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

Recapping 2017's biggest trends in networking technology

Editor's note: Cisco accelerated its shift to software, vendors launched new tools for managing data centers, and analytics, fueled by machine learning, stole the spotlight. Here, a recap of some of the most significant 2017 trends in networking technology.  Data center infrastructure trends in networking In February, Cisco joined Microsoft to offer Azure Stack services in its UCS server. Throughout the early months of the year, Cisco revenues continued to fall, dropping for a fifth consecutive quarter because of declining sales of routers and switches. Cisco attracted a lot of attention for its Digital Network Architecture (DNA) software initiative, which included a new line of Catalyst campus switches engineered to pave the way for a more intuitive way to program the network. DNA eliminates the need to program devices manually through the command-line interface; instead engineers use a policy-based approach to determine network behavior. Later that summer, Cisco said it would acquire SD-WAN vendor Viptela for $610 million in a bid to consolidate its WAN offerings. In the fall, Cisco launched Intersight, a software-as-a-service initiative slated to become a management option for the vendor's Unified Computing System and HyperFlex, a hyper-converged infrastructure platform. It also bolstered its Application Centric Infrastructure SDN software by enabling it to run across multiple data centers. Other data center news included Juniper's work on a switch fabric intended for multiple data centers, with a single set of management tools and higher spending on public cloud services. @Juniper also made a series of announcements in December that included the release of bot software aimed at automating certain network functions. Additionally, @Dell EMC made its #NOS standard on new #opennetworking switches and @Arista expanded its #spineleaf architecture for #hyperscale #datacenters. Dell followed up its NOS announcement by releasing a line of high-speed switches for data centers and carriers in the fall. Vendor consolidation gained traction, with @Extreme Networks purchasing the #datacenter business of @Brocade, as well as the networking assets of @Avaya.

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/news/450432225/Recapping-2017s-biggest-trends-in-networking-technology

Europe Cloud Computing Stack Layers Market 2017 - Microsoft, Oracle, Pure Storage, DELL, Citrix, Fusionio, EMC, Avaya

The report studies Cloud Computing Stack Layers in Europe market Professional Survey 2017: Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022. What’s more, the Cloud Computing Stack Layers industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. The industry analysis have also been done to examine the impact of various factors and understand the overall attractiveness of the industry. Download Sample Report @ www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/83010/request-sample  The global Cloud Computing Stack Layers market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022. Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2016 and will be xx million USD in 2022, with a CAGR of XX. For the sake of making you deeply understand the Cloud Computing Stack Layers industry and meeting you needs to the report contents, Europe Cloud Computing Stack Layers Industry Situation and Prospects Research report will stands on the report reader’s perspective to provide you a deeply analysis report with the integrity of logic and the comprehensiveness of contents. We promise that we will provide to the report reader a professional and in-depth industry analysis no matter you are the industry insider、potential entrant or investor. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Cloud Computing Stack Layers market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions’ development status. Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan) and other regions can be added with Types & Applications. Get Full Report With TOC @ goo.gl/cUH6sW The major players in Europe market include #Microsoft #Citrix #Nutanix #DELL #PureStorage #EMC #Netapp #Fusionio #Xangati #Oracle #Avaya Then, the report focuses on Europe major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, shares, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What’s more, the Cloud Computing Stack Layers industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions: Germany UK France Russia Benelux Italy Spain Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.

http://www.openpr.com/news/660927/Europe-Cloud-Computing-Stack-Layers-Market-2017-Microsoft-Oracle-Pure-Storage-DELL-Citrix-Fusionio-EMC-Avaya.html

Expanding Extreme eyes Cisco, HPE networking business

Having acquired #Avaya ’s #SDN and switching business, and with its purchase of #Brocade ’s datacentre unit imminent, #ExtremeNetworks is on a mission to secure customers’ hearts and minds and take business from rivals Fast-growing networking hardware and software-defined networking (SDN) systems supplier Extreme Networks has revealed it is looking to target customers of sector giants #Cisco and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise ( #HPE ) as it wraps up a series of acquisitions, most recently of Avaya’s switching and SDN business.

After its concurrent purchase of Brocade’s datacentre networking business is finalised this autumn, Extreme Networks will become the third-largest networking supplier in the world, behind HPE and Cisco. It also bought the wireless local area network (WLAN) assets of Zebra Technologies in September 2016.
Sean Collins, Extreme’s regional director of the UK, Ireland and Benelux, told Computer Weekly: “The ambition is there to be the number one alternative to Cisco and HP with a targeted SDN vision.”

