VMware to acquire VeloCloud for SD-WAN

VMware agreed to acquire VeloCloud Networks, a start-up offering SD-WAN technology for enterprises and service providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

VeloCloud, which is based in Mountain View, California, says its SD-WAN solution is distinguished by supporting data plane services in the cloud, in addition to on-premise deployments; enabling policy-based access to cloud and data center applications. VeloCloud SD-WAN includes: a choice of public, private or hybrid cloud network for enterprise-grade connection to cloud and enterprise applications; branch office enterprise appliances and optional data center appliances; software-defined control and automation; and virtual services delivery. The solution aggregates multiple access lines (cable modem, DSL, LTE) into a single secure connection that is defined and controlled in the cloud.

VeloCloud was founded in 2013. The company is headed by Sanjay Uppal, who previously ran OnMobile Global.  He also spent time at Citrix through the acquisition he negotiated with Caymas where he was President and CEO. At Citrix, he defined the product strategy and go to market for the Access Management, Delivery Controller and WAN acceleration product lines.  VeloCloud co-founders also include Ajit Mayya (previously Sr. Director of Engineering in the Cloud and Infrastructure Management division of VMware) and Steve Woo (previously head of cloud strategy at Aerohive Networks).

VMware said the VeloCloud acquisition will enable it to build on the success of its NSX network virtualization platform to address end-to-end automation, application continuity, branch transformation and security from data center to cloud to edge.

"In the digital era, a new networking approach is required to solve the hyper distribution of applications and data, as we move from a model of data centers to one of centers of data at the edge," said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware. "At the heart of VMware's networking strategy is the belief in delivering pervasive connectivity with embedded security that connects users to applications wherever they may be. With the addition of VeloCloud's industry-leading SD-WAN technology, we will be able to extend the VMware NSX approach of automated, secure, and infrastructure-independent networking to the WAN."

"Enterprises are transforming how they architect and utilize their infrastructure, with a shift towards a cloud-delivered, software-defined model. This enables organizations to have a globally consistent infrastructure regardless of where it is deployed -- from the data center and the cloud to the edge," said Sanjay Uppal, CEO of VeloCloud Networks. "We look forward to helping VMware, the leader in software-defined infrastructure, in the next evolution of the company's networking and NFV strategies."

• In March, VeloCloud closed a $35 million Series D round of funding for its SD-WAN solutions. The funding was led by Hermes Growth Partners and included new investors Telstra Ventures and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Government of Malaysia (“Khazanah”), in addition to existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Venrock, March Capital Partners, Cisco Investments, and other undisclosed strategic investors. This brings total funding to $84 million.

• In March 2017, VeloCloud reported that its number of SD-WAN sites has grown to more than 50,000 and total customer wins exceed 600, including the two largest SD-WAN wins in the world. The company has secured deals from AT&T, Sprint, Mitel, TelePacific, and Windstream for its “VeloCloud Cloud-Delivered SD-WAN for Service Providers” solution for both Network Integrated and Over The Top implementations.

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AT&T says FirstNet now elected in half of all states

AT&T cited significant traction for the FirstNet public safety network: the governors of 29 American states and territories have made the decision to opt in to the FirstNet network. An opt-in decision allows first responder agencies to sign-up for FirstNet, giving them priority access to voice and data across the existing nationwide AT&T LTE network.

“Just within the past couple of months, this country has experienced a number of tragedies. And no matter the life-threatening event, our first responders were there for us. It’s our responsibility to make sure the communications capabilities they need are there, too,” said Mike Poth, CEO of FirstNet. “We applaud these 29 governors for giving their first responders access to the cutting-edge tools they need to support their heroic efforts.”

“The needs of public safety demand more than what commercial offerings provide today. FirstNet will be a force for good, forever changing the way first responders think about and use communications,” said Chris Sambar, senior vice president, AT&T – FirstNet. “We’re honored to have more than half the country put their trust in us to deliver this game-changing platform for public safety. That trust is not misplaced. Our commitment to this community as well as what we intend to deliver is clear and unwavering.”

• In April, AT&T was awarded a 25-year contract by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to build and manage the first broadband network dedicated to America's police, firefighters and emergency medical services (EMS) that will cover all 50 states, 5 U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, including rural communities and tribal lands.
  
  The communications infrastructure to be provided by AT&T will support the millions of first responders and public safety personnel nationwide. The public-private infrastructure investment is expected to create around 10,000 U.S. jobs over the next two years, with the roll-out scheduled to begin later in 2017.
  
  For the project AT&T will create a national IP-based, high-speed mobile communications network for first responders designed to improve rescue and recovery operations, more effectively connect first responders to the information they need, support public safety initiatives based on IoT and smart city solutions and enable the use of new capabilities such as wearable sensors and cameras.

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Arista's Q3 revenue rockets 51% to $437.6 million

Arista Networks reported Q3 revenue of $437.6 million, an increase of 8.0% compared to the second quarter of 2017, and an increase of 50.8% from the third quarter of 2016. GAAP gross margin was 64.1%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 64.1% in the second quarter of 2017 and 64.2% in the third quarter of 2016.GAAP net income was $133.7 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $51.3 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2016.

"I am proud of our record results and profits in Q3 2017,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista President and CEO. “Our performance validates our meaningful traction with customers as they evolve from legacy to universal cloud networking designs.”

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Aquantia prices shares at $9 in IPO

Aquantia, which offers 10GBASE-T PHY and other Ethernet solutions, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,818,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $9.00 per share.

The shares are expected to begin trading on NYSE on Nov. 3, 2017 under the symbol “AQ.”

