Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure 2021

The 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure offered a snapshot of the suppliers shaping business networking. It assessed companies that provide the switches, wireless access points and management software used to connect people, devices and applications across enterprise networks.

For organisations reviewing their network strategy, the report provided a way to compare vendors’ capabilities and future direction. It was not, however, a product ranking or a substitute for evaluating a solution against an organisation’s own technical and commercial requirements.

What the Magic Quadrant assessed

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant places vendors on a chart using two measures: Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. Ability to Execute reflects factors such as product capability, customer experience, operations and market performance. Completeness of Vision considers a vendor’s understanding of the market, its strategy, innovation and plans for the future.

Vendors are grouped into four categories: Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries and Niche Players. These positions are intended to help readers understand the market landscape; they do not guarantee that a vendor will be the right fit for every organisation.

Vendors in the 2021 report

The 2021 report named Cisco, HPE (Aruba), Juniper Networks and Extreme Networks as Leaders. Their inclusion reflected Gartner’s assessment of their ability to deliver enterprise LAN infrastructure and their plans for developing their offerings.

Other suppliers were positioned in the Challenger, Visionary and Niche Player categories. These vendors may still be strong choices for particular organisations, especially where specific requirements, existing technology, regional support or commercial considerations are important. A position outside the Leaders quadrant should not be treated as a judgement that a supplier’s products are unsuitable.

Key themes in enterprise networking in 2021

The report appeared at a time when organisations were adapting to changes in how and where people worked. Networks needed to support offices, remote access and a growing range of connected devices, while remaining secure and straightforward to manage. Several themes were particularly relevant to buyers:

• Cloud-based management: Centralised cloud platforms were becoming an increasingly important way to configure, monitor and troubleshoot networks across multiple sites.
• Automation and analytics: Vendors were investing in tools to identify performance issues, provide recommendations and reduce the amount of manual network administration.
• Security integration: Buyers were looking for network infrastructure that could work alongside identity controls, access policies and wider security systems.
• Wi-Fi 6 adoption: The Wi-Fi 6 standard was gaining traction, offering improvements designed to support busy environments and larger numbers of connected devices.
• Unified wired and wireless operations: Organisations increasingly wanted consistent visibility and policy management across both their wireless networks and their wired switching infrastructure.

How organisations could use the report

The Magic Quadrant can be a useful starting point when preparing a shortlist, but it should be considered alongside practical testing and due diligence. Buyers can use the report to frame questions about a vendor’s roadmap, management platform, support model and approach to security.

Before making a decision, organisations should also consider:

• Whether the solution supports the required number of users, devices and locations;
• How well it integrates with existing switches, access points, identity systems and security tools;
• Whether cloud-managed, on-premises or hybrid management is the best fit;
• The skills needed to deploy and operate the platform;
• Licensing, support, maintenance and expected lifecycle costs; and
• How the supplier handles resilience, upgrades and technical support.

A point-in-time view

The 2021 Magic Quadrant captures Gartner’s view of the market at that time. Enterprise networking products, suppliers and requirements continue to change, so the report should be read as historical context rather than a guide to current market positions. Organisations making a decision today should check the latest available research and assess vendors against their present-day needs.

Ultimately, the value of the Gartner Magic Quadrant lies in helping buyers ask better questions. The most suitable network is not necessarily the one from the highest-placed vendor, but the one that meets an organisation’s performance, security, manageability and budget requirements.

Note: The Gartner Magic Quadrant is Gartner’s analysis and opinion. Inclusion or placement in a quadrant does not constitute an endorsement of any vendor, product or service.