Over the past year, we have seen an increase in-demand for SDN and OpenFlow® in United States and Europe. Our participation at some of the industry’s key events around the world has validated the growth we have seen this year, and we can only anticipate the increase we will see in the New Year. As we wrap up another quarter, we wanted to highlight a specific region where we have seen tremendous momentum of SDN and OpenFlow—the Asia Pacific. Over the past three months, the Open Networking Foundation had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo to speak at some of the top IT, networking, telecom, and SDN conferences. In reflecting on our participation at those events, we were truly amazed to see the amount of participation we received at our sessions, and the interest in learning more about our organization and mission. Check out these short recaps of the various industry events in Asia we participated in over the past few months:
- Nikkei IT Pro Expo: In early October, I traveled to Tokyo to speak at one of Japan’s leading IT conferences, where I led a keynote presentation to more than 600 audience members on the need to transform traditional networks to SDN architecture. This conference provided us the opportunity to inform the Japanese community on the benefits of SDN and OpenFlow, and how ONF is driving the SDN revolution. This year’s conference also included an OpenFlow® seminar, where industry experts discussed the opportunities of deploying OpenFlow® to a large, paid audience, and an OpenFlow® showcase on the Expo floor where I saw at least ten exhibits, most reflecting working code.
- China's MIRACLE Conference: Although this conference was not held in China, but rather here in the United States, some of China’s top telco organizations – including some of our member companies: China Mobile, Deutsche Telecom, Ericsson, and Huawei – gathered to discuss next generation mobile Internet architecture, and the innovative technologies that are evolving and driving the transition to new mobile Internet architecture. Dr. Justin Joubine Dustzadeh of Huawei represented ONF and discussed how SDN is the key to transforming carrier networks. The session was well received by members of the audience; many important questions such as SDN use-cases, ONF membership, and collaboration with other standard development organizations were addressed.
- Cloud World Forum Asia: On November 13-14, more than 300 telco and enterprise professionals gathered in Hong Kong to discuss all aspects of cloud computing including cloud adoption challenges, deployments, and how to develop a new business model with a cloud computing approach. Representatives from Huawei including Michael McBride and Dr. Yinben Xia spoke on behalf of ONF discussing how to build a network infrastructure for the cloud using open standards. The presentation provided members of the audience with an understanding of SDN and OpenFlow, and specific use cases on how to optimize resources with an SDN solution. The session enabled us to educate the industry on this innovative technology, and how ONF is evolving its cloud strategy.
- Datacenter Conference 2012 & SDN Japan Conference: Earlier this month, I traveled to Japan to speak in a panel about SDN for the Datacenter, where I was joined by some of our member companies including NEC and Nicira/VMware. The discussion emphasized the benefits of SDN and OpenFlow® for data center networks. Following that event, I led a keynote presentation the SDN Japan Conference, where I spoke on the movement of SDN, OpenFlow, and ONF, and how we are looking forward to 2013. My keynote was followed by one from our Board member Yukio Ito of NTT Communications and panels that included participants from many of our member companies.
- China SDN & Open Networking Summit: Concluding our last conference for the year, ONF headed to Beijing where we spoke at the China SDN & Open Networking Summit, which received support from China’s government organizations, top carriers, and China’s academic institutions. Dr. Justin Joubine Dustzadeh delivered a keynote speech about the revolutionary impact of SDN on next generation networking where he informed more than 400 IT and engineering professionals on the value of SDN and OpenFlow. The one-day summit, gave us the opportunity to meet China’s industry experts and educate the community how ONF is accelerating the deployment of SDN in the network. Check out some photos below:
*Photos Courtesy of China SDN & Open Networking Summit
This year’s Asia conferences brought ONF great exposure on our focus and movement in the networking, telco, and cloud industries. I also hosted ONF Meetups in Tokyo during my two trips there, with high turnout and lively discussion at both. I think we’re making real progress cultivating a community there, including both current and prospective members. It’s especially exciting to learn more and more details about actual product implementations and deployments. We look forward to revisiting these events next year and hearing the feedback from their experience with SDN and OpenFlow. If you attended one of these conferences this year, what were your takeaways? Let us know!
-Dan Pitt
Executive Director
