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.
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.
