STC calls on ADVA’s NFV suite for uCPE services

• ADVA software on Dell Technologies platform enables widespread uCPE rollout
• Middle eastern enterprises can quickly and securely harness cloud technology
• STC’s solution enables businesses to seize new revenue with risk-free virtual services

ADVA announced that the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is rolling out on-demand virtual services using ADVA’s Ensemble suite of network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies. The new universal CPE (uCPE) offering is built on the Dell EMC Networking Virtual Edge Platform (VEP) 1405 series running ADVA’s Ensemble Edge Cloud NFV suite. Enterprise customers of STC, the largest IT service provider in the Middle East, will be able to quickly and easily access virtual services, including routing, firewall, WAN optimization, IoT and voice applications. With the industry’s largest ecosystem of virtual network functions (VNFs) to choose from, managed service customers can automatically enable new applications and services without any financial risk.

“Today’s enterprises need to be agile. They require the freedom to mix and match the latest cloud technologies to seize new revenue opportunities in an instant. That’s what our new uCPE service is all about. It eliminates vendor lock-in and lets our clients experiment with best-in-class solutions that fit their specific needs and ambitions,” said Fahad A. Alhajeri, VP, digital solutions, STC. “By giving our customers quick and secure access to an unrivalled range of multi-vendor virtual technologies, we’re unleashing the full potential of businesses in this region. With the help of ADVA’s Ensemble NFV technology, we’re forging a path for our customers to a cloud-based future of on-demand services and rapid innovation.”

STC’s new uCPE offering enables businesses across the Middle East to select virtual products from the Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem, a unique multi-vendor environment with unparalleled variety and choice. It’s built on the Dell EMC Networking VEP 1405 series, a compact, low-power uCPE appliance purpose-built to host VNFs and ideal for demanding SD-WAN applications. With ADVA’s Ensemble Connector as the NFVI platform, multiple VNFs can run on a single uCPE. Other key components include Ensemble Orchestrator and Virtualization Director, which provide a simple and effective management and orchestration (MANO) architecture, empowering STC to roll out secure virtualized services at scale.

“STC’s uCPE service is ideal for connecting the enterprise to the cloud. Now businesses throughout the Middle East can leverage the power of virtualization and choose from the market’s widest range of onboarded commercial VNFs,” commented James Buchanan, GM, Edge Cloud, ADVA. “Our Ensemble suite’s MANO capabilities support the rollout of secure virtualized service across multiple locations with complete flexibility and scale. And, thanks to our Ensemble Connector’s zero-touch provisioning, STC can ship uCPE to a customer site and provision it securely with no need for technicians. With such rapid deployments and agile service creation at the network edge, STC is leading the way to the managed services of tomorrow.”

“By utilizing our Virtual Edge Platform 1405 series and ADVA’s Ensemble software, STC is giving its customers a simple way to respond to shifting industry demand,” said Drew Schulke, VP, Dell EMC Networking, Dell Technologies. “Working with ADVA, we’re empowering STC and its customers to digitalize their infrastructures. Now they can deploy solutions at the click of a mouse and harness advanced tools for boosting security, reducing costs and improving end-user customer experience.”

Source: ADVA media announcement