In a blog posted today, Cisco has revealed its intention to acquire SDN platform specialists Sedonasys Systems Ltd. – better known as Sedona Systems. Cisco expects the deal to close in its current year fiscal fourth quarter, which began this month and runs through July. A Cisco spokesperson declined to reveal the financial terms of the transaction.
Sedona is best known for its NetFusion hierarchical controller platform that provides network visibility as well as enables IP/optical layer convergence (see “Sedona Systems upgrades NetFusion for IP/optical layer convergence, discovery”). As described during the 2017 interview just cited, NetFusion is designed to communicate with network equipment and controllers from all major vendors to automatically discover multivendor network topologies, traffic, and services for both the optical and IP/MPLS layers. It also tracks cross-layer connections. Use of NetFusion can support reliable inventory assurance, improved resiliency, accelerated provisioning, and more efficient maintenance and repairs, company sources said at the time.
However, based on the angle taken by blog author Kevin Wollenweber, vice president, product management, service provider network systems, Cisco appears to value NetFusion for much of its original SDN and IP/optical convergence attributes. “The Sedona NetFusion platform is the first to deliver complete network abstraction and control, allowing CSPs to manage their networks across domains, vendors, layers, and a myriad of different technologies, all as one single network,” Wollenweber writes. As such, NetFusion will help enable Cisco’s recently announced Routed Optical Networking capabilities (see “”) as well as such high-value functions as 5G network slicing. NetFusion thus complements Cisco Crosswork as an engine of network automation, Cisco asserts.
The revelation of the acquisition agreement comes not quite a month after Cisco and Sedona announced that Cisco would make NetFusion available to its customers via the Cisco DevNet SolutionsPlus Program. At the time, the companies said that NetFusion would “strengthen Cisco’s Crosswork Automation Solution and Routed Optical Networking by extending the reach into multi-layer and multi-vendor IP and optical environments.”
For related articles, visit the Network Automation Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters.
About the Author
Stephen HardyStephen Hardy
Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.
