Ooredoo Kuwait Teams With VMware on Unified Cloud Supporting Both Network Functions Virtualization and Traditional IT Applications

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT and PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - July 07, 2015) - VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced that Ooredoo Kuwait, a leading telecommunications provider in the Middle East, has successfully deployed both Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and IT applications on a single, unified cloud based on the VMware vCloud® for NFV platform.

Ooredoo's UNIFY initiative is aimed at taking advantage of a software-defined data center architecture, and disruptive technologies such as network functions virtualization and software-defined networking. Ooredoo Kuwait is adopting a platform-first approach to deploying its first service based on virtualized network functions (VNFs) and commodity off the shelf (COTS) hardware as part of an internal multi-year transformation program.

VMware's professional services team partnered with Ooredoo Kuwait and their VNF vendor Huawei to design and deploy the VMware vCloud for NFV platform and virtual network functions into a test environment in less than three months. VMware vCloud for NFV supported the seamless transfer of the virtualized Core IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) from test environment to Ooredoo's production IT environment, and enabled Ooredoo to conduct its first Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) call. The deployment of Ooredoo Kuwait's new Core NFV was fully automated, leveraging VMware vCloud Director® and the VMware NSX™ network virtualization platform. The service is expected to go live in its production service network later this year.

"Reliability and availability were key factors in our decision to work with VMware. The production-proven VMware technology and our previous experience with the high levels of technical support offered by VMware professional services gave us the confidence to move to a unified cloud platform," said Mijbil Al-Ayoub, Director, Corporate Comms, Ooredoo Kuwait. "The speed at which we have been able to trial our unified cloud and onboard the VoLTE service functions into our IT network has exceeded our expectations. We did a joint R&D project that took only two months to complete, and we finalized the development of our vIMS product that can be deployed in a production, commodity infrastructure, automatically in only 3.5 hours."

VMware vCloud for NFV is an integrated network functions virtualization platform that combines VMware's production-proven virtualized compute, networking, storage and management solutions, to help ensure ongoing multi-vendor virtualized network function (VNF) support and maximize the cost and agility benefits of a shared network and IT infrastructure in a secured architecture. The Ooredoo platform uses VMware's policy-based resource allocation features to maintain application service level agreement (SLA) enforcement, and software-defined networking capabilities of the VMware NSX network virtualization platform to address NFV network scalability needs, multi-tenancy with microsegmentation, capacity on demand and QoS. VMware NSX is a main pillar in segregating tenants across Ooredoo's single converged private cloud.

"Ooredoo Kuwait's strategy aligns with VMware's One Cloud, Any Application, Any Device™ strategy, and we're delighted to be working with such forward-thinking customers who understand the value of a platform-based deployment strategy for NFV," said David Wright, vice president, Telecommunications and NFV Group, VMware. "By making the decision to deploy and manage a horizontally virtualized platform capable of supporting multivendor VNFs and IT workloads, Ooredoo Kuwait has created a powerful service environment capable of delivering high-value services to customers while managing operational costs."

Additional Resources

• Read about the launch of VMware vCloud for NFV
• Read more about ways VMware is working with CSPs to move towards NFV as a means to drive service transformation.
• Bookmark the VMware Telco NFV blog
• Connect with VMware on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

About VMware
VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Built on VMware's industry-leading virtualization technology, our solutions deliver a brave new model of IT that is fluid, instant and more secure. Customers can innovate faster by rapidly developing, automatically delivering and more safely consuming any application. With 2014 revenues of $6 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

VMware, vCloud, vCloud Director, VMware NSX and "One Cloud, Any Application, Any Device" are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.