India's financial sector is set to ride high on the SDN wave

The growing adoption of cloud applications across enterprises coupled with the increasing demand for network flexibility to support new age technologies, is set to drive substantial traction for SDN. Almost every industry will see itself getting impacted by this new reality in its own unique way.

As part of a joint CxO dialogue, we interact with Jayakrishnan P, Associate VP-IT, Muthoot Fincorp and Anuj Bhalla, VP & Global BU Head, System Integration & Product Business, Wipro to delve deeper into the evolving SDN landscape and the possibilities it can open up for enterprises in the financial sector

Can you share some insights on how SDN is impacting the financial services sector? What are the key trends?

Jayakrishnan P, Associate VP-IT, Muthoot FincorpAt Muthoot Fincorp, we are currently moving our applications to the stateof-the-art datacenter. The changes within datacenters are huge which leads to the discussion and need for software defined networks. Being a leading NBFC in the financial services sector there is high demand for such scalable IT architectures. With the introduction of server virtualization, we have reduced our capex significantly. To get more returns from the investment on infrastructure and also to have a better and extended life of such investments, financial services sector should start thinking of virtualizing the network. Software defined network has the power to change the way in which business and technology operate. At Muthoot Fincorp’s datacenter, we are using Windows 2012 and Windows 2012 R2 operating system which have an in-built SDN feature and using that we are doing server virtualization.

How can enterprises in the financial space benefit from SDN adoption?

SDN will have an impact of improved network performance and efficiency. It brings in a number of benefits, including increased availability and resilience; and extending backup technology to take efficient volume based backups over the network. The basis of SDN is virtualization, which in its most simplistic form allows software to run separately from the underlying hardware. We can apply the idea of virtualization to the network as well, separating the function of traffic control from the network hardware, resulting in SDN.

In a crowded SDN marketplace, what will be the essential considerations for enterprises in selecting the right SDN vendor?

We need an in-depth analysis of what the vendor is offering, how that will fit our environment and how much we can align the existing networking along with the new SDN product. Since many established and start-up players are offering SDN products, we must ensure we properly analyze the product using customer references, whitepapers, and performing proof of concepts. It is important to understand which programming languages SDN will support. Another critical factor will be after-sales support and how it will be better aligned with the existing networks and its operations.

What do you think is the right way to adopt SDN? Will you prefer to move quickly or adopt a cautious, wait and watch strategy for adoption?

Organizations need to identify how SDN can be used to provide a more flexible and effective overall technology platform for supporting their specific requirements. The technology has the potential to make significant improvements to service request response times, security, and reliability. It could also reduce costs by automating many processes that are currently done manually. Yet it would be wise to take a wait and watch strategy for adoption.

ANUJ BHALLA

VP & & Global BU Head, System

Integration & Product Business,

WiproWhat are the key advantages enterprises can reap out of SDN adoption?While many organizations have implemented SDN solutions in their environment and others are still in the process of testing a solution, the many benefits provided by SDN should help accelerate its adoption in the near future.

Cost reduction is one of the major benefits of SDN. It reduces the need to buy specialized networking hardware and supports pay-as-yougrow models, thus reducing capex. The centralized control of network elements along with features such as automated provisioning increases reliability thereby reducing opex. SDN also brings in more agility and flexibility as it helps organizations rapidly deploy new applications, services, and infrastructure to quickly meet changing business goals and objectives. It also enables organizations to create new types of applications, services, and business models that can offer new revenue streams and more value from the network, hence fostering innovation.

What should be the strategy and points of consideration in an enterprise SDN journey?

Over the last couple of years, SDN has been gaining a lot of momentum with enterprises gradually realizing its potential. Yet companies need to consider a few essential factors while adopting SDN.

Industry Sector: Certain industry sectors have a higher per-employee investment in datacenter technologies. This needs to be the biggest consideration for potential SDN adoption.

Size and Nature of the Enterprise Network: Enterprises with over a thousand active IP addresses in their network should consider SDN adoption seriously. It is especially true for networks with a large number of virtual machines. Enterprise networks that handle dynamic application workloads will also benefit from SDN technologies.

Cost and Personnel Considerations: Organizations need to be clear about the RoI from the project. Budget and personnel limitations need to be factored in. It also involves technical considerations like interoperability with existing/ traditional networks, integration of SDN into the overall cloud and virtualization landscape and avoiding vendor lockin as much as possible by embracing open standards and architectures.

How can IT players like Wipro play a role in the enterprise SDN transformation?

System integrators like Wipro have strategic alliances with traditional network manufacturers and new-age disruptive start-ups. We also have an in-depth understanding of existing network infrastructure estate of our customers. Moreover, we have the ability to deliver end-to-end life cycle services starting right from consulting/assessment to managed services. Hence, SIs like Wipro are uniquely positioned to transition enterprises into SDN adoption.