Light Reading Successfully Debuted the 'NFV and the Data Center' and 'Women in Telecom' Events in California

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the market-leading online community for the global communications sector, today announced the successful wrap-up of the inaugural NFV and the Data Center conference (www.lightreading.com/nfv) and Women in Telecom breakfast series, which took place September 16 in Santa Clara, CA.

"This year's event provided a comprehensive view of the market and technical drivers that are shaping the design and implementation cycles of telco data centers. In many respects, the event confirmed and validated the idea that telco virtualized network functions will become an integral part of data centers to enable the service agility that network operators will require to succeed in the New IP era," said Jim Hodges, Conference Chairman and Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading.

Targeted to telecom executives, the one-day NFV and the Data Center conference outlined the opportunities and challenges associated with creating virtualized telecom carrier-grade data centers. The event brought together 230 attendees.

The conference took an in-depth look at realistic and achievable timelines and associated best practices for building telecom-grade virtualized data centers; the platform requirements of a successful NFV infrastructure; and how telecom's key performance indicators (KPIs) will have to evolve in the era of virtualization. Key industry trends discussed include:

• The need for service providers to shorten their service delivery cycles and adopt agile approaches to delivering new services
• The key role that automation of network processes will play in helping operators deliver more user control and network programmability
• Taming network complexity remains a significant challenge
• Services in the era of virtualization must still maintain security and reliability for which telecom has been known

In addition to Heavy Reading analysts, the event's roster of keynotes included:

• Christos Kolias, Senior Research Scientist, Orange Silicon Valley
• Chris Eldredge, Executive Vice President of Data Center Services, NTT America Inc.
• Jared Wray, Chief Technology Officer, CenturyLink Cloud
• Kelly Herrell, Vice President and General Manager, Software Networking, Brocade
• Don MacNeil, Chief Operating Office, XO Communications

Brocade was the event's Super Platinum sponsor. Cisco, Cyan, Juniper Networks, Metaswitch, NetCracker, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec and Wind River were Gold sponsors.

In addition, the inaugural Women in Telecom quarterly breakfast series (www.lightreading.com/womenintelecom) brought together more than 70 women in telecom and offered a forum for discussion of important industry issues, as well as an informal setting for women in the industry to meet, exchange ideas and network.

Award-winning entrepreneur, marketing expert, author and speaker Monique Hayward joined Light Reading Editor-at-Large Carol Wilson, Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Roz Roseboro, and guest panelists Anne-Louise Kardas, Manager, Product and Business Development, Sprint; and Bethany Mayer, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Network Functions Virtualization Business, HP.

Upcoming Light Reading events include:

• Optimizing & Monetizing WiFi at SCTE's Cable-Tec Expo 2014: September 23 in Denver
• Backhaul Strategies for Mobile Operators: October 29 in New York City
• Next-Generation Network Components: November 6 in Santa Clara
• OSS in the Era of SDN & NFV: Evolution vs. Revolution: November 6 in London
• Women in Telecom: November 6 in London
• Telecom Analytics World: November 11 in Atlanta
• The Future of Cable Business Services: December 2 in New York City
• Mobile Network Security Strategies: December 3 in New York City
• 2020 Vision: December 9-10 in Reykjavik, Iceland

Follow Light Reading on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube for all the latest news.

About Light Reading

Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) combines its research-led online communities and targeted events portfolio to help those in the global communications industry make informed decisions. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for telecom analysis for more than 350,000 subscribers each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading produces targeted communications events and focused one-day conferences each year for cable, mobile, and wireline executives across five continents.

Media Contact:
Meryl Franzman
Beyond Words Communications Inc.
[email protected]
617 739 1769

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110913/SF67580LOGO-a

SOURCE Light Reading