The Japanese telecommunications provider NTT Communications has announced that it is offering the first self-service cloud-based networking services based on network functions virtualization (NFV) technology.
“While many industry experts and service providers have long been speaking about the potential of NFV, we are excited to become the first service providers to commercialize NFV-enabled services on a global scale,” said Takashi Ooi, NTT Com vice president of enterprise network service said.
NFV is doing for networking equipment what virtualization did for servers, make enterprise networking more flexible by abstracting networking functions from the actual hardware. In theory, organizations using NFV will save a lot of money by deploying software-based virtual networking appliances rather than wiring up physical switches, routers and other pieces of networking equipment.
Customers can simply sign up for the service and deploy it through their organizations through an SDN-enabled portal, saving a lot of time and money by not having to wait for the new network to be deployed.
Some of the functionality offered under this new service includes firewalls, network application acceleration, VPN gateways and SSL VPN.
The solution is being implemented by Virtela, which NTT acquired in January.
"Virtela and NTT Com's SDN and NFV innovations give enterprises unprecedented choice and control in transforming their global enterprise networks," said Virtela president Ron Haigh. "We are accelerating the delivery of new innovative services, setting the highest bar in the industry with a flexible subscription model that enables CIOs to simplify network architecture and allow them to focus on their core business."
The new solutions from NTT and Virtela seem to be working well under real-world use. The Japanese airline All Nippon Airways was impressed after installing NTT’s IP-VPN and unified communications solutions and estimates that it will save up to $4 million each year, which is important in an industry like air travel that has high operating costs as it is.
“By making use of cutting-edge technologies and services, such as NFV, we expect to continue benefitting from reliable, flexible and cost-effective ICT infrastructure from NTT Communications,” ANA chairman and senior vice president of the company’s process Innovation committee for innovation and IT strategy Takanori Yukishige said.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
