DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / SEPTEMBER 15, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 37    ( Table of Contents )

Special Features:

TELECOM GETTING BOOST FROM GRID COMPUTING GROWTH

As the financial services, manufacturing, and health care industries ramp up their use of grid computing technology, the resulting increase in communications traffic will act like a shot in the arm for the hard-pressed telecom sector, according to a new market research study by Insight Research Corporation.

Grids are a form of distributed system wherein computing and information resources are shared across networks. Spending by enterprises on this new technology will climb into the billions of dollars by 2008, and will have a positive impact on telecommunications companies, the market research study says. According to Insight Research's new study, Grid Computing: A Vertical Market Perspective 2003-2008, telecom firms should view grid and on-demand computing technologies as drivers of bandwidth demand, as more data, applications, and messages are exchanged across the network. Worldwide grid spending is forecasted to grow at a compounded annual rate of 81 percent, from $250 million in 2003 to $4.89 billion in 2008.

"The grid community is just beginning to address the telecom network as a critical component of the overall platform," says Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research president. "We know that whenever a grid goes in, network bandwidth requirements go way up," Rosenberg continues. "Although it may be too early to speculate on specific services that would best meet the requirements of grid computing applications, we know that knowledgeable service providers will be positioned to capitalize on these emerging opportunities."

Insight's market analysis indicates that grid network architecture will likely drive demand for native Ethernet services, with an increased need for processor-to-processor meshed connections. Ethernet pricing will have to be palatable, however, and bandwidth-on-demand services will have to be readily available.

Grid Computing: A Vertical Market Perspective examines grid spending by 14 vertical industries categorized by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.