Extreme already markets SDN products and the prominence of Avaya’s own Fabric Connect SDN line, which Collins described as a “clear differentiator”, was a major factor in its purchasing decision.

ZK Research analyst and founder Zeus Kerravala said: “Avaya’s strength in the core and campus perfectly complements Extreme Networks’ market focus. Additionally, the acquisition is a positive move for Extreme Networks, Avaya and both customer bases as it creates a company with best-in-class products that span the entire enterprise network.”

But other observers have suggested that, given the scale of the integration task at hand across the three acquired businesses, challenges may lie ahead for Extreme. Speaking to SearchNetworking in March 2017, Gartner analyst Mark Hung raised questions about whether Extreme would be able to execute across three different fronts at once.

To make this task easier, Extreme has implemented a transactional services agreement to enable the Avaya business to be run by the same people and in the same way, at least to begin with.

“They will continue to run the business and provide a soft landing for customers and partners while we integrate the back-end systems,” said Collins.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450423930/Expanding-Extreme-eyes-Cisco-HPE-networking-business

AWS launches Amazon Connect, productizes Amazon’s in-house contact center software

#AWS continues to add yet more software and services to build out its revenues and touchpoints with businesses that already use its cloud infrastructure for storage and to host and administer services and apps. The latest product, launching today, is #AmazonConnect, a cloud-based contact center solution. AWS said it is based on the same tech that Amazon itself has built and uses in-house “to power millions of customer conversations.” To some, this may not come as a surprise: a solution from AWS taking on traditional call centers was rumored to be in the works in February under the working title of “Lily”, according to a report in The Information. (That name isn’t mentioned today, although other parts of that report have proven to be correct.) In doing this, Amazon is moving into a business area that is already pretty crowded with companies that offer different aspects of cloud-based contact center solutions, including #Zoho, #Zendesk, #Freshdesk, and many more: some of these, including Zendesk, Zoho, and #Freshdesk, are actually partnering with #Amazon for this service. Taken together, these services are collectively disrupting a lot of the more costly, traditional ways of serving customers both for technical and other kinds of support. Many traditional solutions would not be cloud-based and might incorporate outsourcing or in-house teams, and infrastructure, for a business that is projected to be worth nearly $10 billion by 2019, with some of the current market leaders including #Avaya, #Cisco and #Genesys.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/28/aws-amazon-connect/

Extreme will buy Avaya's networking business for $100 million

#Avaya has found a buyer for its networking business: #ExtremeNetworks will buy the division for about US$100 million as part of Avaya’s bankruptcy process. The venerable enterprise voice, collaboration and networking company filed for bankruptcy in January and said it would shift its focus from hardware to software and services.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3178064/networking/extreme-will-buy-avayas-networking-business-for-100-million.html

AWS launches Amazon Chime, challenges Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Skype

#AWS introduced #AmazonChime this week as an online service available through the company's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform. #Chime provides several services, including online meetings, video conferencing, voice calls, chat and content sharing. All of Amazon Chime's capabilities are available in other products from established vendors, such as #Cisco, #Microsoft, #Avaya and #Mitel. But despite the competition, AWS has the financial resources and the clout with enterprises to grab share in the unified communications and collaboration market, said Bern Elliot, an analyst at Gartner.

http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/news/450413080/AWS-launches-Amazon-Chime-challenges-Cisco-WebEx-Microsoft-Skype

FatPipe Networks Showcases Tighter Fabric Integration with SDN and SD-WAN at Avaya ENGAGE in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV (Avaya ENGAGE, booth #363) – Feb. 13, 2017 – #FatPipe® Networks, the inventor of software-defined networks for wide area connectivity and hybrid WANs, today announced it is demonstrating an integrated #SDN (Software Defined Networking) fabric feature with #SDWAN (Software Defined WAN) for networking and unified communications at Avaya ENGAGESM in Las Vegas, Feb. 12-15. In partnership with #Avaya, FatPipe has integrated its SD-WAN hybrid networking products with the fabric-based Avaya SDN FxTM architecture featuring Avaya Fabric Connect, which already supports data centers and branch offices worldwide. Together, FatPipe’s SD-WAN technology and Avaya SDN Fx help drive simplicity and agility across the entire network to ensure high-quality, real-time unified communications, providing a single source for a converged solution. At the event in booth #363, FatPipe is demonstrating the future of networking with a single, integrated and simplified SDN and SD-WAN approach that can deliver applications and data across all-encompassing network architectures, including all cloud models, in addition to new fabric features, which enable a simplified deployment of a unified data center to the desktop at the branch network. “FatPipe’s seamless fabric integration demonstrates the growing need for our customers to deliver SDN-level agility, speed and control across the entire network,” said Fabrizio Fiori, Avaya’s global director for enterprise business solutions, IoT & SDN. “Additionally, FatPipe’s ability to conduct unprecedented voice failover is a great value to our customers who rely on superior voice call quality to conduct business.”