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Sierra Wireless' revenue rises 13% yoy as IoT gains traction

Sierra Wireless reported Q3 revenue of $173.2 million, an increase of 12.8% compared to $153.6 million in the third quarter of 2016. Gross margin was $57.8 million, or 33.3% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2017, compared to $49.4 million, or 32.1% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2016. Operating expenses were $57.5 million and earnings from operations were $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2017, compared to operating expenses of $49.4 million and a loss from operations of $0.1 million in the third quarter of 2016. Net earnings were $1.2 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.06 diluted per share, in the third quarter of 2016.

• Revenue from OEM Solutions was $138.5 million in the third quarter of 2017, up 8.4% compared to $127.8 million in the third quarter of 2016. 
• Revenue from Enterprise Solutions was $26.3 million in the third quarter of 2017, up 38.8% compared to $18.9 million in the third quarter of 2016. 
• Revenue from Cloud and Connectivity Services was $8.4 million in the third quarter of 2017, up 23.0% compared to $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2016.

In August 2017, Sierra Wireless agreed to acquire Numerex in a stock-for-stock merger transaction to expand its position as a leading global IoT pure-play.

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Ayla Networks raises $60M for its IoT platform

Ayla Networks, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, raised $60 million in Series D financing for its Internet of Things (IoT) platform-as-a-service (PaaS).

The Ayla Cloud is a completely managed service that provides a full suite of operational, business intelligence, and analytics services to manage a connected deployment throughout its lifecycle. Ayla-enabled connectivity modules can be built with a variety of micro-controller, operating system, or networking protocol. Ayla also offers mobile application libraries that contain APIs for iOS and Android applications that can securely control and manage Ayla-enabled products.

The new funding was led by Run Liang Tai Fund (RLT) and Sunsea Telecommunications Co. Ltd.

“Ayla has amassed more than 100 large enterprise customers by solving their challenges regarding how to securely connect, manage and apply intelligence to all of their connected devices and sensors,” said David Friedman, Ayla CEO and co-founder. “The Ayla platform blends critical capabilities related to security, privacy, data policy and management with a massively configurable capability for our customers to ingest data from any sensor and IoT cloud. The platform makes it easier for enterprises to apply intelligence and analytics to broad sets of heterogeneous data sets to transform the data into real business value.”

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Interxion posts 18% year over year revenue growth in Q3

Interxion reported Q3 revenue of €124.6 million, up 18% over the same period last year. Recurring revenue increased by 17% to €117.4 million. Net income decreased by 4% to €10.1 million and adjusted net income2 increased by 24% to €10.7 million.

Operational highlights
Equipped space4 increased by 1,900 square metres in the quarter to 118,900 square metres.
Revenue generating space4 increased by 2,100 square metres in the quarter to 97,100 square metres.
Utilisation rate at the end of the quarter was 82%.
During the third quarter, Interxion completed the following major expansions: 1,100 sqm expansion in Frankfurt, 300 sqm expansion in Stockholm, and 400 sqm expansion in Zurich.
Revenue generating space at the end of the third quarter of 2017 was 97,100 square metres, compared with 84,100 square metres at the end of the third quarter of 2016 and 95,000 square metres at the end of the second quarter of 2017.

“Interxion delivered strong financial and operational results in the third quarter, with 18% revenue growth year-over-year, driven by 21% revenue growth in our Big 4 markets and 14% growth in the Rest of Europe,” said David Ruberg, Interxion’s Chief Executive Officer. “Strong and well diversified bookings in the quarter confirmed the value of our communities of interest and reflect the growing demand that we are experiencing across our European footprint and in our target segments. Consequently, we are increasing our full year revenue guidance and narrowing Adjusted EBITDA guidance to the top end of our previously announced range.”

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ADTRAN builds its Mosaic Open Network Alliance

ADTRAN announced the initial members of its Mosaic Open Network Alliance, which was established to foster vendor collaboration, widespread development and industry adoption of SDN and NFV solutions based on open standards.

• Aricent - Aricent Aricent is a global design and engineering company innovating for customers in the digital era and helping clients lead into the future by solving their most complex and mission-critical issues through customized solutions
• ASSIA - ASSIA is the market share leader in management and optimization software solutions for global broadband and residential WiFi networks
• Axiros – Axiros is the manufacturer of embedded and platform software technology used in the advanced provisioning, management and control of remote customer (and enterprise) premise devices for a wide range of applications including cable broadband, telecommunications, home automation, Smart City and other IoT applications
• Cambium Networks - Cambium Networks is a leading global provider of trusted wireless solutions that connect the unconnected. 
• CCS - CCS (Cambridge Communications Systems) is the creator of Metnet – the world’s only self-organizing 5G microwave backhaul for small cell, 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), CCTV and fiber extension applications. 
• iPhotonix - iPhotonix is the leading emerging technology provider for the virtualization (SDN/NFV) of the optical access and transformation occurring throughout the globe in the residential, business, enterprise and mobile backhaul markets
• SmartRG - SmartRG offers the best whole-home WiFi service delivery platform in its class. Its innovative technology and elegant designs help broadband operators migrate, manage and monetize the increasingly connected home experience while exceeding subscriber expectations

“ADTRAN has experienced great interest from many industry leading parties who are keen to collaborate and integrate with truly open platforms as we support the acceleration of the industry’s transition to open, programmable, scalable networks,” said Chris Thompson, director of Mosaic software and solutions portfolio for ADTRAN. “We eagerly welcome alliance members from across the technology landscape who share our objective of providing operators around the globe with a single point of reference for best-of-breed SD-Access and NFV solutions.”

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