The 10 Best SDN Solutions Of 2018 (So Far)

Hottest SDN Tech Of 2018

Software is front and center in the networking world this year as customers demand more programmable, agile and less costly network solutions.

The increasing adoption of cloud-based services and need to reduce data center complexity is driving sales for technologies such as software-defined WAN and intent-based networking. The global software-defined networking solutions and services market is projected to increase 54 percent on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next several years, reaching $88 billion by 2024, according to a research report by Global Market Insights.

CRN breaks down ten of the coolest and most sought-after software-defined networking technologies in the market so far in 2018.

(For more on the biggest news of 2018, check out "CRN's Tech Midyear In Review.").

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

Apstra AOS 2.2

Apstra launched a new version of its flagship intent-based networking AOS software this year with features including intent-based analytics. AOS 2.2 is a turnkey solution that lets users fully automate data center operations across the network regardless of customers' vendor mix, enabling the Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup's technology to automatically prevent and repair network outages. The new version has embedded big data analytics that allows operators to specify how they expect their network to operate and continuously validates the operator's intent, generating anomalies when it detects an irregularity. AOS 2.2 now supports multi-tenancy and enhanced inter-rack Layer 2 connectivity though Ethernet VPN which provides a scalable control plane.

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

Big Switch's SDN Cloud Fabric

Big Switch Networks introduced new support this year for VMware vSAN, Dell EMC ScaleIO and Nutanix hyper-converged solutions for its Big Cloud Fabric SDN switching fabric. Big Switch's data center software-defined networking solution delivers network automation, visibility for cloud-native applications and can complete fabric upgrades within minutes. The solution leverages an SDN-based leaf/spine fabric and open networking hardware to enable rapid provision of networks for scale-out deployments and high performance for large clusters. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor's Big Cloud Fabric has many successful use cases involving hyper-converged infrastructure, containerized workloads, OpenStack, and low latency VDI workloads.

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

Cisco Intent-Based Networking

Cisco has been investing heavily in its one-year-old intent-based networking platform in 2018 which now boasts 5,800 customers. CEO Chuck Robbins recently told CRN that Cisco's intent-based strategy -- which uses software to automate network policy and management -- is shifting more toward an open, software-defined architecture. The San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant is making DNA Center, the control and management plane for intent-based networking, an open platform to allow partners to develop custom applications and offer more SDN solutions for customers. Cisco also launched two new software systems, Network Assurance Engine and DNA Center Assurance, in 2018 to boost the platform's SDN capabilities.

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

Dell EMC VEP 4600

Doubling down on its open networking strategy, Dell EMC launched its x-86 based Virtual Edge Platformnetworking solution this year that uses Intel's Xeon D-2100 processor to connect the edge to the cloud. The VEP 4600 is a universal virtual networking CPE that Dell calls the ideal access platform for SD-WAN and virtual networking functions like routing and deep-packet inspection. The Round Rock, Texas-based infrastructure behemoth has validated three SD-WAN solutions on the platform: VMware's Velocloud, Silver Peak and Versa Networks. VEP 4600 began shipping in April and is priced at $1,500 in the U.S.

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

HPE Aruba SD Branch

In June, HPE Aruba introduced SD-Branch that combines new branch and headend gateways with existing HPE Aruba technology, including its ClearPass policy management, to form an integrated SD-WAN, WLAN, LAN and security solution. The new Aruba Branch Gateways are purpose-built using software developed in-house with integration top of mind. The gateways integrate with Aruba's recently enhanced Aruba Central cloud management platform to provide a single point for SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking, and policy enforcement. Aruba said SD-Branch enables customers to manage more branch locations with less staff while leveraging a consistent approach for security and compliance across locations.

byMark Haranas on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

Juniper Contrail SD-WAN

Juniper Networks Contrail SD-WAN delivers a multi-cloud solution that enables customer to automate the WAN edge across virtual cloud endpoints and on-premises firewall or CPE platforms. The solution uses Juniper's Contrail Service Orchestration to design, secure, automate and run the entire service life cycle across Juniper networking products such as routers, gateways and other network platforms. In June, Juniper enhanced Contrail SD-WAN capabilities to add support for fine-grained Application Quality of Experience (AppQoE), offering visibility and management in individual application performance for more than 3,700 apps including Microsoft Outlook and Skype for Business. Customers can now tune application performance to and from the branch using Contrail's orchestration managed policies.

by on July 17, 2018, 3:26 pm EDT

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Nutanix Flow

As part of Nutanix's 2018 strategy to become a software-only vendor, the hyper-converged infrastructure pioneer launched a new software-defined networking product designed for multi-cloud environments: . Flow provides application-centric security to protect against internal and external threats that are undetected by traditional perimeter-oriented security products. The solution includes network provisioning and management automation, as well as native micro-segmentation services that govern traffic between individual applications to protect against threats. San Jose, Calif.-based Nutanix embed Flow into the company's flagship Enterprise Cloud OS.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300106641/the-10-best-sdn-solutions-of-2018-so-far.htm

