The Potential for White Boxes in WAN: Embracing Best-of-Breed Networking

There is a lack of consensus on how to achieve the best network despite many people expressing their desire for it. In 2020, over 75 per cent of enterprises believed that open networks and white boxes would offer the best options, but recent developments in the industry seem to have brought vendors back into the picture, which is reminiscent of the past.

A significant majority of established enterprises that have been around since the beginning of their network operations began with a network from a single vendor. Only a small number of enterprises launched in the last five years did not start with a single vendor network. This is reasonable because starting a network is already complex, and managing multiple sources of technology can add more complexity to the integration and management of the network.

The second truth is equally intriguing. Presently, 37 per cent of established enterprises have adopted multivendor networks while another nine per cent have open networks. In total, a little over 40 per cent of the companies that started with a single-vendor network have shifted towards a different vendor mix over time. The primary reason for this shift is acquisition and mergers, which resulted in the introduction of other vendors. The second most common reason for this shift is more fascinating, as some companies have had an unsatisfactory experience with their single vendor, which led them to consider alternative options.

Enterprises are generally disappointed with network vendors, but this disappointment is not significant enough for them to switch vendors. Only three cases of complete vendor replacement have been identified in the last decade. This is because replacing network equipment involves a significant budgeting problem. Not only do enterprises have to purchase new gear, but they also have to deal with the write-down of existing equipment. In 2023, more than 90 per cent of network budgets will be focused on maintaining existing applications and information access, and any changes to the network will be subject to strict cost controls. The focus on maintaining existing infrastructure also makes enterprises hesitant to introduce new vendors who may bring new integration and network stability risks.

The main vendor of an enterprise has several advantages, including the ability to commit more resources and offer better discounts. Enterprises have reported that primary vendors have won 75 per cent of the deals over the past five years. Even if the primary vendor experiences a major problem that causes them to lose some business, they tend to gradually regain their dominance over a period of four or five years, unless they create another major problem.

Although primary vendors have a dominant position in the market, some single-vendor networks are not entirely exclusive. Upon closer examination, it was found that more than 30 per cent of enterprises claiming to have a single-vendor network actually have a second vendor involved. This is because enterprises have different types of networks with different requirements.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and network professionals typically consider  Wide Area Networks (WAN)  as the primary network, overlooking the data-centre networks that interconnect servers through Local Area Network  (LAN)  switches. The data-centre networks tend to evolve based on IT changes rather than network requirements, which is why they are often forgotten in network vendor discussions. However, the data centre is where enterprises view white boxes and open networks as credible, with more than one-third of them considering these technologies in the data centre compared to less than 10 per cent in the WAN. The opportunity to modernise data centre switching arose due to new requirements, such as the need for increased capacity and improved traffic routing, which were brought about by virtualisation and horizontal traffic between application components. The data centre is a practical place for software-defined networking and centralised route control, as there are only a few types of interfaces to consider. The emergence of white-box data centres, along with available funding for expansion, created an opportunity for innovation in this space.

Enterprises are not fully embracing white boxes in the data centre due to the lack of justification for major changes in networks that are not undergoing significant requirements changes. The adoption of white boxes is still limited to areas where additional capacity is needed. Most enterprises that have white-box switches in the data centre have them in areas that were recently added or underwent substantial changes due to virtual-hosting requirements. The evolution and modernisation of data centre networks, however, could potentially support the expansion of white-box open-network technology to the WAN.

It is not certain that white-box open-network technology would be easily adopted in the WAN, despite some potential benefits. Many enterprises believe that white-box WANs require more integration effort, although they also acknowledge that they are cheaper. While some enterprises have deployed white-box switches in the data centre and have found them to be cost-effective, only a small percentage of enterprises have been offered a white-box router by a credible vendor, and the majority of enterprises do not know of any credible white-box open-model vendors at all.

The main takeaway is that enterprises prefer simple network integration. They usually start with a single vendor and sometimes shift towards more open networks, but tend to revert to a single vendor again. There isn't a strong push for open enterprise networks, nor any prominent organizations or guides that support it, which makes executives hesitant to adopt it. Additionally, unlike network operators, the enterprise network is only a small part of their overall investments.

The circumstances do not change anytime soon as there is currently cost pressure on enterprise networks, but major vendors are offering enough discounts to keep things under control. Unless there is a sudden and drastic change in the enterprise network, such as the introduction of 5G for operator networks, vendors have enough time to adapt to the periodic evolution and modernisation that is being observed in data-centre networks. Convincing enterprises to embrace white boxes can be challenging since the market is not well-informed, unlike when dealing with tier One carriers. Furthermore, concessions are very effective in the enterprise market to fend off competition.

Enterprise networks, whether in the data centre or not, have to deal with challenges, especially with the increasing adoption of virtual networking. Virtual private networks (VPN) already eliminated many routers, and with the emergence of SD-WAN and cloud-hosted SASE, even more could be eliminated, leaving only those connected to the existing points in the data centre. The trends towards open networks in the data centre could gradually extend to the wider network, and some SD-WAN is already being hosted on white boxes. If this trend continues this could lead to a truly open networking model that finally enables best-of-breed networks to become a reality.

There is a growing interest in white boxes and open-network technologies in the data centre, where there is a need for significant capacity expansion and traffic routing improvement. However, the adoption of white boxes in the data centre is limited to areas where additional capacity is needed. Similarly, enterprises are hesitant to adopt white-box WANs due to integration concerns, lack of credible vendors, and the enterprise network's small investment compared to other enterprise investments. Nevertheless, the acceleration of virtual networking could eliminate even more routers, and with a truly open networking model, best-of-breed networks could finally become a reality. Therefore, white-box WANs may have an opportunity to evolve and move outward, gradually spreading open-network trends.