Enterprises are beginning to connect the dots between the deployment of software-defined networking (SDN) and increased network agility, security, resilience, and application performance. In a new survey conducted by Longitude and sponsored by Verizon, 15 percent of companies surveyed said that they are either piloting or deploying SDN in their networks. And that number is expected to increase to 57 percent within two years.

The Verizon study also found that 12 percent of companies surveyed said that within two years they expect to have deployed SDN throughout their entire organization.

The survey results were outlined in a blog post by Vicki Lonker, executive director, business products at Verizon Enterprise Solutions. In the post, Lonker notes that 86 percent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that there is a strong business case for adopting SDN because it enables them to more rapidly deploy new applications, services, and infrastructure.

According to the Verizon study, 49 percent of companies surveyed said that they see SDN as necessary to scale their network functionality, and 44 percent said they believe SDN will give them a competitive edge so they can respond more quickly to opportunities. Also, 44 percent said that SDN will help them deploy services more quickly.

Security was also a big driver with 56 percent saying that SDN will increase their network security, and 50 percent said it will help with application performance. Nearly 48 percent said SDN will help with network resilience.

Despite the number of enterprises committed to SDN, there is still a large percentage of companies that are taking a slower approach. The study found that 31 percent of those surveyed said they will deploy SDN over the next three to five years.

The study surveyed 165 senior IT leaders from large global organizations.