If you're still uncertain as to what the sudden SDN fuss is all about (hasn't this been looming for years?) a definition I heard last week made sense of the 'suddenness' of the acronym wielding. It helps to understand that it's not so much about the beginning of Software Defined Networking (SDN) as, said my source, the end of Hardware Defined Networking (HDN).

Because of fairly recent advances in commodity processing platforms, a broad HDN approach is - from a strategic point of view - as good as dead.

That's why it's sudden. Expect vendors to be looking for friends and allies and I think this is the first time I've ever seen a major alliance announced to 'evaluate' something.

NEC and PT aim to carry out a joint case study for identifying the most beneficial SDN usage in PT’s telecom infrastructure.

Network virtualization with SDN has exceptional potential, say the companies as it allows optimised use of available network resources, increases flexibility and simplicity in the creation and management of new network services, and reduces the investment required for its implementation and operation.