RESEARCH PAPER: Is Dell Driving the Open Future of Networking?

While enterprise computing and storage have both gone through a standardization metamorphosis, enterprise networking has lagged. Enterprise networking remains one of the few areas of proprietary vertical integration in IT. But the need for businesses to move faster and be more agile is putting pressure on IT to adjust to strategies that will help their businesses keep pace with the frenetic rate of change. With this backdrop, businesses are looking towards open networking and standardization to help knock the proprietary components out of the stack, reducing cost while simultaneously increasing flexibility. Open networking helps businesses to be more agile, keeping them competitive in today’s and tomorrow’s challenging markets.

Open protocols, open operating systems, and network abstraction are impacting the face of networking by bringing a much-needed change of direction. And along with this new openness, there is an opportunity for companies to reconsider not only how they deploy networking, but also who they choose as their partner. As the market moves away from proprietary solutions, companies that drive standardization and open architectures stand to be the true gainers in the market.

Executive Summary
Today's Customers Lack Choice and Flexibility
How Open Networking is Changing Networking
Open Protocols
Open Operating Systems
Network Abstraction
Implications
Dell: A Leader Open Networking
Where the Networking Market is Heading
Conclusion
Figure 1: Open Networking Moves From the Proprietary and Brings Choice
Table 1: Dell Representation in Standards Organizations
Figure 2: Dell Strategy: Engage at All Layers for Wide, Open Support
Figure 3: Dell Networking Application Partners

You can download the paper here.

Companies Cited

Alcatel-Lucent
Amazon
Big Switch Networks
Broadcom
Cisco
Citrix
Clemson University
Cumulus Networks
Dell
Digital
Elmcroft Senior Living
Ethernet Alliance
F5 Networks
Facebook
Google
HP
IBM
Joyent
Juniper Networks
Lenovo
Microsoft
NEC
Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital
RENCI
Riverbed Technology
Silver Peak Systems
VMware

Patrick Moorhead

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Patrick founded the firm based on his real-world world technology experiences with the understanding of what he wasn’t getting from analysts and consultants. Ten years later, Patrick is ranked #1 among technology industry analysts in terms of “power” (ARInsights) in “press citations” (Apollo Research). Moorhead is a contributor at Forbes and frequently appears on CNBC. He is a broad-based analyst covering a wide variety of topics including the cloud, enterprise SaaS, collaboration, client computing, and semiconductors. He has 30 years of experience including 15 years of executive experience at high tech companies (NCR, AT&T, Compaq, now HP, and AMD) leading strategy, product management, product marketing, and corporate marketing, including three industry board appointments.