Ciena says DevOps toolkit simplifies Blue Planet SDN/NFV virtual service creation

Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) has unveiled the Blue Planet DevOps Toolkit, a set of software development tools and collaboration resources designed to make it easier for network operators and others to create virtualized services and capabilities on their own. In addition to members of carrier development and operations (DevOps) teams, Ciena will also enable other technology vendors to use the toolkit to integrate their software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) friendly technology into networks that use the Blue Planet platform.

While Ciena has a thriving professional services business that offers assistance with working within the Blue Planet environment, customers have expressed interest in a more do-it-yourself approach, according to Joe Cumello, vice president of portfolio marketing at Ciena and former chief marketing officer at Cyan, which developed Blue Planet before Ciena acquired the company (see "Ciena closes Cyan acquisition, begins integration"). The DevOps Toolkit provides such an opportunity. The toolkit offers a series of models and templates designed to guide DevOps teams as they create new virtual services and related resources. Once they complete their projects, the toolkit users will notify Ciena, which will review their work and certify that it should operate successfully within the Blue Planet environment.

Cumello says that Ciena expects the toolkit, which the company will offer via subscription, to complement its professional services rather than replace them. He says that operators likely will want Ciena to perform some development functions while their in-house teams handle others.

Meanwhile, Ciena also expects vendors of complementary transport technology who wish to integrate their systems into networks using Blue Planet to avail themselves of the toolkit as well. The press release that announced the toolkit contained a quote from an ADTRAN spokesman who praised the collaborative possibilities. Systems integrators also may find the toolkit useful.

To encourage use of the DevOps Toolkit, Ciena also has created the Blue Planet Developers Community, which will enable operators and others to collaborate as well as share templates and other DevOps creations in an open-source inspired fashion. The community portal also will provide access to online documentation and training tools.

Cumello says Ciena finished initial development of the toolkit this past January and has made it available to select customers as a proof of concept. The toolkit will become generally available in June.

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