Enabling CSPs with Extreme Agility: Versa and Netcracker – MEF19 Multi-Vendor Innovation Award
Versa Networks
November 26, 2019
Versa and Netcracker have won the MEF19 award for innovative multi-vendor solutions. The MEF19 Technology Solution – Multi-Vendor Innovation Award recognizes two or more companies for industry leadership and innovation in providing a comprehensive network technology solution that supports orchestration of dynamic and assured services over automated and virtual networks.
Netcracker and Versa have created a joint SD-WAN business cloud solution that enables CSPs to significantly differentiate their offerings and create business advantage with value-added third-party services, a new digital user experience and extreme agility. The entire solution is available from Netcracker’s Data Centers as a fully hosted and managed cloud offering. This innovative solution, which completely conforms to the MEF 3.0 Life-Cycle Orchestration (LSO) Framework and new MEF 70 service definition, enables CSPs to launch competitive SD-WAN services in just 12 weeks.
Versa’s Secure Cloud IP software platform addresses SD-WAN, SD-Security and SD-Branch use-cases for the WAN Edge. The cloud-native, multi-tenant, feature-rich software offering continues to deliver unprecedented value for mission-critical networks. Advantages of the Versa solution that appeal to Netcracker customers include reducing branch appliance sprawl, seamless integration into existing networks, ease of management and real-time visibility and control, and Internet breakout for Secure SaaS and Cloud connectivity.
Netcracker takes service automation end-to-end with service and network orchestration to fully automate SD-WAN and value-added service provisioning, and lifecycle management using standards-based YANG and TOSCA models. Netcracker also adds its Digital BSS, including Self-Service Portal and Marketplace, to unify all offerings though an intuitive portal, transforming how services are purchased, managed and controlled.
The solution, commercially deployed by Telefonica Mexico, has evolved further with NTT and our new Netcracker-Versa MEF19 PoC that enables automated multivendor SD-WAN and value-added services (VAS). LSO Presto is used between the SD-WAN controller and orchestrator, and LSO Legato is used from the orchestrator to the digital BSS solution.
What are the intended business and technical impacts of the solution?
- Cloud hosted for faster time-to-market advantages: SD-WAN managed services offer an excellent opportunity for CSPs. With the Netcracker-Versa cloud hosted solution option, CSPs can deploy in as few as 12 weeks.
- Full automation for operational agility and lower costs: In addition to zero touch CPE configuration, we also add full-service provisioning, assurance and lifecycle automation, which means CSPs can more rapidly scale new enterprise customers and sites without the need for complex manual operations (automation is enabled right from the portal).
- New digital experience to increase differentiation: Through an intuitive portal or e-commerce marketplace, CSPs can control and manage their services much more effectively. In addition, they can now give control to their enterprise customers enabling them to purchase services, change options and get full visibility of all their services.
Telefonica Mexico needed a new approach to address the highly competitive B2B market in Mexico. A cloud delivery model with SDN/NFV was essential to meet the speed, efficiency and control it required. Netcracker’s pioneering approach accelerated the CSP’s ability to offer differentiated cloud business services needed by its enterprise customers. Telefonica Mexico chose the Netcracker Business Cloud, incorporating Versa’s SD-WAN solution, to run its business services from Netcracker’s data centers.
In just 12 weeks, SD-WAN Basic and Pro offerings were launched in October 2018, combining software-defined connectivity with advanced security, high-performance application routing and service control. With these differentiating offerings, Telefonica Mexico could address large enterprises as well as SMBs and also expand to off-net customers.
NTT has deployed several SD-WAN vendor offerings, including Versa’s SD-WAN solution, in multiple continents to meet the diverse needs of its enterprise customers. However, each solution required different sales and distribution channels, OSS/BSS customization, specialized engineers and manual service provisioning, which motivated them to work with Netcracker, Versa and additional partners to bring more simplicity to multivendor SD-WAN/VAS and advance MEF LSO APIs to speed-up commercial adoption.
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