Will we ever learn?

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3 June 2014

It was with little surprise that I read a story from a pioneer in the field of software defined networking that said the thinking around the deployment and use of software defined networks is lagging the technology itself.

Martin Casado co-founded Nicira Networks in 2007, a pioneer in developing the early technology that became software defined networking. The company was sold to VMware in 2012. Casado said that he thought hardware would be the toughest thing to change in enterprise networks, but in actual fact it is mindsets and organisational structures are the biggest hurdles.

Now, as I said, this is unsurprising but the more I thought about it, the more I think that this should not be the case.

This all too familiar situation occurred with the move to server virtualisation that led to the phenomenon of virtual machine (VM) sprawl. This was where people used the new, easy way of commissioning and deploying servers in a way that meant good governance was defenestrated and VMs were stacked high with little thought to efficiency. Complex architectures were created that threatened the promise of the new development. Many virtualisation implementations stalled at this first stage with costly investments apparently failing to produce the claimed return on investment. The reality was of course, that the new way was being subverted by the persistent use of old methodologies — to stretch Ford’s old wisdom, it was like keeping a Model T in a stable and feeding it hay.

And here we are again on the cusp of the software-defined revolution facing the same problems, as the only major component in the system, human being 1.0, has not yet received a significant update

Cloud computing too produced similar results as some companies rushed headlong into early use of infrastructure or platform as a service (IaaS, PaaS) only to find relatively inflexible results and vendor lock-in, but mostly because the expectation was that the new infrastructure would work just like the old ones.

And here we are again on the cusp of the software-defined revolution facing the same problems, as the only major component in the system, human being 1.0, has not yet received a significant update.

But who is to blame for this lack of awareness? How is it that with all the hype around these various developments, there persists a lack of knowledge as to how to truly leverage the new technologies?

Well, the problem would appear to be twofold.  Firstly, the vendors, partners and implementers have a case to answer. It is these various players that originate, distribute and implement the technology which have the most to invest, but also the most to gain, from ensuring that Jo(e) TechPro is up to speed on not only the technology but best practice in usage. Only then can they ensure that Jo(e) TechPro will not only get the best from the technology but sing its praises and buy more, hopefully convincing others to do the same.

Secondly, the problem also seems to lie in a lack of strategic thinking on the part of buyers. All too often, it seems, that Jo(e) TechPro is looking only to salve a current pain point and may not be thinking about the medium to long term whereby such fundamental changes in the technology can be a base for a whole new architecture and technology direction. As such, they see a jump in speed, capacity, manageability or the like, and seize it as a quick win with only a passing thought for the next steps. Again, this is a fundamental human fault and one of which we are all guilty.

And, I suppose, it is also one for which we, the technology press, must take some responsibility too. It is our job to talk to industry, take the new developments and express their potential benefits in a fair and impartial manner, allowing Jo(e) TechPro to make an informed decision as to the next purchase.

Now, none of these things are perfect in terms of mechanisms of education, but what is clear from Casado’s comments is that something is failing among these various processes, resulting in yet another technological revolution potentially floundering in its early stages due to lack of understanding.

 

 

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