Many experts believe that a clear sign of when a technology evolution has reached a critical point of maturity is when vendors and customers come together to ensure it “goes mainstream.”
If these experts are right, the recent industry gathering at NFV World Congress is proof that NFV has crossed the chasm. Held in San Jose, CA from May 5-8, NFV World Congress represented a first-of-its-kind event focused solely on NFV and SDN.
Attended by dozens of vendors and carrier customers alike, the event signaled the shift of NFV to the “doing phase” of deployments and was evidence that carriers worldwide are certainly taking this new architecture very seriously. In addition to vendors and customers, the ecosystem in attendance of this event also featured strong representation from the Open Source community, which speaks volumes to the many potential possibilities of this new approach to building next-generation networks.
As one of the companies leading the deployment of NFV in mobile networks globally, Affirmed Networks had a strong presence at the event. Specifically, we were able to participate in a panel on NFV deployments, to get valuable time with customers and partners, and to meet with industry analysts and members of the media covering this exciting area.
While there is still a long way to go until NFV deployment is ubiquitous worldwide, this event certainly was proof that it is well on its way to being the foundation for the way networks will be built moving forward. Stay tuned, exciting times indeed.