https://telecomreseller.com/2017/02/13/fatpipe-networks-showcases-tighter-fabric-integration-with-sdn-and-sd-wan-at-avaya-engage-in-las-vegas/

Avaya Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Struggling with the transition to a software-driven world, #Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. The company has $6 billion in debt, the residue of having gone private in 2007. But more importantly, Avaya officials believe the company just isn’t built to compete in the future of IT. #SDN

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/avaya-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/2017/01/

Software Defined Storage Market Players - EMC, IBM, HP, VMware , Avaya, 6Wind, Arista Networks, Brocade, Cisco, Dell, Ericsson, HDS, Juniper Networks, NEC, NetApp, Plexxi

Software Defined Storage Market has been valued at US ~$4 billion in the year 2016. Exponentially growing data volume across enterprises need for cost optimization in data management and rise in the “software defined” concept are some of the key factor which is supporting the market of software defined software. It is expected to the market will grow at CAGR of ~27% during the forecast period and expected to reach market size of US ~$18 billion by the end of forecast period. North America is dominating the Software Defined Storage Market whereas Asia Pacific has emerged as fastest growing market.

#SoftwareDefinedStorage Market Players - #EMC , #IBM, #HP, #VMware , #Avaya, #6Wind, #Arista Networks, #Brocade, #Cisco, #Dell, #Ericsson, #HDS, #Juniper Networks, #NEC, #NetApp, #Plexxi

http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/211756/software-defined-storage-market-players-emc-ibm-hp-vmware-avaya-6wind-arista-networks-brocade-cisco-dell-ericsson-hds-juniper-networks-nec-netapp-plexxi#.WHGNXHpMFnE

Who is most likely to buy Avaya’s networking business?

Earlier this year Forbes posted an article speculating that #Avaya ’s private equity firm, #SilverLake was exploring a sale of the company or at least parts of it. Private equity companies typically hold its portfolio companies for three to five years and then divest themselves of it through an IPO or a sale to another organization. The Avaya situation is somewhat of a rarity because it’s coming up on 10 years since Silver Lake took ownership of it. Avaya is a strong company with good products that has been trying to transform itself into more of a software and services company, but it is saddled with debt. A sale of its contact center and/or networking business could help offset that debt and put the rest of Avaya in a much better position.

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3134489/software-defined-networking/who-is-most-likely-to-buy-avayas-networking-business.html

Avaya, FatPipe Hook Up for Pre-Integrated SDN, SD-WAN

#Avaya and #FatPipe Networks revealed July 18 that they will combine expertise to build data center software defined networking ( #SDN ) and software defined WAN (SD-WAN) packages into a single solution for networking and unified communications. The two companies in a joint statement claimed that this will become the first pre-integrated SDN and SD-WAN enterprise solution of its kind. Most deployments of this kind are worked up as needed on an ad-hoc basis within IT departments. @FatPipe Networks, founded in 1989, develops wide-area network products to corporations and government offices. The company’s core technology is router clustering, which enables data transfer through multiple lines, multiple internet service providers, and backbones over WANs with re-assembly of data streams.

http://mobile.eweek.com/networking/avaya-fatpipe-hook-up-for-pre-integrated-sdn-sd-wan.html

Avaya Architecture Designed to Make IoT Easier, More Secure

@Avaya more than a year ago significantly expanded its efforts in the network virtualization space with the introduction of a network architecture designed to make it easier to connect devices and people to the network and that spans from the data center to the network edge. The software-defined networking ( #SDN ) Fx architecture works with Avaya's Fabric Connect technology and includes the vendor's Open Networking Adapter (ONA), an Internet of things ( #IoT ) gateway based on the open-source #OpenvSwitch technology that offers a simple and secure network connection for devices that have an Ethernet port.

http://mobile.eweek.com/networking/avaya-architecture-designed-to-make-iot-easier-more-secure.html