A manifesto for software-defined networking: it's about the enterprise, not the network

Deon Liebenberg

It's important to set software-defined networking (SDN) into a business context, because SDN is more important than simply being a means by which connectivity and network capacity are delivered and managed to an enterprise.

SDN has the capacity to change not only the way enterprises manage their networks and associated IT infrastructures, but how they create new value for their customers and create new revenue, in new ways.

If an enterprise is no longer constrained by a fixed network capacity (which usually comes with fixed commercial terms) it is able to reinvest capital previously tied up in these fixed assets, to deploy to other areas of the business. This can include creating and developing new products and services that will benefit and streamline processes and outcomes. 

The complex made simple - and worthwhile

In a way, software-defined networking can be thought of as two related things: complex simplicity, and simplified complexity.

By complex simplicity I mean that SDN makes the real-world complexity of variable networks simple to manage for the enterprise. 

That means bringing together a range of technologies - including 5G, the NBN, and other high-speed data networks  today, but also new technologies that will undoubtedly become available in the future, to create a Liquid Infrastructurethat is managed through what we call a single pane of glass -- a single view of the entire enterprise's network ecosystem. 

Simplified complexity means being able to leverage the opportunities of 21st century technology so that enterprises can get the returns on the investments they make in this technology. 

What a bank actually cares about is delivering ATM services to customers over a 24-hour period, without having to pay for a dormant network for 6 of those 24 hours. 

What a hospital cares about is being able to scale its clinical response to cover emergencies or events in minutes, knowing that its data management and smart building networks will cope. 

What a manufacturing operation cares about is being able to define network capacity to meet fluctuating demands for its products, or to change its product set in days, not months - something many have done during the COVID-19 crisis, for example.

SDN creates early mover advantage

SDN is not new. What is new is the acceleration of its uptake and use and the ultimate transformation of this to a Network as a Service (NaaS). 

What's interesting however is the number and variety of enterprises now considering and implementing software defined networks. 

Organisations as diverse as legal firms, oil exploration companies, global retailers and commercial property developers are all considering, scoping or planning software-defined networks around the world, including here in Australia. 

They are doing so because SDNs address the connectivity requirements with the inbuilt flexibility needed to grow business, and to make them responsive – in minutes or even seconds, to unforeseen demands.

Some of that simplified complexity includes security, network resilience, cloud integration and network scaling. Of more interest to enterprises is the ability to deploy services across the network internally to employees and the business itself, and externally to customers. 

Collectively, this delivers enterprise differentiation, and it will deliver first-mover advantage. 

Gartner's hype cycle claims that software-defined networking, and the technologies it enables, are well-established on the Gartner Slope of Enlightenment, which it defines as technology that is widely understood, and which is established enough to  benefit the enterprise. 

This is also the point in the hype cycle where more organisations fund implementations - which is where early mover advantage occurs.

How SDN and related technologies transforms the enterprise  

SDN is a big play for enterprises.  Combined with other connectivity technology such as 5G, 5G with network slicing, and 5G Edge Cloud, SDN allows disruptive solutions to be considered and brought to market, that were never possible before.

For example, typical building management can be across as many as 25 different vendors, with lots of fragmentation and complexity. SDN can be combined with 5G Slicing and Edge Cloud to deliver programmable capacity to the building via SDN, then in-building 5G connectivity as the de facto connectivity standard, 5G Edge Cloud as the standard compute/storage layer inside the building, and 5G slicing to ensure cameras, and high priority traffic such as building management traffic, are allocated high priority. 

Back to simplified complexity: in these scenarios, the operations managers would control the entire SDN-enabled ecosystem from one single pane of glass – “one screen”.

Being able to vary the flexible core infrastructure (the flexible “wired” pipe into the building or complemented by the “wireless” alternatives that 4G and 5G offer) creates the foundation for the complementary network platforms that go together to create something completely programmable across the entire enterprise, and ecosystem that can deliver flexible services internally, and to external customers.

The manifesto for software-defined networking - what we at Optus call Liquid Infrastructure - is that it's about enterprise enablement – use what you need. The technology is designed to serve the enterprise, to create new customer value using new network technology, and as a result to create new differentiation.

Find out more about Optus Software-defined Networks here.