Somewhere in every networking team, someone has already said: “We should really look at SONiC.”

…and someone else has replied: “We’re not a hyperscaler. This is not for us.”

If that sounds familiar, this post is for you. I’ll walk through five common myths about SONiC and open-source networking — and how to approach them without betting the business.

Myth 1: “Open-source NOS is only for hyperscalers.”

The belief

SONiC is a Microsoft thing. Hyperscalers can afford to experiment; enterprises can’t.

Reality

SONiC has quietly become the Linux of Networking:

• It runs at a massive scale in production.
• Major vendors ship SONiC- or SONiC-based offerings because customers demand openness.
• Enterprises use it to standardize, regain control, and cut TCO, not as a science project.

What I see getting missed is where enterprises actually start. It’s rarely “rip out the core” on day one. Many organizations begin with:

• Management networks
• Packet broker and visibility domains
• Lab fabrics or pre-production test environments

That’s how teams build confidence: they learn SONiC and open networking while keeping mission-critical paths untouched.

Myth 2: “Open networking needs an army of engineers.”

The belief

To run SONiC and open networking, you need a hyperscaler-sized dev + NetOps team.

Reality

The modern SONiC ecosystem exists specifically to productize what hyperscalers learned, without forcing you to copy their org chart.

With the right stack:

• SONiC looks and feels like the NOS you already know.
• Automation and testing are pre-packaged, not handcrafted per deployment.
• You consume recipes, not reinvent them.

This matters even more for 3–5 person networking teams. They don’t want to become a SONiC development shop; they want a “Cisco/Arista-like” experience with better economics and choice.

Myth 3: “Community open source is too risky for production.”

The belief

Open-source = “free code from GitHub” + mailing lists + no SLAs. Great for labs, scary for revenue.

Reality

There’s a big difference between raw community bits and enterprise packaging:

• SONiC has more contributors than most proprietary NOSes.
• Linux-based kernels can meet demanding compliance (FIPS, etc.).
• The risk isn’t the community; it’s running community code without a proper owner.

Enterprises and regulated industries (regional banks, government, etc.) already run SONiC, but only after they have a clear story for:

• Who escalates bugs
• Who certifies releases
• Who owns integration with hardware vendors and their RMA processes

Myth 4: “We’re a Cisco / Arista shop — we can’t compromise on quality.”

The belief

Moving to SONiC and open networking means stepping down in quality and support.

Reality

• Cisco and Arista both support SONiC in defined contexts; open NOS is not fringe anymore.
• SONiC is already running at scales (e.g., 100k+ switches) that prove maturity.
• You don’t have to flip the core on day one — you can start in low-risk domains and scale out.

Quality isn’t only about the software image—it’s also about:

• Upgrade gates and regression testing
• End-to-end support (no vendor finger-pointing)
• Operational tooling that feels familiar to your teams

Myth 5: “We’re not in a refresh cycle, so we can’t start with SONiC now.”

The belief

“Interesting, but we’ll look at this when we refresh the network in a few years.”

Reality

If you wait until the refresh date to start learning SONiC, you’re guaranteeing a stressful project.

You can de-risk now by:

• Starting in management networks, packet broker domains, or labs.
• Letting someone else do the heavy lifting and test your configs against SONiC.
• Using AI and observability layers on top of your existing Cisco/Arista environment today.

This matters even if you’re in a change freeze or under multi-year support contracts:

• You can still run POCs in Aviz Sonic One Center (their lab), using your configs and success criteria.
• You can start with Network Copilot™ on top of your existing Cisco/Arista/F5 tools, getting AI benefits without touching production configs.

Bottom line

SONiC and open source aren’t a risky side quest anymore. With the right packaging, they’re a practical way to:

• escape lock-in,
• cut TCO (often 40–60% overall),
• and get AI-ready networks,

without sacrificing quality or blowing up your team’s capacity.