HPE Aruba And Its Secret Competitive Weapon

Before I was a tech analyst, I spent many years in product marketing at @Dell, @Compaq, and @HP, on both the consumer and enterprise sides of the business. As such, I tend to geek out on technology. Naturally, I jumped at the invitation to tour @Hewlett Packard Enterprise 's @Aruba test lab facility in beautiful Roseville, California back in late June. Tom Black, VP & GM of the Aruba Campus and Branch business unit, and several of his senior managers guided me through the massive 65,000 square foot facility. Today I would like to share my experience and insights gleaned from the visit. Fast quality The concept of “fast quality” seems like an oxymoron on the surface. Oftentimes, in the rush to bring technology to market certain issues are overlooked and products are released in beta. It then falls to customers to help with the debugging process. That’s not the case with HPE and the Aruba product development team, who utilize testing to not only bring products to market faster but also to deliver higher quality solutions. Aruba employs a rigorous testing framework and sophisticated tools, including a dynamic, drag-and-drop, software-based test bed that allows engineers across five locations in Roseville, Santa Clara, Bangalore, Singapore and Costa Rica to continuously test regardless of time zone. The overall goal is to discover bugs before they are released into the “wild.” The company also utilizes defect prediction analysis and vulnerability tracking notification (VTN) to further fine-tune product quality. VTN enables the various Aruba support channels to provide customer data quickly and proactively around possible vulnerabilities, addressing them before they become a problem. That’s very different from traditional product support models that are reactive in troubleshooting—only addressing problems after they occur. Ultimately, these efforts result in both faster customer adoption, time to revenue, and profitability for Aruba. Case in point: the Aruba team told me that most of its largest customers deploy “rev 0” products, based on their confidence in Aruba. From my exposure to large enterprise technology deployments and conversations with IT and network administrators, I can say that this is an impressive statistic. All too often, these staffers are conservative and take a very cautious approach with the introduction of new products—often waiting for future revisions before wide-scale deployment. Will Townsend A glimpse inside the HPE Aruba lab. Scale matters Scale matters in the technology industry, whether it lies in supply chain leverage, lower cost components, or product development, where fixed costs can be amortized over large volumes. The same can be said for testing, and Aruba leverages massive scale. Among the proof points are 6 million lines of available test code, an average of 500,000 test cases executed per quarter, and a financial investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment and in the facility itself. In fact, Aruba opens its facilities to other companies for testing and quality assurance (reaping the financial benefit in return, I’m certain). Recommended by Forbes It's All About Networking At The Edge At HPE Discover 2018 API Is The New CLI For Cisco Systems Network Automation: The Enterprise And Beyond 5G Reality: Insights From The 2018 Big Communications - 5G North America E... MOST POPULAR Photos: The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities TRENDING ON FACEBOOK Farewell Toys R Us, We Will Miss You MOST POPULAR Photos: The Toughest Jobs To Fill In 2017 MOST POPULAR The Top 10 Richest Billionaires 2018 From my perspective, the value in HPE Aruba’s scale lies in the company’s ability to simulate nearly any environment and integrate non-Aruba gear to ensure interoperability. These simulations span verticals such as banking, healthcare, and military, as well as highly-complex, massive, decentralized network environments. Most of Aruba’s test capabilities are also certified for stringent global regulatory requirements for emissions, power, safety, and recyclability. This points to both the sophistication and maturity of Aruba’s test capabilities, which nearly eliminates the need to outsource testing. Outsourcing testing can increase the overall product development process and, given the added expense, lower margins.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2018/07/09/hpe-aruba-and-its-secret-competitive-weapon/#529b3b5a6f76

CRN Interview: HPE Aruba VP Lunetta On Partners' Must-Have Security Skills And Why Machine Learning Is Like Carpentry

To The Machine For @LarryLunetta, vice president of security solutions marketing at @HPE @Aruba, #machinelearning is a lot like carpentry. With a relatively small number of tools, a carpenter can build just about anything. Machine learning also requires a small toolbox, but requires deep knowledge, skill and expertise to be successful. "It's not about knowing how to plug data into an algorithm," Lunetta said. "It's knowing what you want to accomplish, what data you want to use and understanding what result you're getting. That's an iterative process and it depends on the type of machine learning you're using." Lunetta came to HPE Aruba a year ago when it acquired machine-learning-based security firm Niara. Perhaps it's not surprising that he has come to view HPE Aruba as "a security company wrapped in network products." Now, Lunetta is laying the groundwork for an effort to bring HPE Aruba's security solutions front and center as the company seeks to differentiate from competitors like Cisco Systems. To do that, the company wants to empower partners to take on a new set of skills and embrace an open, machine-learning-based philosophy, Lunetta said. What follows is an edited excerpt of Lunetta's conversation with CRN.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300102301/crn-interview-hpe-aruba-vp-lunetta-on-partners-must-have-security-skills-and-why-machine-learning-is-like-carpentry.htm

CRN Interview: HPE Aruba Channel Chief Harold On New Competencies, The Importance Of Openness And The Ascent Of The Customer Experience

