Not wanting to ride off into the holiday season quietly, Extreme Networks recently announced the launch of Extreme Platform ONE, its comprehensive management platform integrating networking, security, and AI to streamline enterprise infrastructure operations.
The platform’s release date is still months away (Q3 2025), so a detailed review and Research Note will have to wait. For now, we know that the toolset will include AI-powered automation with conversational, interactive, and autonomous agents, which Extreme promises will significantly reduce the time required for complex tasks.
The release of Extreme Platform ONE is a level-setting move for the company in a very competitive network management market.
Juniper’s Mist AI and Aruba Central each brought their flavor of AI-driven insights and automation to wireless networks in 2018 (and we’ve yet to see how HPE will rationalize the capabilities of Mist AI and Aruba Central when its acquisition closes early next year).
Cisco’s ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure), introduced in 2013, has had AI capabilities since the 2020 release of its Nexus Dashboard, and Arista’s CloudVision has had AI capabilities since September of 2024.
The Extreme Platform ONE design unifies cross-team workflows through a single, composable workspace. The approach is similar to the one HPE took for its Aruba Central integrated network management and security functions. Extreme hopes that the platform’s automation capabilities, powered by its AI core, will live up to the potential of AI in enterprise network management
Network management isn’t the only thing Extreme is looking to simplify. Addressing a common pain point with many IT purchasing agents, the Extreme announcement references a flexible licensing model that includes comprehensive network and inventory management, AI, and technical support services. Extreme’s approach is reminiscent of VMware’s NSX, which was one of the first to offer simplified and flexible pricing models when it was introduced in 2013.
Unsurprisingly, Extreme Networks, with this announcement, stays competitive with its holistic hardware/ software offerings. With AI integration, flexible pricing, and a robust hardware lineup, Extreme Networks remains a strong contender for enterprises seeking next-generation network infrastructure. For Extreme’s sake, let’s hope the Q3 2025 release date isn’t too far out to capitalize on budget cycles restarting in the coming weeks – look for a more detailed analysis when that happens.
