Software Defined Networking: Competitive Landscape Assessment

Transcription

1 Software Defined Networking: Competitive Landscape Assessment Fratto, Mike Research Director, Enterprise Networking and Data Center Technology September 21, 2017 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT - SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING PRODUCT CLASS SCORECARD MARKET OVERVIEW Product Class Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market Definition SDN is differentiated from Ethernet and IP networking due to centralized, programmatic control of the forwarding paths between nodes throughout the network. SDN includes software and optionally hardware, which abstracts the logically connected network from the physical network and relies on automation and orchestration to interconnect networks and devices. Although an SDN infrastructure may separate the management plane from the data plane, as with OpenFlow, or encapsulate networks within networks, as with VXLAN, neither is a requirement. Mere configuration management or automation is not sufficient to qualify as SDN; neither are fabric technologies like TRILL or SPB. In this assessment we focus primarily on enterprise data center SDN but acknowledge campus SDN as point of interest.

2 Rated Competitors Additional Competitors Changes Since Last Update Big Switch Cisco Huawei Juniper Nuage Networks VMware Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Extreme Networks HPE IBM Pica8 Pluribus ZTE Added Big Switch Networks and Huawei; Removed Brocade, Dell EMC Networking and HPE. Big Switch added support for HCI, VDI, and multiple container systems. Cisco updated ACI to 3.0 with multi-site support, Kubernetes support, first hop security and ACI integration with cloud services such as AWS for provisioning and managing cloud networks. Nuage Networks announced its VSP 5.0 release. VMware NSX 6.3 has achieved Common Criterial EAL2+ certification and added NSX-T for multi-hypervisor support. MARKET ASSESSMENT SDN adoption in the enterprise is in a lull, with only a couple of vendors, Cisco and VMware, announcing a significant number of production customers, which when compared to each company s total customer base, is still a small number. Big Switch is making in-roads with both its SDN and network packet broker offerings based on OpenFlow by leveraging its relationship with Dell EMC. Juniper is still struggling with Contrail in the enterprise. HPE has all but exited the data center SDN market, keeping its VAN Controller on maintenance for existing customers and focusing more on network automation with Arista and Nuage Networks. In the enterprise, nearly all roads end with Cisco s ACI or VMware s NSX, because that is the route most enterprises are taking to SDN for their virtual workloads. Cisco is claiming 4,000 active customers with a 45% attach rate for its ACI, which is good growth. However, unlike VMware, which can run over any network equipment (including Cisco s), ACI runs over Cisco s ACI-enabled Nexus 9000 leaf-and-spine switches, and ACI can configure VMware s virtual distributed switch but not NSX. Unlike VMware, ACI can extend the SDN fabric from physical to virtual workloads using the same policy end to end. Cisco s partner ecosystem is larger than VMware s, although there is some overlap with market leaders in adjacent technologies like application delivery controllers, security, and operations; however, Cisco has a broader variety of partners, notably in storage and operations. VMware is in a good position because enterprises already use a variety of VMware s management and private cloud software offerings; the company has been effective at integrating NSX into the larger ecosystem; and it is attracting hardware and software integration partners. In the enterprise, validated product integration with NSX is almost universally a requirement to adoption. Many networking vendors like Arista, Cumulus, Dell EMC, HPE, and Juniper have validated integration and VMware is continually building its partner ecosystem across a number of technology verticals. VMware is claiming 2,900 NSX customers with 1,200 to 1,500 in production, which is well

3 short of the total vcenter customers. As a result, VMware and its technology partners still have a lot of growth opportunities. Nuage s Virtualized Cloud Services are unique in providing SDN within the data center, between data centers, in cloud services and out to the branch with its Virtualized Networks Services SD-WAN product, although this doesn t include the campus LAN which, if included, would be a significant differentiator. Extreme s SDN controller is based on Open Daylight and Huawei s is based on ONOS, both open source projects which should provide benefits from community development and broad ecosystem support for the emergent platform. However, each vendor will still have to provide assurances and support that integrated products work as described, which may pose difficulties for products that are not validated. MARKET DRIVERS Operational Efficiency: This is what SDN offers. Specifically, operational efficiency in the face of dynamically changing application lifecycles which reduces overhead and risk of human error. Too much time and money is spent on talented administrators manually documenting and implementing changes. Rapid Application Lifecycle: Enterprises want to reduce the time and effort it takes to deploy, change, and remove applications, eliminating any operational bottlenecks in the process. SDN, via automated and orchestrated workflows, can reliably automate the entire network lifecycle under the command of an orchestration system. Decoupling: As application architects build applications that can run in a variety of environments, they are designing the applications to operate independently of the network. This clear demarcation removes network constraints on the applications, but requires that the network operates independently, reliably, and efficiently. Function Junction: Networking vendors are offering more hardware appliances as virtual functions, allowing IT to reduce hardware requirements and gain agility with software-only network functions like firewalls, application delivery controllers, etc. Orchestrating the instantiation of software appliances and service chaining is critical to efficient IT. Risk Reduction: Enterprises are very interested in reducing the risk of malware and ransom ware from moving laterally across an open data center network. Methodologies like isolation and micro-segmentation significantly impede lateral attack movement for very little additional operational cost. End-to-End: Enterprises are examining many of the same benefits found in data center SDN for the campus and branch locations, including automation and benefits like better isolation and micro-segmentation, dynamic services, and easier management. Having unified management and an integrated SDN makes a compelling case for efficient operations. BUYING CRITERIA Outside DC Deployment: gauges the breadth and integration of SDN outside the data center. SDN, which extends to the campus and branch locations, offers end-to-end security and performance controls and simplified operations management. Nuage and Huawei have good end-to-end SDN while Cisco has some loose integration. Big Switch and VMware don t have credible end-to-end strategies. End-to-End DC Deployment: rates the completeness of SDN control within the data center and cloud across

