Software Defined Networking

Software Defined Networking is a technological aspiration, and not a particular technology or specification. The aspirations of SDN are to separate the process of moving data ("data plane") from the process of making decisions on how to dynamically control the movement of data ("control plane"). The reasons for wanting SDN vary, but are generally:
Make network deployments and operations much faster than today (i.e. make networks "programmable")
Eliminate vendor "lock-in" (or, not be beholden to Cisco)
Bring the benefits of SW virtualization to networks (namely, the previous two points)

Various networking vendors and vendor-consortiums are trying to address these goals in different ways. Some strategies are:
Creating network controllers (Big Switch's focus)
Defining standard protocols between future network controllers and data switches (Openflow and others)
Virtualizing network routers, firewalls, and load balancers (Nicira's focus)
Creating a vendor independent "Network OS" (Open Daylight's mission)
Creating proprietary top-to-bottom network stacks (Cisco)

I believe that the aspirations expressed by customers via a demand for SDN are strong. It will bring about a revolution in networking architectures, that will be akin to that introduced by VMware in distributed computing architectures. I do think this will affect all parts of networks, from traditional access layer to traditional core layer. Specifically, I expect that SDN architectures will result in:
Flat network data fabrics
Virtualized network functions (NFV) that tunnel data across the fabric
Distributed controllers that dynamically program the network fabric to enable data passage across it
If the world is fair and good, standards bodies (and not Cisco) will define the functions and APIs for each of these three sets of network components. Also, vendors will emerge with focus on specific areas of the networking stack (data fabric, controllers, or NFV).

Emerging trends in mobile, hybrid cloud architecture, and software-defined products will continue to drive mainstream PaaS adoption as enterprises seek cloud solutions that meet or exceed needs for cost savings, business agility and data security. This presents an exciting time for companies to take advantage of the cloud by transitioning to a private or hybrid cloud model.

A new class of enterprise software — With the cost of building and serving great software going down and the new user experience paradigms becoming more pervasive, a new generation of business software emerges. With a strong focus on user experience and on making the software useful for the users themselves and not only to their managers, this type of software accelerates adoption and provide 10X the value for a fraction of the cost.

Dramatic shift in discovery channels — CIO magazines are great but today people find new apps via social media, peer recommendations, search or, increasingly, through the various app stores. There’s no need for a special committee to choose the right software when you can rely on credible ratings and recommendations. The employees bring their apps and collaboration tools from home and effectively make the decision for the enterprise.

Failure of traditional vendors to adopt — Don’t want to name names but it is absolutely insane that most of the traditional vendors failed to put together good mobile apps. Truth is that it is not easy to do when you are sitting on top of a complex legacy code that barely runs in a modern browser, let alone on a new device.

Hybrid cloud: This will be top of mind for CIOs in 2014 as enterprises evolve from cloud hype to reality. While public cloud has received the lion’s share of hype in recent years, real enterprise cloud adoption starts with private cloud and transitions to public through a hybrid approach. As the primary demand of every enterprise, hybrid makes using the cloud possible and serves as a good transition for companies with all types of security needs.

Mobile: In 2013, enterprises were not building new workflows for mobile but were instead offering web-based apps. With its ease of use, PaaS will strengthen mobile development in 2014. PaaS enables companies to take existing workflows and expose them in a way that is secure and easy, resulting in more agile and streamlined mobile app development.

Software-defined anything: To compete and be more relevant, companies must evaluate how they can add revenue streams through software. Companies such as Diebold, Nike, and Tesla have already begun experimenting with ways to improve operational efficiency and transform their services with software and have been met with great success. Aware that tremendous potential exists to increase net margins, improve customer acquisition, and enhance customer loyalty, companies will continue exploring new ways of generating software-based revenue.