IBM Opens Doors To Network Innovation Centres

IBM has opened the doors to two separate facilities that will allow IT and network managers to build and test networks that make use of SDN, virtualisation, and analytics-driven automation technologies and services.

The thinking is that service providers and businesses will be able to construct the networks in the IBM labs, using different vendor’s kit, in order to see how the new solution will integrate into their existing infrastructure and systems.

Network Innovation Centres

To this end, IBM has opened two centres, located in Nice (France) and Dallas (Texas). The focus of these centres is on solutions for large enterprise networking systems and telecommunications operators. Both of these customers need a network that is resilient, high-performing and continuously available.

Yet what makes the IBM Network Innovation Centres different, is that the equipment is not limited to Big Blue tech. The centres will give clients the ability to test and experience new network technologies from both IBM and other vendors. This includes Brocade, Cisco, Citrix, Juniper, Riverbed, and VMware.

The arrival of the centres is because of the explosive growth of data. Many organisations are adopting cloud models for their computing and storage requirements, but they need to ensure their network infrastructure is capable of dealing with data-intensive conditions, and can effectively function in hybrid IT network environments.

“Effectively applying cloud technologies to the network could allow a company to reduce its overall network capacity while increasing utilisation by dynamically providing resources during the day in Beijing while it’s nighttime in New York, and vice versa,” said Pete Lorenzen, general manager, Networking Services, IBM Global Technology Services. “Or a telecom company could better manage periodic, localised spikes in smartphone usage caused by major sporting events or daily urban commutes, dynamically provisioning capacity when and where it’s needed.”

Networks are therefore having to adapt to new challenges, but large corporations and service providers need a suitable ‘test-bed arena’ where they can experiment with new models and different equipment and technology.

The IBM Network Innovation Centres can be either accessed onsite, or remotely, so clients can build custom design solutions that will meet the specific needs of their particular environments.

Big Blue Networking

The IBM Network Innovation Centres are operated by IBM GTS Networking Services.

IBM’s networking business is currently involved in a number of industry consortium, although at once stage it was reportedly seeking to offload its software-defined networking (SDN) business for as much as $1 billion (£604m).

IBM however is one of the founders (alongside Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks and Brocade) of the OpenDaylight Project, which launched in 2013 with a goal to create a foundational framework for SDN and network-functions virtualisation (NFV).

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