To Spread Your Digital Wings, You Need A Software Defined Airframe
But 36% of CIO’s Think Partners Aren’t Airworthy…
In a recent IDC Research, CIO’s have elevated Network Transformation (43%) as their 2nd top priority behind Security; up from 4th in the previous year.
Its unsurprising why network transformation has moved from 4th to 2nd on their priority list.
- More Devices
- More Mobility
- New Applications
- Connected Environments
- Zero Trust Security
- Cloud Consumption
- IoT
Our lives [and in some sectors this isn’t an analogy] depend on the network. The network has become integral to much of what do today, and everything we will do in the future; as workers, individuals and as a society.
But over the first digital decade, the front and back end of Digital [nee IT] have both disaggregated. We have moved from static workers at PC's and applications in Data Centres to a lot of things on one wing needing to communicate with a lot of things on the other wing. I call it the Digital Butterfly Effect.
When an organisation starts to spread its digital wings, from the edge to the application in the cloud, it is the network that connects the two sides of this new digital structure together. I think I said in the recent post that people need to stop thinking of the network as the digital foundations. They are made of concrete and are designed not to move, change or subside.
The network is now the airframe, it connects all parts of the digital enterprise together. And without an airframe the wings of a digital future are going to quickly fall off.
But Houston, there is a problem.
36% of enterprise CIO’s in the IDC survey cited a lack of capable Service Providers or Systems Integration to help them start the move from their legacy static, difficult to change, hard to optimize, complex to automate platforms to the new world of adaptable digital software defined networks.
That is a shocking statistic. One third of all CIOs think there isn’t enough knowledge, capability, or vision in the partner community to help them move their networks forward. And without moving the network forward, their digital strategy can’t move forward either. So why don't they want to get this shiny new airplane?
My view is that we are taking a new technology and thinking, designing, implementing and operating it in an old way. We are thinking about the network and not the software defined. We are designing networks based on an old model of go-live perfection not lifetime value. We are implementing not adopting. We are managing not adapting. We are setting the bar for the CIO too high to get on the bus, not showing them a roadmap of how and why these new networks are non-disruptive to adopt and can emerge and grow as their digital strategy and needs emerge and grow alongside them.
As in many cases in the IT industry, we are looking at the box, the technology, its features and functions, and having a battle of comparison not recognising we [the partners] need to re-evaluate our engagement and service offer to make the technology compelling to our customers digital strategy. We have for years talked a good game that the network was a digital enabler. Now it is, we have to change our game to make it a reality for our customers who are crying out for network transformation help.
I think there is a simple and smarter way of working with these technologies so our customers can get on the business with confidence, grab some immediate value, and then derive increased value from the platform them over time.
It’s a simple 3 step process we use with our customers to make all of them 100% confident that Software Defined is nothing to be afraid of.
- Stage 1. Emulate - Transform one domain of the network to an SDx Minimal Viable Platform, baking in all of the elements of software defined capability but not disrupting the current environment or operating model.
- Stage 2. Incubate - Identify the initial software defined features that can deliver incremental value and support a specific set of digital priorities Start to embed SDx skills into the IT operational team and identify a platform roadmap.
- Stage 3. Innovate - Extend SDx platforms through automation, performance optimisation, deeper integration, and development of new capabilities more deeply aligned to their digital strategy. Then move onto the next SDx transformation.
Now of course, some SDx platforms such as SD-WAN are more likely consumed as a service, making the adoption process much easier, but the partner still has to ensure the customer recognises the on-going opportunity to create more value from their initial investment. If SD-WAN is just slightly cheaper and less annoying than an MPLS network from a provider who adds no value to the customers digital strategy, then its just a new emperor in old clothes.
And of course, the simple 3 step process needs new skills, a new approach, and customer and partner working together iteratively over the lifetime of the platform, not just at pre-go live design stage and on-going maintenance. If you don’t change a software defined platform, what was the point in using one in the first place? But if we make the customer nervous about those first stages then we are doing them a massive disservice.
I was fortunate to do a lecture in Derby University this week to undergrad networking students. The topic was the changes in the networking industry and what the networking specialist of 2025 might look like. I walked into a lecture room full of switches and cables.
After a little history lesson about Cabletron Systems TPT Transceivers and the disruption caused by 4 flashing LED’s in that market back in 1988, this class of 2021 saw Software Defined, Automation, Development, Integration as an exciting opportunity, and that the possibility of NetOps was just as exciting as DevOps. They could define their careers on software defined platforms.
I hope most of all that they understood that moving from configuring a network to coding one was a transformational improvement in how networks will support the future of our digital world.
But, we can't wait until everybody is software defined native, and we don't need to.
But we have to re-think our approach to the network to make software defining it relevant and resonant to a CIO who thinks 1/3rd of us simply don't get it.
Our job now is to make sure 100% of CIO’s are confident that network transformation is something that they can get on with today because they have partners who are truly Software Defined Airworthy.
Logicalis was recently recognised as a leader in IDC MarketScape Report on Worldwide Network Consulting Services Vendor Assessment