Agero supports nearly half of passenger vehicles on the road with Oracle SD-WAN

Agero is using Oracle enterprise communications technologies to safeguard drivers in more than 115 million vehicles in the U.S. When a driver is stranded roadside, time is of the essence. With Oracle, the company has achieved continuous contact center uptime, so customers can get the assistance they need and are back on the road as quickly as possible.

For 45 years, Agero has provided smart solutions for its clients and their drivers. Currently, Agero’s  roadside assistance, accident management and consumer affairs services are leveraged in the U.S. by drivers in two-thirds of new passenger vehicles, policyholders from nine of the top 15 auto insurance carriers and customers of a variety of other diversified clients. 

Oracle SD-WAN was created to solve the ongoing IT challenges network managers face every day—from expensive, sluggish, inflexible WANs to difficulties deploying new office WAN links and accessing cloud services. 

With Oracle SD-WAN, enterprises can benefit from internet economics, leverage high-bandwidth and inexpensive Internet connections, and safely migrate applications to the public cloud and SaaS at their own pace – without sacrificing the high availability and predictable application performance they expect from their MPLS-only WANs..

To maximize the quality of its customers’ experiences and to eliminate communication failures or downtime, Agero needed predictable enterprise communications performance and real-time application support. Agero selected Oracle for the failsafe reliability, security and interoperability.

“When drivers are stranded on the road in the winter, creating not only an uncomfortable situation but also a health and safety issue, it is crucial for our customers to get directly in contact with an agent,” said Robert Sullivan, vice president, technology and shared services, Agero. “Oracle has the best of breed technology in the Oracle SD-WAN and Enterprise Session Border Controllers, which have helped us to deliver high availability, reliability and quality of experience for our customers.”

Since working with Oracle and Presidio to implement the Oracle SD-WAN solution, Agero has reduced downtime and created special routing situations for sites without substantial circuit diversity. This advanced, “always-on performance” is invaluable to Agero as the company processes more than 12 million roadside and emergency support requests per year.

“Agero is reinventing how driver assistance is delivered, while elevating the consumer experience in often dire scenarios,” said Andrew Morawski, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications - Networks. “As enterprises demand flexible WAN solutions supporting shifting business requirements, Oracle is increasing and leveraging bandwidth for affordable and trusted WAN connectivity, anywhere and whenever it’s needed.”

In addition to the Oracle SD-WAN, Agero deployed Oracle 1100 Enterprise Session Border Controller (E-SBC) Oracle 3900 E-SBC and the Oracle Communications Converged Application Server (OCCAS) to protect its network and contact center from external threats.

Martello completes initial phase of testing its SD-WAN offering on ENCQOR 5G

Martello Technologies announced this week that it has completed the initial phase of testing for its SD-WAN solution as part of a project with ENCQOR 5G, Canada’s initial pre-commercial fifth-generation (5G) wireless network for open innovation. 

Among the first SD-WAN vendors in Canada to initiate a project on the ENCQOR 5G testbed, Martello aims to demonstrate that its SD-WAN solution can deliver stable and predictable handling of unified communications (UC) and other real-time IoT traffic on 5G networks.

Launched in March last year, ENCQOR 5G is funded by the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund, along with the Governments of Quebec and Ontario as well as leading industry players Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI and IBM. ENCQOR 5G is coordinated by Innovation ENCQOR, and delivered in Ontario by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, CEFRIO and Prompt.

ENCQOR 5G brings together SMEs, industry, government, researchers and academia in both Quebec and Ontario to collaborate on the commercialization of disruptive products, processes, and services, providing a first-to-market advantage and to improve the ability of SMEs to scale.

According to Gartner, in 2020, worldwide 5G wireless network infrastructure revenue will reach $4.2 billion, an 89% increase from 2019 revenue of $2.2 billion1. The enterprise will increasingly become the focus of 5G services, expanding into new real-time and mobile IoT applications such as autonomous vehicles, remote healthcare, the mobile office, and agriculture and retail sector applications.

The project with ENCQOR 5G underpins current Martello projects and the development of new solutions, while fostering collaboration with companies within the alliance. Following on Martello’s successful mobile SD-WAN for autonomous vehicles proof of concept with BlackBerry QNX in May 2019, the project with ENCQOR 5G leverages the Company’s leadership and unique expertise in network connectivity for real-time and mobile IoT applications.

In the initial phase of the project, Martello has demonstrated compatibility with LTE-A, a precursor to 5G; in later phases, Martello will test UC traffic specifically, over LTE-A and 5G.

