This blog is based on Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Industrial Networking and Connectivity Market, Global, 2025–2032, authored by growth expert Sebastian Trolli from the Industrial Practice Area.
Executive Summary
Industrial networking and connectivity are taking on a larger role in industrial modernization as cybersecurity, operational resilience, and enterprise-wide data access carry greater weight in infrastructure investment. Industrial networking revenue is forecast to rise from $15.20 billion in 2025 to $24.08 billion by 2032 at a 6.8% CAGR, while brownfield modernization and hybrid wired-wireless architectures are sustaining demand across established and emerging use cases. Industrial connectivity is adding further commercial value through interoperability and scalable Operational Technology (OT) data access. Supplier differentiation is being shaped by legacy compatibility, secure data access, and enterprise integration.
Key Takeaways:
- Channel ecosystems are shaping market access: Distributors, system integrators, and OT service providers are influencing deployment reach, technical support, and vendor selection.
- Regional and vertical demand is developing unevenly: Asia-Pacific is gaining momentum through manufacturing and automation investment, while mature regions are seeing more modernization- and compliance-led spending.
- Connectivity software is supporting recurring revenue models: Integration and broker-based platforms are moving commercial models toward subscription, capacity, and usage-linked pricing.
- Portfolio breadth is gaining commercial weight: Enterprise buyers are increasingly favoring fewer suppliers that can address data access, interoperability, integration, and transport together.
What Is Industrial Networking and Connectivity?
Industrial networking provides the communications infrastructure linking machines, control systems, and plant networks across wired and wireless environments. Industrial connectivity provides the software layer for data acquisition, protocol interoperability, integration, and data transport across OT systems. Together, they are supporting reliable communication and industrial data movement across connected operations.
The software layer is gaining commercial momentum as industrial data architectures scale. Industrial connectivity revenue is forecast to grow from $448.0 million in 2025 to $796.4 million by 2032 at an 8.6% CAGR, with integration and broker-based data transport gaining a larger share of the technology mix.
IT-OT Convergence Is Linking Plant Networks with Enterprise Operations
Industrial organizations are linking plant-floor systems with enterprise Information Technology (IT), analytics, and remote operations to improve real-time visibility and coordination across production environments. IT-OT convergence is moving from strategic ambition toward a more practical modernization priority, particularly where fragmented systems and isolated networks are limiting the flow of operational information.
How Is IT-OT Convergence Reshaping Industrial Growth Priorities?
Explore how connected architectures and operational data access are shaping industrial networking and connectivity investment.
Smart manufacturing adoption is reinforcing this shift. 59% of manufacturers are already using smart manufacturing, while 90% say digital transformation is needed to stay competitive. As operational information is being used across more functions and sites, industrial networking and connectivity are supporting multisite visibility and more centralized decision-making.
🎧 Listen to the Growth Podcast on IT-OT convergence and industrial connectivity.
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📰 Explore the latest Growth Opportunity News on industrial networking and connectivity growth.
Top 3 Strategic Imperatives Shaping Industrial Networking and Connectivity Growth
- Disruptive Technologies: Higher data volumes and distributed operations are increasing the strategic role of industrial networking and connectivity. Secure, reliable data movement is gaining greater commercial relevance across production environments.
- Industry Convergence: Industrial technology ecosystems are converging with enterprise, cloud, and cybersecurity environments. This shift is widening supplier roles around integration across previously separate technology domains.
- Competitive Intensity: Competition is intensifying as providers move beyond traditional segment boundaries and pursue a larger role in industrial data infrastructure. Industrial credibility and installed-base access are strengthening differentiated market positions.
Frost & Sullivan Perspective
According to Frost & Sullivan, the market is supporting multiple routes to competitive differentiation. Established providers are benefiting from installed-base trust and operational reliability, while specialists are gaining relevance through integration and software-led capabilities. Competitive strength is being defined by operational credibility and the ability to reduce integration complexity across connected industrial environments.
How are technology convergence and rising competitive intensity reshaping your position in the industrial networking and connectivity ecosystem?
