1No 4 Volume 5

Mapping the future of software-defined networking

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EditorEttienne Reinecke, Group Chief Technology Officer and Solutions Strategy Executive

ettienne.reinecke@dimensiondata.com

Editorial panelAndy Cocks, Chief Technology Officer, Dimension Data Asia Pacific

andy.cocks@dimensiondata.com

Gerard Florian, Director of Product Management, Group Cloud Solutions Business Unit

gerard.florian@dimensiondata.com

Neil Louw, Chief Technology Officer, Dimension Data Europe

neil.louw@dimensiondata.com

Mayan Mathen, Chief Technology Officer, NTT Innovation Institute

mayan@ntti3.com

Mark Slaga, Chief Executive Officer, Dimension Data Americas

mark.slaga@dimensiondata.com

ContributorsGary Middleton, Business Development Manager, Networking, Dimension Data

Jeff Jack, General Manager, Networking, Dimension Data

Rob Lopez, Group Executive, Networking, Dimension Data

Mayan Mathen, Chief Technology Officer, NTT Innovation Institute

Masahisa Kawashima, Vice President, Product Manager, Infrastructure, NTT Innovation Institute

Stuart Bailey, Chief Technology Officer, Infoblox

Production panelWriter: Morné Malan

Designer: Elsje Gildenhuys

Production Manager: Jeannette Laidlaw

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Mapping the future of software-defined networking

Local area networks, wide area

networks, data centre networks,

and service provider networks will all

become more intelligent, programmable,

and automated. They’ll be centrally

controlled through software and

no longer manually configured at

the device level. In fact, networking

devices themselves may become cheap,

standardised commodities.

The implications of this for the industry are

huge and many powerful market forces

are already on the move – sometimes,

it seems, in opposing ways.

To complicate matters, every user

organisation is unique and, to a certain

extent, so is every network.

An information superhighway for one

business may be a cul-de-sac for another,

which is why the adoption of this new

technology will depend heavily on

individual use cases.

Today, however, software-defined

networking is still in flux, so end-user

organisations are having a tough

time mapping its developments and

choosing the best way forward. And

since all players in the field clearly have

their own vested interests, who can – or

should – organisations believe?

In this issue of Précis we explain the

technical aspects of software-defined

networking, essential in understanding

its impact on the market, and the

A seismic shift is about to occur in the networking world. Touted as the next big technology change since the move from mainframes to desktops, and hardware to software domination, software-defined networking is set to change networks for good.

Get some answers to your most pressing question: what might the future of networking look like in your organisation?

various approaches by central role players

in its development.

We look at various use cases in order to

form a picture of how it may be used, by

whom, and for which purposes.

Speaking to a number of thought leaders,

we also gauge views on software-defined

networking’s impact on areas such as the

software arena, the networking services

world, and research and development.

We hope that this issue of Précis

will help you not only gain valuable

insights into software-defined

networking, but also get some answers

to your most pressing question: what

might the future of networking look like in

your organisation?

05 A bird’s-eye view of the new networking worldMost people working in IT today have heard of software-defined

networking as the next step in the evolution of networks. The term

appears in industry news publications, thought leadership articles,

and IT-related websites and blogs all over the world. But whether the

concept is fully understood yet – its technical meaning, as well as its

wider implications for the industry – is another matter.

09 The lie of the land – networking’s changing market forcesThe current ‘noise’ in the market surrounding software-defined

networking can be confusing. Every player in this game has something

to gain or lose, so vested interests can’t be ignored. There’s no doubt,

however, that the gains could be substantial for those who play their

cards right.

11 Making a case for software- defined networking – where will it be useful ... and why?The adoption of new technology by end-user organisations usually

follows a predictable pattern: the more central the technology is to

how the organisation generates revenue and differentiates itself from

competitors, the faster it’s likely to be adopted. Failure to do so may

lead to a loss of competitive edge, so the pressure to adopt is higher.

It’s likely that software-defined networking will follow this same

pattern over the next few years.

Contents

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15 From human speed to software speed – networking en route to the cloudAs a global centre of excellence in software-defined networking,

NTT I3 is researching and developing technologies that will make

networks more flexible and provide a better user experience.

NTT I3’s Dr Masahisa Kawashima, Vice President, Product Manager,

Infrastructure; and Mayan Mathen, Chief Technology Officer, speak

about the link between software-defined networking and network

function virtualisation, as well as some of the work NTT I3 is doing

with open source technologies in this domain.

