It further indicates they believe CIOs and cross-functional strategy teams have an opportunity to ‘champion’ open networking as the response to C-level leadership demands for IT to deliver business transformation and commercial success. Juniper commissioned the research to explore the attitudes of senior network professionals across Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) towards open networking adoption and its potential to drive business value.
The research also underlines senior IT leaders’ concerns about adopting open networking, despite the advantages they believe it brings. These concerns centre around effective security measures in an open environment, the skills gap in operating software-driven, automated networks, and the challenges around successfully integrating legacy architecture. To mitigate these concerns, as SDN/NFV technologies are adopted to create open networking environments, IT leaders are looking for increased levels of training for senior IT management, technology maturation, greater adoption of industry standards and strong technology partners.
82 percent of respondents clearly identify with the situation where business needs are placing evolving demands on its network and creating new challenges for the IT function
93 percent declared their organisation to be reliant on flexible, innovative IT network infrastructure to drive business performance in today’s competitive environment.
66 percent stated that their network is now measured on its effectiveness and ability to respond to a range of business needs, rather than merely its capacity and performance.
50 percent believe that the CIO is ideally positioned to champion open networking to the business, while 29 percent believe that this can be achieved by cross-function strategy teams.
There is a resounding enthusiasm for open networking, with 83 percent of respondents expressing support for such initiatives. Even among those not currently supportive, 68 percent stated their organisations are likely to become positive towards open networking in the next 36 months. 78 percent also believed that open networking represents a more flexible approach to IT that will benefit their business goals.
43 percent nominated security and compliance concerns as their biggest barrier to open networking adoption, with 34 percent also being concerned about the skills gap, and 32 percent citing the challenges of legacy integration as another significant barrier.
53 percent believed increased training for senior IT staff around SDN/NFV can help reduce perceived security risks, 47 percent cited maturation of the technology as a factor in risk reduction, 45 percent were looking for wider industry standards adoption, and 38 percent believed working with a trusted technology partner is a significant success factor.
