MEF announced several milestones for its MEF 3.0 certifications, fueled by the need for validated services, technologies, and professionals to help enable enterprise digital transformation. More than sixty service providers and technology vendors around the globe now offer MEF 3.0-certified Carrier Ethernet (CE) and SD-WAN solutions.
Four of the top five companies as ranked on Vertical Systems Group’s 2020 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN Leaderboard—AT&T, Verizon, Comcast Business, and Windstream—have achieved MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Certification. In addition, the top four SD-WAN technology providers as ranked by Dell’Oro Group—Cisco, VMware, Fortinet, and Versa—have attained MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Certification.
Thirty-six service providers to date have achieved MEF 3.0 CE Certification, including four of the top six as ranked on Vertical Systems Group’s 2020 Global Provider Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard—Orange Business Services, Lumen, Verizon, and BT.
Driven by the network transformation taking shape in the industry to enable new digital services, MEF experienced a 75% annual growth rate in its MEF 3.0 services certifications, which includes SD-WAN and CE. In addition, 7,500 individuals in 85 countries from over 400 employer organizations have earned their MEF professional certifications in SD-WAN, SDN/NFV, and CE.
“This momentum signals that the industry continues to recognize the value of our certifications to ensure simplified, pre-validated functionality for buyers, and frictionless implementation and partnering within the MEF ecosystem,” said Nan Chen, president, MEF. “During this time of tremendous digital transformation taking place in enterprises, MEF 3.0 certified services and technologies are proven to conform to MEF’s meticulous specifications for performance, assurance, and agility. Customers that purchase these services can have confidence that they meet the industry’s highest standards. We applaud all of the companies and professionals that have worked diligently to achieve their MEF 3.0 certifications.”
Adding to MEF’s triad of certifications for services, technologies, and professionals, a forthcoming MEF LSO API certification will offer companies the opportunity to validate that their MEF LSO Sonata and Cantata APIs conform to use case and business requirement specifications established by the industry’s defining authority for standardized, automated network-based services. As part of a pilot program, three service providers—Sparkle, TIME dotCom, and UFINET—are now LSO Sonata-certified for automated ordering of CE Access E-Line services.