Enterprises are demanding faster data centre connectivity to enable:

• hybrid clouds (private and public)
• network virtualization and
• Software Defined Networking

The network needs to change to support applications, the software defined networks delivers this. Businesses are driving programming over the network in an automated way, changing the networks behaviour, businesses are becoming more mobile, whom require more automation and more programmability using software.

2014 Gartner Data Center Networking Quadrant update 2014_Gartner_MQ_Data_Center_Networking_Approved_Slide_updated

Network architecture – Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for your enterprise Vendor Landscape: Data Center Networking by Info-Tech Research Group, Inc

Next generation networks read on ZDNet here