Accedian vCPE Drives Data Center Connectivity Revenue with NFV Industry’s first NFV-powered vCPE modules install in minutes, drive down hardware and operating costs, and assure performance-optimized hybrid cloud connections Montreal, Canada - March 26, 2015 - Accedian Networks , the Performance Assurance Solution Specialist, today introduced the industry’s first network function virtualization (NFV)-based solution for assured enterprise-to-data center connectivity. The SkyLIGHT™VCX controls virtual network functions (VNFs) on “bite-sized” programmable hardware modules, now tailored to assure the performance of premium public and private data center connections. The solution is a unique virtual customer equipment (vCPE) approach that realizes the cost and agility benefits of NFV without sacrificing performance or precision, or requiring changes to existing operations infrastructure or procedures. Multi-cloud enterprise connections are the new lifeline for over 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies that have shifted in-house IT infrastructure to public and private data centers ( Gartner, Nov-2014 ). While performance is paramount, service providers face constant price and margin pressure from fast “dumb pipes” and over-the-top wide area networks (OTT-WAN) using the Internet. “The network scalability and flexibility offered by NFV and the cloud comes at a price,” said Jennifer Clark, Vice President, 451 Research (Yankee Group). “Service providers cannot afford to address this change with traditional performance monitoring and testing. They will have to turn to virtualized solutions to address emerging network requirements from both a cost and performance perspective.” Providers can now use Accedian’s vCPE solution to be more competitive by offering compromise-free, cost-efficient, cloud connectivity backed by premium service level agreements (SLAs). The solution offers the same performance as legacy, standalone hardware appliances but within hardware modules that are up to 70% less expensive, draw 90% less power, and require no rack-space at the customer premise. “Ultra-fast traffic processing and monitoring can never be completely virtualized,” said Eduardo Gandarilla, Executive VP Sales and Marketing, Columbus Networks. “However, Accedian is slashing on-premise hardware size and cost to the absolute minimum required to assure connectivity performance, which is unique in the market. By combining the best of virtualization with the right degree of local processing, Accedian’s solution redefines how data center connectivity services will be delivered. It combines the cost savings of NFV without the performance hit software-only solutions often demonstrate.” Accedian’s new catalog of vCPE-tailored VNFs provide programmable service activation testing, bandwidth metering, multi-connection performance monitoring, real-time service level agreement (SLA) reporting, bandwidth regulation and policy enforcement, and service quality analytics for hybrid cloud connections -- all within programmable smart SFPs and GbE modules that can be easily installed in minutes directly by the end-customer. The solution is available now, in all global markets. “Our customers have made it clear: virtualization shouldn’t take us back to the stone ages of compute, when we compromised what legacy technologies could provide for novelty or future-promised savings. They need concrete ways to deliver data center connectivity cost effectively, allowing them to differentiate themselves in a crowded, cloud-based world. Our approach fuses the best NFV-based engineering principles with the highest-performing programmable processing yet available to meet their objectives,” explained Keith Donahue, VP Product Management & Services, Accedian Networks. About Accedian Networks Accedian Networks® is the Performance Assurance Solution Specialist for mobile networks and enterprise-to-data center connectivity. Open, multi-vendor interoperable and programmable solutions go beyond standard-based performance assurance to deliver Network State+™, the most complete view of network health. Automated service activation testing and real-time performance monitoring feature unrivalled precision and granularity, while H-QoS traffic conditioning optimizes service performance. Since 2005, Accedian has delivered platforms assuring hundreds of thousands of cell sites globally. www.Accedian.com Twitter: @Accedian Media Contact: Merritt Group, Inc. for Accedian Networks 571-382-8513, chadwick@merrittgrp.com