Gluware is a company that provides the leading intelligent network automation suite for Global 2000 enterprises, trusted across industries from finance to pharma. And Gluware automates the networks of the world’s largest and most complex enterprises, keeping them secure and in compliance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Gluware CEO and co-founder Jeff Gray to learn more about the company.
Jeff Gray’s Background
Gray’s networking career started at California Polytechnic State University, where he developed pioneering innovative high-bandwidth solutions. And Gray said:
“My career path has undergone significant evolution, starting as a networking product manager in the semiconductor industry, spearheading technical networking solutions for smart grid initiatives. I also served as the Vice President of Business Development for Yelofin Networks, a virtual network operator, and the Director of Business Development for Firefly Communications, a Cisco learning partner. Additionally, I worked as a management consultant for Deutsche Bank.”
“Later, I pivoted into managed network services, joining forces with Olivier Huynh Van, now Gluware’s Chief Science Officer and co-founder. Driven by our shared mission to automate intricate network architectures, we launched Glue Networks, which later evolved into Gluware. At Gluware, we work with some of the largest Global 2000 enterprises, from pharmaceutical companies to financial institutions, to help them automate network infrastructure and streamline operations. I’m proud of the work that we do at Gluware, and I’m excited to continue pushing the boundaries in the world of network automation.”
Primary Responsibilities
What are Gray’s primary responsibilities at Gluware? Gray added:
“I’ve immersed myself in the industry for several decades and have played several key roles in commercializing innovative networking solutions. As CEO and Co-founder, I drive our business operations, strategy, and the evolution of intent-based network automation technologies. Gluware stands unrivaled as the sole prebuilt multi-vendor network automation and orchestration software platform, ensuring swift value without requiring time-intensive, costly, and complex scripting. Through our solutions, Gluware champions business efficiency, agility, and resilience.”
Core Products
What are Gluware’s core products and features? Gray explained:
“Gluware’s prebuilt app suite automates network management, including network discovery, config drift detection, OS upgrades, network audits, configuration management, network visualization, reporting, and more.”
“Gluware’s Network RPA platform delivers easy-to-use workflow automation and orchestration, enabling customers to automate their network management tasks from end-to-end – without developer skills – using drag-and-drop navigation. Network RPA features a library of pre-built automated tasks, northbound (to other platforms) and southbound (to the network infrastructure), with vendor integrations (over 200 available) and the ability to create workflow bots for closed-loop auto-remediation and many other use-cases.”
“Gluware Lab is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that provides custom development capabilities for advanced data modeling, business logic and API integrations using a low-code interface.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Gray faced in building the company and has the current macroeconomic climate had any effect on the company? Gray acknowledged:
“In today’s macroeconomic landscape, network automation stands as a crucial element in every organization’s digital transformation. The complexity of today’s multi-vendor, multi-domain, and multi-cloud networks is stifling enterprise innovation and thwarting attempts to adapt to a changing economy. The automated network unlocks the door to tangible and sustained digital transformation that enables organizations to accomplish more at a faster pace and with fewer resources. We offer the only prebuilt capabilities on the market so that enterprises can adapt to the changing economy. Further, the turnkey solution enables enterprises to address network challenges in days and weeks rather than the months and years (and costs) associated with legacy approaches.”
“One of the primary challenges we face at Gluware is helping enterprise customers change their processes and behaviors so they can realize the untapped potential of the network. Network hyper-automation can revolutionize the way businesses operate, yet many are not fully aware of its transformational power. This, I believe, is a hurdle we must overcome as we usher in a new era of efficiency and agility for our clients.”
Evolution Of Gluware’s Technology
How has Gluware’s technology evolved since launching? Gray noted:
“Gluware’s technology has undergone substantial evolution since its inception, prioritizing the enhancement of the platform’s capabilities and intelligent network automation functionalities. The platform’s advancements aim to empower users, both technical and non-technical, by streamlining and optimizing network automation tasks. These strategic updates cater to evolving customer needs and reinforce the unique value Gluware offers to enterprises.”
“The recent launch of Gluware 5.2 marks a major leap, introducing nearly 40 groundbreaking features and an array of updates to our intelligent network automation solution. With enhanced audit features, powerful workflow capabilities, and expanded vendor integrations, the update furthers the company’s mission to dramatically simplify the automation of complex multi-vendor, multi-domain network environments. With Gluware 5.2, customers can rapidly scale network automation through no-code, drag-and-drop workflow building along with copy-and-paste API integrations that enable the automation of over 80% of common network management tasks.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Gluware’s most significant milestones? Gray cited:
“Widespread Enterprise Adoption: Gluware has been very successful in gaining adoption among many of the top enterprises in the Global 2000. Its platform has been embraced by prominent organizations across a variety of industries, showcasing its reliability, effectiveness, and scalability when addressing complex network automation needs.”
