Software defined networking will play a larger role in the networking industry in 2017. The major league networking companies are really doubling down on their SDN strategies in 2017. Software defined networks are emerging networking architectures that separate the control plane from the data plane in networking equipment. This is so that network intelligence and state are logically centralized, and the underlying network infrastructure is separated from the application. Software defined networks provide advantages to organizations that offers many benefits. These include but are not limited to:
1. Enable organizations to create new type of applications, services and business models.
2. Reduce CapEx by allowing network functions to run off the shelf hardware.
3. OpEX can be reduced by through supporting automation and algorithm control through increased programmability of network elements. This makes things simple to design, deploy, manage, and scale networks.
4. Provide increased agility and flexibility that helps organizations deploy new applications, services, and infrastructure in a rapid fashion.
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The SD-WAN is expected to grow at a 90 percent compound annual growth rate over the next few years to estimated $6 billion in 2020.