The Hardware Industry That Turned To Software

When space network has been ruled by names like Bay Networks and 3Com, the idea that the drug hardware one day finds its world increasingly dominated by software absurd.But we would like, anyway here. E 'in 2015, and also the largest provider of software-defined networking has become its own right. Take Cisco as perhaps the best example of this metamorphosis. At Cisco Live! in Milan, Italy last month, company executives have proved their transformation into more of a software company focused in the last three years. You can read all about the software updated and simplified Fierce Cisco Enterprise Communications strategy here. Note the difference in coverage of Cisco compared to three or four years ago.

Cisco and other network providers have followed what was actually a natural way. Hindsight is 20/20, and if you think back, it was not the first signs that the software was about to become an intrinsic part of business-focused hardware that the network has been for decades. Take, for example, the early days of VoIP again when no one had yet been sold on the concept and technology was clucky as an early mobile disco.

The hardware was the star at the time, but in a few years, particularly around software applications based SI had gained strength so that VoIP has reported on and discussed. The promise of software was there, but it seemed that the sellers did not understand what transformation would be.The transition to a software-defined network is a slow, progressive one process; and Cisco CEO John Chambers told shareholders and financial analysts during its fourth quarter conference call last August that the transition could take years.

As Chambers reinvents Cisco once again, the market is changing dramatically. Software-defined everything has surfaced, and the innovations are coming from the smaller, nimbler players (which are, quite naturally, being scooped up by the so-called leaders of SDN).It's going to be a long journey towards the software-defined network, but the first steps are long behind us. It's already having an effect on how networking technology is designed, deployed and even sold.