@TheChannelCompany Core Competency

With the introduction of the @NetInsight network analytics offering, as well as its coming #SDWAN rollout, @JimHarold, North America channel chief of @Aruba, a @Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, said the company is making things simpler so it can realize growth in its partner program. The Santa Clara, Calif., company unveiled a new competency for partners during its Atmosphere conference in Las Vegas last week, and Harold said the effort allows HPE Aruba to bring training and enablement across its partner base in a uniform way. The new competency is in HPE Aruba's Instrospect user entity behavioral analytics offering, Harold said, and partners that make the investment in earning the competency will be rewarded with a back-end rebate of between 10 percent and 16 percent. The effort is part of HPE Aruba's overarching drive to help partners focus on open, API-driven solutions that emphasize the customer experience, Harold said. What follows is an edited excerpt of Harold's conversation with CRN.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300101546/crn-interview-hpe-aruba-channel-chief-harold-on-new-competencies-the-importance-of-openness-and-the-ascent-of-the-customer-experience.htm

HPE Aruba President Melkote On The Value Of A Multi-Vendor, API-First Approach And The Endgame For Cisco-Style Vendor Lock-In

API First, Lock-In Last A new #machinelearning -based #networkanalytics offering, an acquisition, and an entrance into the red-hot market for software-defined WAN solutions: @HPE @Aruba President @KeertiMelkote is aggressively pushing the company into an API-first strategy that he says provides more value to customers and partners, and deals a well-placed blow to @Cisco 's approach to the new era of networking. Melkote highlighted the launch of HPE Aruba's NetInsight analytics offering, the acquisition of @CapeNetworks, and its planned midyear push into the #SDWAN market during the company's Atmosphere conference in Las Vegas this week. The moves are part of a strategy to help the company and its partners capitalize on the market's move toward software-based infrastructures as customers seek to quickly monitor and manage an increasingly mobile workforce. HPE Aruba's API-first, multi-vendor approach to network architecture allows customers to meet those needs in mixed, best-of-breed environments rather than being locked into proprietary solutions from traditional players like Cisco, Melkote said. And while the old and the new will likely co-exist for the foreseeable future, customers are clearly demanding a flexible, secure and efficient software solution, and partners need to double down on meeting those demands to make the most of the huge opportunity in front of them, Melkote said. What follows is an edited excerpt of Melkote's conversation with CRN.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/data-center/300101356/hpe-aruba-president-melkote-on-the-value-of-a-multi-vendor-api-first-approach-and-the-endgame-for-cisco-style-vendor-lock-in.htm

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to Acquire Cape Networks

@Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: #HPE), today announced a definitive agreement to purchase privately-held @CapeNetworks based in Cape Town, South Africa, and San Francisco. Cape Networks will become a part of Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, and will expand @Aruba ’s Artificial Intelligence ( #AI) powered networking capabilities with a sensor-based service assurance solution that gives customers a simple, proactive, and network-agnostic tool for measuring and monitoring SaaS, application, and network services. The solution helps organizations deliver the best possible end user experience by enabling IT to get ahead of service quality issues before they occur, accelerate time to resolution, and lower cost of operations

https://www.streetinsider.com/dr/news.php?id=13987302&gfv=1

HPE OfficeConnect switch, access point easy to deploy, manage

The role of Wi-Fi has changed in most companies and is no longer something that’s merely convenient. Rather, it’s critical to a business’s ability to ensure its customer are happy and workers are productive. Given the growing importance of Wi-Fi, it’s essential vendors make products that are easy to set up, particularly for small businesses where the technical acumen of the person setting the product up is likely to be low.  HPE had inquires as to the importance of having the product be easy to setup and manage, and I said that I felt it was the most important attribute. In fact, I chose the solution for my house — which includes four indoor access points (APs), one outdoor AP, and a 48 port Ethernet switch — based on how easy the product was to operate. I'm very technical, but I really can't be bothered to fiddle around with doing things in a CLI. ADVERTISING   Also read: 9 tips for speeding up your business Wi-Fi HPE was certain that their product, HPE OfficeConnect, would set a new bar for being easy to deploy and manage and asked me to test the product and write a review. I agreed, and they sent me a pair of access points and a small office Ethernet Switch.  SponsoredPost Sponsored by Deloitte [Video] Deloitte's Tech Trends 2018: The symphonic enterprise Given the nature of this review, I feel it’s important to fully disclose my relationship with HPE. #HPE is a client of ZK Research, with the relationship having been established through @Aruba Networks, a company purchased by HPE in 2015. I agreed to the test and review of the product with the condition that HPE has no influence over the findings of the report other than to confirm things for factual accuracy if I had a question. There was no case in which I needed a fact check, so the review is solely my own.

https://www.networkworld.com/article/3263809/wi-fi/review-hpe-officeconnect-network-products-extremely-easy-to-deploy-manage.html

Industrial Networking Solutions Market Worth 23.84 Billion USD by 2022

According to a new market research report "Industrial Networking Solutions Market by Technology (SDWAN, WLAN, & IIoT), Service (Network Planning & Optimization, & Integration), Application (Predictive Maintenance, & Emergency & Incident Management), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets™, the market size is expected to grow USD 9.18 Billion in 2017 to USD 23.84 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.0% during the forecast period (2017-2022).