“Assembling the best leadership team: As CEO and Co-founder, I’m committed to building the best leadership team in the industry. Our team has over 200 years of combined enterprise network experience, enabling Gluware to become the leading intelligent network automation solution. Gluware works hand in hand with enterprises across industries, continually updating and improving its capabilities to meet the needs of new and existing customers that want to unlock digital transformation at scale.”
Developing a partner-first channel approach: In 2023, the launch of the Accelerate Partner Program marked a pivotal moment, meeting the surging demand for network automation and maximizing revenue opportunities for our partners. This initiative solidifies our partner-first strategy, emphasizing our dedication to fostering business resilience, innovation, and robust collaborations within our partner network.”
Earning third-party validation: Over the past year, Gluware continued to garner industry recognition in several prominent industry award programs and tier-1 publications. In May, Gluware was recognized as a finalist for the Leading Digital Transformation Vendor category in the 2023 Digital Transformation Awards. In the same month, Gluware earned the Gold Stevie Award in the 21st Annual American Business Awards for the No Code/Low Code Platform and Software-Defined Infrastructure categories, along with the Bronze Stevie Award in the Most Innovative Company of the Year category. Gluware continued its May winning streak by taking home the Gold Globee Award for the Hyperautomation category.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Gray about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“After 2.5 years of DIY efforts, a large multinational consulting company switched to Gluware for its network automation initiative. The company experienced immediate impact, which would have taken years to achieve within its prior in-house pipeline. Ultimately, Gluware’s pre-built capabilities drastically increased the speed and efficiency of network operations, liberating engineers to concentrate on advancing operational efficiencies, business services, and customer satisfaction.”
“Through their collaboration with Gluware, a global pharmaceutical company successfully executed software upgrades on 400 switches at a manufacturing facility within a single change window. This process would have taken weeks or even months using a manual approach.”
“Within a year of implementation, a global healthcare company automated millions of lines of configuration using Gluware. This enabled the company to circumvent the $220 cost per change in the network organization, accumulating savings totaling millions of dollars for the company.”
Funding
After asking Gray about the company’s funding information, he revealed:
“Gluware’s latest round of $43 million in funding, announced on October 27, 2021, has propelled the company’s growth and nurtured significant advances in our intelligent network automation technology over the past two years. This funding also facilitated Gluware’s launch of its Accelerate Partner Program, which is designed to meet the increasing demand for network automation while expanding revenue opportunities for partners.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is Gluware pursuing? Gray assessed:
“The total addressable market for IT network OPEX spent on troubleshooting enterprise network outages is $45 billion, according to McKinsey, Gartner, and Cisco. According to this market analysis The Network Automation Market size is estimated at $25.16 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach $60.59 billion by 2029. The problem is widespread throughout the industry, and Gluware’s traction proves that it is possible to monetize this market in the near term.”
“Without a platform like Gluware, companies must spend years writing and maintaining scripts and are responding to daily network problems with human labor. With Gluware, companies can achieve their required results in minutes and at a fraction of the cost.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Gluware from its competition? Gray affirmed:
“Gluware is the only turn-key multi-vendor network automation and orchestration software platform that delivers rapid time to value and does not require enterprises to write their own scripts. All other alternatives require DIY scripting. Gluware delivers out-of-the-box network security, compliance, patching and remediation with an ROI of less than 12 months.”
“Gluware allows customers to leverage a drag and drop UI to create network bots that replicate human activity in a safe and predictable manner while remediating advanced networking use cases 50x faster than manual. Our customers are reducing network outages by 95%, are 100% network security policy compliant, are performing OS upgrades 300x faster than manual, and are realizing self-operating network capabilities that enable enterprises to transform their IT networks in as little as three months.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Gluware’s future company goals? Gray concluded:
“Gluware remains dedicated to advancing its Intelligent Network Automation Suite to meet evolving customer needs and build a faster path to hyperautomation and self-operating networks. Gluware’s innovation in AI will deliver unprecedented value and operational simplicity to our customers. Moreover, as the enterprise demand for network automation rises, Gluware is strategically focused on broadening its market reach. Overall, our unwavering commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and putting the technology in more hands defines our company goals.”
