Mirantis Partners with Citrix, Metaswitch, Overture Networks in NFV Initiative

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This article originally ran at Talkin’ Cloud

By Michael Cusanelli

OpenStack provider Mirantis is looking to help telecom providers reduce the amount of time and money it takes to bring applications and services to their customers with a new Network Function Virtualization initiative with Citrix, Metaswitch Networks, and Overture Networks.

Mirantis formed the group on the idea that resellers can reduce overhead costs by virtualizing their network functions, thus eliminating the need to purchase proprietary hardware on a regular basis. With the growing need for MSPs and carriers to deliver instantaneous service to customers, the new reference architecture serves as an opportunity for companies to evolve their businesses ahead of the predicted NFV market boom by the end of the decade.

“Telecommunications companies are increasingly drawn to NFV because it frees them from expensive proprietary hardware platforms, reduces operational expenses, and facilitates the launch of new applications and services quickly,” said Heather Kirksey, director of OPNFV, in a statement. “Developers can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time delivering innovative applications and services to consumers.”

The initiative will include a whitepaper and deployment guide for customers to help them deploy NFV solutions on OpenStack, as well as Mirantis OpenStack validation for partner virtual network function solutions via the company’s Unlocked Technology Partner Program. Mirantis will also add several NFV features to its OpenStack distribution so that users can decrease their physical footprint and offer higher availability, as well as deliver single root I/O virtualization.

Additional partner validations for Citrix NetScaler, Metaswitch’s Perimeta Session Border Controller and Overture Networks’ Ensemble Service Orchestrator have also been added, according to the announcement. The company plans to offer an NFV reference architecture and OpenStack validation program for partner VNFs.

“The telecommunications industry is in the midst of a massive transformation,” said Kamesh Pammaraju, VP and partner marketing at Mirantis. “These companies must innovate, and to do so, their networking needs to be agile, scalable and cost effective. The best way to do this is through NFV.”

This first ran at http://talkincloud.com/telco-hub/mirantis-partners-citrix-metaswitch-overture-networks-nfv-initiative