Some of the major vendors in the Industrial Networking Solutions Market include as @Cisco (US), @Dell EMC (US), @Juniper Networks (US), @Sierra Wireless (Canada), @Aruba Networks (US), @Veryx Technologies (US), @Moxa (US), @Belden (US), and @Rockwell Automation (US).

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/industrial-networking-solutions-market-worth-2384-billion-usd-by-2022-675144583.html

HPE toasts forecasts with across-the-board sales and profit growth

Call it @MegWhitman s parting gift. @Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. today reported stronger-than-expected revenue and profit per share in its fiscal first quarter, fueled in roughly equal parts by improved business execution, a strong sales backlog and acquisitions. Revenue rose 11.6 percent year-over-year, to $7.7 billion, beating consensus estimates of $7.07 billion by 9 percent for the largest quarterly increase in more than two years. Profit per share of 34 cents before certain items such as stock compensation was well ahead of analysts’ estimates of 22 cents. HPE upped its profit guidance for the second quarter to between 29 and 33 cents and also boosted full-year estimates to between $1.35 and $1.45, well above previous guidance of $1.15. “We see a broadly improving IT investment environment,” said Chief Financial Officer @TimStonesifer. Investors sent the stock up nearly 19 percent in initial after-hours trading, before profit-taking set in. Still, shares were up nearly 11 percent at the conclusion of the company’s earnings call at 5:30 p.m. EST. HPE has been buffeted by competition from the likes of @DellTechnologies Inc., whose 2016 acquisition of storage giant @EMC Corp. signaled its intention to become a more broad-based supplier. #Cloudcomputing providers such as @Amazon Web Services Inc., @Microsoft Corp.’s #Azure and @Google Cloud Platform also have stolen away data center traditional hardware and software revenues. But in this quarter, HPE’s growth was strong across the company’s portfolio, with compute revenue up 11 percent, storage up 24 percent and data center networking up 27 percent. The fledgling “intelligent edge” operations, driven by its Aruba networking subsidiary, showed 9 percent growth. The surge in storage revenue was helped by strong performance by its Nimble Storage Inc. subsidiary, as well as a return to growth for its 3Par line. Sales of all-flash arrays grew 16 percent. Among the company’s small but strategic new initiatives, hyperconverged infrastructure sales jumped threefold, and HPE’s Synergy program, which provisions on-premises infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go basis, grew 40 percent. New leadership This was HPE’s first quarter under new Chief Executive Antonio Neri (pictured), who took over when former CEO Whitman stepped down Feb. 1. Neri attributed much of the recent success to the HPE Next program that he ushered into existence at the end of last year. That program is expected to remove about $750 million in costs this year by streamlining operations, reducing management overhead and cutting back on the number of different product configurations the company sells. HPE has already sharply cut back on layers of management between himself and customer-facing employees in other countries, Neri said. “It’s all about simplification, innovation and execution,” he commented. “This is an opportunity for me, as the new CEO, to establish a new culture as we transform the company.” Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy termed the results a “blowout,” with big gains in nearly all segments. “If this is what HPE will look like under Neri, investors, customers, partners and employees will be pleased,” he said. In reality, Neri’s impact on this quarter was limited because Whitman was CEO for the entire quarter, but the new CEO was quick to cite new programs he’s putting in place install more excitement and loyalty among its workforce. Among them is a “significant” new investment in HPE’s 401(k) matching contributions for employees and an unspecified boost in training. “The need to reskill our workforce has never been higher,” Neri said. He also returned to the theme of innovation, a favorite longtime watchword of the company that was downplayed during two years of aggressive restructuring. “I believe our portfolio is the strongest we’ve had in years, and customers recognize that,” Neri said. “They love our innovation.”

https://siliconangle.com/blog/2018/02/22/hpe-toasts-forecasts-across-board-sales-profit-growth/

Extreme Networks Channel Leader On Beating Cisco And HPE Aruba On Simplicity, Profitability With New Partner Program

After closing three major acquisitions in 2017 to the tune of $210 million, @GordonMackintosh, @ExtremeNetworks ' senior director of the vendor's worldwide partner organization, is using the company's newly combined channel program to gain ground on rivals like @Cisco Systems and @HPE @Aruba. Mackintosh says that since launching Jan. 1, the program has already begun attracting Cisco and HPE Aruba partners looking for better margins and relief from the partner-on-partner battles and distracting technology strategies that come with larger vendors' programs. Extreme's program took what Mackintosh considers the best elements of @Avaya, @Brocade and @ZebraTechnologies after Extreme acquired networking assets from each company. "We've integrated four partner programs into one unified partner program," Mackintosh said. "I got to see all the ingredients all the companies were using and what was working well and took the best pieces of each of them." Mackintosh then organized the program into three tiers – Authorized, Gold and Diamond – with an exclusive Black Diamond designation for partners that drive significant new business revenue. The result is a program that focuses on partner enablement and profitability without resorting to an inflexible one-size-fits-all approach. What follows is an edited excerpt of Mackintosh's conversation with CRN.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300099181/extreme-networks-channel-leader-on-beating-cisco-and-hpe-aruba-on-simplicity-profitability-with-new-partner-program.htm

