HP has added a crowdsourcing element to its software defined networking (SDN) play this week, announcing a software development kit for writing applications for its SDN-enabled products and an app store where non-HP developers will be able to sell those applications.

Bethany Mayer, SVP and general manager of networking at HP, said the kit, or SDK, had all the tools necessary for a developer to certify enterprise-grade applications. Once certified by HP, applications can be sold in the app store.

The toolbox includes API (application programming interface) documentation, a developer guide and sample code for the HP VAN (virtual application network) SDN controller. There is also a simulated testing environment for functionality and interoperability testing, which, according to Mayer, also includes products by non-HP vendors.

Along with announcing the SDK, HP said 30 partners has signed up to use the kit. The list includes companies like Citrix, F5, Intel, Microsoft, VMware, Samsung, Riverbed and SAP, among others.

Participating developers will have control over application pricing in the app store, but not without some HP involvement. “The pricing would be determined by the developers, and we would have some input on it,” Mayer said.

HP will also probably get a cut of the revenue from the sales of software. What that cut would be has not been determined, she said, as the company plans to roll the app store out in the first half of 2014.

SDN play beyond data center

Today, network is the “longest pole in the tent” when deploying an application, Mayer said. It has to be configured an reconfigured manually, making application deployment – which involves a lot of “human middleware” (in HP's terms) – very time consuming.

“It really does take months to make a change to a network to get it prepared to deploy an application,” she said. “Our vision is truly to deliver a programmable network that will meet [the requirements] of business applications.”

HP's SDN strategy extends beyond the data center, Mayer said, explaining that confining an SDN discussion to the data center was a common mistake.

An SDN extends from the data center to the campus and to the branch office, she explained. And all of that has to be automated, for the true SDN vision to come to fruition.

SDN-induced commodification no threat to HP

HP's core business is hardware, and trends like SDN, which puts more intelligence in software, have a simplifying and commodifying effect on hardware. SDN has made the rise of companies like Cumulus Networks – which sells very cheap bare metal switches and a Linux-based network operating system – possible.

Commenting on this trend, Mayer said there will always be customers who do not have in-house IT muscle to set up networks based on bare-metal switches and who need continued support from the vendor.

“We've already virtualized our switch and our router, so they can run on a server, if you want to do that,” she said. “Cumulus … is interesting, however, our product has been a stack that we've been running for over 10 years.”

As interesting as bare-metal switches sound, supportability is a very significant issue in networks. “If a server goes down, that’s a single node on the network,” Mayer continued “If the network goes down, you've got a big problem.”

So, while the big Internet companies with big in-house IT shops will likely choose the bare-metal path for their networks, enterprises, who depend on the support and integration by the vendor, will continue buying the full-service package, SDN or not.