to deliver a superior experience for their customers. This is resulting in a dramatic change to businesses’ connectivity needs. In order for companies to continue on this path, it is clear they must take actions now to ensure the infrastructure is in place so that their businesses can successfully leverage the network as a source of competitive differentiation.”
  -          Romina Adduci, Telecom Research and Consulting Director, IDC

Upcoming Webinars:

• To find more information about the survey, please join a webinar in Spanish on February 4 at 10 a.m. EST/ 12 p.m ART. To register click here. There will also be a webinar in Portuguese on February 5 at 11 a.m. BRST. Click here to register.

About the Study:

• IDC Latin America Tech Leaders Insight was commissioned by Ciena as a study to identify the latest connectivity trends, which refers to the measure of the extent to which components of a network have the ability to be linked with each other as well as with systems.
• The October 2013 study surveyed more than 100 tech leaders across Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.
• The research focus included respondents from four vertical markets, Finance, Healthcare, Telecom, and Others, in large enterprises of 500-plus employees.

About International Data Corporation (IDC)IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment communities make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company.

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About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with its OPⁿ architecture for next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter @Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena. Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website at www.ciena.com/investors, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 20, 2013. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.