In response to significant changes in the way network resources and
services are consumed, Ciena®
(NYSE:CIEN) is introducing a software solution that establishes an
entirely new business model for Managed Services Providers (MSPs).
Ciena’s innovative approach enables providers to adopt a more agile and
profitable strategy for adding and expanding network services and
appliance functionality with a simple web interface and a
consumption-based billing model. Linking the managed services model with
the key trend of virtualization, Ciena’s new virtual services software
platform, Agility Matrix, modernizes the acquisition, distribution,
consumption and payment of virtualized network functions (VNF) and
allows enterprises to drastically improve performance of all enterprise
and cloud-based applications and better manage distributed networks.
Included in Ciena’s new Agility Matrix software are VNF Market, an open,
online marketplace for a variety of third-party VNFs, and Director, a
management and orchestration engine. Using a virtual network interface
similar to an online shopping experience, where users can drag and drop
items into their carts, new network services such as encryption,
firewalls, and VPNs can be delivered as managed services in a matter of
minutes versus days or weeks. Ciena is building out its VNF Market,
currently working with several leading virtual appliance vendors,
including BlackRidge
Technology, Brocade,
Certes
Networks, Silver
Peak and Spirent
Communications.
Ciena also announced today that it established a new business division,
Ciena Agility, to power service velocity, innovation and business value
across the wide area network (WAN). This division includes dedicated
resources for software development, product line management, product
marketing, service and support, sales and business development, and has
full accountability for delivering network control and application
software technologies to help providers deliver a true on-demand user
experience. Ciena Agility is led by Kevin Sheehan as vice president and
general manager, and encompasses the SDN Multilayer WAN Controller and
its applications, V-WAN, the Agility Matrix solution announced today,
including VNF Market and Director, as well as all future SDN and NFV
development.
Key Facts:
-
Ciena’s Agility Matrix gives providers the ability to offer on-demand
cloud experiences for carrier managed services with a turnkey solution
to purchase and deploy VNFs.
-
VNF Market is a Ciena-operated cloud-based VNF distribution solution
that allows providers to select and download validated VNFs in support
of virtualized, on-demand enterprise services. Its innovative
pay-as-you-earn, consumption-based model empowers service providers to
deliver new services.
-
Ciena Agility’s Director automates the operations, management and
orchestration of the VNFs, improving service velocity.
-
Ciena’s Agility Matrix includes service offerings to de-risk and
accelerate the adoption of VNF-based carrier managed services,
including audit capabilities, integration services, migration
services, managed and support services, and reporting services.
-
Ciena expects the Agility Matrix solution to be generally available in
the second calendar quarter of 2015.
Executive Comments:
-
“We are transforming raw capacity into capability that delivers
on-demand network-based services in a manner that mimics the ease and
instantaneous nature of an online shopping experience. The new Ciena
Agility division is organized to quickly respond to the market demand
for these customer-driven software solutions.”
— Kevin
Sheehan, vice president and general manager, Ciena Agility
Live Web Event:
-
On Wednesday, December 3 at 9:05 a.m. ET, Ciena will broadcast a live
web event to discuss its new software and Agility division. The
webcast will feature Francois Locoh-Donou, senior vice president,
Global Products Group; Kevin Sheehan, vice president and general
manager, Ciena Agility; Mike Miracle, senior vice president of
marketing & strategy at BlackRidge Technology; Ashwin Krishnan, head
of products, software networking business unit at Brocade; Adam Boone,
CMO of Certes Networks; and, Marc Trimuschat, vice president of
alliances at Silver Peak.
-
Register here
to the event or visit the newsroom
section of Ciena’s website listen to a replay.
Supporting Resources:
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with
customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks
and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena
leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and
distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with
its OPn architecture for next-generation networks. We enable
a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and
adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to
coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified,
virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter
@Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena.
Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website
at www.ciena.com/investors,
where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news,
financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we
exclusively post material information to this website along with other
disclosure channels that we use.
Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and
assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are
based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and
Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or
implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business,
which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q,
which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
September 9, 2014 Forward-looking statements include statements
regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies
regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such
as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no
obligation to update the information included in this press release,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Partner and Analyst Quotes
“Carriers are being challenged with lower profit margins and operational
complexity in their managed services business, which is forcing them to
either sell off the business, shut it down or rearchitect the network in
order to be more agile and simplified. Fortunately, their needs for
simplification and agility are being met with technologies such
as virtual CPE. The value of virtualized managed residential and/or
business services is not only good for carriers but of
tremendous value to the end user because of the enhanced customer
experience. Every carrier that is offering managed service today will
have to implement some type of virtualized managed technology to
increase profit margin and remain competitive.”
— Ray Mota, Ph.D., Managing Partner and Founder, ACG
Research
“NFV promises attractive benefits for providers and operators, but with
considerable adoption risk. An approach like Ciena’s Agility Matrix
could lower that risk while providing a direct path to revenue for both
operators and Ciena’s VNF Market partners. Progress in NFV has been
rapid and its operational implementations will deliver greater value.”
— Eric Hanselman, Chief Analyst, 451
Research
“The Ciena VNF Market will provide a fast and flexible deployment option
for our identity-based network security gateway. BlackRidge Technology
applies identity to networks at the earliest possible time, on the first
packet, cloaking resources by preventing unauthorized awareness, and
separating security policy from network topology. BlackRidge Technology
is excited to participate in the Ciena VNF Market with our patented
identity-based network security solution.”
— John Hayes, Founder and CTO, BlackRidge
Technology
“To effectively manage the network evolution to the cloud and mobile
era, increasingly referred to as the New IP, customers are seeking open
and collaborative vendor ecosystems to ensure interoperability. The
continued collaboration between Ciena and Brocade will provide a solid
platform for the Brocade Vyatta vRouter and its high-performance
advanced routing, firewall, and VPN capabilities.”
— Kelly Herrell, VP and GM Software Business Unit, Brocade
“We’re excited to participate in Ciena’s VNF Market because it will help
us fill a critical security function that will accelerate enterprise
adoption of services. Security of data traffic has never been more
critical than today, as enterprises battle the ongoing hacking crisis
compromising sensitive data around the globe. Our vCEP virtualized data
encryptor operating on the Director will enable enterprise end customers
to configure their own data traffic encryption, control their own
encryption keys, and enjoy peace of mind that their data traffic is
secure."
— Adam Boone, Chief Marketing Officer, Certes
Network
“Silver Peak has been in the forefront of software-defined network
services, providing WAN, SaaS, and cloud optimization in a virtualized
footprint to our enterprise customers with the same robust features and
scalability as physical solutions. These solutions provide visibility
and consistent application performance across the WAN regardless of
location – whether in the branch, the data center or the cloud. Our
collaboration with Ciena will enable service providers to offer our
industry-leading solutions to their customers in an easy-to-deploy,
on-demand fashion.”
— Marc Trimuschat, VP of Alliances, Silver
Peak
“Agility in next generation service delivery using NFV drives new
requirements into testing and verification solutions for carriers. The
same underpinning virtualization technology that is embodied in Ciena’s
Agility Matrix solution can be used to deliver real-time test and
troubleshoot capabilities right into the service, without the need for
on-site technicians and truck rolls. Spirent is the industry leader in
virtualized test solutions, and we are excited to be partnering with
Ciena to deliver on the vision of real-time carrier based on-demand test
and performance expectation capabilities.”
— Neil Holmquist, Senior Director of Product Marketing and Management
for Cloud and IP Solutions, Spirent
Communications
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