FEATURE: 2016 INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS
Networking
T
he year 2015 has seen
organisations disrupting
their markets with the digital
transformation of their businesses as
they embrace 3rd Platform computing
and New IP networking strategies that
have helped them become leaders in
new markets. Moving into 2016, more
businesses are expected to leverage
smart machines and transformative
technologies to give them a clear
competitive advantage.
The cloud will gain even greater
traction: According to IDC, more
than half of all IT spending is going
to be on the 3rd Platform, otherwise
known as cloud-based technologies,
and that figure will surpass 60% of all
IT spending by 2020. The migration
of old, legacy IP network architectures
to New IP networks will accelerate,
reaching near-mainstream adoption
as enterprises and service providers
transform their networks into an open,
software-driven platform for innovation
and a competitive edge.
Software-based networks are clearly
the future: Over the past year, software
has transformed the data centre
and networks in general, with service
providers and enterprises turning to
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and
Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV)
to create new services quickly, scale
them easily, and deliver them in usercentric ways. 2016 will bring about the
expanded adoption of innovative, open,
and automated software networking
platforms as enterprises and service
providers migrate to New IP networks.
The increasing deployment of x86
server architecture will accelerate this
transformation, replacing specialised
networking hardware in multiple network
roles, such as Application Delivery
Controllers (ADCs). ADCs have already
begun transforming to a virtual (vADC)
model to help enterprises and services
providers scale capacity on demand
to handle peak workloads. Software is
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INTELLIGENTCIO
YAROB SAKHNINI
Regional Director, MEMA,
Brocade
increasingly permeating every aspect of
this virtualisation transformation.
The importance of security will
skyrocket: Organisations operating in
today’s New IP networking environment
face increasing demands for cloudbased applications and need to support
social, mobile, and Big Data initiatives.
However, security-related attacks and
breaches continue to impede the
delivery of services and create additional
challenges to network and service
reliability. New IP networking solutions
allow organisations to deploy more
advanced security that is designed into
the network from the start, not bolted on
at edge to existing infrastructure.
COMPANIES THAT
BUILD AND USE FIELDFOCUSED DEVELOPMENT
TEAMS THAT OPERATE
WITHOUT THE
CONSTRAINTS OF RIGID
TRADITIONAL PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
PROCESSES WILL
HAVE A SIGNIFICANT
ADVANTAGE IN
CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
INNOVATION
The network itself can be pervasively
vigilant and track behaviour on and not
just access to the network, to quickly
identify and prevent unwanted activity.
Security services can be virtualised,
enabling organisations to distribute
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