Aeroflex, a microelectronics and test and measurement equipment provider, is strengthening its software defined networking (SDN) capabilities by purchasing Dublin, Ireland-based Shenick Network Systems.
A key element that Aeroflex gets out of this deal is Shenick's TeraVM software, which provides virtual testing for software-defined networking. TeraVM enables service providers and network equipment manufacturers to load, analyze, develop and validate the performance and capabilities of a wide variety of network and security devices, including VPN/Firewall, vSwitch, DPI or IPS/IDS, vLoad Balancer and video infrastructure.
While the acquisition is new, the two companies are hardly strangers as Aeroflex has partnered with Shenick to enhance its wireless test products.
"Shenick's unique TeraVM software product offers network providers the ability to emulate and measure millions of unique IP application flows to support network and application development and performance testing in next generation converged and cloud based networks," said Len Borow, Aeroflex's CEO, in a release announcing the acquisition.
Given service providers' growing interest in SDN, the timing of the deal makes sense.
According to Infonetics, all of the major service providers are currently evaluating SDNs or plan to do so over the next three years. A number of service providers that took part in a survey commissioned in 2013 showed they will deploy SDNs and network function virtualization (NFV) this year for five applications: data centers, between data centers, operations and management, content delivery networks (CDNs) and cloud services. Meanwhile, 86 percent of service providers said they are confident they will deploy SDN and NFV technology in their optical transport networks as well at some point.
Neither company revealed the terms of the deal. Aeroflex said the acquisition will be neutral to its fiscal 2014 financial results and accretive to its fiscal 2015 financial results.
For more:
- see the release
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