Gartner: HPE-Aruba Surpasses Cisco For First Time In Critical Capabilities Networking Report

@Aruba, a @Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, has dethroned @Cisco for the first time ever in @Gartner 's 2017 Critical Capabilities for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure report, which scores vendors on a variety of #networking capabilities in multiple enterprise use cases. In a clean sweep, Gartner gave #HPE-Aruba the highest score in each of six network use cases. In the 2016 version of the report -- which featured five use cases, some of which changed from year to year -- HPE-Aruba placed first in only one category, with Cisco topping the other four. "Aruba is the top-ranked vendor for all use cases," Gartner said in this year's report, which was published Nov. 3, citing Aruba's AirWave network management technology and ClearPass secure network access control technology as "some of the most complete solutions in the market." [Related: The 10 Most Important Products And Channel Incentives Unveiled At Cisco Partner Summit 2017] Gartner pointed to the breadth of Cisco's portfolio of wired switching and WLAN products as the reason the vendor ranked in the top half of the scores in five of the six use cases, according to the report. Overall, the market dynamics that come into play when wooing enterprise customers are shifting, Gartner said. [Sponsored Suggested Post: IoTConnex Virtual Conference On Demand Discover new IoT research and insights. Hear solution provider success stories. Find your IoT opportunity.] "Enterprises have moved beyond basic connectivity and now use network service applications and deployment flexibility to differentiate access networking vendors," according to the report. Among HPE-Aruba's most significant victories is the Unified Wired and WLAN Access category, with a score of 4.04, followed by Cisco at 3.83. Gartner said this represents the first time in the four editions of this research that HPE-Aruba has scored higher than Cisco in that category. In the same category in 2016, Cisco led with a score of 4.1, followed by HPE-Aruba at 4.08. The analyst firm noted that some of the definitions used in the research may have changed from one year to the next, affecting vendor scores Raymond Tuchman, CEO of Experis Technology Group, a Potomac, Md., HPE partner, said HPE-Aruba's win in the Gartner Critical Capabilities report is just one more sign of the increasing momentum for Aruba's wireless and wired portfolio in accounts that were at one time Cisco-only. "This is a huge deal for Aruba," said Tuchman. "This is the highest independent corporate IT market research firm saying HPE-Aruba has a better solution than Cisco in wired and wireless networking. This is important for customers to know. We're going to definitely cite it."

http://www.crn.com/news/networking/300095146/gartner-hpe-aruba-surpasses-cisco-for-first-time-in-critical-capabilities-networking-report.htm

HPE to Move HQ From Palo Alto to Santa Clara in Bid to Cut Costs

@Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. is moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to neighboring Santa Clara, bolstering efforts to slim down. “Over the past two years we’ve made tremendous progress towards becoming a simpler, nimbler and more focused company,” Chief Executive Officer @MegWhitman said in a statement. “Our new building will better reflect who HPE is today and where we are heading in the future.” HPE plans to sell its building in Palo Alto and disperse employees to nearby cities including Milpitas, San Jose and the offices of @Aruba in Santa Clara, about 12 miles away. HPE bought wireless networking company Aruba in 2015 and its “state-of-the-art” offices will become the company’s new headquarters. Hewlett Packard’s history in Palo Alto dates back to its founding in 1939. Its current headquarters are at 3000 Hanover Street, near Page Mill Road -- and near Stanford University. Whitman has sought to lower costs after the company was formed when the original Hewlett-Packard Co. split in 2015, creating HPE, which focuses on data-center hardware, and HP Inc., which sells computers and printers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-02/hpe-to-move-hq-from-palo-alto-to-santa-clara-in-bid-to-cut-costs

Cisco Meraki Leader On HPE-Aruba 'Chasing The Meraki Model,' Product Expansion And Being Nonproprietary

@Cisco 's Shining Star: @Meraki Leading the charge for Cisco Systems' highly successful Meraki business is @Todd Nightingale, who has spent years pulling various Cisco technologies into the Meraki platform and fighting off the competition. The cloud-based management platform is full of open APIs and rich recurring revenue opportunities for the networking giant's channel community. With more than $1 billion in annualized sales and 13,000 partners currently selling Meraki, Nightingale says market leadership and the innovation engine will continue to grow. "We really try to focus quite a bit on enabling partners to find new customers because a customer that makes an initial purchase of Meraki, with all the partner services that come with it, that customer tends to quadruple their spend over the next two years," said Nightingale, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Meraki. In an interview with CRN, Nightingale talks about competition with Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Aruba, Meraki's technology road map, being nonproprietary and his strategy for portfolio expansion.

http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300094856/cisco-meraki-leader-on-hpe-aruba-chasing-the-meraki-model-product-expansion-and-being-nonproprietary.htm?itc=most_pop

