Network Service providers and Enterprises are facing new opportunities and highly disruptive business models fostered by rapid evolution of technology. Network virtualization, Cloud and Automation are key driving factors in today’s network transformation. Virtualization and cloud enable rapid development and help bringing in automation and programmability to networks.

This growing network virtualization demand requires a network cloud infrastructure that allows resource optimization, resource sharing, agility and availability through lifecycle management of network services and applications.

Embracing and capitalizing on the opportunity requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the challenges and opportunities driven by Network Transformation. Let’s quickly take a deep dive to understand the typical challenges faced by an organization’s journey while undertaking network transformation.

• Getting access to Hardware — As networking vendors release new products at faster rate, it is nearly impossible to get access to all variants of hardware devices to create proof of concept and demo environments. With network virtualization, there is an opportunity to create testbeds quickly and in a virtual environment to help engineering, sales or operations teams without dependency on physical devices.
• Customized Network Environment — It is very difficult to have one environment to meet all needs. Solution architects and network engineers often need capabilities to design custom networksfor proof-of-concepts, deployments or engineering development.
• Quick Engineering sandboxes — With rapid pace of development, engineering teams need on demand test beds that can be deployed rapidly. Additionally, organizations embracing Network Transformation have to enable their partners and customers with easy and on-demand access to solutions for co-innovation, development, integration and related needs.
• 3rd Party integration and latest software releases — In the current world, every business is selling complete solutions rather than just hardware or software. Developing these solutions needs an environment to validate these integrations and test latest software releases provided by those third-party vendors.
• Custom PoC — Any transformation is not easy and it needs a valid custom proof of concept in the customer’s own environment. These custom PoC’s enable customers to make key decisions to invest in latest technologies without hesitation. Custom PoCs need a flexible design environment to validate customer’s own network during PoC. These PoCs are applicable to a variety of technologies including virtualization, cloud, network automation, SD-WAN, IOT, 5G etc.
• Trained Talent — Reskilling the Workforce skills to understand and use new technologies is a key challenge for service providers and enterprises in their network transformation journey. Continuous new developments in container networking, WAN, edge and additional opportunities presented by 5G, IOT and other emerging technologies require training of employees within these organizations.

Criterion SDCloud® — Network Transformation Enablement Cloud

Criterion SDCloud® Platform enables network transformation by providing customers with a custom enablement cloud and hosted services to meet lifecycle needs across service creation, GTM, customer deployment and operations. Customers can undertake Proof-of-concepts, deployment and operations without any physical infrastructure requirements.

Products like PoC Library, Criterion designer, Sales demos, Learning labs from Criterion make it easy for customers to undertake their network transformation journey through its enablement cloud platform.

Criterion SDCloud® caters to a wide spectrum of network transformation requirements and offers a broad set of toolkits for network enablement making it easy to develop and demonstrate integrations. Ready-to-use customizable configurations for solutions like SD-WAN help engineering teams to focus on right development areas. The Criterion Designer allows users to plan, design and spin up networking environments by using a drag-drop canvas, allowing customers to build customized network topologies instantly and to seamlessly run network environments. Tools for traffic generation and impairment and emulation for underlay transports such as MPLS and Internet helps sales teams to demonstrate real world deployments to end customers.

Over 25 leading service providers and enterprises use Criterion SDCloud® platform globally.

About Criterion Networks

Criterion Networks offers an industry-leading Enablement Cloud to accelerate the network transformation needs of MSP, VAR and Enterprise customers. Criterion SDCloud® platform equips customers with custom enablement cloud and hosted services to meet lifecycle needs across service creation, go-to-market (GTM), customer deployment and operations. Criterion supports requirements for all networking use-case solutions of interest including SD-WAN, Security, VNS, Container Networking and 5G Network Services.

For more information, Contact us at sales@www.criterionnetworks.com

Source: https://medium.com/@lokendra_32949/network-transformation-enablement-with-criterion-sdcloud/