Software Defined Networking (SDN), the big buzz of the moment in enterprise networking, is defined as creating a layer of abstraction, providing greater management flexibility and lower operational costs.
Traditional enterprise network environments that resist change further exacerbate the problem of operational complexity, which is a key challenge, as the data centre becomes increasingly complex. According to IDC, this is the key reason that enterprises are so keen to leverage the capabilities of SDN, in order to leverage the advantage of abstraction by, decoupling the control and data planes within their networks.
Enterprise organisations utilising SDN, enable the capabilities and benefits of public cloud within the enterprise data centre. This phenomenon is transforming Australia’s leading enterprises, as they drive forward with ‘Cloud IT’, driving a market surge that IDC forecasts to exceed the US$1 billion mark by 2018 across the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan). Given the pace of change, it is important to focus on what an organisation wants to achieve in this environment and what frameworks might best help to deliver a change in the way you operate your networks.
First and foremost, SDN is not a product; it is not simply about slapping some network controlling software into the middle of your network and saying things are done. We need to think of SDN as a shift in the mindset of how networks are operated. The best way to frame that shift, is to think of SDN as the alliance of business and IT. The previously disparate technological complexities of network IP, now working seamlessly with a business-based policy that can be more easily utilised by the application developers that are busily creating the business advantage of the of the future.
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This blog post was featured in the Business Spectator.