4 physical and virtual networks and workloads, as well as its reach into cloud services. VMware makes this difficult with NSX while other hypervisor and container systems are more versatile. Built-in Capabilities: represents the native networking and service features with the product including routing, switching, P2V connectivity, service chaining, security and performance mechanisms. The more integrated capabilities, the less likely customers will have to augment and complicate their networking stack. Optional Capabilities: rates any vendor-optional features that are outside of the core SDN platform but which enhance it in some way. Examples include service chained security functions that come with vendor products and enhanced network and performance analysis. Ecosystem: assesses the vendors technical ecosystem. SDN vendors don t need to create all of the application functions themselves and should rely on a wide array of partners to fill capability gaps and add value. Integration comes in the form of relying on open source software like OpenDaylight. Big Switch, Cisco and Extreme do this directly, as well as through vendor-specific partner programs. Competitive Momentum: describes the vendors market traction and mind share in IT. Cisco and VMware are leading in this category because of their footprint in enterprise data centers, but other vendors like Big Switch and Huawei are making in-roads. VENDOR RECOMMENDATIONS Consistency Now: VMware needs to move faster to provide a feature and management consistent NSX in all environments. NSX-V is the flagship product but NSX-T is supposedly the future but that was the story with the now end-of-life NSX-MH. Feature disparity and multiple management domains are hurdles and competitive wedges. Two to Beat: Cisco and VMware have well-articulated SDN strategies and product roadmaps which enterprises can readily access. Competitors should develop an equally well-articulated strategy to promote their position and roadmap both to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Applications Rule: SDN integration with applications such as Microsoft Skype for Business and SAP S/4 HANA let enterprise customers see immediate benefits and demonstrate the value of SDN. Plumbing has Value:Microsoft and VMware should continue to partner with physical network vendors to provide an integrated overlay/underlay network, which will broaden their appeal and open opportunities for partners to provide an integrated solution. BUYER RECOMMENDATIONS All-in on Integration : Enterprise IT should evaluate its networking vendor s ecosystem and ensure that the products it uses are supported with the selected SDN. Unsupported and unintegrated network products in an SDN will significantly impede any attempts to automate data center operations. Lock-in No Matter What:Enterprise IT should fully understand its vendor s product roadmap and integration strategy because SDN (due to its reliance on integration with other products) will make replacement more difficult in the future.

5 Reflect on Automation:Enterprises should determine if they need network automation or SDN. Automation simply removes manual steps from network management and can have huge benefits through faster changes with fewer errors. SDN makes the network dynamic and subject to programmatic change. Both methods have benefits, but are fundamentally different in scope and requirements. PRODUCT EVALUATIONS Big Switch Big Cloud Fabric Outside DC Deployment: Vulnerable End-to-End DC Deployment: Very Strong Built-in Capabilities: Competitive Optional Capabilities: Competitive Ecosystem: Strong Competitive Momentum: Vulnerable Competitive Support for multiple orchestration and container platforms as well as physical and virtual networking is a complete solution. Big Switch as deep support for VMware NSX providing a robust underlay for the overlay network. Built-in analytics supports physical to virtual monitoring and troubleshooting. Hardware support for branded and unbranded whitebox switches from Dell EMC and HPE offers a variety of hardware options. Big Switch s pod approach makes it easy for customers to start small and expand as needed. Gaining a foothold against established vendors hinders customer adoption. Land and expand in brownfield deployments slows adoption and growth. A software-only approach means partners have to combine hardware and support the full offering. Big Switch is still a start-up with the business risks that implies. Big Switch can be used in the campus but would require external management for campus features like PoE. Cisco ACI Outside DC Deployment: Competitive End-to-End DC Deployment: Very Strong

