A network node for managing the control plane functions for a plurality of nodes within a software defined networking (SDN) domain, comprising a processor configured to collect a plurality of network information from the nodes, forward the network information based on a plurality of domain-specific policies, receive traffic optimization information based on the network information, and compute forwarding decisions for the nodes based on the traffic optimization information. In another embodiment, an Application Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) node, comprising a processor configured to import a first set of network information from one or more SDN nodes, aggregate the network information received from the SDN nodes, calculate a plurality of traffic optimization decisions based on the aggregated network information, and forward the traffic optimization decisions to the SDN nodes.