19 The software side of tomorrow’s networksInfoblox’s core business is providing software products that enable

the application control and automation of hardware-defined

networks. To some extent, it can help organisations automate

their networks today. Précis spoke to Stuart Bailey, Infoblox’s

Chief Technology Officer, about the impact of software-defined

networking on the software arena.

21 Software-defined networking and the services world Dimension Data’s services business sees software-defined

networking not merely as a transition, but as a far-reaching,

fundamental shift. Précis asked Rob Lopez, Group Executive –

Networking, at Dimension Data, why that’s the case, and how the

organisation plans to navigate the changes that lie ahead.

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A bird’s-eye viewof the new networking world

Most people working in IT today have heard of software-defined networking as the next step in the evolution of networks. The term appears in industry news publications, thought leadership articles, and IT-related websites and blogs all over the world. But whether the concept is fully understood yet – its technical meaning, as well as its wider implications for the industry – is another matter.

The general consensus is that software-defined networking will have a major market-wide impact. In fact, commentators to the left of the adoption scale – the progressive ‘movers and shakers’ of the industry – don’t shy away from using pressing terms such as ‘sea change’ and ‘seismic shift’ to describe the effect they expect to see in the next few years. On the far right, conservative players are reserving judgement, saying it’s ‘early days’ and that it’s ‘better to wait and see’.

Given this broad range of responses, how much of software-defined networking is hype? If there’s to be a massive change, how much of it do we expect in the short term, and how much over time? Which industries and organisations will adopt it first ... and why? Most importantly, where do organisations see the greatest benefits and opportunities of software-defined networking for their businesses?

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Over the technical humpsIf software-defined networking is still a poorly understood term, it’s often because the implications for the corporate network can’t be articulated well without a thorough grasp of the technology. In short, a software-defined network is intelligent, programmable, and automated. To explore what this means, it’s best to compare it to how traditional networks work.

The way in which a LAN, WAN, or data centre network directs and manages the data that flows through it is controlled by how each networking device is configured. Collectively, these settings and rules determine where the data goes, how quickly the data flows, how the data is checked against security policies, which data is allowed, and which is blocked. The challenge is that the network manager needs to configure each device individually, often by physical adjustment.

In a large estate comprising several hundreds of routers, switches, and ports, configuring the network optimally is a labour-intensive, time-consuming, and complicated job. Changes to accommodate, for example, new applications and their provisioning to a specific group of end users, take time to implement. As a result, network management is a discipline requiring highly specialised skills and several years of experience. Software-defined networking promises to offer a simpler, better way to manage networks.

Central intelligenceThe reason traditional networking devices need to be configured individually lies in the way they’re constructed. Each router and switch consists of a number of different layers or planes, including the data plane, through which the data packets are transferred; and the control plane, which controls how the data is handled and where network ‘applications’ are embedded. Much of the network’s ‘intelligence’ – how it deals with data traffic – is therefore scattered among all the devices and distributed across the network. A traditional network lacks central intelligence and control ... and this is where software-defined networking hopes to make a change.

A software-defined network separates the data, control, and application planes of the devices. This allows some of the intelligent elements of each device to be split from the packet-forwarding engine and moved centrally, and enables them to become programmable. This type of architecture therefore uses hardware networking devices that are configured and controlled by a central software program called a controller. Hence the term ‘software-defined’: the network is configured and controlled through software, and no longer at the hardware or device level.

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A network that drives itself An even more powerful function that software-defined networking makes possible is automation. The network becomes a programmable entity with which applications can directly interface by communicating, through the controller, with each individual device, thereby instantly and automatically configuring the network to enable its own optimal provisioning.

The result is that a software-defined network is easier to implement; simpler to control and manage, with less human interaction; and is far more dynamic in accommodating the constantly changing requirements of today’s ICT environments, particularly in data centres.

Already, these features translate to almost irresistible benefits for any large organisation that’s trying to cut costs and do more with less. But exactly how it will play out in the market can’t be fully predicted, as there are both antagonising and promotional forces at play.

Three ways towards software controlSweeping technology change rarely comes without its fair share of market politics. Software-defined networking is no different. While the benefits are clear to most end-user organisations, the vast majority – if not all – of the networking devices installed in their networks can’t be software controlled. Moving in this direction would require a rip-and-replace approach which is expensive, risky, and disruptive.

Complicating the matter further is the fact that there are currently three different approaches to implementing a software-defined network, all of which involve how the controller communicates with the network devices.

