Network Break 53: Apple At Work, OpenFlow Rising

Take a Network Break! Mike Fratto, principal analyst for enterprise network systems at Current Analysis, joins us for Episode 53 to opine on all things IT.

We bite into Apple’s enterprise ploy with iPads, and wonder why Intel walked away from sponsoring a science talent search.

We dig into a partnership announcement between Cisco and Verizon to sell SD-WAN, and dispute numbers that puts HP ahead of Cisco in selling cloud infrastructure equipment.

We wrangle over FireEye’s head-scratching handling of vulnerability research, while a story about a $40 million VC investment in Chef spurs a discussion of the the chicken/egg conundrum that automation companies face.

Last but not least, a story about testing specifications for OpenFlow 1.3 spurs a detailed conversation about the prospects for the OpenFlow standard. You can find links to all the stories below.

Sponsor: Sonus Networks

This week’s show is sponsored by Sonus Networks. Sonus wants you to know that there is a better way to address business continuity with less cost, more flexibility, and increased management efficiency – a Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) powered by Sonus’ NaaS IQ. Ensure you know the differences between SD WAN business connectivity and SD WAN business continuity; visit Sonus at www.sonus.net or reach them at 1-855-GO-SONUS and tell them you heard about them on PacketPushers.

Show Notes:

Apple Targeting The Enterprise

With New iPad Pro, Apple Makes Its Move To Dominate The Enterprise Mobility Market – Forbes

But as consumer demand for iPads has hit a plateau with slower replacement cycles, demand for tablets in enterprise, and especially for iPads, has been increasing. The percentage of tablets in use for business is set to increase from 14% in 2015 to 20% by 2018, according to new research by Forrester…”

Apple Keynote 2015 – Enterprise & Personal – Ethereal Mind

Intel Dumps Science Competition

Intel to End Sponsorship of Science Talent Search – NY Times

Dropping support for the high school contest is a puzzling decision by Intel, since it costs about $6 million a year — about 0.01 percent of Intel’s $55.6 billion in revenue last year — and it generates significant good will for the sponsoring organization.”

Verizon, Cisco Team Up For SD-WAN

Verizon Deploys Cisco’s SD-WAN Technology – SDX Central

Verizon and Cisco will both market and sell the managed service to their respective enterprise customers in the United States. The two companies will broaden the rollout to the EMEA region by the end of this year.  The managed SD-WAN service is backed by Verizon’s IT consulting group, which helps enterprises on the migration path to SDN.”

Verizon partners with Viptela to offer hybrid WAN services – TechTarget

HP, Cisco And Cloud Infrastructure Gear

HP finally beat its arch rival Cisco in this one important market, researcher says – Business Insider

For the first time, HP has sold more equipment than Cisco to help companies build cloud computing data centers, according to market research group, Synergy Research Group.

FireEye Mishandles Security Disclosures

War of words as researchers reveal Kaspersky and FireEye zero-days – SC Magazine

FireEye Scolded For Injunction Stopping Security Researcher Revealing Source Code – Forbes

DevOps Attracts Investors

Chef Cooks Up a $40 Million Funding Round – SDX Central

Go With The Flow

ONF Launches New OpenFlow Testing Specification – Network Computing

With the v1.3 testing specification, the ONF expects vendor demand for OpenFlow certification to increase and more carriers and enterprise customers to require certified products, Haugh said. As a result, the group expects interoperability — something there hasn’t been a lot of with v1.0 — to increase, he said.”