Thursday, May 29, 2014

NTT Com Launches NFV-powered Network Services

NTT Communications introduced a suite of NFV-enabled services that can be instantly activated online and are powered by Virtela's global SDN platform.  Virtela Technology Services was acquired by NTT Com in January 2014.

The new services are offered via a pay-per-use model under NTT Com’s Arcstar Universal One portfolio, which are delivered to enterprise customers in more than 190 countries/regions worldwide. The new services will become officially available for sales starting from July 2014.

NTT Com said the new cloud-based network services make branch office networking more asset-light, agile, scalable and economical.  The launch includes the following four new cloud-based network services:
  • Cloud-Based Application Acceleration: Optimizes application performance over the IP-VPN network, enabling global IT consolidation and faster access to cloud-hosted applications
  • Cloud-Based Firewall: This service offers Firewall, IPS, and URL Filtering options, and enables secure Internet access at branch offices using the nearest of 50 Local Cloud Networking Centers distributed globally
  • Cloud-Based IPSEC VPN Gateway: Establishes quick enterprise network connections from public cloud or any site with Internet access
  • Cloud-Based SSL VPN: Enables remote workers or partners using any device to access the enterprise network.
"While many industry experts and service providers have long been speaking about the potential of NFV, we are excited to become the first service providers to commercialize NFV-enabled services on a global scale," says Takashi Ooi, NTT Com’s Vice President of Enterprise Network Service.

"NFV is a technology to virtualize network functions that traditionally run on physical appliances. Leveraging NFV technology in our Local Cloud Networking Centers worldwide, we can now deliver varieties of network functions - such as firewall and application acceleration for branch offices - from our network cloud. This eliminates the ‘one device, per service, per location’ model, resulting in significant cost savings for our customers."

"Virtela and NTT Com’s SDN and NFV innovations give enterprises unprecedented choice and control in transforming their global enterprise networks," said Virtela President Ron Haigh. "We are accelerating the delivery of new innovative services, setting the highest bar in the industry with a flexible subscription model that enables CIOs to simplify network architecture and allow them to focus on their core business."

All Nippon Airways was cited as an early customer.  "The ANA Group is deploying NTT Communications services, such as Arcstar Universal One IP-VPN service and a newly introduced cloud-based unified communication solution. The unified communication solution, which is supported by a highly reliable network, is further helping us to improve operational efficiency and save four million USD annually. By making use of cutting-edge technologies and services, such as NFV, we expect to continue benefitting from reliable, flexible and cost-effective ICT infrastructure from NTT Communications," stated Takanori Yukishige, Senior Vice President and Chairman of the Business Process Innovation Committee.

http://www.virtela.net/
http://www.ntt.com/aboutus_e/news/data/20140529.html


In January 2014, NTT Communications completed its previously announced acquisition of Virtela Technology Services Incorporated (Virtela), a leading global managed and cloud-based network services company. The deal was valued at $525 million when it was first announced.

"Leveraging advanced virtualization technologies, such as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), features such as firewall, WAN acceleration and SSL remote access will be delivered from network cloud. Furthermore, these features are automated for on-demand activation and configuration, helping enterprises save capital and operating expenses. These features are planned to be available to NTT Com customers starting Q2 2014," said Akira Arima, CEO of NTT Com. Virtela Technology Services (Virtela), which is based in Denver, is a leading global managed and cloud network services provider serving over 500 multinational companies. Virtela integrates 1,000+ local and regional network providers, enabling the customer to build a virtual overlay network from multi-carrier MPLS, Ethernet, DSL, 3G/4G/LTE and other IP links, while benefitting from a single SLA and management portal. Virtela operates global operations and delivery centers in the U.S., India and the Philippines.  It has over 400 employees.

In May, NTT, Alcatel-Lucent Japan Ltd. and Fujitsu demonstrated Virtual Network Platform as a Service (VNPaaS) to ETSI's NFV ISG.   The Virtual Network Platform as a Service (VNPaaS) is one of the use cases defined by ETSI NFV ISG.  The platform framework can be used for developing, deploying and administering applications on the virtualised network.  Alcatel-Lucent supplied its CloudBand NFV solution for this project. Fujitsu is supplying middleware that is capable of offering stateful VNF.

Dimension Data to Offer Cloud-based Enterprise Mobility-as-a-Service

Dimension Data, which is the $6 billion global ICT solutions and services division of NTT, announced plans to launch cloud-based Enterprise Mobility-as-a-Service (EMaaS) that will provide enterprise clients with an extensive policy framework and secure access to corporate information from any device, ensuring appropriate authentication and corporate governance adherence.

Dimension Data's EMaaS offering will deliver comprehensive policy-based, device-independent, mobile device management, mobile expense management, and integration to the enterprise underpinned by true cloud principles of automation and consumption-based commercials. The service, which utilizes a cloud-based consumption model, enables organizations to rapidly scale deployments while easily managing the complex environment of mobile devices, data access and expense management. Due to the complex nature of mobility deployments, the EMaaS offering is complemented by Dimension Data's Systems Integration and Professional Services competencies and addresses the full spectrum of an organization's enterprise mobility needs.

