CPLANE Inc. (www.cplane.com) today takes the wraps off a software product that promises service providers faster time to market, better customer loyalty and the ability to offer more services more efficiently. But unlike point solutions that focus solely on provisioning, the vendor’s software enables service providers to rapidly define the connectivity attributes of new services without binding them to specific technologies or network elements.
“What makes us different is we take a holistic view of the service network, which is the most strategic thing the service provider has,” says Franklyn Jones, vice president of marketing. “Our philosophy is that as a service provider you have to control your network. So we’re developing complex technical solutions and strategic business solutions.”
The CPLANE software, which automates the creation and activation of services, is network-aware so it understands what resources are available and how best to use them to build services. IgnitionControl is the core piece of software and will initially be available with three service applications: Ignite TLS - layer 2 VLAN connectivity and MPLS support; Ignite VPN - secure layer 3 connectivity and support of both IPsec and MPLS; and Ignite IP Bandwidth - premium layer 3 Internet access with bandwidth control.
It works like this. A service provider would input information into the Ignite TLS, for example, on a new service such as at what data rate it would operate, security requirements and other parameters. That information would then be fed into IgnitionControl, a module that includes several chunks of reusable code called service building blocks that can be combined in different ways to build any service. IgnitionControl then would get the application’s requirements and locate the network resources via Network Ignition Adapters, which is software that communicates with various network elements, to make that happen. Then, assuming the necessary resources were in place, IgnitionControl would build the service.
The solution, which is expected to priced between $1 million and $5 million, in early September was in customer trials with three carriers.
Tom Nolle, president of consulting firm CIMI Corp. (www.cimicorp.com), says service management software such as that provided by CPLANE, Mantra (www.mantranets.com), Syndesis Ltd. (www.syndesis.com) and Trendium Inc. (www.trendium.com) is one of three service provider equipment markets he considers to be strong going forward. The other two are fiber remote and service switches.
CPLANE is a privately-held company, headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with offices in Ottawa and Montreal. CPLANE has received more than $35 million in funding from Amerindo’s Private Equity Group, CMEA Ventures, ONSET Ventures, Pequot Private Equity, Sun Microsystems, and Woodside Fund.