The first of these is to use an industry standard protocol, like OpenFlow, which was developed by the Open Network Foundation (ONF) – an organisation whose members include some of the largest organisations in the world: Verizon, Deutsche Telecom, NTT, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Yahoo. OpenFlow is an open standard, so any OpenFlow-enabled controller can use it to communicate with any OpenFlow-enabled networking device, regardless of manufacturer. Smaller networking vendors, and particularly end-user organisations, support this open standard because it allows for greater flexibility and freedom in networking design.

If there’s to be a massive change, how much of it do we expect in the short term, and how much over time? Which industries and organisations will adopt it first ... and why?

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Vendors with a larger share of the market have created what they call an application programming interface (API), as a second option. An API enables external tools, software, or applications to communicate with the infrastructure, but these are vendor-specific and proprietary. So, a particular manufacturer’s API can communicate only with its own devices. The benefit of this method is that an API exposes the maximum functionality of the vendor’s devices because of the stronger integration between them. It’s a good route to take if you have a single-vendor or a vendor- dominated environment.

Then there’s a third option called a virtual network overlay. A virtual network is software that functions ‘on top of’ your physical network, while also providing programmability and central control. There are a number of ways to implement network virtualisation that are widely supported across vendors. Virtual network overlays may be particularly useful in data centre networks. Each network can have different configurations and can be moved anywhere within a data centre, or between data centres, while the virtual view remains the same. Virtual networks function in the same way as virtual server environments, providing maximum flexibility and instant scalability.

Given all of these choices, in which direction should organisations move? Since there’s clearly a vested interest from the various players in the field, which may influence the advice they give, it’s advisable that organisations proceed down this road with caution.

Networks and the city: software-defined networking in layman’s termsThink of today’s typical network as the road system of a large city. Data packets are the traffic that flows through it. Each intersection is controlled by a traffic officer – today’s network devices – who directs traffic by recognising the turning signals, size, and shape of the vehicles passing through. These officers can direct only the traffic at their intersections; they can’t gauge the overall traffic volume or see its movement across the city. This makes it difficult to control the city’s traffic patterns, to ease peak-hour traffic, or host special parades. For such events, each officer needs to be briefed individually – in person or via radio – about how to control the traffic at his or her intersection. In spite of each officer’s best efforts, gridlock is a regular occurrence.

A software-defined network is the equivalent of a futuristic city. Each traffic officer is replaced by a traffic light and a set of electronic vehicle counters, which are connected to a central monitoring and control board. The city’s traffic can now be instantly and centrally controlled. In fact, it’s even possible to programme the control board to direct the traffic differently at various times of the day or to accommodate special parades via a planned route. The programme monitors traffic flow and automatically changes the traffic lights during these events to help traffic pass through the city with minimal disruption and, afterwards, returns the city’s traffic to normal.

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The current ‘noise’ in the market surrounding software-defined networking can be confusing. Every player in this game has something to gain or lose, so vested interests can’t be ignored. It’s best to listen to opposing messages and extreme views with caution – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

There’s no doubt, however, that the gains could be substantial for those who play their cards right. Market researchers estimate that software-defined networking will grow into a sizeable portion of the market, so competition will be fierce. In fact, it’s astonishing how quickly some players have brought competitive offerings to market, considering that software-defined networking is still in the early phases of adoption.

The lie of the land – networking’s changing market forces

Large OEMs: holding on to what they have The market segment for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), or vendors, will face arguably the biggest change. Some commentators predict that, as network design moves from hardware dominance to software control, there’ll be a corresponding change in market share ... and a shift in the power base. Until now, the networking market has been dominated by a handful of large hardware manufacturers – the largest of which holds the lion’s share. This percentage is even higher in data centre networks. These organisations want to protect their interests in hardware, because this is where most of their expertise and investments lie. But they’ve also been making the necessary strategic adjustments to accommodate the shift towards software, and are now better positioned than the smaller players would have us believe.

This strategy is reflected in how conservatively some large OEMs have responded to the emergence of OpenFlow as a protocol for software-defined networking. Initially, they hardly reacted. It’s only recently that the larger vendors began to acknowledge the possible advantages of an open standard. But they also warned that OpenFlow has some limitations and advised caution.

In the interim, these OEMs have developed proprietary software in the form of application programming interfaces (APIs) exclusively for their hardware. They emphasise the superior functionality their hardware can provide, and the higher level of automation that the API allows in enabling the application to programme the network. This offers a stronger value proposition than that of an open-standard protocol with, for example, white label devices. It’s a compelling argument for organisations with single-vendor, or vendor-dominated networks.

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Smaller OEMs: eroding the dominanceVendors with smaller shares of the market responded in the opposite way. From the start, these smaller OEMs played up software-defined networking and OpenFlow as an inevitable, disruptive change that will dominate the future of networking. Smaller vendors are generally more agile in adopting to new technology developments because they haven’t invested as much as the larger OEMs in developing proprietary computer chip technology for their devices. Small vendors tend to use cheaper, mass-produced chips, so-called merchant silicone. So, they’re more inclined to align with open standards because they haven’t got much to lose ... only to gain.

These players see software-defined networking as an opportunity to break the dominance of OEMs by gaining market share. It’s also a way of gaining a foothold in larger end-user organisations. Once their devices are part of the client’s network, they can focus on expanding their ‘stack’ of integrated products and growing their influence. Even though this entry point is based on an open standard shared with other vendors, it’s at least a door where previously there was only a wall.

User organisations: a slow, steady adoptionFor user organisations, the potential benefits of software-defined networking are too compelling to ignore. Not least of these are the possible operational cost savings it may offer. While it’s true that a software-defined network based on an open-standard protocol would be more cost-effective to roll out than a traditional network, thanks to lower hardware costs, capex isn’t where today’s organisations spend most of their IT budgets. A far larger percentage is spent on keeping the infrastructure up and running through people, support, and maintenance. This is where a software-defined network shows the most promise of saving a business money.

However, vendor messaging about cost savings isn’t consistent, and this confuses organisations. Smaller OEMs are adamant that the cost savings will be huge; larger vendors say otherwise because the technology is still unproven and will require new expertise ... so, better the devil you know. Risk is a significant factor, and rightly so: no organisation is willing to sacrifice the availability and performance of its network for the possibility of cutting costs. The ideal solution should offer both, they insist.

Cost is a bone of contention among all vendors because it’s where software-defined networking still has to prove itself. Is an end-to-end software-defined network in a large organisation really cheaper to own and run than a traditional network?

As a result, the adoption of software-defined networking will more likely be driven by organisations’ individual use cases, with the uptake focused in some key areas and verticals. Organisations that are traditionally early adopters in networking, such as service providers and banks, are a possible exception. Even so, it would seem as though the days of large-vendor dominance in the hardware market could be numbered. The future of networking will be defined by those who play the software game best.

Market researchers estimate that software-defined networking will grow into a sizeable portion of the market, so competition will be fierce.

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Who will be first?Organisations that use their networks and data centres to generate revenue would be the most eager to realise the benefits that this new architectural approach can offer: lower costs, improved efficiency, and instant scalability. This is particularly relevant in data centre networks. That’s why we’re likely to see the deployment of software-defined networks in this area of the ICT infrastructure sooner than in local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs).

Over the next two years, service providers, cloud providers, and educational institutions will probably be among the first to adopt software-defined networking technologies and approaches.

Universities also have a particularly interesting use case for software-defined networking: as teaching environments, rather than profit-driven organisations, they’re prepared to take a greater risk of downtime in order to experiment with network change. It’s also possible for these institutions to experiment with different network hardware for which highly skilled individuals at the university can write software themselves – skills which aren’t always at the disposal of large businesses.

Financial institutions also tend to be early adopters of networking and data centre technology. They use these resources to serve customers better and differentiate their services from those of their competitors. Financial service providers will most likely adopt software-defined networking as soon as they find a compelling reason to do so. Other types of organisations that use their networks to generate revenue are likely to monitor development and adoption trends with interest, and will follow shortly after a few successful projects have been deployed.

Making a case for software- defined networking – where will it be useful ... and why?The adoption of new technology by end-user organisations usually follows a predictable pattern: the more central the technology is to how the organisation generates revenue and differentiates itself from competitors, the faster it’s likely to be adopted. Failure to do so may lead to a loss of competitive edge, so the pressure to adopt is higher. It’s likely that software-defined networking will follow this same pattern over the next few years.

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In virtualised data centre networks The strongest case for software-defined networks in a particular area of the ICT infrastructure is in data centres. This is because software-controlled networks can support the virtualisation of the network infrastructure and allow better usage of resources. Virtual network overlays are arguably the most suited approach to take in this dynamic environment. Here, software control – rather than manual intervention – will enable an operational strategy called network service chaining.

