A Road to Open Networking:  Focused Deliverables, Measurable ROI, Same Sheet of Music

Every day at Pica8 we are supporting a global customer base involved in creative, leading–edge applications using the PicOS NOS on white box switches.  We develop the software to meet the latest challenges of complex protocol sets, high performance switching requirements and operational demands.

We often face the RFI/RFQ that appears to be boilerplate for incumbent switching solutions – the protocol set is classic legacy L2/L3, and is comprehensive.  Customers may have working solutions, but they wonder if they can achieve better ROI with “white box” and independent Network Operating System software.  It can be difficult – DevOps and network programmability call for organizational transformation, and a problem-free rollout may be elusive.

Here’s a project example that elucidates the gradual approach that gets people involved and engaged. After describing a sequence of steps, I’ll highlight the transformation that has been achieved.  And YES, CLI is not dead.

Steps to Deployment

–          Team responds to an RFI for access and data center network switches
–          Customer provides an RFI response, and Pica8 receives customer-defined Proof of Concept requirements
–          Participate in PoC onsite lab testing, get the scorecard – 2 months
–          Roll up sleeves and deliver Continue reading