A Route Map for Network Vendors Riding into New Territory

By John Burke, Principal Research Analyst, Nemertes Research Inc.

Executive Summary

In the not-too-distant past, the network was the model of interoperability and enterprise software an illustration of siloed incompatibility. In recent years, software interoperability has undergone a renaissance with the diffusion of XML-based messaging as a program-integration technology to replace conventional APIs. Likewise, in recent years, networks are driven to perform more and more tasks formerly resident on servers, whether in Web load balancing, traffic management or security. Unfortunately, though, the expectation of interoperability among network vendors’ equipment on the newer, advanced functions has diminished or disappeared. At the same time, network vendors are beginning to move into the market space of companies distinctly different from themselves – Cisco, for example, is moving to compete directly with enterprise integration/enterprise service bus vendors like Oracle, BEA, Microsoft and IBM. They must compete in a new way to gain trust – and market share – in this new world.

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