NEC/Netcracker partners with Infinera and Juniper Networks to enable end-to-end network automation and control

Following a successful demonstration with the OIF/ONF Transport API project, the companies join forces to accelerate network transformation

TOKYO, JAPAN & WALTHAM, MA — May 30, 2017: NEC Corporation and Netcracker Technology announced today that, in partnership with Infinera and Juniper Networks, they have released a new Transport SDN solution designed to transform how networks are managed and controlled.

Combining Infinera's strength in building its Intelligent Transport Networks, Juniper's industry-leading capabilities in IP/MPLS, physical/virtual network functionality and domain orchestration, and NEC/Netcracker's multilayer control and service orchestration expertise, including NEC's advanced network transport products, the partnership enables a compelling new Transport SDN solution. This new solution provides full visibility across all IP, optical and microwave domains, including SDN and traditional network environments, optimizes network utilization and automates service provisioning and path restoration.

This solution benefits service providers by enabling network transformations that intelligently adapt to the dynamic requirements of end users with the ability to carve out network slices for specific services end-to-end. This makes it possible to accommodate changing traffic patterns and on-demand customer requests, deliver an improved customer experience and produce significant cost savings by optimizing capacity usage. Additionally, the solution empowers service providers to automate their network service infrastructure, enabling them to focus their resources on expanding revenue opportunities while optimizing their service costs at any given time.

NEC/Netcracker, Infinera and Juniper Networks demonstrated their joint solution as part of the Optical Interworking Forum (OIF)/Open Networking Foundation (ONF) Transport API project where the participants executed a multidomain path selection and recovery test plan with intra-lab and inter-lab testing across multiple global carrier labs, including both Verizon's and Telefónica's. In the demo, NEC/Netcracker's Multilayer SDN Controller used the new Transport API defined by the ONF to communicate with Juniper's NorthStar Controller at Verizon's lab and the Infinera Xceed optical SDN domain controllers at Telefónica's lab. NEC/Netcracker's Service Orchestration solution successfully created and managed Ethernet point-to-point private services across multiple vendors and multiple operators' domains. All tests were completed successfully.

"Service providers need a master Transport SDN solution that optimizes network traffic and automates configuration to maximize performance across all transport layers," said Shigeru Okuya, Senior Vice President at NEC Corporation. "With the support of our partners, NEC and Netcracker ensure that our customers can leverage best-of-breed solutions with minimal risk to enable end-to-end network automation and control."

"We are excited to bring this new solution to market, showcasing how virtualization can enable a completely new set of automation and optimization opportunities to enhance networks with innovative visualization, operations, optimized capacity planning and utilization functionality," said Aloke Tusnial, Chief Technology Officer, SDN/NFV Business at Netcracker. "By partnering with industry leaders like Juniper and Infinera, NEC/Netcracker is bringing a pre-integrated best-of-breed solution that offers customers flexibility and choice in fundamentally rethinking their network design and level of automation."

"Juniper Networks is committed to improving network automation so our customers can respond to changing traffic patterns with speed and agility, while optimizing network utilization," said Brian Rosenberg, Corporate Vice President of Partners and Alliances at Juniper Networks. "We are excited to partner with NEC/Netcracker to enable service providers to accelerate automation to meet network demands through the new Transport SDN solution."

"Infinera's goal is to provide highly scalable, automated and open Intelligent Transport Network solutions for our customers as they address a new era of more dynamic and ever-greater bandwidth demand," said Serge Melle, Vice President of Business Development at Infinera. "To this end, we are pleased to partner with NEC/Netcracker and Juniper to deliver a best-in-class multi-layer IP plus optical SDN networking solution."