Growth Drivers and Deployment Barriers Shaping Industrial Networking Investment
Industrial networking investment is being supported by stronger reliability requirements and open-standard modernization, while deployment risk and investment justification are tempering adoption. Commercial relevance is being defined as much by deployment confidence and integration depth as by technology capability.
|
Growth Factor |
Evidence |
Commercial Relevance |
|
Reliable, low-latency communications |
Industrial operations are requiring predictable performance across production-critical environments. |
Higher-value industrial Ethernet and selective wireless deployments are gaining relevance where production continuity carries greater investment weight. |
|
Open-standard modernization |
Industrial environments are shifting from proprietary communication toward more interoperable standards and upgraded connectivity layers. |
Gateways, middleware, and interoperability software are gaining stronger roles in phased modernization programs. |
|
Operational change risk |
Infrastructure upgrades can require shutdown windows, validation, cybersecurity approvals, and careful commissioning. |
Deployment credibility is carrying greater weight where network changes can affect uptime, quality, or compliance. |
|
Investment justification |
Networking infrastructure is often being assessed against production continuity, asset utilization, and operating value rather than technology improvement alone. |
Investment remains selective where business value is difficult to quantify directly. |
Competition remains fragmented, with 30+ industrial networking participants generating more than $10 million in revenue and the top five accounting for 23.5% of 2025 revenue. Cisco, Moxa, and HMS Networks are among the leading participants identified in the analysis, reflecting a field where reliability, portfolio breadth, channel strength, and installed-base access continue to shape competitive positions.
Have you assessed how deployment risk and investment constraints could affect your growth strategy in industrial networking and connectivity?
Top Three Growth Opportunities Expanding Industrial Networking and Connectivity Value
Growth potential is concentrating around brownfield modernization, higher-performance networking, and connectivity platform consolidation. The opportunities span different investment horizons while creating distinct routes for supplier participation.
- Modernize Brownfield Networks to Strengthen Cyber Resilience
Phased network upgrades are supporting stronger cyber resilience without requiring full infrastructure replacement. The opportunity is estimated at more than $1 billion over five years, with a 1-to-3-year horizon.
Business implication: Cyber resilience and lifecycle modernization are strengthening supplier positions where upgrades can be deployed with minimal disruption to existing operations.
- Prepare Industrial Networks for Data-intensive and AI-driven Operations
Rising automation intensity is increasing the volume and criticality of industrial data, placing greater demands on network performance. The opportunity is estimated at more than $500 million to $1 billion over five years, with a 3-to-5-year horizon.
Business implication: Higher-performance networking is creating additional entry routes for suppliers in infrastructure programs supporting advanced automation and data-intensive operations.
- Consolidate Connectivity Platforms to Capture Higher-value Data Workflows
Fragmented connectivity environments are increasing engineering effort across multisite industrial operations. Platformization is broadening value beyond individual connectivity functions toward more integrated industrial data workflows. The opportunity is estimated at more than $500 million to $1 billion over five years, with a 3-to-5-year horizon.
Business implication: Integrated platform capabilities are supporting recurring revenue potential and stronger positions across enterprise-scale connectivity programs.
How well is your organization positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities emerging across industrial networking and connectivity?
Future Outlook: Manageability Will Define the Next Phase of Industrial Infrastructure
Over the next three years, industrial infrastructure management is expected to become more software-centric as distributed operations increase the need for remote administration and lifecycle control. More than 75% of enterprise-generated data is expected to be created and processed outside centralized environments, reinforcing the role of edge-based infrastructure. Open technology ecosystems are also increasing the value of multi-vendor compatibility across sites. According to Frost & Sullivan, supplier relevance will increasingly reflect the ability to combine industrial reliability with scalable management across distributed environments.
Have you evaluated whether your infrastructure management capabilities can scale across distributed industrial environments?
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FAQs
1. What is industrial networking and connectivity?
Industrial Networking and Connectivity combines the communications infrastructure linking machines, control systems, and plant networks with the software layers that support data acquisition, interoperability, integration, and industrial data transport.
2. Why is industrial network infrastructure gaining strategic importance?
Industrial Network Infrastructure is supporting production continuity, cybersecurity, remote operations, and broader digitalization programs. Investment is being shaped by reliability requirements, legacy-network modernization, and the need to connect a growing number of industrial assets.
3. How is IT/OT convergence changing industrial networking requirements?
Information Technology (IT)/Operational Technology (OT) convergence is linking production systems more closely with enterprise applications, analytics, and remote operations. This is increasing demand for secure routing, interoperable industrial Ethernet, network segmentation, and standardized access to operational data.
4. How are OT cybersecurity and industrial network security influencing modernization?
OT cybersecurity and industrial network security are increasing investment in segmentation, secure access, monitoring, and traffic control. These requirements are supporting phased infrastructure upgrades, particularly across legacy industrial environments.
5. How are industrial Ethernet and industrial wireless supporting hybrid networks?
Industrial Ethernet continues to provide deterministic and reliable communications for production-critical operations, while industrial wireless is supporting mobility, remote assets, and hard-to-cable environments. Their coexistence is reinforcing hybrid wired-wireless architectures.
6. What technologies are supporting the next phase of industrial networking and connectivity?
Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is supporting lower-latency, deterministic industrial communications, while Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is enabling scalable, event-driven data distribution. Together with edge-based infrastructure, these capabilities are supporting more distributed and data-intensive industrial operations.
