FlexWare Banner Feature
AT&T has just included new features on their On Demand platform in order to attract enterprise customers. AT&T mentioned that a new device option, named as FlexWare banner would now be available on their previously dubbed Network Functions on their On Demand platform.
The newly installed FlexWare banner will benefit enterprise customers in numerous ways. This will allow the customers to enable multiple virtual network functions within a single screen. The network functions can also be deployed across different countries and business customers can even manage the functions through an online portal.
Reports from AT&T indicate that over 1,700 businesses have already signed up for their Network On Demand platform and they hope that more businesses will join them in the near future. AT&T has also confirmed that they will add Palo Alto Networks’ security platform to their VNF catalog.
The latest Ethernet-based service utilizes network functions virtualization, software-defined networking, and other virtualization technologies. These technologies will allow the business customers to scale bandwidth, manage services, change or add services, and help them to order more ports through a single online platform.
In an earlier announcement, AT&T Business Solutions CEO, Ralph de la Vega said that the NOD platform from their company allowed them to introduce new services in many locations within a week. He also added that companies, who signed up for this package, were able to alter their network speed within 90 seconds.
“There is no need to call a salesperson, there is no need to order equipment, there is no need to set up another connection – it happens in 90 seconds,” De la Vega said. “And what I love about it is my revenue cycle is 90 seconds. That’s a pretty good deal when you can lower [capital expense], [operating expense] and shorten the revenue cycle for your business. So we have now turned up our Network On Demand, we have thousands of customers on it.”
On Demand Service
Technology Business Research recently reported that AT&T has been very aggressive in their virtualization deployments citing their orchestration, integrated cloud services, and many more. According to TBR executive telecom analyst, Michael Sullivan-Trainor, “AT&T’s strategy with respect to these initiatives is to gain the benefits of NFV as quickly as possible. AT&T hopes to work out the technical options in initial deployments, then scale those deployments across its footprint before finally federating the solution.”
