EDITOR’S QUESTION
HOW IMPORTANT ARE OPEN
NETWORKING SOLUTIONS FOR
DATA CENTRE MODERNISATION?
umulus Networks, a
leader in building open,
modern and scalable
networks, has released
research that shows
UK IT leaders have
reached a breaking point with proprietary
infrastructure and open networking is their
new norm.
C
While 68% of technology leaders
are interested in adopting more open
technology, 59% of UK companies are
already using open networking solutions
to modernise their data centres to
increase agility and scalability.
Proprietary infrastructure
stifling innovation
Technology limitations within the data
centre are often cited as a key roadblock
to adopting latest technology such as
AI and 5G. Networking infrastructure, in
particular proprietary solutions, is not
immune to this as 77% of companies are
mostly not getting what they need from
their current network.
www.intelligentdatacentres.com
As UK enterprises upgrade their
networks to take advantage of innovative
technologies, they’re not going back to
legacy vendors.
The challenges IT currently faces with
proprietary networking solutions include:
• A total of 40% claim that it’s too hard
to switch, so they haven’t
• A total of 33% are frustrated with
forced upgrades
• A total of 44% claim it’s too expensive
• A total of 38% highlighted lack of
interoperability with other solutions
Strong appetite for
open infrastructure
Decision makers want to take advantage
of 5G (33%), AI (35%) and high-
bandwidth streaming (26%). And
these trends are compelling the world’s
largest data centres to change their
entire philosophy about the architecture,
dynamics and purpose of networks.
It’s not just the young, ‘born-in-the-cloud’
companies either – of companies founded
between 2000 to 2014, 65% have all, or
most, of their tech as open.
A total of 54% have recently switched
over parts of their proprietary
infrastructure to open technology. Once
companies see the benefits of open
infrastructure and the critical role it
plays in data centre modernisation, they
tend to adopt more of it. In fact, 61% of
organisations like the open technology
they have deployed and are planning on
adopting more.
“While there is strong adoption of
open infrastructure, in particular, open
networking, there is still an appetite for
more. Enterprises are seeing the benefits,
including increased flexibility, cost savings
and increased collaboration,” said Josh
Leslie, CEO of Cumulus Networks.
“As we’ve seen first-hand with our 1,800
customers, when they modernise their
data centres, open networking is the
obvious choice. It allows them to move
faster and take advantage of today’s most
innovative technologies.” ◊
Issue 10
29