By Fady Masoud, M. Eng., Infinera
The fast-paced migration to the cloud, forthcoming 5G deployments and the proliferation of internet connected devices (IoT) are fueling the evolution to a new era of intelligent networking that uses advanced analytics and machine learning to build self-optimizing, self-healing and highly autonomous transport networks. Moreover, emerging technologies like Blockchain that enable peer-to-peer distributed ledger for open and secure exchanges over the internet are, more than ever, putting the network at the heart of this resolution. Network programmability is one of the key building blocks for such successful evolution. However, its real-life implementation across the various moving parts of the network (network elements, layers, management platforms, data collection tools, etc.) often comes with technological challenges. This paper focuses on the “state of network programmability” today by highlighting where network programmability has been successful and how it translates into business and operational benefits.
It also provides a glimpse into the future, including what the industry is currently working on to extend programmability further into the network and the necessary building blocks to do so.