10 Questions To Ask Your SDN Vendor

Despite all the talk about software-defined networking, actual SDN adoption has been slow. But there are signs that may be changing. According to a survey earlier this year of midsize and large North American enterprises  by market-research firm IHS, nearly 80% of organizations are planning to implement SDN by 2017.

"The solutions have started to mature," said Clifford Grossner, analyst for IHS. "The use cases are becoming more well-defined."

In a separate report, IHS forecast that the SDN market of Ethernet switches and controllers will reach $13 billion by 2019, up from $781 million in 2014. Grossner predicts that SDN "will cross the chasm" in 2016.

As enterprises prepare for SDN adoption, now is the time for them to start doing their due diligence, and fast. As organizations examine potential SDN vendors, they'll need to ask the right questions to avoid some of the same mistakes they made during previous eras of big infrastructure changes, including vendor lock-in, security problems, and integration issues.

Network Computing caught up with a number of industry experts to get their suggestions for some probing questions to start with, along with why you should be looking for answers to these queries. Continue on to find out what they recommend you ask as you start your SDN journey.

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