Cloud Networking Reflections 100 Days Later

It has been 100+ days since Arista Networks formally unveiled our new name, Cloud Networking mission and our much talked about leadership team. What is clear is more has been achieved in 100 days of Cloud Networking than is possible in 100 weeks. This is obviously the exponential power of modern applications, forums, groups, analysts, press, bloggers and the reality of this market trend. The hype, fever, envy, criticism and also deep appreciation of Arista Networks in describing the cloud phenomenon has been unprecedented. Never in my 25+ year career have I experienced such strong hysteria, excitement and reaction!Just to put this in perspective, here is what has happened in a short 100 days:

1. Google hits for "Cloud Networking" in October before Arista launched was just 39 entries. In February, it is now almost at an astonishing 10,000 (20 million adjacent entries). This is a two hundred fold increase in 100 days!
2. Wikipedia has now defined Cloud Networking.
3. New Cloud Networking groups have been formed on Facebook (Lippis), Linkedln, Yahoo and Google (to name a few) to provide common ground for the introduction and advancement of Cloud Networking. This is obviously broader and has a greater impact than individual vendor specific blogs.
4. Arista Networks has deployed as little as 1 terabit to as high as 50 terabits of cloud network capacity at several customer sites in our first 100 days.

Some referred to my cloud networking term as "catchy", others "kitschy", some paraphrased as "networking for a cloud", while others applauded the advent of cloud networking as a "historical day". My personal favorite was actually "Every Cloud has a silver computing lining".No matter what, it's now obvious that Cloud Networking has caught on widely. It is no longer a niche term as it was in October 2008. The industry has embraced cloud networking as the next generation infrastructure for cloud computing. It is one of the most exciting news events in the midst of traditional IT and a dull economy. Arista Networks will therefore not pursue the filing of a trademark for Cloud Networking. The original goal of broad awareness has already been accomplished. The US Patent & Trademark Office has also advised us that the use of this term may be generic. We completely agree and prefer to focus on adoption of Cloud Networking rather than trade mark pursuits. Quite frankly, I could never have predicted the remarkable acceptance in such a short compressed time! Such things usually take years not days.I also don't need to dwell on who pioneered Cloud Networking nor the contributions of several other companies and people. Many champions and leaders have emerged and I am sure many more will follow. After all, great minds think alike and the sum of them is greater than the parts... kind of like a cloud? There is still much work ahead of us in enabling this architectural shift from old Enterprise IT networks to Cloud Networking designs of leaf and spine switches. Arista Networks wishes to enable Cloud Networking though our technology and products. We strive to contribute in our own small way to this phenomena via educational seminars (please feel free to attend our February seminars), my blog, consortiums, case studies and innovations.A special acknowledgment to my many professional friends, analysts, CIO customers, and experts who have been our well-wishers, advisers and contributors to this journey. As Robert Frost would say "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. We have miles to go before we sleep".Please join me in our continued collaboration of Cloud Networking.

I welcome your comments at feedback@arista.com