Juniper's Data Center Game-Changer

I don't often write about specific companies or products.  And while everyday I see cool Apps, new toys and devices that make me say "wow",  I've watched a vendor deliver on a promise recently that forced me to take note.  My perspective is usually  focused on communicating the value of the technical to the business person, and vice versa.  So, I'll spare you the technical mumbo-jumbo, but at the same time, hilight  the "so-what" of a pretty technical subject.
Last week, Juniper Networks introduced QFabric, the outcome of the long awaited Project Stratus.  OK, so another leapfrog speeds and feeds story right?  Just another improvement in the capacity or density in the switching market?  No, although I'm sure it will be painted that way by competitors.
To me, QFabric is the continuation of an evolving story put forth by Juniper years ago that shows tremendous commitment and discipline to their Vision.  They probably won't appreciate my translation of their well chosen marketing-speak, but it all boils down to a laser focus on Simplicity.
Simplicity shows up in so many ways, but no matter how you look at it - Simplicity yields savings, performance, productivity, and flexibility.  Let's think thru how Juniper has capitalized on simplicity and how it affects the economics.

Junos - One OS.- how many versions of IOS are in your network?  Ever figure the cost or risk of downtime due to human error by managing multiple versions.  Do you let your users run 17 versions of an application?  Worry about interoperability issues?  Other obvious factors are training, manageability, change control, and the productivity and quality of the support team.

Product Line - Juniper has made a commitment to innovate and drive in a fairly narrow solution space.  And as you would expect with this approach - they drive excellence.  Cisco does an excellent job of thought leadership and delivering a very broad and robust set of products.  I recommend Cisco to many clients for all kinds of things.    But can anyone deny the demonstrated results that Juniper has shown over the past couple years in driving innovation in switching architecture?    Simplicity shows up here in product development.

The Architecture - Juniper has already eliminated an entire layer of the network.  Simplicity's victim this time goes beyond the sheer number of boxes and associated costs.  There are a plethora of design and operations benefits including flexibility, risk mitigation, time to provision, and availability.  There's even more magic when you consider the resulting business and economic effects.  Think equipment, maintenance, management, power, cooling, rack space, and connectivity.

Virtual Switching - The way QFabric adds value to the Simplicity story is by extending the value of virtualization across the network, freeing VMware and the like to scale and perform without fear performance penalties or getting lost in the Cloud.  As data moves East and West, QFabric removes the hurdles and makes it Simple.  Now Enterprises and Service Providers alike can focus on leveraging this capability to go solve previously untouchable workflow, collaboration, and data exchange challenges.

As you can see, QFabric isn't really a Game-changer.  The Game-changer in Juniper's vision is really -  Simplicity.

So what?  No one has ever questioned the reliability and performance of Juniper's gear. Added to their track record and proof of execution, this latest announcement, QFabric,  sends a strong message to the marketplace. There's a New Network emerging -  things are changing too fast for needless complexity.  So those with old-school (OK, last week's) thinking to protect will have a decided competitive disadvantage at a time where new Cloud and DC companies are able to be nimble and creative.    .

Maybe Juniper will write a book - Survival of the Simplest.

Vendor Choices - Getting Easier Again

Much has been written about how technology is changing so fast that keeping up is virtually impossible.  Comparing solutions or vendors used to be easy.  There were no choices.  You bought IBM and AT&T.  When you had problems - simply call 800-ATT-Help or 800-IBM-Help. 
As the tech explosion ramped up, it became more complicated.  From a vendor point of view, it used to be all about speeds and feeds.  One vendor would bring out a new box, and immediately a competitor would bring out a box that did the same things, just faster, or with another port.  Just a game of Leap Frog. 
When the interval between updates went from months to weeks, the advantages became less relavant.  Instead of a clear differences, the lines were blurred and it became Coke or Pepsi. 
So where are we now? 
When evaluating technology decisions today, the market has reached a point where differentiation is much easier to identify.  Certainly, emboldened again by Mobility and Apps, a number of unique, purpose-built technologies have arrived with real opportunities to be discovered and thrive.  That is not to suggest that every wizbang toy should be taken seriously.  However, many times, these solutions are created by people very close to the problem they are trying to solve and thus worthy of consideration.

OK, so that make sense, when a very focused solution comes around that provides distinct advantage - take a look.  But what about broader solutions?  Architectural decisions?  Or the classic battle of the tech titans, such as AT&T vs. Verizon, or HP vs. Dell, ... you name the players.  The answer here may be clearer than you think.

Don't read the spec sheet.  Don't pay attention to the specific product.  Look at the company.  Don't be confused by what they say, whatch what they do.  Where are they spending their money?  Where are they putting their people?  What are they promising their Board or Investors?  How are they going to market and support the solution you are evaluating?

When you complete this exercise, you will learn that bigger doesn't always mean better.  That these competitors are actually taking very different approaches to acheive their goals.  Some want to be all things to all people.  They will get market share and solve most problems for most people.  Others will focus on solving very specific problems and consider workflow and operational challenges as a part of their strategy.   Some vendors will sell and support with extensive direct forces.  Others - only thru partners.  More and more, solutions will be delivered from the Cloud,  How prepared is each vendor to support that architecture?  It's hard to imagine that we're still concerned about Proprietary solutions, but we are.  The last thing you want to do is complicate your world by simply adding another silo. 

Finally, when it's all said and done - one of the greatest advances in technology is simplification.  TAKE ADVANTAGE of this now.  No ROI fully captures the value of simplifying your world.  Some easy examples include virtualization, cloud computing, collapsing the network, APP store deployment.  I watch clients all the time make decisions based upon an incomplete ROI.  
Bottom line - Don't get confused by details.  Look at the vendor focus, and how it fits into YOUR environment.  Then make sure your ROI captures the "effect" not just the cost. With that information, the decision will take care of itself.