Extreme Networks rolls out its platform to simplify network operations

Networking and complexity go hand in hand, like chocolate and peanut butter. Though this has been the norm, it’s playing havoc with business operations.

A recent ZK Research/Cube Research study found that 93% of organizations state the network is more critical to business operations than two years ago. In the same period, 80% said the network was more complex. Increasing complexity leads to blind spots, unplanned downtime, security breaches and other issues that affect businesses.

Extreme Networks Inc. today announced its Extreme Platform ONE connectivity platform to combat this. The back-end data lake combines data from networks, security tools and third parties such as Intel Corp., Microsoft Security and ServiceNow Inc. The platform is built on an artificial intelligence core to deliver conversational AI and autonomous networking. The goal is to automate wholly or at least partially many of the complex tasks associated with operating and securing a network.

The platform is flexible enough to serve multiple audiences. It includes a composable workspace that enables cross-team workflows. Although network engineers will most likely work with Extreme, the company has added security functionality and capabilities for that audience. Extreme also offers workflows, services and data for procurement and financing teams.

The latter audience often needs to be reminded about network infrastructure. As a former information technology executive, I am all too familiar with the pains of managing subscriptions, service contracts and licenses. This is often done on spreadsheets, which is time-consuming and error-prone and can frequently lead to overspending.

Extreme has built a dashboard that shows all relevant financial information, including contracts and renewal dates. This can help the customer better understand current and future trends and plan for upgrades.

For the network practitioner, the AI capabilities are targeted at troubleshooting complicated problems, which networks are filled with. Wi-Fi problems are the hardest to solve as there are so many variables. With a wired network, virtual local-area networks, duplex mismatches and other settings can often cause unexpected performance issues.

Finding these can take days, weeks, or even months, as replicating them can be challenging. AI sees all data across the network and can connect the dots that people can’t.

There is also an AI Policy Assistant that administrators can use to create, view, update and remove application policies. Policy administration is necessary but time-consuming and error-prone. Setting up policies initially is straightforward but keeping them up to date as people and devices move around the network or as applications change can be difficult, particularly in dynamic environments, which most companies are today because of the internet of things, cloud and work-from-home.

The rollout of Extreme Platform ONE is the culmination of many acquisitions and years of work. Today’s Extreme is a rollup of many network vendors, including Enterasys, Brocade, Avaya Networking and Motorola/Zebra. The purchase of Aerohive brought the company the cloud back end that is being leveraged in the current platform launch. Along the way, the company rationalized its product set and implemented “Universal Hardware,” which lets customers choose between different operating systems.

Extreme Platform ONE is well-timed with the current AI wave. The concept of the network platform has been bandied about for years but has yet to catch on.

Last week, I talked to Extreme Chief Technology Officer Nabil Bukhari (pictured), about the platform and why now. He told me this is the direction the company has been moving in since he took the role in 2020. AI makes a platform’s value proposition compelling today, as it requires a single set of data to deliver the best insights.

Companies that run one vendor for the WAN, another for Wi-Fi, and another for the campus network will have three sets of data, likely siloed, three AI engines leading to fragmented insights. For most companies, AI for operations is the way forward, and that will push more companies toward a platform approach.

Other vendors have followed the platform path. What I like about Extreme’s approach is that it uses AI as more than a troubleshooting tool. Though that’s a core function of the platform, it addresses issues at every step of the network lifecycle: planning, deployment, operations, optimization, security and renewals.

It as taken Extreme years to combine multiple products and unify the data set, but that’s done, and customers should see the benefits with the new Platform ONE.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

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