HPE Aruba to oversee rollout of free Wi-Fi across Europe

Data networking solutions firm @Aruba has teamed up with consulting body #WiFi Now to oversee the rollout of free public internet networks across the @EU. The @HPE-owned company will take an advisory role in this project, which aims to bring free Wi-Fi connectivity to between 6,000 and 8,000 areas across Europe. Announced by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker as part of the State of the Union address, the initiative is aimed at getting local authorities to apply for a €120 million pot of funding.  The funding is to help authorities plan and implement digital services in public spaces such as schools, libraries, health centres and other buildings accessible to general communities. Morten Illum, VP of EMEA at HPE Aruba, said: "The expectations of today's user is that Wi-Fi access is a necessity in their personal lives. "The services provided by Cambridge City Council are a great example of what is possible with public Wi-Fi today and in the future. "The WiFi4EU initiative will allow local governments to connect with their citizens in new ways to improves local services." Aruba will provide details of the project in a joint presentation with the University of Cambridge at the 2017 Wi-Fi Now Europe conference. The latter will take place on October 31st in The Hague, Netherlands. The university manages the Connected Cambridge Network, which provides city-wide internet access for more than 18,000 students and local residents. Jon Holgate, head of the University Information Systems' network division, said the aim is to build a wireless network to cover the entire city. "Most universities will have a campus. At Cambridge, the city is the campus. We want to make the wireless experience as seamless as possible as users move across the city," he said. Andrus Ansip, vice-President in charge of the digital single market Andrus Ansip, welcomed the WIFI4EU plans in May. He said they're important for Europe's future. He said: "The Digital Single Market strategy aims to build a fully connected Europe where everyone has access to high-quality digital networks. "The WiFi4EU initiative will improve connectivity in particular where access to the internet is limited. "WiFi4EU is a welcome first step, but much more needs to be done to achieve high-speed connectivity across the whole EU territory - such as improving Europe-wide coordination of spectrum and stimulating investments in the high-capacity networks that Europe needs."

https://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/3020043/hpe-aruba-to-oversee-rollout-of-free-wi-fi-across-europe

HPE quits cloud servers, two weeks after telling El Reg it wouldn't do that

#HPE has quit the business of providing custom servers to #bigcloud operators. Which may come as a surprise to readers who recall our story from October 5th. In that piece, HPE's @CarloGiorgi told us the cloud server business “... is being re-engineered or engineered to be more fit for purpose. It will still be a tailored offering for service providers, but will not have only standard SKUs and [its structure] will depend on the type of compute [required].” Now, however, HPE has posted slides that HPE president Antonio Neri presented to a financial analyst day this week. His third slide does the deed and is reproduced below. HPE President Antonio Neri's server-killing slide. Click here to enlarge Just what the “higher-margin products” HPE can offer big clouds is not revealed. But we'd be surprised if it's something entirely new because the fifth slide in Neri's deck outlines extensive – ahem – consolidation of the company's products, locations and languages. Which may explain rumours the company plans to axe 5,000 jobs. @HPE 's streamlining plan. Click here to embiggen The slide deck offers a few hints at the company's future directions, mentioning plans including: Something called “ #ProjectNewStack” that aims to offer “ #Hybrid as-a-service platform for application, data, and #infrastructure composability across clouds”; Expanding the @Aruba platform to challenge @Cisco’s #Meraki in the cloud-managed network; Developing #SDWAN capabilities as part of Aruba solutions to offer customers a single control point for Wi-Fi, switching and WAN; Extend programmability of campus aggregation switching with next generation of Aruba OS. The Register has asked HPE to clarify its server plans and, if the company does so, we'll update this story or write a whole new one
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/20/hpe_quits_cloud_server_business_two_weeks_after_telling_iel_regi_it_wouldnt/

WLAN Market Reaches $2.4B As HPE Aruba, Huawei Gain Share

$2.37B Worldwide WLAN Market In Q2 2017  Market share in the wireless LAN vendor landscape is shifting with leaders incluing #Cisco Systems and #Brocade Communications losing share, while #HewlettPackardEnterprise and #Huawei are gaining momentum, according to second-quarter 2017 data from research firm IDC. "The enterprise #WLAN market's second-quarter 2017 performance sends a strong message that this market is still in growth mode," said Nolan Greene, senior research analyst, network infrastructure for IDC, in a statement. "WLAN is a critical enabler of end-to-end digital transformation strategies as wireless applications and devices continue to unlock new digital and business outcomes." CRN breaks down everything you need to know about the WLAN market for the second-quarter 2017.

http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/networking/300093531/wlan-market-reaches-2-4b-as-hpe-aruba-huawei-gain-share.htm

HPE Americas Channel VP: SimpliVity Sales Momentum Is Off Charts, Surpassing Initial Aruba, 3Par Sales Strength

