Cisco has unveiled a new network service management tool to its Evolved Services Platform (ESP), an application-centric network infrastructure framework.
Announced at the TM Forum Live! 2015, the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) Manager, when working with the Cisco WAN Automation Engine, enables design, provision and assurance capabilities to optimize management in an automated and real-time manner.
A key component of Cisco’s multi-layer network service lifecycle management solution, Cisco EPN Manager accelerates the transition to a SDN and NFV-based programmable network architecture that spans both physical and virtual elements.
“Multi-layer real-time management solutions will enable carriers to increase business agility and operational efficiencies through automated device operations, fast provisioning and service assurance. The ability to manage both physical and virtual elements is also critical to carrier deployment of NFV technologies,” said Dana Cooperson, research director, Network Software and Virtualisation, Analysys Mason.
The EPN Manager covers multiple network service domains, including packet optical transport, carrier Ethernet, service provider Wi-Fi, and data center.
The initial version targets optical and Ethernet applications, with additional capabilities scheduled for subsequent releases.
EPN manager enhances the customer experience by rapidly identifying the source of a problem and reducing the overall mean-time-to repair.
“We are enabling the seamless convergence of optical and packet, as well as physical and virtual properties within the network. And we’ll be able to do this from the customer site or service provider Wi-Fi access point, down to the data center application, with complete fault traceability,” said JL Valente, vice president of product management for Cisco’s cloud and virtualization group.
