From ATC partner, Masergy:
Network function virtualization (NFV) is poised to transform the world of networking. The technology is part of a larger shift from legacy hardware-based networks to those based on software, which will give network architects and administrators a new way to design, deploy and manage network capabilities.
“This kind of change happens once in a generation,” declares a recent report from SDN Central regarding the networking industry’s shift to NFV. The same report predicts that NFV and software-defined networks will influence nearly 80 percent of all network-purchasing decisions by 2020, affecting virtually every customer segment within the networking space.
In fact, the global market for NFV and software-defined networks is expected to grow more than twenty-fold in just five years, jumping from $500 million in 2013 to over $11 billion by 2018, predicts market watcher Infonetics.
NFV offers 3 compelling advantages:
- Flexibility: NFV gives enterprises complete control over their distributed network resources with the ability to scale up new services and decommission outmoded network capabilities as business needs require.
- Speed: Companies can add, remove, configure and modify network services in real time. As a result, innovative new services can be deployed over the network via software updates rather than requiring the ordering and shipping of network appliances to branch offices and remote locations.
- Cost: NFV lowers both capital and operating expenses. CapEx is reduced because an enterprise no longer needs to purchase specialized hardware. Operating expenses drop as companies no longer require real estate, support personnel, electricity costs and equipment maintenance fees.
Making NFV a Reality
Masergy offers several NFV solutions and continues to innovate in the areas of NFV as part of its Software-Defined IT strategy.
Masergy’s Project V-Net was named the top Business Service Innovation by judges for the Global Telecoms Business 2015 Innovation Awards this month in London. Project V-Net is an NFV initiative developed jointly by Masergy and Overture. The Project V-Net platform is the foundation for a distributed solution that can be deployed by enterprises at branch offices and remote locations. Project V-Net demonstrates how an entire class of network functions can be virtualized and carried out entirely in software.
Masergy took an early lead in 2011 with the introduction of our cloud-based Managed Firewall. More recently, Masergy introduced the Cloud-based Router. Both are NFV implementations and offer cost-effective alternatives to on-premise devices. Masergy’s realization of NFV is driven by our focus on customers’ desired outcomes.
Learn more about Masergy innovations that are driving IT transformation.