#HewlettPackardEnterprise Vice President, Americas Channel Jeremiah Jenson on Tuesday told CRN the #SimpliVity #hyperconverged channel sales momentum in the U.S. is off the charts with growth, exceeding even the robust initial channel numbers from red-hot past acquisitions like #Aruba and #3Par. "The growth we are seeing with SimpliVity is hotter than previous acquisitions whether it is 3Par – which was incredibly successful (out of the gate) or Aruba – which was even more successful," said Jenson in an interview with CRN. "This acquisition is even hotter than those and the [sales] ramp is going that much faster. The market acceptance has been greater. The partner uptake has been greater. This is a $6 billion market and we intend to take more than our unfair share. This is the fastest growing acquisition we have had in the channel."  [Related: HPE Chief Richardson On 100 Percent Channel Pledge For Nimble And SimpliVity, Dell EMC And Distie Commitment] The $650 million HPE SimpliVity acquisition – which was completed in February – is already on a strong sales ramp in the channel in the Americas with deal registration up triple digits in the most recent quarter both year-over-year and sequentially, said Jenson. "This is already a multimillion dollar business in our first full integrated quarter (with SimpliVity)," he said. "It's an eight-figure business almost immediately. We have been really, really pleased with the [sales] ramp." HPE's sales momentum comes with Cisco announcing this week that it is acquiring hyper-converged software provider Springpath Inc. for $320 million. HPE is fueling the SimpliVity sales momentum with a 100 percent commitment to drive all of the SimpliVity sales through partners. In addition, HPE has come out of the gate with a heavy investment in incentives to drive sales growth including a new spiff program, effective August 1, that rewards partners up to 10,000 points in additional rewards, said Jenson. In addition, HPE is offering customers up to $400 for every older server and appliance take out that is returned to HPE. That incentive helped close a $1.2 million deal that included SimpliVity. "We are seeing $100,000 transactions on a daily and weekly basis at this point," said Jenson. Dan Sytsma, vice president and general manager of Melillo Consulting, one of HPE's top Platinum enterprise partners, said Melillo added SimpliVity to its portfolio after the HPE acquisition and expects the product to account for as much as 25 percent of its sales within a year. Melillo, No. 306 on the CRN SP500, has already closed two SimpliVity deals and has a half dozen more in the pipeline, said Sytsma. One of the deals was with a telecom service provider on a fast growth path looking for a more flexible and agile infrastructure with expansion capabilities, said Sytsma. The SimpliVity hyper-converged product is providing a "huge ROI (return on investment)" for customers looking to consolidate infrastructure into a more "manageable and more cost effective" platform, said Sytsma. "The technology is a definitely a difference maker for us and customers," he said. "What we see is the ROI customers are getting is huge. HPE has done a great job stepping up into the marketplace, seeing what was out there and offering a great solution to customers." The 100 percent channel commitment with SimpliVity is also helping fuel sales, said Sytsma. "That is huge," he said. "HPE is 100 percent behind the channel to deliver this value to customers. There is no direct conflict. Having that confidence from HPE that this is a channel focused only solution is huge for Melillo and other partners." Snowcap Technologies, one of HPE's top enterprise partners, expects its HPE business to be up about 30 percent this year as a result of what the systems integrator is calling the flat out best and most complete storage and compute portfolio with the addition of SimpliVity and Nimble, said Matt Cavanagh, a partner and vice president of engineering at Lynnfield, Mass.-headquartered Snowcap Technologies. "SimpliVity is a winner," Cavanagh said. "We like the way it manages data and extends capabilities to remote offices with backup and replication." Snowcap is also excited about the acquisition of Nimble with the InfoSight predictive analytics functionality moving across the complete HPE portfolio, said Cavanagh. "InfoSight is a game changer," he said. "We love the fact that HPE is making investments to improve customer experience and get at root cause issues faster." Steve Hilts, a managing partner at Snowcap, said the SimpliVity and Nimble acquisitons have provided a "big competitive advantage" for customers and HPE partners. The new offerings are signs of a faster moving and more agile HPE, he said. Hilts praised HPE CEO Meg Whitman for getting partners and HPE laser-focused on driving next generation software defined infrastructure sales. "Meg has righted the ship and helped move our business forward," he said. "Over the past year, we have seen fantastic growth with HPE." HPE's field engagement with partners has improved considerably over the last year, said Hilts. "We see the field more in lock step with us," he said. "We have more converations in lockstep with HPE. We are fighting the fight more together than separately. We are seeing great things in the field." Erik Krucker, CTO at Comport Consulting, an HPE Platinum partner and No. 379 on the CRN SP500, said Comport's HPE storage sales will be up 20 to 30 percent this year with acquisitions like SimpliVity and Nimble. "SMB customers are really starting to gravitate toward Nimble and SimpliVity," he said. "I see more SMB conversations around Nimble and SimpliVity. As an HPE partner, we are able to accomplish a lot of different things for customers when you look across the entire HPE portfolio. HPE is moving faster than competitors into new disruptive technologies, said Krucker. "Customers sometimes look at the big OEMs as old stodgy companies that are unwilling to change," he said. "By bringing SimpliVity and Nimble into the conversation it shows customers that HPE is willing to adapt to the marketplace so customers can get the most value out of their IT investments."

http://m.crn.com/news/storage/300090996/hpe-americas-channel-vp-simplivity-sales-momentum-is-off-charts-surpassing-initial-aruba-3par-sales-strength.htm

Meg Whitman names HPE president, puts him in charge of streamlining businesses

Antonio Neri has been named #HewlettPackardEnterprise 's first president and CEO Meg Whitman has given him the task of streamlining its businesses. Neri, 49, was previously executive vice president and general manager of HPE's Enterprise Group, which includes servers, storage, networking, technology services, converged data center infrastructure, telecommunications and cloud solutions.

