Australia and China lead the world in SDN adoption: Avaya
According to the 2015 SDN Expectations, Avaya commissioned survey, 99 percent of IT professionals want SDN to extend beyond the datacentre.
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However, nearly the same amount (93 per cent) say the ability to do so today is extremely or moderately limited.
In addition, of the challenges that IT pros are looking to SDN to solve, 80 per cent insist that SDN programming must be simple before they will adopt.
The research also shows 94 per cent of large companies around the world are at the very least currently researching SDN.
In fact, close to one in three (29 per cent) already have SDN in production, with one in five (21 per cent) having rolled it out on part of their network and eight per cent say they have it in production across their entire network.
Another 42 per cent are at the research stage and 23 per cent are testing this technology in their laboratories or on part of their network.
Indeed, this means that together 52 per cent are either actively testing SDN or have already adopted it at least on some part of their network.
China has the highest levels of SDN adoption in terms of having it in production across their entire network (15 per cent).
Indeed, China (47 per cent) and, to a lesser degree, Australia (39 per cent) stand out in that more companies have SDN in production on part or all of their network, and this also applies to quite high proportions (roughly one in three) of those in the US (35 per cent), Russia (32 per cent) and Mexico (31 per cent).
The relative laggards are French corporations, where 10 per cent have it in production in part of the network and seven per cent have it in production across the entire network.
The report coincides with the introduction of a new, open software-defined networking (SDN) architecture that will help companies create the agile networks required by today's dynamic applications.
The Avaya SDN Fx architecture will deliver "connect anything, anywhere" simplicity, shaving weeks in provisioning time by allowing devices and users at the network edge to be added easily to the network, according to a company statement.
The architecture, built on the Avaya Fabric Networking technology, features new products and capabilities for a complete solution that delivers on the promise of SDN, without the hidden complexity that comes with the towering overlays of software and hardware inherent in many other vendor approaches. It includes an Open Networking Adapter (ONA), which provides a plug-n-play network connection for any device with an Ethernet port including medical devices, manufacturing machines, and branch office switches.
Targeted for non-IT personnel, this card deck-sized appliance automatically provisions a QoS-customized virtual path across the network that mitigates security risks, allowing simple, powerful management of thousands of devices.
Another feature is the Fabric Orchestrator.
Avaya claims it is the first SDN controller embedded in a unified management instance.
The appliance manages and orchestrates the Ethernet fabric as well as provides SDN Control to north and south bound interfaces. SDN capabilities include OpenFlow, OpenDaylight and OpenStack.
The Fabric Extend feature is a new capability in Avaya Fabric Connect enables the extensibility of Fabric networking across any IP based network without loss of functionality.
Investments in existing networking technologies are preserved while interconnecting strategic deployments of Fabric Connect across data centers, campuses and branches. The architecture can support a wide range of use cases, such as supporting the security and mobility of devices connecting to the ever-growing Internet of Things.
Environments such as those found in hospitals, manufacturing floors and casinos are blanketed with devices that require a more secure, mobile connection to the network, and may also require that the rest of the network is better protected from potential threats that could be triggered by them.
Similarly, home-based contact centre agents pose an expense and operational burden by requiring dedicated resources to provide more secure access to customer information and alignment with IT security policies.
With the Avaya SDN Fx architecture, a small network adapter provides automated and dynamic connectivity, mobility and a level of security to the network based on the device or user identity.
The adapter will be reset and disabled if removed from the environment. This removes the burden of installation from IT, as end users can simply connect the adapters and allow the automated process to fully configure the device. Avaya networking, senior vice president and general manager, Marc Randall, said CIOs were unnecessarily overburdened by archaic networks and frustrated by the disparity between the promised results of new technologies and the reality that most vendors deliver.
"There's a better way: Avaya Fabric Connect already relieves 75[i] percent of the top network issues identified by IT departments, and we're building on that with SDN Fx," he said.
"This is the foundation that accelerates deployment and improves performance of customer and team engagement solution and that the industry has been demanding. Avaya can deliver it today."
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