SDN and NFV industry leaders rally to demonstrate multi-vendor interoperability

Ciena ^® (NYSE: CIEN) today announced that six new organizations have joined Blue Orbit, an ecosystem of partners focused on delivering applications and infrastructure platforms for real-world, multi-vendor software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) deployments.

Formed in June 2013, Blue Orbit accelerates real-world network operator SDN and NFV deployments. Partners are added to the Blue Orbit Ecosystem based on customer demand and interactions. As customer proof of concept trials and deployments develop, Blue Orbit partners provide applicable solution elements to Ciena’s Blue Orbit Lab. From this facility, Ciena, Blue Orbit partners and customers are able to test and demonstrate the viability of SDN and NFV solutions.

“As the industry heads toward open and software-defined multi-vendor networks, it is essential to assure that new virtual functions can run in live networks without disruption,” said Kevin Sheehan, vice president, Global Customer Operations, Blue Planet Division, Ciena. “We are excited to welcome these leading SDN and NFV solution providers as our newest partners in the Blue Orbit ecosystem.”

Blue Orbit’s newest partners include:

• Active Broadband Networks provides software applications for delivering and managing packet services at the edge of the fixed broadband networks.  The vEdge is all-software control and packet processing applications, running on cloud server hardware, managed by cloud orchestration, simply connecting broadband customers directly to the cloud.

• Calix, Inc. is a global leader in access innovation. Its Linux-based Access eXtensible Operating System (AXOS) is built for the specific needs of the software-defined access network.

• Centina Systems provides strategic service assurance and innovative network performance solutions. Its vSure^TM Service Assurance for virtual networks provides end-to-end and top-to-bottom visualization and assurance of NFV and SDN services.

• Dell combines the latest SDN technologies with the economic advantages of virtualized x86 compute platforms, deployed strategically throughout the service infrastructure. Its solutions are paving the way with NFV solutions for telecommunications providers, cable operators, and mobile operators.

• Qwilt open caching NFV solutions optimize operator networks for OTT video with a unified, turnkey solution that combines open caching, video delivery, and analytics technologies deployed at the subscriber edge.

• Silver Peak delivers WAN solutions that give enterprises and service providers the flexibility to securely connect users to applications via the highest quality and most cost-effective source of connectivity available.

Existing Blue Orbit partners include:

• VNFs: BlackRidge Technology, Brocade, Certes, EXFO, Fortinet, GENBAND, Metaswitch Networks, PowerDNS, Spirent Communications, Versa Networks

• Physical Network Elements: Accedian, Omnitron Systems, RAD, Telco Systems

• Virtual Infrastructure: ADI Engineering, Aria Networks, Arista, Boundary, Canonical, Intel, Mellanox, Pica8, Red Hat, Ryu, VMware, Wind River

Partner Quotes:

• “Simplification at scale is the key benefit of cloud technology. What could be simpler than connecting the broadband edge to the cloud to unlock the cost, service and productivity benefits?  Cloud and edge orchestration are key to realizing this simplification, we are pleased to partner with Ciena Blue Planet.”
  -   Adam Dunstan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Active Broadband Networks

• “An enormous opportunity exists in extending end-to-end rapid service creation across the access network, leveraging Ciena’s exceptional work in service automation, management, and optimization in core and metro networks. By facilitating this leap from controlled network environments and dedicated fiber connections, to businesses and homes connected over a mixed fiber and copper infrastructure, we will see the benefits derived from physical and virtual systems connected to the Ciena Blue Orbit ecosystem amplified by orders of magnitude. Calix is excited to be working closely with Ciena to enable service providers to reach more subscribers more quickly.”
  -   Shane Eleniak, Vice President, Product Line Leadership, Calix

• “Assuring the performance of virtual services is dramatically more complicated than in traditional legacy networks. The dynamic nature of NFV and SDN services necessitates a comprehensive and integrated solution that can quickly and accurately detect and identify the root cause of failures and performance issues so that they can be resolved automatically.  The integration of Blue Planet and vSure enables service providers to deliver and assure virtual services in a multi-vendor environment with the same reliability and an even higher level of adaptability and flexibility than that of traditional legacy services.”
  -   Anand Gonuguntla, Founder and CEO, Centina Systems

• “NFV marks a momentous technology shift – and opportunity – for telecommunications providers. Now, in an increasingly disaggregated world, the technology options can be overwhelming. Dell wants to simplify this and cut through the clutter. In supporting efforts such as Ciena’s Blue Orbit, our goal is to deliver the most open, flexible and practical NFV platform by combining our technology with a strong partner ecosystem to help service providers streamline service creation and delivery.”
  -    Tom Burns, Vice President and General Manager, Dell Networking and Enterprise Infrastructure

• “Qwilt’s NFV Open Cache is an SDN/NFV-based solution that addresses challenges—including latency, packet loss and buffer bloat—presented by the current surge of streaming video traffic in mobile networks. With this solution, operators can optimize network traffic and improve QoE to a growing ecosystem of IP-enabled mobile devices. Joining the Blue Orbit community offers a strategic opportunity for us to provide mobile operators with high-performing software that easily integrates with their existing infrastructure so they can rest assured that the consumer focused services they deliver stay at the forefront of an increasingly competitive market.”
  -   Alon Maor, Chief Executive Officer, Qwilt

• “As a company that has been at the forefront of WAN virtualization, Silver Peak’s innovative VNF solutions give service providers the ability to lead the network services transformation by offering new, flexible WAN connectivity and cloud-enablement solutions. We are delighted to be a member of the Blue Orbit ecosystem and look forward to working together with fellow Blue Orbit members to offer customers integrated NFV, SD-WAN and WAN Optimization solutions.”
  -    Bob Rodio, Vice President and Chief Technologist, Service Providers, Silver Peak

About CienaCiena (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. 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 InvestorsForward-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-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2015. 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.