MEF has used this week’s MEF19 event to unveil an MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Certification Program. Now in the pilot phase, the certification program is designed to enable service and technology providers to validate that their SD-WAN services and products conform to the recently published SD-WAN Service Attributes and Services (MEF 70) standard. MEF has named Spirent Communications as the SD-WAN Authorized Certification and Test Partner (ACTP) that will collaborate on development and execution of the program.
Seven service providers and technology vendors have signed up for the pilot effort. The certification process will see the test of service attributes and their behaviors as defined in MEF 70 and the subject of an upcoming MEF SD-WAN Certification Test Requirements (MEF 90) standard. MEF expects users looking for an SD-WAN partner will find certified options attractive. The organization expects to announced the first certified companies in the first quarter of 2020.
“There are expansive opportunities in the SD-WAN market, with tens of billions of dollars in revenue at stake during the next five years, and many service providers are looking to quickly develop and advance their SD-WAN offerings to ensure they remain competitive,” said Nan Chen, MEF president. “MEF 3.0 SD-WAN standardization and certification will play a vital role in accelerating SD-WAN market growth and facilitating creation of powerful new hybrid networking solutions optimized for digital transformation. Spirent’s technology, market leadership, and global reach make it a great partner to help maximize SD-WAN’s full market potential through certification.”
“SD-WAN is a dynamic service delivered using software-defined networking, virtualization, and inherent security and therefore requires a significant level of testing, validation, and assurance to achieve certification,” said Marc Cohn, Spirent’s head of virtualization. “The transition from traditional to MEF 3.0 orchestrated and assured services is significant to Spirent and for the entire global communications industry. We are thrilled to participate as the official SD-WAN Authorized Certification and Test Partner.”
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