Nvidia's Networking Claim Challenged by Forrester: Cisco Takes Top Spot
Nvidia's claim of being the largest networking company in the world has been disputed by Forrester, a leading analyst firm. According to Forrester's latest data center network solutions Wave report, Cisco, Arista, and Huawei are actually the market leaders.
Cisco tops the list with the largest data center networking market share, thanks to its strong security features and unified platform anchored by the Nexus Dashboard. While customers praise Cisco for its capabilities, they also express concerns about the stability and maturity of the Nexus Dashboard.
Arista comes in second, praised for its AI-related innovations and strong customer and partner engagement. Customers appreciate Arista's Linux-based EOS network operating system for its simplicity, automation, and reliability. Forrester notes that the OS provides consistency across Arista's portfolio, supporting unified automation and policy implementation.
Huawei is also a leader in data center networking, lauded for its strong engineering-led innovation aided by a well-defined roadmap and partner ecosystem. The Chinese vendor has a major presence in large-scale data center networking both inside and outside China, with offerings suitable for cost-conscious operations, especially at scale or in emerging markets that value fast vendor response and close support.
Nvidia's self-appointed market position largely stems from its AI networking capabilities, which have earned it the title of 'company to beat' in the AI network fabric space by Gartner. However, Forrester places Nvidia as simply a contender in data center network solutions, citing gaps in its vision and roadmap for more traditional requirements like hybrid cloud, edge networking, and zero trust security.
Despite being a contender, Nvidia has the strongest AI infrastructure capabilities according to Forrester. However, the analyst firm finds fault with Nvidia's limited investment in management types, options, or administrative experience, as well as broader infrastructure provisioning and initial deployment areas.