VMware, Inc., on Wednesday further expanded the company’s growing ecosystem of VMware Ready for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) certified solutions, with new certified solutions from A10 Networks, Fortinet, Riverbed, UANGEL, Viptela and ZTE. VMware has now certified 22 Virtual Network Functions from 19 vendors worldwide. VMware’s growing set of NFV partners helps global communications service providers adopt and deploy NFV to transform their operations and service portfolio with speed and confidence.

The complete list of VMware Ready for NFV certified solutions is available on the VMware Solution Exchange (VSX). VMware Ready for NFV allows partners to certify their virtual network functions (VNFs) for interoperability with two fundamental VMware NFV components: NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) and a Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM). The VMware Ready certification provides CSPs with the confidence that VMware partner VNF solutions will seamlessly and effectively deploy, run, and interoperate with VMware vCloud NFV. The VMware Ready program designates VMware’s highest level of endorsement for products and solutions created by our established partners, and accreditation builds customer confidence and accelerates further opportunities for collaboration as leaders in the cloud.

“VMware offers a broad ecosystem of certified NFV partners and we are creating a true marketplace for customers to build new services based on best-in-class virtual network functions. VMware is delivering openness and choice across the NFV technology stack - NFVI, VIM, VNFs and Orchestration – and we are extending our coverage across mobile, wirelines, SD-WAN GiLAN and even security. This, combined with our Cross-Cloud Architecture that delivers a common operating environment across the network services and telco IT cloud environments, is enabling VMware to become a go-to partner for digital telco transformation,” said Gabriele Di Piazza, vice president of solutions, Telco NFV Group at VMware.

VMware vCloud NFV brings together the core virtualization and management components required to accelerate NFV deployment. VMware vCloud NFV enables CSPs to deploy a unified, multi-vendor and multi-function NFV platform that supports any application at all stages of cloud evolution. The platform enables IT, Network and Operations departments to leverage existing skills and operational experience with VMware virtualization, providing a faster and smoother implementation and ongoing management of telco clouds.