VMware joined the Open-O project today as a premier member.
The open source project hosted by the Linux Foundation works to enable end-to-end service orchestration via network functions virtualization (NFV) over both software-defined networks (SDN) and legacy networks.
As a premier member, VMware will participate in both the governing board, along with the technical steering and marketing committees.
In 2016 VMware indicated it would put more focus on telco NFV. And it hired Gabriele Di Piazza as vice president of telco NFV products.
“Some in the community have viewed VMware joining us as a way to expand the VIM [virtual infrastructure manager], because VMware has an OpenStack implementation,” says Marc Cohn, Open-O’s executive director.
In addition to VMware, other premier Open-O vendor members include Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Intel, and Gigaspaces.
Whether or not to use open source is a decision all the top NFV vendors are grappling with. Cohn says it’s easier for vendors to choose open source for a VIM or an SDN controller. But management and network orchestration (MANO) sits near the top of the stack closer to the operator.
“When you move up the food chain, there’s high value there that’s causing vendors to think hard about what they do in open source; join in or compete,” says Cohn. “Many of the organizations have invested a fair amount in providing software to their operator customers for service delivery.”
Some vendors will be influenced by how their customers choose to proceed. Others may determine whether to use open source as part of their own corporate strategy.
In addition to vendor members, Open-O counts some service provider members, including China Mobile, China Telecom, and Hong Kong Telecom (HKT).
Crossover to OSM
VMware is also listed as a participant of the Open Source MANO (OSM) project, a rival open source group to Open-O.
Speaking of crossover, Canonical is a founding member of both OSM and Open-O.