Martello’s SD-WAN and link balancing technology provides network connectivity in challenging environments, including in developing regions with a limited telecom infrastructure. With 5G emerging as the next generation network, Martello is future-proofing its SD-WAN solution to ensure that challenging mobile IoT applications on 5G networks, such as autonomous vehicles and the distributed, mobile office, stay seamlessly connected to mobile networks.

“Through our work with the ENCQOR 5G testbed, we have an opportunity to engage with many of the world’s top technology players, from Ericsson to CGI, in accelerating Canadian innovation in 5G,” said John Proctor, president and CEO of Martello. “ENCQOR 5G is central to Martello’s strategy, giving us the ability to integrate solutions at the earliest points in the development cycle and demonstrate Martello’s 5G readiness.”

“Martello is leading SD-WAN innovation on 5G networks with ENCQOR 5G,” said Claudia Krywiak, president and CEO, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the coordinating member of ENCQOR 5G for Ontario. “Businesses like Martello are paving the way to Canada’s 5G future, with the support of private industry, federal and provincial governments.”

Mushroom Networks comes together with Aethra Telecommunications to provide SD-WAN for service providers, system integrators

Mushroom Networks and Italian telecom firm Aethra Telecommunications, jointly announced their partnership to provide universal-CPE (uCPE) based SD-WAN solutions for service providers and system integrators worldwide.

The uCPE, with integrated fiber and copper ports, embedded VDSL2 modems and an embedded LTE modem, is capable of running VNFs (Virtual Network Functions) on VMs (Virtual Machines). When combined with Mushroom Networks' SD-WAN software, this creates an ideal platform for service providers and integrators. 

The SD-WAN solution enables intelligent management of the application traffic flows and the orchestration of the WAN connections to optimize end-user experience both for inter-office communications as well as Internet applications served by private, public or hybrid clouds. 

The combined solution enhances the performance of the network and increases network reliability by dynamically steering packets based on advanced algorithms that learn and adapt depending on network conditions. This cognitive and adaptive approach to SD-WAN facilitates setting the networks on autopilot to work around and shield network problems without any human intervention.

The uCPE with SD-WAN solution is now available in Europe, Central America, the Middle East and Northern Africa regions.

Orange uses embedded software to improve end-user experience on its ThousandEyes alliance

Orange partnered with US-based ThousandEyes, an Internet and cloud intelligence company, to deliver real time, end-to-end visibility on both its enterprise networks and the Open Transit Internet (OTI).

The ThousandEyes platform, combined with Orange expertise around data analytics, provides businesses and carriers with improved digital experiences delivered across the Internet to cloud service providers (CSPs), Internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers (CPs). 

Using the ThousandEyes platform, Orange is now able to continuously monitor the performance of certified ISPs and their connection to the Orange Next-Gen Hubs, OTI points-of-presence globally, and all major cloud service providers and content providers. This allows Orange to deliver on the promise of the Internet of Enterprises and OTI by providing performance measurements over Internet in 60 countries, and will continue expanding coverage in the coming months.

Orange Business Services, the global enterprise division of the Orange Group, intends to power this partnership to provide its customers with leading-edge enterprise-grade managed Internet, multi-cloud connectivity and SD-WAN visibility services.

Orange has already deployed the ThousandEyes platform successfully with customers. This includes a German industrial manufacturer, who used it to determine the best cloud connectivity solution in China. 

During a performance assessment of Office 365 and Microsoft Azure connectivity, Orange compared direct connectivity via its Orange Business Services Next-Gen Hub to an alternative solution over Internet. The results were clear: Next-Gen Hub provided up to three times more bandwidth and with more reliability, thereby delivering the best experience for the customer’s users in China.

A key Orange Business Services objective is to accompany its customers around the world in their cloud and SD-WAN transformation journeys, and the ThousandEyes platform is a critical enabler to optimize the migration phases. It allows Orange to monitor quality of experience at both the application and network level, and speed up troubleshooting in case of Internet-related performance issues. 

Customers will be able to gain insight into the internal and external dependencies that impact the end-user experience.

Meriplex takes on SD-WAN; boosts network uptime and decreases MPLS-driven costs

Meriplex Communications announced that it has aligned with Dell EMC for a newly launched, SD-WAN solution powered by VMware. This collaborative SD-WAN solution will be desirable to enterprise organizations as it brings Dell EMC capabilities to the market coupled with a MSP partner.

With Meriplex delivered Dell EMC SD-WAN powered by VMware, organizations can increase network uptime and cut MPLS-driven costs, allowing for an effective approach of automation and intelligence to overcome constantly evolving network challenges. 

