Software-defined networking will enable man on the street to solve 'rocket scientist' issues

Computing web seminar panel see big thngs for the future of SDN

Software-defined networking (SDN) will enable organisations to solve highly complex problems, but many IT professionals remain unaware of what SDN even means.

Those were two of the key issues to come out of Computing's latest web seminar, titled 'Why you need to look at software-defined networking sooner rather than later'.

"A lot of people out there are looking at SDN as a massive area for change," said Bola Rotibi, research director at Creative Intellect Consulting Ltd, who was speaking on the panel. She argued that deployment of SDN changes almost everything when it comes to networking.

"It really turns everything on its head, allowing applications to specify resources according to needs and SLAs [service level agreements]. What we're still waiting for is consistency in the standards at the supplier and vendor level," she said.

However, Rotibi also pointed out that SDN requires "a completely different architecture", which needs to be accepted before a full-scale rollout. This is happening in the financial and telecommunications sectors, and within Amazon, Google and Facebook, she added.

Eugene Berger, chief technologist of indirect markets at HP, said that many vendors are developing their own SDN application stores.

"What we're seeing is a lot of the vendors out there are creating app stores, the same concept as you see on your phone," he said.

"The vendors are developing app stores so people can use these applications, download them and deploy them to their network. All the development has already taken place in the background," Berger continued. "We're taking SDN from being [designed for] a rocket scientist to a person on the street, that application can be determined by anybody."

Rotibi agreed, arguing that the rise of SDN will provide more opportunities for application development and will "bring more people into the programming scene".

The panel also argued that through SDN, network admins will have more time to be proactive rather than reactive.

But despite the enthusiasm shown for SDN by the panel, Computing research suggests that it's yet to become a major concern for those within IT, with 37 per cent of those who responded to Computing's study suggesting they are ‘unaware' of software-defined networking.

However, the panel agreed that people will become much more aware of SDN over the next 12 months, when it will become a real "game changer" in the industry.

"As we start to talk about a more business-focused story, that awareness will increase," said Rotibi.

Earlier this month, TUI Travel CIO Mittu Sridhara told Computing that SDN is not just a buzzword, and does serve a purpose.

"It very much does [have a purpose]; clearly not all of it is ready yet for the volumes and transactions and scale in which we do things, but certain areas and elements are starting to become available," Sridhara explained.