Software-defined everything. The biggest cultural shift in the history of networks

As the sun sets on the epoch of expensive, fixed-function proprietary hardware and the age of software-defined virtualisation dawns, it brings with it not only a huge technological shift but also the need for a new business and organisational psycholology. As Mark Collier points out, the certainties of a business cycle based on the long-established norms of the hardware development and procurement cycle are gone. What replaces it will be much less predictable. Changes in the software-based, cloudified technologies in new virtual networks will be frequent but capricious and will have to be implemented with great speed. This requires CSPs to introduce and manage almighty cultural shift amongst their personnel. That shift is underway but it is a difficult process and often piecemeal. However, as Ildiko Vansca says, OpenStack has already proven that it is an excellent integration engine for other open source initiatives such as OPNFV and OpenDaylight. Cisco estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020, all connecting to cloud services and with the growth of applications such as smart cities, and in the automotive and health sectors, the world will need 400 million new servers in the same timeframe. It will be impossible to manage such numbers using old techniques and methodologies and this is why OpenStack and other open source bodies are now so important and relevant.

Featuring:

Mark Collier, Chief Operating Officer. OpenStack Foundation
Ildiko Vancsa, Ecosystem Technical Lead. OpenStack Foundation

FILMED AT: OpenStack Summit 2016, Barcelona, Spain