Virtela, An NTT Communications Company, Wins Prestigious 2014 Leading Lights Award

DENVER, Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtela, an NTT Communications company, today announced that it has been named a winner in the 10^th Annual Leading Lights Awards in the category of Most Innovative Carrier Cloud Service. Presented by Light Reading, the awards honor next-generation communications technology, applications, services and strategies, and reward companies that have performed exceptionally well during the past year.

Virtela won for its breakthrough Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Services enabled by its Cloud Software Defined Networking (Cloud SDN) Platform. Virtela and NTT Com offer industry-first NFV cloud networking services that can be instantly activated online and consumed via a pay-per-use model, eliminating industry limitations of long service delivery timeframes and long-term contracts.

"We are passionate about advancing cloud networking through continuous innovation, and are excited to be recognized for our on-demand NFV services that give enterprises unprecedented service agility and control," said Ron Haigh, president of Virtela. "Leveraging our powerful Cloud SDN platform, NTT Com and Virtela customers can rapidly transform their global branch office networks via an asset-light architecture."

While service deployments from other providers typically take months, the Cloud SDN platform activates and configures services within minutes -- including application acceleration, security (e.g., firewall, IPS, URL filtering), IPsec VPNs and SSL remote access VPNs. Configuration changes that can take weeks with other providers can be done in real time.

Customers have the unprecedented flexibility to turn up their cloud services via a self-service portal, receive 24x7 end-to-end management and support, or choose a hybrid of both.

These services are further enabled by Virtela Enterprise Services Cloud (ESC), the industry's only open cloud architecture for enterprise networking, security and mobility. With Local Cloud Centers (LCCs) strategically located around the world, services are delivered closest to end users for the highest performance.

"The standard of the entries in all 16 Leading Lights categories this year was exceptionally high, so the winners have really had to prove themselves worthy with great submissions that have been able to stand up to thorough scrutiny," said Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre."A Leading Lights award is a true mark of excellence." 

This recognition from Light Reading expands a growing list of industry awards Virtela has received for its innovative cloud-based services, superior customer support and unique approach to managed network service delivery. Virtela has won more than 100 industry awards including the World Communication Award, Fierce Innovation Award, Excellence in SDN Award, American Business Award, and Global Telecom Business Innovation Award.

For the full list of 2014 Leading Lights winners, please visit http://www.lightreading.com/spit-(service-provider-it)/test-and-measurement/leading-lights-awards-2014-the-winners/d/d-id/709513?f_src=lightreading_editorspicks_rss_latest.

About Virtela
Virtela Technology Services Incorporated, an NTT Communications company, is the smart alternative for enterprise networking and virtualized IT services. Recognized by more than 100 awards for outstanding service innovation, the company delivers services via its Virtualized Overlay Network and Virtela Enterprise Services Cloud (ESC) platform, which enables the transition of branch office networking and security services to the cloud. Virtela gives enterprises the benefit of "asset-light" software-defined networking that delivers up to 80% cost savings in upfront capital and 30% savings in ongoing operating expenses.

Virtela's services suite includes global managed network, security, mobility, application acceleration and IT infrastructure services.

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with global support centers. For more information, please call +1 (720) 475-4000 or visit www.virtela.net.

SOURCE Virtela