Organizations will leverage their investment in existing WAN infrastructure while taking advantage of the features and capabilities of SD-WAN. With business security requirements for modern enterprises ever evolving, end-to-end data security is the most valuable infrastructure component for conducting a robust digital business, connecting with customers, and driving business growth. SD-WAN protects organizations through enhanced centralized and next-gen firewall capabilities and the ability to integrate cloud security solutions. 

It also delivers speed to deploy new branch organizations with increasing M&A activity and organic growth, which is required to open and operate new branch locations. SD-WAN eliminates prolonged wait times for circuit installation turnups, and with zero-touch capabilities, technical expertise on site is not necessary, allowing branch locations to start running instantaneously.

As cloud-based applications increase the necessity for high network performance, organizations now expect better reliability, dexterity, and flexibility from their WAN to maximize the cloud's economies of scale. SD-WAN allows this transformational shift from rigid, outdated WAN architecture, to move SaaS applications into cloud environments, enhancing business growth and providing better QoS for end-users.

The DIY SD-WAN takes a copious amount of time away from an IT department's ability to focus on business-critical projects. Many lack the first-hand experience and expertise to configure complex network integrations. With a managed SD-WAN solution, organizations free up their technical resources for higher business priorities and rely on an MSP, like Meriplex, to proactively monitor and manage the network 24/7 with SD-WAN experts.

With Meriplex and Dell EMC, organizations can bundle these benefits for SD-WAN, including integrated cloud security, speedy branch deployment, and connectivity to the cloud, into one cost-effective, turnkey SD-WAN solution. Meriplex offers a unique, co-managed service that allows organizations to operate in tandem with Meriplex to gain complete visibility and control into their solution.

Menlo Security now part of VMware SD-WAN security technology partner program to provide secure cloud transformation

Cloud security company Menlo Security has announced a new integration with VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud, which offers flexible enterprise SD-WAN architecture. 

The solution delivers Secure Cloud Transformation, which optimizes and secures local Internet breakouts and enables global low latency access to the Internet and business-critical SaaS applications for an enterprise’s entire local and remote workforce. The integration is available immediately to all VMware SD-WAN customers.

VMware SD-WAN customers have simplified their branch office networking and optimized application performance over the Internet. Secure Cloud Transformation, powered by isolation, allows companies to improve security control and visibility across their SD-WAN deployment.

Moving to SD-WAN requires an enterprise to move their security to the cloud since user traffic is not backhauled to a central security stack. Menlo Security Cloud Platform allows users to go directly to the Internet, while ensuring consistent and robust security controls, whether they are connecting from HQ, remote offices, on the road or in a coffee shop.

Menlo Security’s customers include some of the largest enterprises and government agencies. The company’s cloud security platform currently processes more than 500 million web requests per day. Among the company’s customers are seven of the 10 largest banks, four of the five largest credit-card issuers and some of the largest energy and transportation companies in the world.

“Menlo Security helps some of the largest enterprises and government agencies in the world transform their infrastructure and move security to the cloud, while maintaining global visibility and control of their traffic,” said Poornima DeBolle, chief product officer at Menlo Security. “VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud combined with the Menlo Security Cloud Platform powered by isolation redefines security and provides the industry’s most secure solution for Internet and SaaS applications.”

"VMware SD-WAN provides the optimal combination of intrinsic security in the multi-service Edge for corporate traffic as well as SD-WAN optimized access via our Network of Clouds Service gateways to the innovative Menlo Security Cloud Platform powered by isolation," said Steve Woo, senior director of product management at VMware. "Access to cloud and SaaS applications is automatically provisioned, optimized for performance and secured with VMware SD-WAN and Menlo Security Cloud Platform."

Silver Peak expands integration with Microsoft Cloud Services; automates enterprise branch office connectivity to Office 365, Azure Virtual WAN

Silver Peak announced on Monday expanded product integration with Microsoft cloud services. Its expanded integration enables enterprise IT organizations to centrally define workflows within Unity Orchestrator to automate direct branch connectivity to Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure across deployments of the business-driven Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform. 

These advancements allow cloud-first enterprises to deliver the highest quality of application experience to branch users, dramatically simplify network operations for IT, and achieve a multiplier effect on Microsoft cloud investments.

As cloud-first enterprises embrace leading productivity tools like Office 365, IT organizations are tasked with delivering the highest levels of performance to achieve the full productivity benefit. 

