Most chipmakers in networking are being asked to provide increasing amounts of software. That's particularly true for functions that are ordinary in themselves, but complicated to program.
"The chipsets and the technology are becoming more complex, and what I see is that the ODMs [original design manufacturers] are really running out of gas," Dai says. "We really need to make sure the software piece is addressed properly."
Radlan will complete all of its current projects, but after that, it will become a captive operation inside Marvell.
Which brings up an interesting situation. Radlan's recent projects include one it did for one of Marvell's top rivals: the StrataSwitch chip from Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM). StrataSwitch competes with Marvell's Prestera chips in the Ethernet switching realm (see Marvell Readies GigE Attack). Luckily for Broadcom, it doesn't appear that Radlan's absence from the market will cause any harm.
Marvell officials claim that Radlan has no competitors, but in reality, a multitude of embedded-software experts could provide similar work. Maybe none of them have Radlan's exact products, but for any given project, chipmakers such as Broadcom shouldn't have trouble finding new partners.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
