Verizon Enterprise Solutions reinforces NFV services, including SD-WAN, with new Ericsson deal

Verizon Enterprise Solutions said it will use new technologies from Ericsson to improve its virtualized services, including its Software Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) offerings. The announcement is notable as it underscores Ericsson’s role in the growing trend toward virtualization, as well as Verizon’s efforts to put more services into a software-powered paradigm.

"This project grew out of Verizon's long-standing relationship with Ericsson and builds on the successful launch of our mobile offering that leverages Ericsson's cloud orchestration solutions to provide VPN capabilities for mobile devices,” said Shawn Hakl, Verizon’s VP of networking and security solutions, in a release from Ericsson. “We are jointly developing on Ericsson's innovative and comprehensive platform to enable a wide range of secure virtual networking services to our enterprise customers."

Verizon’s agreement with Ericsson covers a number of different functions and services. But overall, Verizon said the move will allow its customers to use self-service ordering and configuration, end-to-end automation and flexible payment models. “The self-service offerings will give enterprises the flexibility to dynamically combine virtualized features from a catalog of service options such as security packages, WAN optimization and data center load balancing for tighter service integration and better performance,” the company added.

Ericsson specifically is selling to Verizon dynamic orchestration, closed-loop service assurance and virtual network function (VNF) onboarding and testing.

For SD-WAN, Verizon said Ericsson’s technology will allow it to “holistically govern, manage and orchestrate hybrid client networks in real time, turning legacy networks into elastic infrastructures that are lightweight, programmable and more adaptable.”

Ericsson is one of many Verizon vendors for virtualization. The carrier is also working with Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Nokia, Dell, Big Switch Networks, Red Hat and others.

In SD-WAN specifically, Verizon uses software from Viptela and Cisco. The service provider has recently said that it counts 90 active SD-WAN implementations and 16 full-scale deployments. It also has 30 participants taking part in a universal CPE program trial.

Virtual CPE services will soon be available in over 30 global markets, Verizon has said, allowing business customers to take advantage of software-based services that reside in the telco's cloud network.

SD-WAN remains a key and growing technology in the enterprise market. The technology extends software-defined networking (SDN) into an application that businesses can use to quickly create a smart WAN, connecting enterprise networks over large geographic distances.