OREANDA-NEWS. NEC Corporation (NEC) (TSE: 6701) and Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leaders in network innovation, today announced the expansion of their global alliance relationship to deliver Network Functions Virtualization (NFV)-based solutions that allow service providers and enterprises to gain greater service agility to transform their business operations and help them lower overall costs.

The joint solutions combine the NEC Cloud System (OSS building model), which is an OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure, with NetCracker's OSS/BSS systems, end-to-end service orchestration, systems integration capabilities and consulting options along with Juniper Networks' networking equipment and virtual network functions (VNFs), such as the Juniper Networks® vMX routing platform and vSRX Virtual Firewall.

Juniper Networks' networking equipment and VNFs (vMX and vSRX) are the building blocks that enable NFV solutions to deliver greater levels of business agility through automation. NEC will leverage Juniper Networks' NFV-ready hardware and software within their enterprise virtualized Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE) solution to enable the flexibility of a virtualized service environment. When combined with NetCracker OSS/BSS and end-to-end service orchestration capabilities, the solution can provide service providers and enterprise customers with a viable means of delivering cloud-based business services in a fully automated fashion in near real-time.

NEC and Juniper have been working together since 2003 with a common goal of offering robust solutions for service providers and enterprises, and focusing on key areas, such as microwave/IP backhaul and optical/IP integration, that deliver dynamic, application-aware network performance. With today's announcement, their global alliance relationship expands to include software-defined networking (SDN) and NFV-based solutions to aid customers in the business transformation journey.

The two companies are also working together to expand into new and developing markets, with a focus on Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Key investment areas include integrated technical teams and state-of-the-art lab environments to road-test the latest solutions and targeted innovative industry initiatives, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Retail as a Service and Surveillance as a Service offerings. All NEC and Juniper Networks solutions are supported by a full breadth of professional services programs.

NEC and Juniper Networks will be showcasing a range of solutions at the NEC Booth (Hall 3, Stand #3N10) at Mobile World Congress 2016 taking place at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, February 22-25.