New InformationWeek Reports Research Finds Cisco Rated Highest For Overall LAN Product Performance

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- InformationWeek Reports (http://reports.informationweek.com), a service for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report. IT Pro Ranking: LAN Equipment Vendors encompasses analysis of results from InformationWeek's recent LAN Equipment Vendor Evaluation Survey and provides readers with detailed user ratings from 444 respondents of LAN vendors across areas such as product performance, product reliability and other key evaluation criteria. The full report is available free of charge to registered users at http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/19/8564/Network-Infrastructure/it-pro-ranking-lan-equipment-vendors.html.

Research Summary:

Respondents ranked Cisco Systems best overall performer based on a set of 11 criteria, with a score of 77% out of a possible 100%. Hewlett-Packard, Juniper and Brocade all received scores of 73%. Dell scored 71%, and Netgear finished at the bottom of the pack with a score of 70%.

Findings: 

• Cisco scored the top rating (4.4 out of 5) for product reliability, followed by HP and Juniper, both earning a rating of 3.9.
• Cost per port was rated the most important LAN equipment feature, at 4.1; Netgear was the top vendor across this criterion, rated 3.9, with Dell (3.8) and HP (3.7) close behind.
• 40% are considering replacing their current LAN vendor or adding another vendor, with capital cost savings cited as the primary reason.
• 52% have multivendor LAN environments, while 48% are homogenous.

Mike Fratto is editor of Network Computing. He covers network infrastructure and network access control and has extensive experience evaluating enterprise remote access, security and network infrastructure products.

For full access to the research data, please visit: http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/19/8564/Network-Infrastructure/it-pro-ranking-lan-equipment-vendors.html.

"Cisco may lead in categories like best performance and reliability, but it shouldn't get too comfy," says Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Reports. "When it comes to acquisition cost, Cisco got a 3.0, the lowest score, vs. 4.1 for Dell."

For more information:
Art Wittmann
VP & Managing Director, InformationWeek Reports
415-947-6361
awittmann@techweb.com

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