BOSTON, Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenFlow controllers together will allow for more efficient services from data center operators, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading Insider (www.heavyreading.com/insider), a subscription research service from Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).

OpenFlow Controllers: Implementing SDN in the Data Center examines the OpenFlow protocol, how it works, what's driving its adoption and where it's headed. It also compares controllers from five vendors, all of whom would like to see their technology become the preferred platform for developing SDN applications like the data center's first killer app: virtual networks.

For a list of companies covered in this report, http://img.lightreading.com/lri/pdf/hri1212_companies.pdf

"The whole point of SDN is to help service providers and enterprises accomplish tasks such as network configuration and provisioning, load balancing and security policy enforcement more quickly, more efficiently and less expensively through automation," says Dawn Bushaus, research analyst with Heavy Reading Insider and author of the report. "The goal is to get away from having to program all the switches and routers in a network manually, and that means centralized software control is necessary."

Perhaps the most exciting and encouraging thing about SDN is the fact that network operators and service providers are finally not dependent only on vendors for innovation, Bushaus says. "Data center operators should expect to see plenty of activity in the controller market during the coming year," she continues. "There will be more mergers and acquisitions as hardware vendors look to acquire the pieces of the SDN puzzle they don't have. Startups will also come out of stealth to explain in detail where they fit in an OpenFlow environment, and incumbent equipment vendors likely will be forced to incorporate OpenFlow into their product portfolios whether they want to or not."

Key findings of OpenFlow Controllers: Implementing SDN in the Data Center include the following:

• ONF and SDN have spawned software startups looking to cash in with controllers, switches and applications
• Equipment vendors are scrambling to articulate a clear SDN message, with the products to back it up
• OpenFlow may not be the de facto protocol for controlling software to communicate with networking elements in an SDN, but it has momentum
• OpenFlow and SDN will remain center stage during the coming year
• By incorporating the controller and v-switch into data centers, operators can begin to deliver services more quickly and efficiently, while cutting capex and opex
• Data center operators should expect to see plenty of activity in the controller market in the coming year, including M&A activity as vendors pursue the missing pieces of the SDN puzzle

OpenFlow Controllers: Implementing SDN in the Data Center is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (12 issues) to Heavy Reading Insider, priced at $1,995. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/insider. For more information about other Heavy Reading Insider research services, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/research.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Geddes
Account Manager
Heavy Reading
303-997-9135
jeff.geddes@ubm.com

Press/analyst contact:
Jennifer Baker
Marketing Director, Light Reading Communications Network
617-747-4110
jennifer.baker@ubm.com

About Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com)
Heavy Reading is an independent research organization offering deep analysis of emerging telecom trends to network operators, technology suppliers, and investors. Its product portfolio includes in-depth reports that address critical next-generation technology and service issues, market trackers that focus on the telecom industry's most critical technology sectors, exclusive worldwide surveys of network operator decision-makers that identify future purchasing and deployment plans, and a rich array of custom and consulting services that give clients the market intelligence needed to compete successfully in the global telecom industry. As a telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lrcn.com), Heavy Reading contributes to the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.

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SOURCE Heavy Reading