In the data centre network, many rules and protocols are applied to traffic as it flows to and from users and hosted applications. These

rules relate to firewalling, intrusion prevention, load balancing, even WAN optimisation. The data needs to pass through these ‘gates’, which are often hosted on separate and different devices spread out over an extended area. Traffic is then routed among these points, which makes the system cumbersome, not to mention risky, as it creates many potential points of failure.

Software-defined networking will make it possible to configure all of these ‘gates’ in software, and route the traffic through a chain of services, rather than devices. This is simpler to set up and easier to arrange in the virtualised and constantly changing environment of the next-generation data centre. The organisation can also scale the services up or down as its capacity needs change.

Opinion on initial SDN deployment

Operations automation

MonitoringTraffic

engineering

Controller-based SDN

SDN-enabled switch

WAN

Applications policy

abstraction

Network virtualisation

Network service

chaining/scale

Operations automation

Overlay/hybrid

Flat, ECMP, non-blocking, high bandwith

Data Centre

Operations automation

MonitoringAutomated

network segmentation

Controller-based SDN

SDN-enabled switch

LAN

Initial SDN use cases

SDN approach

Hardware

In LANs and campus networksMonitoring in the LAN environment is another strong use case for software-defined networking. Today, it’s an expensive process to extract performance, management, and operations data from the network. This metadata, or information about the data traffic flowing over the network, is fed to various performance and management applications to create feedback and reports. These applications may include security incident management tools, intrusion detection and prevention tools, or even network performance management tools.

Information extraction can be automated by a software-controlled network without affecting the way the network operates. Organisations that have invested heavily in their network software tools can use software-defined networking to get the most out of their investments.

In the WANIn addition to monitoring, there’s also traffic engineering – a strong use case for WANs. Based on a particular user or application requirement, software-defined networking allows organisations to instantly change the engineering of the traffic on the network. For example, when backups need to be made across two data centres, the network can automatically provision the bandwidth and quality of service for the backup process so that it’s done quickly and efficiently. Afterwards, the network can be restored to its original state, again without any manual configuration.

Another example might be when a particularly sensitive piece of data needs to be transferred by, say, a financial institution. The organisation can automatically send it over a highly secure network, while routing the remaining traffic to a less secure network path. A software-defined WAN allows the organisation to selectively assign priorities to different types of traffic, manage it, and encrypt it depending on the business rules it wants to associate with the data. Security is an additional level of network traffic engineering which organisations couldn’t do as easily as with software-defined networking.

Automation in all areasGreater automation is a strong use case for software-defined networking across all areas of the infrastructure. It’s particularly important in the data centre, where the network has become a bottleneck for an otherwise flexible and easily scalable environment that consists of ‘moveable’ virtual machines. The network serving and connecting these virtual machines is still static and hardwired, and based on architecture that’s outdated and no longer flexible enough to provide support for these environments.

When a virtual machine needs to move from one physical device to another, for example, the network has to be configured manually to accommodate the change and allow the relevant policies to move along with the machine. Automation is equally applicable in the LAN and WAN environments where, currently, devices need to be connected, moved, and adjusted by hand. Automation will make the day-to-day tasks of the typical network engineer both easier and less time-consuming, and will result in significant operational cost savings.

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It may also be important to conduct a thorough skills audit in your organisation. While software-defined networking promises ease of use and automation, it still requires a different set of technical skills that you may not have at your disposal yet.

Software-defined networking is a relatively recent trend and there may still be much change and development on the cards. At this point, nobody can truly say that they understand all possible use cases. Some may become apparent only after a software-defined network is installed and starts working within a particular organisation. When this new approach to network architecture becomes more commonplace, businesses will themselves innovate useful functions and benefits, which we can’t yet predict.

Where to start? We recommend that it’s best to start with a business case. Evaluate where you are with your network, and where you’d like to be. Identify an isolated area of your infrastructure, that doesn’t put your whole network at risk, in which to test software-defined networking against your specific requirements. This more isolated area could be, for example, in development and testing. Familiarise yourself with the implications and potential benefits software-defined networking may hold for your business. Then start with simpler, less impactful functionality like monitoring, basic network automation, or with a small, contained area of the network.

Software-defined networking will impact many areas outside of the network itself, so make sure you understand how it will affect your security posture, and which technical adjustments would be required in network and ICT operations and management tools to ensure no undue risk is introduced at any time during testing and transitioning.

Automation will make the day-to-day tasks of the typical network engineer both easier and less time-consuming, and will result in significant operational cost savings.

