VMware Joins OPEN-O as Platinum Member to Advance Industry Adoption of Open Standards-Based Orchestration for Network Functions Virtualization

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - January 05, 2017) - VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced the company has joined the OPEN-O Project, an open source project hosted by The Linux Foundation that enables leading telecommunications, cable and cloud operators end-to-end service orchestration over network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure, along with software-defined networks (SDN) and legacy networks. As a Platinum member, VMware will participate in both the governing board, along with the technical steering and marketing committees to help drive the continued wave of innovation in open, standards-based orchestration.

Today there are more than 400 CSPs and Telcos globally, many of which are looking to accelerate innovation and launch new services faster, easier and with less expense. CSPs and Telcos are looking to combine network, cloud, mobility and IT architectures into a converged platform for network services and applications with Over-The-Top agility and industry-standard economics. OPEN-O enables operators to significantly improve service agility and velocity to increase revenues, while simultaneously reducing overall costs for greater profitability. Several of the world's largest operators including China Mobile, China Telecom and Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) are participating in OPEN-O, joining many open networking innovators including VMware.

"The OPEN-O Project is representative of the industry movement towards adoption and production deployment of open standards-based orchestration to enable operators to capitalize on NFV and SDN architecture," said Marc Cohn, Executive Director, OPEN-O and vice president, network strategy, The Linux Foundation. "Operators participating in OPEN-O feature a subscriber base in excess of a billion mobile, residential and business users. With the addition of leading NFV vendors such as VMware, we believe OPEN-O will successfully deliver the abstraction needed to deliver complex services over SDN and NFV infrastructures as well as legacy networks."

"Implementing NFV requires a robust NFV infrastructure, and the agility provided by the type of comprehensive NFV and multi-cloud orchestration the OPEN-O Project promises to deliver," said Gabriele Di Piazza, vice president of solutions, Telco NFV Group at VMware. "Customers will ultimately choose the path that best helps them meet their digital transformation objectives, and by joining OPEN-O, VMware is extending its position as a major player in defining the evolution and adoption of NFV by Telcos and communications service providers."

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