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While software-defined networking is not a new concept, in its current form it has gained significant momentum in 2013 to the point of becoming a frequent part of IT conversations everywhere. “Network programmability” is another term that we can use, as this technology evolves, to capture the idea of opening up the network so that customers can have a deeper interaction with it through software application programming interfaces.
What makes this topic relevant today is that we have entered a time where the business and technological sides of the IT world need to work more closely together than ever before. Traditionally, network engineers and designers have focused primarily on the network infrastructure and the technology underlying it. They receive requirements from the business side of their organization and use in-depth knowledge of the infrastructure to implement those requirements in a smoothly functioning network.
Today, however, the technical experts must know how to articulate the value that any specific technological solution brings to the business side of the house. Conversely, the business arm needs closer cooperation with the technical side in order to make informed decisions. Today’s cloud technology is a good example of this joint need. The level of complexity in terms of available solutions dictates that cloud architects and business analysts clearly communicate each other’s requirements to ensure a complete and effective integration of the infrastructure with the business applications that depend on it. Network programmability helps set the stage for this cooperation between technical and business sides by creating an open, programmable environment that allows for more dynamic exchange of information and integration of infrastructure and applications.
The 2013 Cisco Global Impact Survey released earlier this year revealed that 71% of IT professionals intended on using SDN technologies during the year ahead. One-third cited cost savings as the reason; another one-third referred to rapid scalability of the network infrastructure as their motivation.
Many IT vendors have embraced the power of SDN, often offering the point of view that this new technology is all about automating network functionality in the realm of software. However, moving functionality outside of the network, and from hardware to software, should not be considered a silver bullet for all situations. While this aspect of SDN is generating a high level of market disruption, also important to the conversation is presenting the technology as an open extension of the network that meets the needs of specific customer use cases. SDN can be a powerful tool for resolving real customer problems in those situations where a programmatic approach to application and infrastructure integration will benefit customer deployment.
A non-disruptive evolution will be a strong motivator for customers considering implementation of SDN technologies. Simplification, openness and integration will be key elements, as will speed of interaction and flexibility in harnessing new business application functionality and resolving complex IT situations.
Leveraging the existing network infrastructure and being able to non-disruptively open it to a tighter integration with business applications will allow customers to leverage the consolidated knowledge of networking vendors and skilled professionals operating in the field today. At the same time, it will let them more effectively integrate the IT teams driving the applications and take better advantage of their skills and knowledge to improve the overall infrastructure.
A network programmability solution capable of embracing both network infrastructure and business applications always begins with the customer’s individual use case. It is the use case, and not a product that determines the direction the customer will take, using programmatic APIs to gain deep insight into, and control of, network traffic.
A programmatic approach will allow a cloud provider or data center host service provider, for example, to access the network in a dynamic way specifically to enhance the security features that it offers. A truly open, customizable environment can also facilitate the integration of complex applications such as web hosting in the cloud space.
A holistic network-programmable environment allows the user to reach through layers: a virtualized infrastructure layer with a middleware layer on top of it, and a cloud orchestration and automation layer on top of that. And operating through these layers are applications making use of myriad APIs.
We need to recognize that this transformation comes with a distinct challenge: that the complexity of well-implemented network automation requires stronger knowledge of how a network operates than ever before, not less of it. Automation offers the simplicity and speed of being able to change a multitude of devices faster, but with that capability comes more risk and thus the need for greater expertise. Those with fundamental networking experience are in the best position to make this transition and build the bridge from network infrastructure to the application environment. Conversely, the application developers, both at the business application level and at the new network application layer (implementing SDN technologies), will need a deeper understanding of the world in which they now operate, a world that moves them beyond the operating system to a more distributed environment that incorporates a rich network data structure and functionality.
We can therefore envision a network programmability workforce where business and technical skills are melded, talent gaps are filled, and solid understanding of the network, as well as programming expertise, is paramount. Everyone will need to work more closely together and move out of their comfort zone. Tomorrow’s network designer will need to be able to talk to the customer and to business application developers to understand their requirements and bring them the APIs that they can leverage. At the same time, the designer will need to communicate business requirements so that a network developer can write an application that is well integrated to the network.
For this to be able to happen successfully, the developer will need to have a good grasp of the business concerns driving the designer, and the designer will need to understand what an API can provide, how to use and leverage it and, at a rudimentary level, how code gets written to create applications that tap the network layers of complexity.
And in this world, the traditional network engineer who deploys the network will now need to know how to troubleshoot a networking environment that is virtualized and more software-rich than ever before. A network crash could now be a software crash and will require an overall understanding of the virtual network in order to fix it.
All these evolved job roles, and some new ones that will have to be created, will be vital in tomorrow’s workforce. No single IT professional will be able to own the whole network programmability space. It is too broad to enable any one individual to be deeply enough involved with all levels of knowledge at the same time.
As momentum builds during the coming years, industry-leading networking providers will be ready with network programmability products to spearhead the change, and training to help network designers, developers, and engineers build the bridges between them to function as a powerful team in this new environment.
