Sparkle and Amartus have announced the details of their joint multi-vendor software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) service proof of concept, which will be demonstrated at MEF18 in Los Angeles on (Oct. 29- Nov. 2).
The PoC is focused on developing a foundation for the next generation SD-WAN-enabled services that are technology and vendor agnostic and provide customers with a multi-vendor, orchestrated SD-WAN solution, fully compliant with MEF framework and technical specifications.
The goal of the PoC is to introduce the possibility of a cost-effective multi-vendor SD-WAN enabled service through the use of MEF Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Presto and a Docker-based containerized Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) that provides a cost-effective and flexible foundation for supporting vendor-agnostic, multi-vendor services.
In the demo, a Presto northbound interface endpoint accesses an inventory/topology engine which exposes SD-WAN resources in a Presto-compliant fashion. Input data and inventory are used to create topology and orchestration specification for cloud applications (TOSCA) descriptors for resources and SD-WAN services. Southbound provisioning is handled by a TOSCA-enabled orchestration component. Cloud native (containerized) virtual functions will be provided by customized uCPE appliances.
Sparkle will contribute with its global network and multi-vendor experience while Amartus contributes with its innovation and expertise in the development and integration of network transformation software solutions.
“Our aim is to develop SD-WAN enabled services guaranteeing standardization across multiple vendors thus pushing their growth and the value they can provide to enterprises,” said Daniele Mancuso, director of innovation and engineering at Sparkle. “Amartus, with its extensive experience in both LSO Presto and in the development of containerized solutions, is the ideal partner to develop a solution that leapfrogs the industry, delivering the high levels of interoperability, at a reasonable cost, demanded by global enterprises.”
“The work we’ve done with LSO Presto to date has been focused on connecting backbone networks, but this demonstration takes this technology from the HQ to the branch office, significantly benefiting both carriers and enterprises,” said Liam Twomey, vice president of sales and marketing at Amartus. “This is an evolving and exciting partnership where we are able to marry our software development and integration expertise with Sparkle’s firsthand knowledge of the market demands. They pushed us to find ways to make the service both open and cost effective, to ultimately improve the interoperability capability significantly over what exists today.”