News brief: NaaS specialist bulks up with friendly merger

• PacketFabric has developed a network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform
• It was already working closely with software-defined network fabric specialist Unitas Global
• Now investor Digital Alpha Advisors has engineered a merger

PacketFabric, one of the leading independent network-as-a-service (NaaS) players, has merged with software-defined network fabric specialist Unitas Global in a marriage brokered by the investor that has been backing both companies, Digital Alpha Advisors.

PacketFabric has for years been developing a software-defined and virtualised networking platform that enables enterprises (or any other type of organisation) to select the networking connections and supporting cloud assets they need through an automated platform. In its own words, it “enables an enterprise to design and control its own communication architecture, while not having to carry the burden of owning and operating any part of the network”.

It is regarded by analyst groups, such as ABI Research, as one of the leading specialist rivals to telcos for the networking budgets of enterprises, while the hyperscale giants, such as AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, are also developing similar propositions. 

And the market is growing rapidly: According to ABI Research’s forecasts, “just under 90% of enterprises will have migrated at least 25% of their global network infrastructure to be consumed within a NaaS model” by the end of this decade.   

But one of the challenges that specialists such as PacketFabric face is scale, and with that in mind Digital Alpha Advisors has merged its two portfolio companies, which were already working closely together, to create a bigger single entity, claiming the resulting company will be “the new global leader” in the NaaS sector. 

The move will bring together the global PacketFabric Converge platform that “orchestrates on-demand connectivity across colocation facilities, cloud providers, and private network interconnections across the globe”, with the Unitas Global platform that is focused on the automation of ”business internet connectivity, providing end-to-end network design, pricing, ordering and visibility across more than 1,000 first/middle/last mile networks, accessing more than 50 million fibre-lit buildings”.

For more on the merger, see this announcement. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV