The cloud has proved a powerful platform for modern enterprises, with low cost barriers and easy-to-scale services. It’s even ushered in a new generation of cloud-native software applications, prioritizing agility, and speed to market. Yet this new generational boom has left some workloads feeling antiquated, drawing a line between those well-suited for the cloud and those struggling to keep up with mutlicloud’s emerging norm for true interoperability.

Enter Aviatrix Systems Inc., a relative newcomer on the networking scene. Founded in 2014, Aviatrix aims to rethink computer networking for today’s multicloud demands, moving entire applications across a network, beyond the current industry expectations of merely shifting packets of information amongst clouds.

With a fresh round of funding and a growing list of strategic partners, Aviatrix is looking to make its mark on the networking scene. Will multicloud present red-hot opportunities for the networking newcomer?

Looking to answer these and other questions, SiliconANGLE Media Inc. will broadcast from Altitude 2020 in Santa Clara, California, with exclusive commentary and interviews from our roving news desk, theCUBE. In a special co-production of Altitude 2020, theCUBE coverage will begin on Tuesday, March 3, at 10 a.m. PT with full access to opening remarks and a series of panels from Aviatrix executives, customers and engineers. The live broadcast ends at 12:30 PM PT. (*Disclosure below.)

The third wave of enterprise computing

If the first generation of enterprise computing was characterized by interest in public cloud services, the second generation served as a sort of course correction toward hybrid computing, planting one foot squarely in on-premises data centers and the other in the cloud. Today’s multicloud generation finds benefits in using multiple public cloud platforms for their respective perks, curbing vendor lock-in and costly contracts.

This generational evolution looks an awful lot like the early days of computer networking, according to Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-founder and co-chief executive officer SiliconANGLE Media Inc. and co-host of @theCUBE.

“Some of you may remember that years ago the industry was comprised of multiple dominant vendors that controlled their own proprietary network stacks,” Vellante said in a recent analysis presentation, citing IBM Corp.’s early SNA solution and DECnet’s suite of networking protocols from Digital Equipment Corp.

With the 1980s came Open Systems Integration models in an effort to create interoperability amongst these differing communication systems, pushing standardized protocols into every layer of the computing stack. In reality, this was a “pipe dream,” according to Vellante.

“It was way too complicated and assumed customers were going to rip and replace existing networks and then standardize on the OSI model. In reality, this was never going to happen. However, it opened the door for new companies, and you saw firms like Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp. emerge with TCP/IP and ethernet becoming standardized, enabling connections between these systems,” Vellante said.

Today’s multicloud scene faces similar challenges for siloed public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services Inc., Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform, and similar opportunities for newcomers looking to aid enterprises in making workloads more interoperable amongst the cloud giants.

While the trend for containers has elevated the portability of applications between clouds, some would argue portability isn’t enough. Recalling a recent conversation with one of Wired’s 10 most influential people in cloud computing and Navica’s CEO, Bernard Golden, Vellante highlights the importance of an integrated approach to security, permissions, monitoring, performance and reporting, to name a few. Aviatrix hopes to address a large portion of these integration needs.

For example, an enterprise will run Microsoft’s Office 365 application on Azure but manage its analytics data on AWS. To fork data from Azure to AWS is difficult at best. Where Aviatrix looks to deliver a solution, no matter the workload application, is to have that workload work seamlessly on multiple cloud platforms.

Aviatrix faces big opportunities and bigger challenges

The challenge for Aviatrix is in nailing the multicloud scene, given its physical and existential limitations. Even as networking giants such as Cisco pave their own paths to multicloud, the public cloud giants themselves will pursue solutions of their own. From AWS Outposts to VMware Cloud on Amazon, there’s no lack of effort to make multicloud an interoperable dreamland.

To this end, Aviatrix has raised over $76 million in funding, including its most recent Series C round of $40 million, dedicated to growing its sales team, channel partners, and product development. Leading the charge is networking veteran Steve Mullaney (pictured), who most recently served as the CEO of network virtualization company Nicira Inc., seeing it’s 2012 acquisition by VMware Inc. for $1.26 billion.

Now the CEO at Aviatrix, Mullaney sees an opportunity that’s magnitudes larger than even Cisco, he declared in a recent interview with SDX Central.

“What Nicira did, and what we’re doing here, is building over-the-top networking and security services, but not over the top of the internet or AT&T’s network,” Mullaney said. “We’re building over the top of the new internet for the enterprise, which is the hyperscalers. We’re building over the top of AWS, Azure, Google, IBM, Oracle, you name it.”

In an interview with theCUBE last December, Mullaney reiterated how big multicloud is going to get. Even with more data centers being built, the new center of gravity will be leaning toward cloud, he explained, adding that enterprises will still rely on on-prem infrastructure but the emphasis will be on the internet of things and edge computing.

“… This is a thousand-foot wave, and it’s 10 times bigger than what I saw in client-server,” Mullaney said. “It’s the biggest opportunity of value creation and innovation that I have ever seen and ever will see in my life. I think this year … got serious, like really serious, in terms of big enterprises coming in.”

Recent strategic partnerships include Informatica LLC and Verint Systems Inc., both companies leveraging Aviatrix technology to ease their respective customers’ migration to multicloud environments.

Extending what it calls its Multi-Cloud Backbone Portfolio, Aviatrix most recently unveiled integration points to deploy Palo Alto Networks Inc. VM-Series next-gen firewalls, launching an all-new Firewall Network Service that also integrates with the AWS Transit Gateway.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of Altitude 2020, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

Livestream of Altitude 2020

Aviatrix’s Altitude 2020 is a livestream event in partnership with theCUBE. You can register here to access the live coverage. You can also watch it on theCUBE’s dedicated page and YouTube channel.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Altitude 2020 Topics and Guest Panelists Include:

• Infrastructure trends, challenges and recommendations for multicloud networking, featuring:
  • Gartner: Simon Richard, Cloud Networking Analyst

• Real-world best practices and the importance of a multicloud network architecture, featuring:
  • FactSet: David Shinnick, VP, Principal Systems Architect
  • Informatica: Toby Foss, Director Cloud Network Operations
  • AEGON Transamerica: Bobby Willoughby, Cloud Network Engineering
  • Teradata: Stacy Lanier, Senior Manager, Cloud Services
  • Coupa: Amit Utreja, Senior Principal Engineer

• System Integrators that have architected network and operations for their multicloud enterprise customers, featuring:
  • DXC Technology: George Buckman, Network Architect Lead
  • Word Wide Technology: Derrick Monahan, Director of Cloud Network Services

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner and co-producer for Altitude 2020. Neither Aviatrix Systems Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE Media