Cincinnati Bell Business (CBB) and its CBTS subsidiary are going to offer a new SD-WAN offering with VeloCloud as one of its vendor partners, enabling it to provide nationwide support for its growing unified communications and cloud services portfolio.
As a customized VeloCloud Powered SD-WAN offering from CBB and CBTS, the new service features a network of strategically placed cloud gateways used for enhancing both Software as a Service (SaaS) and CBB’s Connected Office Voice offerings.
The new SD-WAN offering from CBB and CBTS includes enhanced Unified Communications as a Service, cloud migration, and SaaS. These capabilities will give customers a networking platform that can accommodate future technology capabilities.
“This managed VeloCloud SD-WAN product supports our portfolio of hosted collaboration applications, cloud computing, and other services that will further enable CBB and CBTS customers to have best-of-breed technologies and support the increasing technology demands of their customers,” said Christi Cornette, SVP of marketing for Cincinnati Bell, in a release.
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CBB and CBTS determined VeloCloud was the right SD-WAN partner after conducting a series of tests that it said “delivered conclusive results and exceeded expectations.” Each of those tests looked at different scenarios of connectivity, ranging from dual MPLS, down to a single broadband or a wireless LTE link. At the end of the evaluation, CBB and CBTS concluded that the VeloCloud offering dramatically enhanced applications and remediated connection problems to provide a high-quality experience for voice and video.
For VeloCloud, whose growing customer roster also includes the likes of AT&T, Sprint and Windstream, winning CBB and CBTS also raises the company’s profile with service providers considering an SD-WAN play for their business units.
The new pact with VeloCloud appears to be the second stage of CBB and CBTS’ SD-WAN story. In February, the service provider introduced its Network as a Service (NaaS), a fully managed solution that bundles integrated SD-WAN capabilities to connect multiple, remote business locations. The NaaS offering is based on Cisco's Meraki technology and is designed for both SMB and midmarket companies with 1 to 1,000 employees. It can also accommodate enterprise organizations with over 1,000 employees.
Being able to continually expand its SD-WAN offering that supports various vendors will be important for CBB and CBTS, particularly as the service provider looks to appeal to large, multisite business customers.