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According to NTT I3, network usage and application requirements are changing dramatically as data traffic shifts towards cloud-based data centres. Software-defined networking allows those changes to be dynamic, programmable, configurable, and manageable.

As a global centre of excellence in software-defined networking, NTT I3 is researching and developing technologies that will make networks more flexible and provide a better user experience. Over time, the organisation hopes to continue enhancing software-defined networks’ programmability, reliability, and scalability to maximise their benefits.

Précis spoke to NTT I3’s Dr Masahisa Kawashima, Vice President, Product Manager, Infrastructure; and Mayan Mathen, Chief Technology Officer, about the link between software-defined networking and network function virtualisation, as well as some of the work NTT I3 is doing with open source technologies in this domain.

From human speed

networking en route to the cloud

A formidable combination ‘There’s an important connection between software-defined networking and network function virtualisation,’ says Kawashima. ‘Both are technologies aimed at speeding up the ways in which networks can be configured and controlled.’

Software-defined networking’s target locations are campus networks, data centre networks, and/or wide area networks (WANs). It separates the control and the data, centralises network control, and facilitates the programmability of the network.

Network function virtualisation entails virtualising network service nodes which were traditionally implemented with dedicated physical devices. Examples of such service nodes are firewalls, load balancers, deep packet inspection devices, and WAN acceleration devices. Network function virtualisation transforms these dedicated appliances into virtualised resources running on generic hardware.

‘Software-defined networking and network function virtualisation are both software implementations that use commodity switches and servers, and will be a formidable combination in orchestrating computing and network appliances,’ Kawashima explains.

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Software-defined networking and network function virtualisation are both software implementations that use commodity switches and servers, and will be a formidable combination in orchestrating computing and network appliances

Why here, why now? ‘In our view, software-defined networking and network function virtualisation pave the way to the cloud,’ comments Mathen. ‘Organisations are currently limited because the required infrastructures for cloud migration are static, transform slowly, and are bound to legacy hardware.

‘What both these new network technologies do is help to accelerate the transformation of the infrastructure by moving its operations to software. They allow the organisation to automate operations and closely couple the infrastructure with cloud systems and applications. This helps organisations move from human speed to software speed, which is also the pace at which cloud infrastructures need to operate.’

Kawashima adds: ‘If organisations can operate their networks more rapidly, it would hold great benefits in terms of their agility and responsiveness to the market. With cloud services offered by Amazon, for example, enterprises can immediately start developing applications in the cloud, and even release them on the same day. This is the great benefit of cloud computing. But today’s network devices are still largely based on physical hardware and configured through manual processes, which hampers cloud integration.’

Innovate to accelerate‘NTT I3’s work is therefore aimed at researching and developing technology that will help to accelerate the network operation of enterprise infrastructures,’ says Kawashima. ‘Today, organisations have many appliances at the edge of their networks. These devices are all operated through human intervention, so what we’re trying to do is to accelerate the speed at which they can be configured, using software.’

‘In essence, it’s about creating software products that run on commodity hardware,’ adds Mathen. ‘For example, storage can also be transformed into a software-based gateway using commodity hardware, while the storage space itself is provided by cloud service providers. That means that both the computing network and storage environment can become one architecture using function-based software, and providing a variety of functions.

‘At the hardware level,’ continues Mathen, ‘the industry is trying to standardise the design of high-scale cloud data centres through the efforts of, for example, the Open Compute Project. Standard hardware designs enable organisations to operate scalable data centres at low cost and, ultimately, build a more responsive IT operation. Faulty hardware can be replaced quickly and easily. Many Silicon Valley vendors are now trying to transform their hardware-based products into software appliances.’

If organisations can operate their networks more rapidly, it would hold great benefits in terms of their agility and responsiveness to the market.

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Who is NTT I3?NTT Innovation Institute Inc. (NTT I³, pronounced, ‘NTT I Cube’) is the research and development arm of the NTT Group, a global leader in ICT. NTT I³ was established in 2013 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NTT Group, and builds on NTT’s renowned research and development heritage in the telecom industry. NTT I3’s main goal is to pursue the commercialisation of advanced technologies, using NTT’s expertise in multimedia communications and telecommunications services. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, NTT I3 has access to an extensive pool of talented researchers who research ways to improve business productivity, drive innovation, and increase the return on IT and telecom investment through the pragmatic use of technology. Its research domains are security, cloud computing, and software-defined networking.

