Starting point for SDN implementation

It seems extremely costly and risky upgrading or swapping any major networking domain: core, optical transport, metro, data center network:

  • Adding an innovative solution from new vendor? How will you integrate it in the existing environment? 
  • Management tools and processes you need to change?..
  • Reskill or replace experts with years invested in the preferred vendor's certifications? 

Where can you get time and money for these?