Continuing to expand its boundaries via acquisition, DZS has publicized the purchase of RIFT. RIFT is a network orchestration and automation solutions innovator. DZS plans to leverage the investment to offer bundled network orchestration and automation capabilities along with its present broadband, mobile, and enterprise offerings. Also, it will deliver the technology as a standalone product within its new DZS Cloud portfolio. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Acquisition includes
The main component of acquisition is an award-winning carrier-grade RIFT.ware software platform that streamlines the deployment of any service, slice, or application on any cloud. The investment is responsible for building approximately 20 million mobile and fixed broadband products DZS has deployed in 100 plus countries.
The RIFT will accompany and consolidate DZS sdNOS embedded development teams and launch the DZS Cloud portfolio with end-to-end (E2E) intelligence for software and network orchestration and automation, service management, and advanced data analytics.
The DZS Cloud portfolio will advance DZS mobile transport, connected premises solutions, and broadband access by allowing the development and deployment of end-to-end services, applications, and networking – comprising FTTx network orchestration, OpenRAN or vRAN VNFs and CNFs, 5G network slicing, SD-WAN solutions, or enterprise-oriented universal customer premises equipment (uCPE).
RIFT’s engineering expertise from the US and India will support boost the DZS roadmap for Software-Defined Networking (SDN) control, scaled machine data management and analytics solutions, and deployment automation.
New DZS Cloud platform
The new DZS Cloud platform driven by RIFT is an enhanced hyperscale-inspired orchestration platform with an extensive partner ecosystem. The DZS Cloud simplifies the lifecycle automation to deploy any network service, slice, and application across the edge, public, hybrid, and private clouds. Further, it allows global operators to integrate containerized network functions (CNFs) or virtual network functions (VNFs) from any vendor.
The platform’s modern cloud-native and modular design embraces web-centric open-source technology and standards, offering new API and plug-in powered flexibility to scale and develop with the largest global network environments.
The RIFT acquisition goes on the heels of DZS’s newly acquired Optelian that closed on February 8, 2021, and follows sdNOS. The sdNOS is a modern SDN-enabled Network Operating System to unify the range of DZS networking products.
Experts view on acquisition
Charlie Vogt, President and CEO at DZS, commented: “The trend toward cloud and open software solutions is undeniable, and with the acquisition of RIFT, DZS accelerates its vision and strategy to deliver and manage intelligent network and processing functions at the network edge.”
He further added, “With our recent Optelian acquisition, the introduction of our DZS Chronos and DZS Velocity portfolios for broadband access and mobile transport powered by sdNOS (the DZS SDN-enabled Network Operating System), and now the introduction of DZS Cloud, our company is more aligned than ever with software-defined, network virtualization and cloud-native automation solutions. The transaction adds a software development center in Bangalore, India and a product operations center in Boston, Massachusetts. DZS Cloud will enable us to deliver differentiated standalone and end-to-end cloud-based solutions designed to increase ARPU, lower churn, streamline operations, and optimize service provider and enterprise networks.”
Noel Charath, Senior Vice President of DZS Cloud Operations, commented: “As the access domain shifts to software, global operators are seeking trusted partners to support their digital transformation journey.”
He further added, “Charlie’s vision for DZS, the company’s trusted position as a partner of choice behind next generation wireline and wireless networks, and their investments in cloud innovation ensures that the vision we had at RIFT will continue to be advanced and expanded through DZS Cloud. With some of the most innovative and advanced carriers in the world already DZS customers, we expect to find fertile ground among these operators to leverage the DZS Cloud platform to monetize their 5G and fixed network investments with high-value enterprise services, private wireless / 5G as a service, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), and SD-WAN through SDN and NFV automation.”
Andrew Bender, Chief Technology Officer and BD Leader at DZSi, commented: “The acquisition of RIFT will at once expand both the software portfolio and cloud-enabled delivery capabilities of DZS, enabling us to fully participate in the new paradigm of software-driven network automation, spanning physical, virtualized, and containerized domains.”
He further added, “Our partnership with the RIFT team to date demonstrated the alignment of their vision with our commitment to open networks, customer choice, and a software-centric future for the network. We look forward to having this team in-house at DZS to help unlock the value of our global installed base with the power of intelligent automation, control, and analytics functions.”
