Infoblox today revealed that higher network availability generated US$500,225 in benefits, including productivity gains, from avoidance of unplanned downtime. That’s one of the major findings from a new Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Infoblox, which contains insights from 34 surveyed organisations and five interviewed customers, underscoring the critical nature of Domain Name System (DNS) as a critical network service for modern enterprise IT infrastructure.

DNS is the system that translates user-friendly URLs into numerical IP addresses. It is a crucial component of daily internet operations, but it is often overlooked and unprotected, leaving it vulnerable to a variety of malicious attacks such as phishing, smishing, spoofing, amplification, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). Comprehensive DNS oversight is vital for maintaining business continuity, securing online services against cyber threats. Without robust DNS management, businesses could face significant disruption, leading to loss of productivity, revenue, and customer trust.

When the critical network services of DNS and DHCP are disjointed and manual, unplanned downtime and business disruption are inevitable. Among the leading causes of unplanned network downtime are lack of visibility, lack of data synchronisation, IP conflicts, and DNS inconsistency across different cloud environments, emphasising the need for improved security, management, and automation of DNS services. The study findings are designed to aid IT leaders in evaluating the potential return on investment and operational improvements from automated DDI (DNS, DHCP, and IPAM) services delivered by Infoblox.

Organisations that moved their core networking services to consolidated and automated environments with Infoblox DDI (DNS, DHCP and IPAM) saw US$7.1 million in savings within three years of deployment. Among the key findings revealed in the study titled, The Total Economic Impact(™) of Infoblox DDI, include:

• Most (95%) of the 20 survey respondents who reported cost savings with Infoblox DDI reported up to 74% on overhead costs and operations, 75% reported up to 49% savings from eliminating legacy solutions, and 45% reported networking and cloud savings up to 49%.
• System uptime improved dramatically with Infoblox DDI, from 88% to 99.99%, within three years of deployment based on data from our five interviewed customers in financial services, energy, transportation, and professional services, as well as in the European government.
• The composite organisation, based on the interviewed customers, experienced a net present value of US$8.75 million and an ROI of 346% over three years.
• A majority of commercial organisations (classified as organisations with 500 to less than 5,000 employees) also reported business growth, as well as new, cloud managed apps and services delivered securely, as top benefits with Infoblox DDI.

Infoblox DDI integrates DNS, DHCP, and IP address management into a cohesive, efficient service. This integration facilitates improved network reliability, enhances security, and provides clear visibility across an organisation’s network infrastructure. It is engineered to support the increasing demands of hybrid and multi-cloud transformations, IoT proliferation, and distributed workforces. The automation and centralised control that come with Infoblox DDI minimise the potential for human error, which is a common cause of network downtime.

Majority (67%) of the Forrester survey respondents reported key business growth benefits of adopting a unified DDI platform including: reduced operational costs of legacy infrastructure and labour, and improved business continuity through network stability by eliminating outages causing unplanned downtime and improving poor customer experience. A DDI architect from a professional services firm noted, “You would need a lot more people or a lot more homegrown automation to be as efficient as you get out of the box with Infoblox DDI. There’s a lot of thought put into how things work together.”

“Infoblox is committed to providing solutions that not only secure the network but also empower organisations to maintain continuity in their revenue operations,” said Anthony James, Vice President Product Strategy and Solutions, at Infoblox. “The findings from Forrester’s study validate for us the significant value that our DDI solutions bring to enterprises looking to optimise their critical network services.”

Download Forrester’s commercial spotlight of the “The Total Economic Impact(™) of Infoblox DDI” study here.