In a fast-changing environment with new applications and a surge of data to manage, organisations in SA are looking to the software-defined network (SDN) to give them a competitive advantage.
So says Brent Lees, senior product marketing manager for EMEA at Riverbed Technology, who adds within IT departments, the need to manage big data and mobility is putting significant pressure on network managers.
He believes big data challenges are driving interest in SDN both globally and in SA, where enterprises are starting to see the need to control and understand data, and create agility and automation with a centrally programmable network.
"A 10-fold increase in data is not a problem if you have the right tools to deal with it. If you can manage the entire IT infrastructure from end-user through to data centre with one management window, and you can adjust and change it on the fly - that's nirvana," he says.
However, he cautions, there are some stumbling blocks in the way of faster SDN adoption in SA. Most of them come down to the misconception that SDN requires a rip-and-replace approach. But there are several models for introducing SDN that build on existing investments, including open flow, application programming interfaces or a virtual network overlay, he continues.
"As enterprises increase their understanding of big data and SDN, we will see increased adoption of SDN across SA, and those who adopt it will become even more competitive," he says.
Lees explains SDN offers organisations agility to respond to the changing dynamics of the marketplace quickly and cost-effectively. "Faster-responding networks that offer minimal delays, promising an improved user experience; and thus higher productivity."
While organisations look to disruptive trends such as cloud, mobility and big data to drive business innovation and greater revenues, the IT department is well aware traditional networks and data centres may not be up to the challenge of supporting these new technology demands, he points out.
Businesses are quickly growing beyond the network "box" or the limitations of the physical network infrastructure, to embrace location-independent computing through the software-defined data centre or the SDN, he concludes.
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