Network Automation Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

Global Network Automation Market Trends and Insights

Surge in data-center network upgrades

Spiking AI workloads are forcing operators to install 400 G, 800 G, and soon 1.6 T switching fabrics to interconnect GPU clusters efficiently. Amazon’s USD 30 billion outlay across Pennsylvania and North Carolina underscores how hyperscalers rely on advanced automation to coordinate massive leaf-spine fabrics. Enterprises outside hyperscale are upgrading too; traditional 10 G links no longer support data-intensive analytics, accelerating demand for intent-based configuration of optical and packet layers. Operators deploy software-defined telemetry that triggers remediation workflows without human review. Fiber provider Zayo earmarked USD 4 billion for long-haul expansion aligned to this upgrade cycle, reflecting confidence in doubled AI data-center capacity by 2030.^{[1]Rich Miller, “AI Workloads Drive $100B Data Center Boom,” Data Center Frontier, datacenterfrontier.com}

IoT and connected-device proliferation

Factory floors now host thousands of sensors demanding deterministic latency, forcing managers to replace manual VLAN provisioning with closed-loop segmentation. Ericsson’s Nanjing plant saw ROI in twelve months after connecting 500 screwdrivers via LTE-M, saving USD 10,000 in annual maintenance. ^{[2]Ericsson Corporate Newsroom, “PANDA Factory Realizes 50% ROI with Cellular IoT,” ericsson.com} Smart-meter rollouts illustrate similar impact: Honeywell embeds Verizon 5G to enable remote metering that eliminates technician visits and improves grid forecasting. Such deployments multiply device counts and micro-flows that only programmable networks can police effectively. As smart-city and grid projects scale across APAC, the network automation market benefits from persistent investment in real-time traffic engineering and rapid policy diffusion.

Rapid SD-WAN and virtualization roll-outs

Enterprises are retiring MPLS in favor of SD-WAN to optimize SaaS performance. Lotte Group lowered branch connectivity costs 40% across 120 Korean retail sites while gaining application-level failover managed centrally. ^{[3]Cisco Case Library, “Lotte Group Cuts WAN Costs by 40%,” cisco.com} Hardware abstraction extends beyond WAN routing: companies virtualize firewalls and load balancers on commodity servers, shrinking branch footprints. AutoNation rolled Cisco SD-WAN to 300 dealerships, cutting deployment cycles from weeks to hours and gaining granular analytics. This shift positions SD-WAN as an on-ramp for broader policy-driven automation in LAN, wireless, and data-center domains.

Cloud and multi-cloud migration wave

As workloads scatter across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and edge locations, operators need one policy fabric that spans all execution venues. Salesforce orchestrates traffic for 150 offices through automated intent pipelines that optimize routes per app SLA in real time. Containers and microservices amplify east-west flows, exposing perimeter-centric security as inadequate. Automation now adjusts routing, encryption, and QoS at per-service granularity, ensuring compliance while preventing shadow IT. Multi-cloud complexity keeps driving spending on unified controllers that program cloud VPCs and on-prem switches from the same template, reinforcing long-run adoption momentum.

Shortage of automation-skilled engineers

Atomitech’s 2025 survey shows 92.2% of ops staff struggle with skills shortages even as 75% already deploy AI for incident triage. Automation expertise now spans Python, RESTful APIs, and infrastructure-as-code, leaving traditional CCNA-level administrators behind. Firms accelerate in-house training and partner with universities, yet the learning curve delays projects and inflates wages. Semiconductor talent deficits deepen the gap because specialized NICs and accelerators underpin high-performance automation pipelines. Vendors reply with low-code orchestration and GenAI copilots, but adoption still hinges on a labor pool not growing fast enough to match demand.

Legacy infrastructure integration issues

Brownfield networks piled up over decades feature proprietary CLI syntax and brittle change-control rules. CDO Trends reports that phased infrastructure-as-code pilots help enterprises swap manual configurations for automated pipelines without downtime. Gluware’s template discovery identifies golden configs then generates automation artifacts, easing transition for Fortune 500 operators. Ciena advocates digital-twin modeling so planners test policy changes against a virtual copy before touching production. Despite tool advances, overlapping vendor syntax and undocumented custom scripts slow replacements, reducing ROI potential in the near term.

Segment Analysis

By Network Infrastructure: Hybrid Dominance Drives Integration

Hybrid architectures delivered USD 14.8 billion in 2024, representing 47.6% of network automation market share and expanding at a 22.9% CAGR toward 2030. The hybrid mix lets organizations preserve sunk investments in fixed chassis switches while overlaying virtual fabrics for bursty cloud workloads. Early migrations focus on edge device auto-provisioning, followed by spine-leaf policy automation in the core. Financial trading desks and industrial plants keep deterministic, non-virtual links for latency-sensitive functions, illustrating why physical assets endure. At the same time, virtual overlays carry micro-services traffic, shrinking change windows from days to minutes.

