Yesterday at the first Open Networking User Group (ONUG), IT users shared their Software-Defined Networking (SDN) experiences and key requirements to enable the growth of open networking. IT leaders and industry executives identified five recommendations to expedite the deployment of open networking which include interoperability, vendor neutrality, programmable networks with Northbound APIs, offering increased network monitoring and visibility, and a new business model.

“Transformation in the networking industry occurred once before in the 1990s as companies migrated toward TCP/IP and away from proprietary protocols such as SNA and DECnet, and although this transition took a decade it brought the world the Internet,” said Nick Lippis, host of the Open Networking User Group and founder of the Lippis Report. “Though this open networking migration cycle will more than likely proceed similarly, the innovation and disruption have begun, and sophisticated IT leaders are in the driver’s seat trialing and beginning deployments of open SDN solutions today.”

ONUG Top Five Recommendations to Enable Open Networking:

1) Open Networks Must Be Interoperable Networks - across SDN controllers and multi-vendor physical switches and hypervisors supporting industry standards such as OpenFlow. Software-Defined Networks must address the entire network including physical and virtual switches, and though overlays deliver value today, they are not the end game.

2) Open Networking Means Vendor Neutral Platforms - support for multiple hypervisors, controllers, physical and virtual switches, network services and network silicon in a seamless multi-vendor environment with no vendor lock-in.

3) Open Networking Means Programmable Networks via Northbound APIs - abstract network Command Line Interfaces (CLI) to interface with applications and orchestration stacks to radically reduce the operational cost. Auto provisioning of physical and virtual network gear, compute and storage scheduling, and workload placement via an orchestration stack that does not require coding. The Northbound APIs should also serve as an innovation injection to speed-to-market new applications, network services and design options.

4) Increased Network Visibility and Monitoring - open networking also means visible networking so that troubleshooting, design, traffic flow optimization, and others are enabled. Open networks should emit real time network statistics to various traffic analytic and Big Data engines to determine network operational state.

5) Open Networking Business Model Needed - The industry needs to develop a business model that includes but is not limited to financial, support and service models. ONUG believes that for open networking to accelerate, the industry needs a viable, altruistic, truly open networking business model to drive innovation, fuel research and development and deliver best of breed solutions without allowing individual vendor proprietary interests to derail SDN deployments. Who will be the Red Hat of Open Networking?

Dan Lynch, founder of Interop, shared an empowering message via video with the IT executives at the first ONUG to control their own destiny and let their wallets dictate to vendors their mandate for open networking solutions to lower operational cost, increase IT delivery flexibility and prevent vendor lock-in.

About ONUG

ONUG is an exclusive, user driven, one-day conference attended by 150 IT business leaders focused on enabling the growth of open networking. ONUG was organized by networking analyst Nick Lippis of the Lippis Report as the networking industry reached an inflection point and large corporations started taking greater control of their network infrastructure. To learn more about the Open Networking Group, please go to http://lippisreport.com/onug/ or follow ONUG on Twitter @ONUG_. To learn more about the Lippis Report, please go to www.lippisreport.com or follow Nick Lippis on Twitter @NickLippis.