It is the latest in Whitman's efforts to reinvent what used to be Hewlett-Packard, an effort she began in 2015 by splitting the tech giant into HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) for PCs and printers and HPE (NYSE:HPE) for everything else.

She spun off HPE's enterprise services business in a merger with Computer Sciences Corp. in April, creating DXC Technology (NYSE:DXC).

Whitman has also added some enterprise software businesses through the acquisitions of Aruba, Niara, Simplivity, SGI and Nimble Storage.

But this hasn't produced the growth that HPE will need to grow and survive long-term. In the first half of its fiscal year that ended in April, the company said that its revenue from continuing business had shrunk by 11.5 percent to $15 billion and operating profit fell by 19 percent to $1.76 billion.

The company plans to cuts its costs by between $200 million to $300 million by November in moves that will include reducing discretionary expenses such as employee travel and cutting both contract workers and permanent staff.

Antonio is a veteran technology executive who has led some of the most important businesses and initiatives at HP during his 22 years with the company," Whitman said in the announcement of Neri's promotion, calling his work "invaluable to me as we have worked to establish the new Hewlett Packard Enterprise."

Before HP was split in two, Neri was senior vice president and GM for HP Servers and HP Networking. Prior to that, he led the HP Technology Services business unit which provided support and consulting services. He joined HP in 1995 as a customer service engineer in its Europe, Middle East and Asia call center.

Neri got a computer engineering degree from Universidad Tecnológica Nacional in Argentina and is a also a professor of arts and drawing.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/06/21/meg-whitman-names-antonio-neri-hpe-president.html

HPE hatches HPE Next – a radical overhaul plan so it won't be HPE Last

#HewlettPackardEnterprise has hatched a radical plan to overhaul processes, investments, people and overheads in a project that is “likely to determine” its “relevance in the years ahead.” #HPENext is an initiative which will sit under the control of Jon Faust – senior veep of finance, worldwide financial planning and analysis, and global functions – CEO Meg Whitman confirmed in a memo to staff, seen by El Reg. “The goal of HPE Next is to produce an organization that is precisely built to compete and win in the marketplace. Through HPE Next we will clean-sheet our operating model and organizational structure to simplify and improve how we work,” said Whitman. “We’re going to review all of the processes of the company, as well as the accountabilities, to see where we can be more agile. We will look at how we can prioritize investments in growth areas and capabilities that set us up for the future. “And finally, we’re going to right-size end-to-end cost structures of HPE to ensure we deliver on our financial architecture,” the CEO added. The ultimate aim is to produce a “long-term operating and financial blueprint,” Whitman said. “It is a project on par in scope with any of the recent separations we’ve managed and is likely to determine HPE’s relevance in the years ahead.” Faust, who will lead the HPE Next Leadership Management Office, “brings a valuable perspective to this critical mission,” as he currently straddles the corporate and business groups and oversees finance for all global functions. The planning phase of the project is due to be done and dusted by the start of HPE’s new fiscal year on November 1. All this rather sounds like nothing is sacred at HPE in terms of internal infrastructure and policies – much as they haven’t been for the cloud giants like Amazon. A company that sells digital transformation is seemingly going to eat its own dog food. The chatter inside some corners of the company is that HPE is vulnerable to a takeover, given the size of its bottom line, but Whitman is doing the work that private equity houses would do if they took the business private. A walk down Memory Lane Whitman took over HP in 2011, inheriting a $100bn plus business that had lost its way. At first, she said the company would not be broken up, as her predecessor Leo Apotheker had advised during his time at the top. But that all changed in late 2015, with the PC and print divisions spun off to create HP Inc and the remainder rebranded as HPE. Not satisfied with that, Whitman then offloaded Enterprise Services in April this year and is still in the process of getting rid of the software business. HPE also made some buys of enterprise hardware firms along the way, including Aruba, SimpliVity, SGI and Nimble Storage. But sales and profit growth have still not materialized: in the first half of fiscal ’17 ended April 30, like-for-like revenue shrank 11.5 per cent year-on-year to $15bn and operating profit fell to $1.76bn, down nearly 19 per cent. Perhaps most worrying in the results was the 14 per cent dive in server sales, something that has cast doubt over HPE’s server cloud joint venture with Foxconn, though the company claimed its core server portfolio was stable. Operating margins in the server unit were down. After the results, HPE said on a conference call it was looking to save $200m to $300m in costs by November by cutting discretionary expenses including employee travel, and reducing contractors and axing permanent staffers

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/13/hpe_changes/

5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

The Week Ending June 9 Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win is #Aruba Networks, which launched a number of networking and #IoT products that target archrival #Cisco. Also making the list are distributor #Synnex for its acquisition of #Westcon-Comstor's Americas operations, #Netskope for snagging $100 million in venture financing, #AmazonWebServices for its new storage competency for partners, and Datto's expanded product lineup for MSP partners. Not everyone in the IT industry was making smart moves this week, of course. For a rundown of companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions, check out this week's 5 Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.
http://m.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/300086781/5-companies-that-came-to-win-this-week.htm?itc=ticker