PROTOCOL ANALYZER MARKET Challenges and Opportunities

One of the major challenges faced by the protocol analyzer market is the availability of free and open-source protocol analyzer software. Many free software like Wireshark is available which provide basic protocol analyzing functionalities to users without any cost. These free analyzers are sufficient to meet the needs of individual users and hobbyists. The features offered by free software often match the functionality of entry level commercial protocol analyzers. This makes potential customers hesitant in purchasing low-cost protocol analyzer devices and basic software licenses from established brands. The protocol analyzer vendors must differentiate their products with advanced features to address protocol standards which are not covered by open-source tools. They also need to provide value added services and support to justify a price for commercial offerings against comparable free alternatives.

Market Opportunity: Integration of Wi-Fi Technologies with Protocol Analyzers

The integration of various Wi-Fi technologies with protocol analyzer tools presents a major growth opportunity for the market. With the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi in different industries, there is a rising need to analyze and debug wireless network protocols. Protocol analyzers which are enhanced to decode IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi packet captures will be in high demand. The compatibility to sniff wireless traffic from different Wi-Fi standards like 802.11ax will open up new application areas. Vendors can also integrate features like wireless monitoring and troubleshooting of mesh networks. As more organizations adopt IoT and want to analyze data traffic between Wi-Fi devices, a protocol analyzer with wireless protocol decoding and troubleshooting smarts will receive a wide customer acceptance. Its seamless pairing with other networking test tools will help validate and certify new Wi-Fi deployments easily.