Cyan Inc. is announcing a group of software-defined networking (SDN) partners that are pledging interoperability among their products.

The Blue Orbit ecosystem, as it's called, is similar to the metro Ethernet alliance that Cyan forged in 2011 with Accedian Networks Inc. and Overture Networks Inc. That was more about letting one management system run multiple vendors' products, though.

Blue Orbit is about ensuring interoperability so that network operators can opt for multiple SDN pieces rather than having to buy everything from a single vendor. Cisco Systems Inc. doesn't get mentioned in the press release Cyan issued Tuesday night (timed for a morning launch in Asia), but it's pretty obvious that's one company Blue Orbit considers itself up against.

The announced Blue Orbit partners are Accedian, Arista Networks Inc., Boundary Inc., Canonical Ltd., Cyan, Embrane Inc., Overture and RYU, an open-source SDN framework started by NTT Laboratories.

Why this matters
Any new technology works best when the promise of interoperability is at least partially fulfilled.

The important step, though, is interoperability with the market's real movers and shakers. No offense to Arista, but Blue Orbit would be more meaningful if more large companies were backing it.

To the extent that SDN's newness can let smaller companies gather customers, the mutual interoperability among the Blue Orbit members could be a help.

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— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading