I have recently come across an article that references comments from a Cisco survey as claiming you are more apt to see Big Foot than software-defined networking (SDN) deployments. Cisco’s statement is not surprising and the results of the survey are probably skewed by Cisco’s ability to deliver solutions that enable more agile and programmable networks, such as those that can be built with available SDN products.

Cisco has done a lot for the networking industry, but these most recent comments it has made related to SDN should be a concern for enterprise and service provider customers looking to the incumbent for innovation. Equating SDN with a Big Foot sighting, or creating a consortium to deliver SDN solutions that won’t be available for years (if ever), won’t solve the real problems customers face today – the lack of network agility, lengthy provisioning times, the need for over-provisioning to meet variable demand, etc.

With all due respect, I understand the plight of the incumbent. I've been on the other side of the fence myself. Answering and educating shareholders on new revenue models, never mind training and compensating sales people to drive consumption-based versus one-time, monolithic, “big box” selling methods is a Continue reading

As I reflect on the myriad of conversations I had over the past few weeks, (most with network admins of leading enterprise and service provider customers), there is a consistent theme that has emerged and is worth sharing. Immediacy, agility, and granular control are terms, desired concepts really, that I hear over and over again and frankly seemed to hold more importance than any other topic.  A great example of this came at the end of the second day keynote panel at World Wide Technology’s (WWT) 8^th annual Geek Day event. The last question an attendee asked the panel of leading technology CIO’s: If you had one dollar to spend on IT where would you spend it? Half of the panelists answered, “network agility”.  

I came to Embrane via a leading cloud service provider and I was looking to validate the idea that speed in IT was as, if not more, important on the networking side of the fence as it was on the server and storage side.  After three months in the chair, without question, I can confirm that the “network guys” continue to  keep up at cloud speed or to match the pace of Continue reading