Cloud Innovation Awards: Cloud Networking Solution finalists: Microsoft, Aviatrix, Cloudbrink, Ericsson, F5

The Silverlinings editorial team recently announced the finalists for our first-ever Cloud Innovation Awards. We wanted to give you an inside look at the best of the best in cloud networking. This category was pretty broad, so hold on to your hats as we swoop in for more info.

Oh! Just a reminder that the Silverlinings editorial team will announce the Cloud Innovation Awards winners on December 7 at the Cloud Executive Summit, which will be held at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma, Ca. Join us for the ceremony and also the full event. Register today and use code LIZ50 for half off a conference pass!

And now, here. We. GOOOOO!

Here’s what you need to know about each Cloud Networking Solution finalist: 

  • Aviatrix, Aviatrix software: Aviatrix touted two key products in its entry – its Secure Cloud Networking software which includes its Controller, CoPilot, Gateway and Transit solutions, and its Distributed Cloud Firewall. The former allows the latter to push inspection and policy enforcement into the natural path of application traffic, removing the need for traffic to be funneled to centralized firewalls. It claimed clients are saving thousands and even millions of dollars via the elimination of service provider data processing costs, old firewall licenses, compute costs for traffic inspection in the cloud and operational complexity. The company said it currently has over 500 enterprise clients across a range of verticals.
     
  • Cloudbrink, The Cloudbrink Service: The company’s Cloudbrink service is centered around delivering hybrid access as a service for enterprises using a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Its suite of products includes SD-WAN, zero-trust network access and and automated moving target defense security. But this little line from their entry explains what that means in practice: “With the ability to use thousands of dynamically provisioned PoPs called FAST edges, Cloudbrink provides an in-office experience with a 30x increase in application performance.”
     
  • Ericsson, Ericsson Cloud-Native Infrastructure: Ericsson designed this infrastructure package specifically to host its cloud-native 5G applications. It includes Ericsson Cloud Container Distribution, Ericsson Software Defined Infrastructure for hardware management, Operations Management for Cloud Infrastructure (OMC) and its Enhanced VNF Manager, which facilitates application orchestration via standardized workflows.According to the company, 80% of Ericsson’s live 5G deployments run on this infrastructure and it pointed to SK Telecom as a model client.
     
  • F5, F5 Distributed Cloud Services: The company’s Distributed Cloud Service portfolio includes software-as-a-service options for security, networking and application management that work across data center, multi-cloud and edge environments. On the networking front specifically, F5’s solution provides a software-defined network that creates a bridge between clouds and allows customers to enforce common security policies across all their environments. Key benefits of F5’s offering include a reduced need for specialized skillsets for each cloud, better visibility across deployments, improved security and compliance, and faster deployments via intent-based automation and orchestration.
     
  • Microsoft, Azure Operator Nexus: You’ve heard of Azure, but have you heard of Azure Operator Nexus? The company nominated its carrier-grade hybrid cloud platform in this category. Unlike its general public cloud offering, Azure Operator Nexus is specifically designed for mobile network applications like 5G core and vRAN workloads, and it allows these to be run either on-premises or in Azure regions. This helps cut down on TCO and provides access to robust security, automation and AI tools, the company said.

Check out additional content about the Cloud Innovation Awards here:


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