The company said EMaaS establishes the platform for the Group's future initiatives that will see Dimension Data announce increased functionality and feature sets that assist enterprise clients to deal with their rapidly changing end user computing requirements.  

"The launch of EMaaS is an important step for Dimension Data as it marks the establishment of the platform that we will use to rapidly evolve to deliver enterprises with a suite of services that addresses their emerging user-centric end-user computing requirements. EMaaS was designed to address an immediate requirement of enterprise clients around mobile devices, smart devices and how to ensure these new devices can be incorporated into their business in a rapid, yet controlled and secure way. EMaaS is an integral component of the Group's combined strategy to support a truly user-centric computing model through our Cloud, Enterprise Mobility and End-user Computing groups," stated Ettienne Reinecke, Dimension Data's Group CTO and Group Executive, End-user Computing.

http://www.dimensiondata.com/cloud

Cisco recently named  Dimension Data as one of its key partners to extend its vision of the Intercloud.  The partners will align their public cloud infrastructure to the Cisco Cloud architecture and deliver Cisco Cloud services to customers and resellers.Cisco's open Intercloud allows local hosting and local provider options that enable data sovereignty. The hybrid cloud capabilities that differentiate the Cisco Cloud are built upon the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and Cisco Intercloud Fabric technologies.

Microsoft and salesforce.com Enter Partnership

Microsoft and salesforce.com announced a strategic partnership to create new solutions that connect salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) apps and platform to Microsoft Office and Windows.

The companies plan to deliver the following solutions:


  • Salesforce for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. Will enable customers to access Salesforce and run their business from their Windows devices. A preview is planned to be available in fall 2014 with general availability in 2015.
  • Salesforce for Office 365. New interoperability between Salesforce and Office 365 will give customers access to the content they need to collaborate, sell, service and market from virtually anywhere. Plans include the ability to:
  • Access, share, edit and collaborate on Office content from within Salesforce and on Salesforce1 using Office Mobile, Office for iPad and Office 365.
  • Use OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online as integrated storage options for Salesforce.
  • Use Salesforce and Outlook together with a new Salesforce App for Outlook.
  • Connect Salesforce data to Excel and Power BI for Office 365 to visualize information and find new insights.

"We are excited to partner with salesforce.com and help customers thrive in a mobile and cloud-first world," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "Working together we'll deliver new solutions that connect the customer insights of Salesforce to the cloud productivity of Office 365, the cloud platform of Azure and the mobility of Windows, so our customers can do more."

http://www.microsoft.com
http://www.salesforce.com


FairPoint Delivers 1 Gbps Ethernet in New England

FairPoint Communications, which operates a fiber network spanning more than 16,000 route miles in northern New England, announced the availability of Ethernet-based bandwidth and transport capacity of up to 1 Gbps for its business, government and education customers.  The symmetrical Ethernet service will reach more than 35,000 eligible customer locations in 32 markets across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

"Being able to connect quickly and confidently between health care providers across the region is mission-critical to enable NETC facilities to provide top quality care through enhanced telemedicine and information sharing," said Jim Rogers, president of ProInfoNet and the founder of New England Telehealth Consortium (NETC). "We offer each location speeds up to 1 Gigabit, fostering the connections needed to meet the industry requirements for fast, reliable bandwidth."

http://www.FairPoint.com

Nimble Storage Sees Revenues Rise 110% YoY

Nimble Storage reported revenue of $46.5 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to $22.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, representing growth of 110% year-over-year. Non-GAAP Gross Margin of 66.2% for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to 61.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net loss for the fiscal first quarter was $19.6 million, or $0.28 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $9.4 million, or $0.47 per basic and diluted share in the fiscal first quarter of 2014.

"Our performance during the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 continues to validate our belief that a major transition is underway within the storage industry driven by flash as a disruptive ingredient.  Our execution during the quarter underscores our belief that we have built the leading next generation flash storage platform," said Suresh Vasudevan, chief executive officer, Nimble Storage.

The company recently announced that more than 200 enterprise customers have implemented its SmartStack converged infrastructure solutions to accelerate deployment and eliminate risks associated with their datacenter infrastructure. Since late 2012, Nimble Storage has rolled out a series of SmartStack solutions, built on Cisco UCS and pre-validated through ecosystem partners including Citrix, Microsoft, Oracle, and VMware.

http://www.nimblestorage.com

Broadcom Samples Secure Processor for Internet of Things

Broadcom has begun sampling a new secure processor designed for a wide range of endpoint applications including payment terminals and devices aggregating data from Internet of Things (IoT) applications.  
The new addition to the StrataGX family, the BCM58300, incorporates the most advanced hardware security, a high performance ARM Cortex A9 processor running up to 1.25GHz and versatile communications and user interfaces.  The ARM Cortex A9 processor also includes L1 and L2 caches, ARM NEON Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture extensions and floating-point unit to support enhanced graphics, audio, video, and other capabilities. In addition, the device is integrated with enhanced BroadSAFE Security, which provides strong hardware-based protection for critical user and payment data without impacting system performance. BroadSAFE capabilities include hardware cryptographic acceleration, Secure boot, Security Protection Logic such as Tampers, Monitors, Sensors, and battery-backed logic. In addition the BCM58300 family integrates ARM TrustZONE secure processing architecture.
http://www.broadcom.com