Redvine’s software-driven approach – the cornerstone of future-proofing a business
There is no getting around the fact that the global semiconductor shortage is going to be with us for a while. This has caused chaos for companies who are still reliant on a hardware-driven business model where shipping delays can easily extend to longer than a year. The equation is simple – without hardware being installed, customers will not pay. And if customers are not paying, suppliers are facing massive issues around cash flow.
Fortunately, as a fully-managed secure SD-WAN and networking service provider we have been completely unaffected and our customers, who span the African continent, continue to roll out SD-WAN solutions, unhindered by hardware or component shortages.
We founded the company on the principle of pure play SDN and are neither restricted to specific hardware vendors nor complex components and are not required to go through a complicated bureaucratic journey. This means we have the flexibility to look beyond any specific vendor solution and are unlikely to ever be locked in by hardware shortages, slow lead times, and stock availability.
The result is that we were prepared even before the pandemic hit and the subsequent semiconductor shortages.
Even though hardware will always remain important in a technology-reliant world, it is becoming merely the delivery mechanism for software that unlocks any number of use cases.
A seismic shift is now set to take place as more companies start adopting software and open hardware systems to bring a level of agility and scalability into their operations that was unprecedented before. If anything, the global semiconductor shortage has been the catalyst for this change.
A white box
Given the extensive relationships we have with best of breed partners, we can deliver white box solutions with easy to update software for our customers. Our internal pipeline is such that we have access to global hardware suppliers and enjoy preferential treatment due to the strength of these partnerships.
White boxing has certainly proved its merits over the past 18 months. At a fundamental level, this lets us deliver reliable software-driven services that are independent of the underlying hardware. The secret sauce lies in the innovation that takes place on a software level without requiring organisations to try and squeeze out hardware performance.
If four out of five hardware vendors have significant lead time delays, we can just as easily use the fifth one where hardware is immediately available. This is because we are not locked into any vendor agreements thereby ensuring deploying and replacing hardware is as streamlined as possible. All we need to do is ensure the correct resourcing allocations from a white box hardware perspective.
Build your own solution
Furthermore, the modularity of the Redvine SD-WAN solution offering means organisations can cater for multiple scenarios on either a shared piece of hardware or a dedicated virtual environment.
This is only possible because of the software-driven approach that is core to our operations.
Being able to leverage an open hardware platform means our technical team can take CPU cores, disk storage, and RAM to customise a solution for virtually any customer use case.
Having this flexibility means the same piece of hardware can be used as a network, security, or monitoring platform to name just a few examples. Unlike purpose-built hardware that can only be ‘squeezed’ for performance to a limited extent, using open hardware enables us to keep our clients’ environments as optimised as possible while continually catering for future innovations in technology.
It means we can scale and tailor-make solutions specific to each customer.
Traditional, device-centric networks are a massive constraint at many organisations not only in South Africa but throughout the world. The scalability and agility of the network can only truly be unlocked when they move beyond the limitations placed on them by the hardware.
We use software-based solutions to enable businesses to dictate what is needed from an experience perspective and allows us to easily enhance solutions based on unique use cases and requirements.
In practice, this brings with it a rapid development cycle. From something theoretical in a lab to being executed at a client happens faster than what a traditional hardware refresh cycle can ever take place.
A new world
The modernisation of companies and even service providers have been made possible with a software-driven approach. Redvine is delivering on faster deployment cycles thanks to how quickly we can respond to customer requirements for customisation on their software.
This ensures that we stay relevant regardless of external influencing factors and can remain successful despite a chip shortage causing so much strife to other service providers. The opportunities to bridge the gap between hardware-centric businesses and ones looking for a software-driven environment are extensive.
Beyond our technical expertise, we can also assist on the operational side of things like taking care of project management on the client’s behalf. We have the skills, capabilities, and expertise to help with deployments, rollouts, and transitioning any organisation to the software-driven approach that will be the key differentiator for any organisation looking to survive and thrive in a cloud world.
For us, it is having a firm commitment of being a future-forward technology player that proactively solves problems using digital solutions.
But it is more than just our advanced technologies that differentiate us.
We believe in the power of having the right people in place. It is about harnessing the expertise of our specialists to deliver above and beyond from a customer perspective. Combining our software-defined approach with our operational know-how and our experienced team on-the-ground, we unlock the network to go beyond what was thought possible in the pre-pandemic days.
Digital is here to stay and the flexibility of being software-driven ensures that we keep our clients competitive at a time when others might still be struggling to get hardware installed due to the chip shortage.