Thanks to Adva's Ensemble software, Dell EMC is beefing up its universal CPE (uCPE) offering with additional virtual network functions (VNFs).
With the Adva Ensemble software, Dell EMC can offer its enterprise and service provider customers a choice of more than 50 VNFs, including virtual firewall, WAN optimization, IoT, virtual test, voice, and wireless.
Dell EMC is currently offering the Adva Ensemble software on its Virtual Edge Platform (VEP), which is its uCPE offering, in the U.S. with worldwide availability to follow by the end of this month. The VEP uses an open Intel architecture-based platform to support multiple simultaneous VNFs that have been certified for use. The promise of uCPE includes being able to collapse various proprietary devices onto a single, off the shelf uCPE.
Dell EMC is using Adva's Ensemble Connector for its network operating system and hosting platform for third-party applications and services. Those applications and services will run on Dell EMC's VEP uCPE.
In addition to the cost savings of using white boxes, Dell EMC is able to offer its service provider and enterprise customers improved efficiencies and faster product development through its partnership with Adva.
Combining Adva's software onto Dell EMC's uCPE consolidates VNF management, including the Ensemble Connector’s management and orchestration (MANO) capabilities.
While Dell EMC is able to offer its customers a more flexible solution using Adva's Ensemble software, Adva benefits by getting its Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem, which is a multi-vendor environment, in front of Dell EMC's large customer based.
RELATED: Chua: SD-WAN and uCPE – not quite done yet
While the concept of uCPE white boxes has been around for several years, it hasn't quite taken off. AvidThink founder and principal Roy Chua said part of the problem has been the lack of standardization for uCPE, as well as the disparate uCPE offerings in the marketplace today.
During last month's Layer123 Network Transformation Congress in San Jose, California, Adva's Prayson Pate, who is CTO of the Ensemble division, said uCPE is viable because it's being done today.