6 Built-in Capabilities: Very Strong Optional Capabilities: Leader Ecosystem: Very Strong Competitive Momentum: Leader Very Strong Cisco is extending ACI into public cloud services starting with AWS. ACI offers support for physical and virtual switching SDN control including VMware s distributed virtual switch. Mutli-Pod and Multi-Site architectures address the needs of large, distributed enterprises. ACI support for Container networking provides a uniform policy management for workloads. Cisco has over 65 technology partners spanning security, ADC, operations, monitoring and integration. Cisco enhances the Nexus 9000 switch family with higher speed and more capacity. Lack of support for tunnel endpoint functions when used with VMware s NSX presents an operational hurdle for enterprises. Cisco lacks a cohesive campus to data center SDN solution that addresses operational workflows. Cisco maintains clear boundaries between technologies which are hurdles to integration within its own product lines. Technology partner integration is inconsistent creating a gap between deep and shallow integration. Huawei Cloud Fabric Outside DC Deployment: Very Strong End-to-End DC Deployment: Strong Built-in Capabilities: Strong Optional Capabilities: Very Strong Ecosystem: Competitive Competitive Momentum: Strong Strong The Agile Controller is the same ONOS-based software used for service providers offering a feature rich and robust platform.

7 Huawei integrates well with partner software as well as with the Open Daylight controller. The Agile Controller integrates with common private cloud software from Microsoft, OpenStack, Red Hat, VMware and Huawei s own FusionSphere. Huawei has an extensive campus SDN that includes mobility capabilities and integration with the data center. Huawei supports SDN on physical, virtual and containerized Docker workloads. Huawei s SDN product line is composed of many products that increase operational overhead and complicates administration. Huawei doesn t have clear and consistent messaging on enterprise SDN, making raising awareness difficult. Huawei s ecosystem is not as deep or broad as competitors, increasing friction in the enterprise. Juniper Contrail Networking Outside DC Deployment: Vulnerable End-to-End DC Deployment: Competitive Built-in Capabilities: Competitive Optional Capabilities: Strong Ecosystem: Competitive Competitive Momentum: Vulnerable Competitive Contrail has solid support for OpenStack and containerbased environments including Kuberbnetes and OpenShift. Contrail offers a good set of built-in capabilities like routing, firewalling, and policy management. Contrail integrated with VMware s vcenter via management plugin that provides UI integration as well as passing status updates. Contrail can configure Juniper s networking hardware to support interconnection between the SDN and the rest of the network. Contrail components can be run as containers streamlining operations and management. Juniper has very little market share and momentum with enterprise SDN, making it difficult to get to the

8 table. Juniper s data center SDN ecosystem is not as deep as those of competitors, increasing friction in the enterprise. Nuage Networks Virtualized Cloud Services Outside DC Deployment: Very Strong End-to-End DC Deployment: Strong Built-in Capabilities: Strong Optional Capabilities: Very Strong Ecosystem: Very Strong Competitive Momentum: Strong Very Strong The umbrella Virtualized Services Platform is an integrated solution spanning DC SDN, SD-WAN, security and analytics. Broad support for physical and virtual compute environments including Docker, KVM, Microsoft, OpenStack, and VMware. VCS integrates and controls physical switches from Arista, Dell EMC, HPE, and Nokia and bare metal switches. VCS has a strong policy-based management system for granular security and performance controls. VCS offers virtual switching and routing within the data center and to and from cloud platforms. VSP isn t well suited for the campus network which is a gap competitors are filling ahead of demand. VCS doesn t integrate with VMware s NSX for VTEP or VMware s distributed switch which causes operational issues in enterprise data centers. Nuage will face significant headwinds against Cisco and VMware in data center SDN. VMware NSX Outside DC Deployment: Vulnerable End-to-End DC Deployment: Competitive Built-in Capabilities: Strong Optional Capabilities: Strong Ecosystem: Very Strong Competitive Momentum: Leader

9 Strong VMware is the dominant private cloud vendor and has a strong foothold on the enterprise DC, reducing friction for new products. NSX-T is positioned for multi-hypervisor and containerbased environments. NSX is tightly integrated with VMware s software defined data center suite for seamless operation. Achieving Common Criterial EAL2+ certification allows NSX to be used in government networks needing high security assurance. VMware has a strong partner ecosystem with NSX, giving customers choices in network functions. NSX supports service insertion of its own network functions as well as third-party products. Having multiple versions of NSX leads to feature gaps that customers have to bridge. NSX is considered an expensive additional cost in the face of other data center infrastructure. NSX has extremely limited support for physical workloads forcing IT into complicated workflows. VMware has no campus SDN integration with NSX. Critical features like hardware VTEP and service insertion requires more expensive licensing adding to cost and gaps. All materials Copyright 2017 GlobalData. Reproduction prohibited without express written consent. GlobalData logos are trademarks of GlobalData. The information and opinions contained herein have been based on information obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but such accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All views and analysis expressed are the opinions of GlobalData and all opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. GlobalData does not make any financial or legal recommendations associated with any of its services, information, or analysis and reserves the right to change its opinions, analysis, and recommendations at any time based on new information or revised analysis. GlobalData PLC, John Carpenter House, 7 Carmelite Street, London, EC4Y 0AN, +44 (0)