New Packet Software from Ciena Helps Providers of Ethernet Services Improve User Experience and Win with Speed

Key elements of Ciena’s OPⁿ architecture accelerate service deployment, service changes, and service assurance

HANOVER, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ciena^® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today introduced powerful new software capabilities for its packet networking portfolio that enable network operators and carrier managed service providers to improve end customer experience for Ethernet services, such as mobile backhaul, business services and cloud applications. New features in both Ciena’s Service-Aware Operating System (SAOS) and its OneControl Unified Management System, reduce installation and provisioning time by as much as 75 percent, enable rapid service changes, and provide end customers with immediate assurance of service performance. In addition, Ciena’s new cloud-based portal allows providers to validate end-to-end Service Level Agreements (SLA) compliance throughout the service lifecycle. The new software capabilities align with OPⁿ, Ciena’s approach for building open, programmable next-generation networks that scale and automatically adapt to quickly deliver new services and bandwidth.

Key Facts:

• According to Vertical Systems-ENS, Ethernet service bandwidth now exceeds aggregate bandwidth of all legacy data services combined. Given this market maturity, providers must compete on end-user experience rather than technology. In recent industry reports, speed of delivery and performance guarantees are two of the most differentiating service attributes for any provider to meet customer needs.
• To help its customers improve their competitive advantage and win with speed of service delivery, enhancement and assurance, Ciena is introducing new features in its OneControl Unified Management System, which provide:
  • Comprehensive suite of zero-touch service profiles for rapid activation;
  • Rapid correlation of service performance events to enhance service quality reporting with historic fault and performance management trending;
  • Real-time, proactive troubleshooting of network issues via a sophisticated user interface that provides faster and more detailed event resolution, fault isolation and reporting; and,
  • NOC-based service visualization and remote, point-and-click provisioning so service providers can easily debug services and reduce time to deploy new services by as much as 75 percent.

• New speed-enhancing features in Ciena’s SAOS bolster the company’s portfolio that is purpose-built for Ethernet services to include:
  • Service activation testing that provides a service quality report at the time of deployment and periodic reports thereafter to assure end-users are receiving the desired service level;
  • Service-specific OAM tools for fault and performance measurement that ensure more accurate service management and fault isolation across a greater number of services – these added software enhancements support standard OAM protocols like 802.1ag and Y.1731 and benefit from custom hardware built into Ciena’s packet portfolio;
  • Addition of MPLS-TP technology, which greatly facilitates the deployment of access and aggregation infrastructure at scale and at a reasonable cost point, allowing seamless interoperability with the IP/MPLS protocol prevalent in core networks;
  • Enhanced G.8032 Ethernet ring support to provide greater network scalability and protection of services.

• Ciena’s new cloud-based portal gives end customers real-time visibility and service monitoring of their network. The portal provides direct access to SLA reports so customers can self-diagnose Ethernet service health and verify SLA adherence to provide performance assurance, end-user satisfaction and retention. It provides rapid and simple set-up because it is a fully managed SaaS-based service with no need for hardware, software or additional IT expenditures.

Industry Comments:

• A variety of carrier and enterprise customers around the globe leverage Ciena’s packet portfolio. Recent announcements include: NewTelco for Ethernet exchange capabilities to support the delivery of services tailored to the specific requirements of each carrier customer and support higher, verifiable SLAs; and Sovernet to deliver a full range of Ethernet services throughout Northern New England.
• “Metro access and aggregation networks continue to be built out at a furious pace to accommodate the increasing amount of bandwidth required by mobile backhaul, business services, and cloud applications. Whether this infrastructure is built out using IP/MPLS or Ethernet is an open question. Operators are looking for the lowest TCO, which includes the greatest ease of operation and fastest speed of deployment. Ciena’s approach to automation and rapid turn-up of services certainly focuses on what providers are looking for to help enable them to gain footprint and competitive advantage.”
  -  Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst, Carrier Networks at Infonetics Research

• “The entire Ciena team – from day to day sales, marketing, training and technical support – invests the right amount of time and resources to meet our needs. It is clear that Ciena has made our success in Metro Ethernet a corporate priority and their creativity and energy in pushing that priority has been instrumental to our success. We look forward to growing our partnership with Ciena in innovative ways that will continue to help us build a strong brand position and support our ongoing success in delivering a broad range of reliable, high-performance Ethernet services to business customers.”
  -  Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president of marketing and product management, Comcast

Executive Comments:

• “Ethernet services are mature and ubiquitous, so providers must find new, innovative ways to differentiate and improve the customer experience faster than the competition. Ciena’s new packet software capabilities equip providers with the ability to deploy networks that are built-for-speed: speed to service delivery, speed to respond to accelerating bandwidth requirements and speed to enable true SLA transparency. Our SAOS and OneControl software enhancements and cloud-based portal combined with our consultative partner approach, augment our strategic focus to provide customers with a network designed to significantly improve the subscriber experience.”
  -  Steve Alexander, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Ciena

Ciena at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo:

• Ciena will host a live “Built for Speed” webcast from its booth (#1043) at the SCTE Cable-Tec event in Orlando on Oct. 18 at 11:30 am EST. Attendees will learn more about Ciena’s new packet networking capabilities and how they can help carriers and managed service providers to improve the customer experience and sustain competitive advantage. Click here for details.

Technology Background:

• Ciena’s packet networking portfolio equips providers with greater speed – not just in terms of growing bandwidth, but also speed throughout the entire service life-cycle to address key challenges such as improving service turn-up and change intervals, accelerating problem resolution times and reducing overall customer churn. In fact in a few short years, Ciena’s mobile backhaul solution has already been deployed in close to 50 percent of North America’s Ethernet enabled cell towers.
• Ciena’s enhanced packet portfolio is complemented by the company’s Network Transformation Solutions Group (NTS) and BizConnect partner program that offer a truly consultative approach to Ciena partners along with joint marketing and sales support.
• Used by more than 150 carriers, wireless service providers and cable operators worldwide, Ciena’s purpose-built packet networking solutions offer the industry’s richest set of OAM capabilities. They support a wide range of key industry packet transport protocols, such as G.8032 and MPLS-TP thanks to the virtual switching capability native to Ciena’s packet portfolio.

Supporting Resources:

• White Paper: Built for Speed
• White Paper: OPⁿ Network Architecture
• Product Overview: Packet Networking Portfolio
• Product Overview: OneControl Unified Management System
• Webinar Series: Packet Networking Webinar Series
• Video: G.8032 – Ethernet Rings chalk talk
• Video: MPLS-TP chalk talk
• Video: Comcast Metro Ethernet Services, Powered by Ciena

About Ciena

Ciena is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with OPⁿ, its approach for building open next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

Note to Ciena Investors

Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 5, 2012. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.