Network evolution: the future is now…
The world is on demand, why shouldn’t your network be?
Networks are evolving at a rapid pace. Gone are the days when customers were happy to wait weeks or months for their service provider to make configuration changes, modifications or deliver new network services.
Our customers expect more from their service provider and that’s why we are continuously innovating and offering new ways to consume our network services. Launched last month, the Colt Novitas platform builds upon our SDN-enabled network and changes completely how our services are consumed, putting for the first time, customers in the driving seat and enabling them to build and modify network services in the same way they can for cloud computing.
The Colt Novitas platform includes a new web portal in which customers can consume Colt DCNet as-a-service. Customers can login and build new networks by reserving ports (end-points) and building connections between them. For those who want to go even further, new APIs will also be made available to allow enterprises to integrate these capabilities directly into their IT systems and processes.
The new automation drives real-time control of the network and enables customers to change their network topology on demand, as well as to flex the bandwidth in real time. All this capability is offered on a flexible contract with no long term commitments through a self-service PAYG commercial model. By doing this Colt’s network becomes more agile and scalable meeting the needs of the digital enterprise.
Colt’s next generation network leverages the software defined networking investments made in the last few years and will expand to support network function virtualisation enabled services in the near future.
Remaining at the forefront of network innovation is our goal and the launch of DCnet as-a -service is just the beginning of our network modernisation strategy. Plans are already underway to extend the reach into any Colt modular Carrier Ethernet Multi-Service Platform (M-MSP) enabled device, including customer sites, as well as to increase the geographic coverage to more sites and regions such as Asia, and into public clouds. This will enable customers to build connections not only between the current pre-provisioned data centres and carrier hotels but also to and between any supported customer site or branch, cloud service providers such as AWS, MS Azure and Salesforce, and flex the bandwidth in real-time.
Our network strategy has been designed from day one with the clear requirement to extend the new elastic network capabilities beyond Colt’s footprint and into third-party networks. This will facilitate the federation across multiple operator networks and a more efficient network scaling to help address the challenges of massive traffic growth. Colt is currently working with Tier-1 SPs in building an open SDN NNI framework to extend capabilities beyond a single operator’s network.
I recently presented our plans at Layer 123 SDN World Congress in Dusseldorf and received positive feedback. There is general consensus that the industry needs to make drastic changes to adapt to the evolving needs of the digital enterprise. My promise to customers is that Colt will continue to lead in the deployment of SDN services.
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