VMware Accelerates 5G Readiness for Communications Service Providers with Intent to Acquire Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite

VMware will provide service assurance for communications service providers as they roll out competitive new services on current and 5G networks

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire the technology and team of Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite – software spanning network health, performance monitoring and root cause analysis for communications service providers (CSPs) and their customers – from Dell EMC. The addition of the Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite technology to the VMware Telco NFV portfolio equips CSPs with the ability to maintain operational reliability in their core network, cloud, and IT domains across physical and virtual infrastructure—enabling them to operationalize competitive new services faster.

As customers bridge current services from 4G to 5G, service assurance becomes critical. The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite provides automated capabilities to operators via accurate root cause analysis management. VMware, a leader in network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure, will leverage the Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite to help customers accelerate their virtual network function deployments with end-to-end service assurance once the deal closes.

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The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite team adds a deep bench of talent with engineering expertise and 10+ years of customer relationships. The core Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite offering is already well known to CSPs for its superior troubleshooting capabilities. More than 50 CSPs worldwide, including many Tier 1 operators, leverage Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite capabilities to enable new services for a range of customers, including enterprises, federal and local governments. Upon the deal closing, VMware plans to invest in growing the capabilities of the platform as a key component in the Telco NFV portfolio and focusing on modernization and intelligent automation. After the deal closes, Dell EMC customers will continue to have access to the Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite’s solutions pursuant to a commercial reseller agreement in place between VMware and Dell EMC.

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Conquering Network Complexity with Software

Faced with top-line and bottom-line pressures, operators are moving from a packaged hardware approach to an NFV-driven, software-defined approach for their core network environments. While this move is critical to operators’ ability to deliver agile services and capitalize upon new opportunities, their capacity to virtualize quickly is hampered by a lack of effective root cause analysis. This is an increasingly important area of focus, given the rapid changes happening in operator networks as they deploy 4G services like Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) and prepare for 5G-driven advanced applications supporting IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality.

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The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite provides assurance capabilities to deliver service impact and root-cause analysis with visibility across physical and virtual networks, and cloud environments, to identify how resources are being consumed and whether service level agreements are being met. This transparency enables CSPs to visualize, analyze and optimize their environments to enable faster resolution times; proactive identification of issues is proven to provide better return on NFV and IT investments. The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite is complemented by leading VMware technologies, including VMware vCloud NFV, VMware vRealize Operations, VMware vRealize Network Insight, Wavefront by VMware and VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud.

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VMware’s Commitment to Communications Service Providers

This acquisition demonstrates VMware’s growing commitment to the telecommunications industry. It also reinforces the “better together” synergy between VMware and Dell EMC. Additionally, CSP customers will benefit from the combination of VMware and Dell EMC solutions.

“As carriers are readying for 5G, they are increasingly virtualizing edge and core networks with network functions virtualization, or NFV. Service assurance is a critical need for any network. The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite’s established software and services capabilities, combined with VMware’s trademark innovation, will empower CSPs to modernize and accelerate the transformation of their networks through NFV upon closing,” said Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president, Strategy and Corporate Development and General Manager Telco NFV Group, VMware. “The Dell EMC Service Assurance Suite team is primed to accelerate our NFV business and help drive it forward with unprecedented service assurance.”