Open source integration‘Before the dawn of software-defined networking, Cisco and Juniper used to be the most influential vendors in the market’, says Kawashima. ‘Now they’re also participating in the shift from hardware to software. Cisco’s aim, for example, is to create a suite of software-defined networking products that incorporates its data centre switches, such as Nexus 9000. Even though there’s a move to greater software control, a Cisco-centric organisation would still need physical, hardware-based switches to achieve high performance. Instead of replacing all physical devices with software implementations, Cisco’s approach is to create a hybrid architecture which takes advantage of physical devices and software. This will help Cisco extend today’s Cisco eco system for the mobile and cloud era.’

NTT I3 is aiming for a more open eco system. ‘We’re working with OpenStack technology, an open source software for cloud orchestration. As OpenStack will allow any vendor’s products to be integrated into unified management; it will be widely accepted by the industry as a common platform for software-based infrastructure operation.

‘Since virtualisation allows any small start-up to enter the networking product market without building manufacturing and distribution arms, network function virtualisation fostered by an open eco system will dramatically change the landscape of enterprise networking,’ says Kawashima. ‘We firmly believe that establishing an open networking architecture is the key to helping our customers migrate to the cloud and pursue greater business agility.’

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Q Stuart, tell us about Infoblox’s core business. Do you foresee any changes in your strategy owing to the impact of software-defined networking?

A While our products may not be software-defined networking in the strictest sense, they deliver many of the same outcomes – the improvement of operational efficiency, in particular. We believe our core competencies will become only more valuable in a world where organisations spend increasing time and money implementing solutions that create efficiency, scalability, and flexibility through software, not hardware. Their budgets will gradually change as they focus less on capex and more on opex. We’re well positioned to help them transition to a software-defined world at their own pace.

The software side of tomorrow’s networksInfoblox’s core business is providing software products that enable the application control and automation of hardware-defined networks. To some extent, it can help organisations automate their networks today. Précis spoke to Stuart Bailey, Infoblox’s Chief Technology Officer, about the impact of software-defined networking on the software world.

Q What impact will software-defined networking have on the software arena, the market segment in which Infoblox plays?

A In the software world, software-defined networking will allow new products to come to market at a much lower cost. These products will help solve problems for larger-scale end-user organisations. If you’re a traditional type of enterprise in, for example, manufacturing, retail, or financial services, you’ll soon be able to purchase software products that will give you capabilities similar to what Google and Amazon have built in-house.

There will also be a significant impact on the networking industry as a whole, which has been hardware-defined until now. For the first time in the history of networking, software will trump hardware, and price and programmability will trump performance. This situation is similar to that in computing in the 1970s when there was no software market to speak of yet – only hardware. The microprocessor made software-defined computers possible. As a result, a software market independent of hardware sprang forth. Client budgets also moved from close to 100% hardware to a far stronger software focus. It’s the same kind of paradigm shift we’re seeing in the networking business today.

Q Where do the greatest opportunities in software-defined networking lie for end-user organisations?

A The most important properties of the software-defined network are price and programmability. The assumption is that the hardware on which it runs will simply be fast enough. Software

allows organisations to gain greater efficiency more rapidly. This is particularly important in areas where you need operational efficiency in order to scale more rapidly, for example, in the data centre. For organisations like service providers, data centres and their scalability are part of their core business.

Even greater gains are possible when you begin to realise the capex as well as opex benefits of commoditised, data plane programmable hardware. Imagine buying network hardware like we buy servers today. If your savings in capex can fund the software that will provide the savings in opex, it’s a double win. This is still on the horizon, but approaching fast.

The shift to software will require organisations to think differently about what a network is, and train their people on how it should be deployed and managed. It’s not clear when all of the right conditions will be present in large enterprises to consume this technology, but the technology itself is certainly here today.

Q What advice are you currently giving clients to help them prepare for a software-defined world?

A If they haven’t yet made an effort to understand the market trajectory of software-defined networking, they should do so now. This is also the right time to strategise how they’ll organise themselves internally to consume software-defined networking. For example, is the change going to be driven by the data centre division? If so, how is it going to impact the enterprise-wide network? Similar to the historical shifts from hardware to software we’ve seen in computing, or in the transition from telecom to data networking, software-defined networking will disrupt the structure of organsiations themselves. Now is the time to start that conversation internally, as well as with vendors and partners.

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Dimension Data’s services business sees software-defined networking not merely as a transition, but as a far-reaching, fundamental shift. Précis asked Rob Lopez, Group Executive – Networking, at Dimension Data why that’s the case, and how the organisation plans to navigate the changes that lie ahead.