To help enterprises deliver the best Office 365 experience, Microsoft has defined a set of connectivity best practices for connecting branch office users over the internet to the closest Office 365 service front door. The Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform is now fully integrated with Office 365 IP address and URL web services, providing default support for Microsoft connectivity best practices. 

This expanded integration extends the value of advanced capabilities like First-packet iQ application classification and local DNS resolution (for Office 365 endpoints), allowing EdgeConnect to identify and classify Office 365 application traffic on the first packet and now automatically directs it to the nearest Office 365 endpoint. Directing traffic to the nearest endpoint significantly reduces round trip latency for the full suite of Office 365 applications, assuring the highest levels of performance.

For enterprises migrating applications from the corporate data center to the cloud, Microsoft Azure offers a compelling value proposition. The Azure cloud infrastructure spans Microsoft’s worldwide footprint of global data centers, hubs and entry points interconnected over Microsoft’s private high-performance global network. 

The Azure Virtual WAN service provides an API-driven software-defined paradigm that enables Unity Orchestrator to perform per-branch geolocation of the closest Azure hub, and then automatically establish, monitor and maintain IPsec tunnels from each branch location into Azure. This ensures that application traffic traverses the shortest distance possible on the public internet before merging onto the Azure backbone. 

Using the Silver Peak cloud API, network administrators can now establish and automate integration workflows within Unity Orchestrator, enabling joint customers to build optimized network access to workloads and resources hosted in Azure VNETs, fully leveraging the performance advantages of the Microsoft global backbone network.

“Virtually all Silver Peak customers rely on a combination of Microsoft products and cloud services, and the expanded integration announced today enables our joint customers to maximize user experience with Office 365 and Azure,” said Fraser Street, vice president of technical alliances for Silver Peak. “Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to customers to deliver a portfolio of API-driven integrations to automate connectivity to the most widely deployed, business-critical cloud applications and services from recognized leaders like Microsoft.”

Frontier launches managed SD-WAN offering that eases the network digital transformation for enterprises

Frontier Communications announced Frontier Managed SD-WAN, its end-to-end, Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solution that provides WAN-wide visibility, agility, control and AWS Cloud integration. It also offers the enterprise customer a choice and puts them in control with either a fully managed or a co-managed model. 

Combined with SD-WAN Managed Private Network (SD-WAN EVPL), Frontier Managed SD-WAN is a powerful solution that simplifies network management operations, delivers enhanced service-levels (SLA) and offers a compelling alternative for enterprise customers looking to transition from complex, costly and static MPLS networks.

Through an intuitive user-friendly portal, the customer can implement WAN-wide configurations to reflect traffic conditions and business and application priorities. This feature alone puts the customer in control and results in the WAN delivering network performance and traffic optimization at the application level, based on the customer’s policy and priorities, all at the click of a mouse.

Frontier Managed SD-WAN supports all WAN underlay technologies, integrating seamlessly with traditional solutions. Its flexible, transport-agnostic design allows for a phased, at-your-own-pace migration without a large capex or downtime, while providing zero-touch provisioning for easy, agile network scaling.

The offering can be used for financial services by securing sensitive data with built-in protection measures and micro-segmentation of network traffic, while allowing remote access to protected information. For the manufacturing sector, it simplifies management and prioritization of network traffic, ensuring business-critical traffic has the best connection available.

The retail category allows organizations to get new stores up and running fast, providing smooth upgrade paths for future network additions and cloud migration of business-critical applications; while the entertainment sector prioritizes network activity for both critical and low-priority traffic, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

The education arena reduces IT costs while providing high-performing connectivity for students, administration and educators, enhancing online learning applications; and the healthcare segment provides full network visibility from a central location for WAN-wide control, prioritization, segmentation and control.

Featuring dynamic routing capability, Application Aware Routing (AAR) with 2000+ application signatures, Frontier’s Managed SD-WAN provides direct and secure access to the cloud as well as Frontier hardware redundancy to ensure network uptime and reliability. 

For enterprise customers, static network configurations have become too complex and unsustainable to meet the continued growth of cloud implementations and bandwidth demand driven by increasing mobile device use. The comprehensive new features of Frontier’s Managed SD-WAN address the needs of enterprise customers seeking to move to an agile digital networking model while maintaining security, performance, and resiliency.

With Frontier’s Managed SD-WAN, the customer can expect value from day one because the network will be fully visible; providing network insight including application bandwidth consumption, performance alerts, policy recommendations, business reporting and more. This powerful view enables the enterprise to make informed decisions based on actual data in near real-time.