IT professionals are looking to software-defined networking to automate what are still complex and vulnerable systems controlled by human engineers. Major General Sarah Zabel knows where they’re coming from. The general summed up what many enterprises are saying about software-defined networking.
Zabel is the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which provides IT support for all U.S. combat operations. Soldiers, officers, drones, and the president all rely on DISA to stay connected. Its network is the epitome of a system that’s both a headache to manage and a prime hacking target.
DISA is a case in point. With 4.5 million users and 11 core data centers, its infrastructure generates about 10 million alarms per day, Zabel said. Approximately 2,000 of those become trouble tickets. These aren’t just for users who can’t get into Outlook: A lost circuit could cause a battlefield surveillance drone to abort its mission and return to base, or could cut off commanders in the field from their superiors.
Read more at CIO.com.