Q Rob, how does Dimension Data’s services business view software-defined networking and its impact on the market?

A We see it as a major development with far-reaching implications. Networks have not kept pace with other industry advances, for example, next-generation data centres, enterprise mobility, and as-a-service consumption models. Networks simply need to be more cost-effective and agile to handle this progress ... and they aren’t. Upgrading the network therefore has to become less cumbersome. Software-defined networking will make this possible by extracting and centralising the software component of devices to make the network more programmable.

This is an important change driven by three forces. Firstly, the Internet of things makes it possible to connect almost any and every device to a network. As more devices are linked, the network extends its reach beyond what it was designed to cope with. Secondly, data centres have become virtualised. Virtual machines can be hosted dynamically on a range of hardware, and moved around, changed, and scaled as required. Yet, networks have remained static and manually controlled. Thirdly, large telecom organisations have networks that are extremely costly to run

Software-defined networking and the services world

and complicated to upgrade. If this process can be simplified through network function virtualisation in software, telcos can greatly increase the scale of their networks. They’d then be able to handle more customers and offer them direct access to their infrastructures, greatly reducing the need for enterprises to invest in their own networks.

Q How will software-defined networking impact Dimension Data’s clients and your approach to offering them services? Where do the opportunities lie?

A Our clients are likely to be approached by three different kinds of organisations, each offering a particular version of software-defined networking. Practically, however, they’ll require a combination of the three:

• Telecom giants will offer direct access to their networks.

• Original equipment manufacturers will want more control of the architecture and will offer networking platform services.

• Outsourcing companies will offer to take on existing environments with a promise to transition over time.

To date, these companies have dominated in their respective sectors, but now organisations require service providers that also have software skills, networking skills, and the required people, processes, and systems to manage their networks today and, over time, transition to a more cost-effective and agile environment. This requires a hybrid model that best suits the organisation’s business, and to transition to that model at the client’s own pace makes the most sense to us. Keep in mind that software may be the enabler of this change, but it’s how it’s managed that truly adds value. The hardware itself has become a commodity.

Right now, what organisations need most is expert advice. The challenge for them is to determine who’d be best to offer it. Software-defined networking is still a new area in which not many market players can claim to have extensive experience. In our

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view, organisations with access to telecom and data centre expertise are in the best position to assist, as they’re already piloting this new architectural approach. With strong links to global telecom giant NTT, and investments in data centres and Internet Solutions (IS), Dimension Data is well positioned to give guidance in this area. Most importantly, organisations will be challenged to manage their network in this brave new world. We’re in a position to help them build and operate their software-defined infrastructure in a way that delivers more agile networks, more cost-effectively.

Q Which types of businesses are currently the most receptive to the idea of software-defined networking?

A Today, predominantly companies with deep technical resources are considering software-defined networking. They understand the business drivers behind it, but they’re also approaching the deployment from a technical standpoint. Telcos, cloud providers, and large enterprises with a significant data centre investment are all considering this new direction. Most of these organisations are testing the waters to see what is technically possible.

As software-defined networking matures, we expect that mid-sized or large domestic organisations, as well as business units within large organisations, will be attracted to the simple notion of more cost-effective and agile networks. These are departments or companies that don’t want to be controlled or, as they perceive it, hindered by internal ICT divisions and processes. So, they will engage with us independently.

Q What is your current approach to the software-defined networking market?

A By first offering focused consulting services, we help clients understand the potential advantages that software-defined networking may hold for their organisations. As we begin to define our clients’ strategies, we gauge their desire and ability to manage the transition and the future state. Our goal will be to either offer point managed services that enable the client or, where appropriate, to take over day-to-day operations. We believe that many clients will elect to purchase more networking services as a part of their as-a-service platform, which will continue to accelerate the move towards multisourcing and outsourcing.

In the short term, we’ll perform a readiness assessment in the form of our Software-defined Networking Development Model. During this workshop, we help the client determine how it expects the network will be used in the future, and assess whether the existing operations and infrastructure can meet those requirements. With this information, we create a roadmap detailing how to move from the current state to a new, desired position. It’s then possible to select specific, less critical areas of the network that could be moved to a centralised management platform. These can then be used as a test case. When successful, this transition can be replicated in more critical areas of the network, at the organisation’s own pace.

In order to save money, clients will initially need to spend money. They should see the move towards software-defined networking as an opportunity to ultimately reduce the need for capex spend.

Right now, what organisations need most is expert advice. The challenge for them is to determine who’d be best to offer it.

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