Hybrid deployments also mitigate outage risk by phasing legacy retirement behind automated fault domains. DENSO updated 400 factories using Cisco DNA Center without halting production, showcasing how event-driven templates handle simultaneous firmware refresh across continents. Service providers embed performance telemetry in both physical and virtual nodes, feeding AI engines that pre-empt SLA violations. Consequently, the network automation market registers recurring license revenue as customers scale controllers across hybrid estates.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Component: Solutions Lead While Services Accelerate

Solutions produced 69.3% of 2024 revenue, equal to USD 21.5 billion, yet services grow faster at 22.7% CAGR. Enterprises buy orchestration suites spanning configuration, assurance, and analytics, but success depends on tailored playbooks, thus fueling services expansion. Intent-based engines need topology discovery, policy modeling, and integration with ITSM platforms, tasks many internal teams defer to specialists.

Professional services break into three categories: advisory, build, and managed operations. Telecom Italia teamed with Itential to compress service rollouts by 70%, illustrating co-innovation where integrators script domain-specific workflows. Meanwhile, post-deployment managed services monetize recurring compliance checks and patch automation. Vendors with consulting arms differentiate by packaging best-practice libraries that cut onboarding time, reinforcing their software base and driving subscription renewals.

By Deployment Mode: Cloud-Native Architecture Momentum

Cloud delivery captured 52.7% of 2024 revenue, underscoring how SaaS controllers offload appliance upkeep and enable global policy propagation within minutes e. At 24.1% CAGR, cloud-hosted platforms outpace on-prem competitors by bundling AI diagnostics, continuous updates, and elastic licensing. Enterprise architects favor API-driven pipelines where Terraform modules spin up overlay policies across public VPCs and branch routers simultaneously.

Yet regulated sectors keep selective functions on-prem to satisfy data-sovereignty mandates. Hybrid cloud rises as a bridging model: controllers run in vendor SaaS while sensitive flow logs stay local. Extreme Networks integrates Fabric Connect with its cloud manager so European hospitals maintain records on site yet enjoy remote orchestration. Zero Trust Edge services accelerate cloud pull by delivering per-session authentication without VPN hardware, evidenced when NTT DATA deployed Zscaler for 50,000 users in one month.

By Organization Size: Enterprise Foundation, SME Growth Engine

Enterprises contributed 72.7% of 2024 spending as their vast device counts demand automated remediation to maintain uptime, making them early adopters. Fortune 100 banks push multi-vendor scripts into CI/CD pipelines, reducing overnight maintenance windows from eight hours to two. Nonetheless, SMEs post 23.9% CAGR through 2030 as low-code SaaS lowers entry friction.

Cost remains top concern for SMEs, driving appetite for network-as-a-service bundles that replace capex hardware with subscription Wi-Fi, routing, and security managed by vendor cloud. Milesight’s smart-factory kit targets mid-size manufacturers with pre-integrated IoT gateways that auto-register to a central console, shrinking deployment to one day. As SMEs adopt hybrid work and e-commerce, simplified policy templates become decisive, steering competition toward intuitive dashboards rather than feature bloat.

By End-User Industry: Telecom Leadership, Financial Services Momentum

IT and telecommunications represented 23.2% of 2024 revenue, validating new features before they diffuse to other sectors . Operators automate 5G core slicing so enterprise customers order bandwidth-as-code, bypassing manual provisioning delays. Deutsche Telekom’s demos highlight revenue potential once SLA enforcement becomes programmatic. Banking follows with 24.3% CAGR because algorithmic trading and real-time fraud analytics cannot tolerate human-induced latency.

Manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and government each build automation for compliance and efficiency. Delaware State University adopted campus-wide fabric with micro-segmentation to safeguard hybrid learning while cutting operational tickets by half. Collectively, diverse verticals drive vendors to modularize offerings for quick vertical tailoring, thereby widening network automation market adoption worldwide.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

Geography Analysis

North America controlled 27.5% of 2024 revenue, anchored by hyperscale cloud operators and defense agencies that demand continuous compliance automation Amazon’s USD 30 billion infrastructure build demonstrates scale economics, while the US Marine Corps’ Comply-to-Connect program achieved 95% patch success and freed audit personnel for higher-value tasks. An ecosystem of venture-backed startups further enriches the regional stack, shortening innovation cycles.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest climber, expanding at 22.4% CAGR through 2030 on the back of Industry 4.0 initiatives and expansive 5G footprints. SoftBank committed USD 960 million to AI compute tied to network automation that governs multi-cloud connectivity for Japanese conglomerates Meanwhile, NTT tests autonomous 5G optimization using AI, illustrating how telcos treat automation as revenue enabler, not just cost lever nec.com.

Europe maintains steady momentum, blending stringent GDPR compliance with green IT mandates that favor energy-aware routing. Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital centralized operations via Extreme Networks Fabric, meeting healthcare data-protection rules while reducing onsite visits . Governments across the region back joint research into sovereign cloud stacks, spurring demand for open-source orchestration.