Cisco Opens Up DNA Center to Tech Partners, Developers

ORLANDO, Fla.—Cisco Systems officials are opening up the company’s DNA Center to allow partners and developers to build applications and solutions atop the network management software and customers to manage third-party networking systems from competitors like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Juniper Networks and Extreme Networks. The evolution of DNA Center is the company’s latest step in building its intent-based networking initiative into a programmable and open platform that can stretch from the network edge through the data center and branch offices and out into the cloud. Making the network open and API-driven will give more than 500,000 developers and 60,000 partners a platform on which to develop solutions. David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager of networking and security at Cisco, announced the latest version of DNA Center June 12 during his second-day keynote at Cisco Live 2018 here. Goeckeler said the aim is to essentially enable the network to run like software, making it open and easily programmable. “The network now has APIs,” he said. “The network is now programmable. The network has code.” The need for a more open and easily programmable network comes as enterprises are dealing with rapid changes, including the growth in the number of mobile devices being used, the increasingly distributed nature of computing and applications, and the rise of the cloud. Also, new workloads like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data analytics are increasing the demand for faster and more responsive networks.