MEF Announces Finalists for 2019 Awards to be Unveiled at MEF19

MEF has announced Finalists for the 2019 MEF Awards which recognize excellence and innovation in the global community committed to providing communications solutions optimized for the digital economy.

MEF’s awards program is the largest in the world focused on emerging dynamic network services powered by LSO, SDN, NFV, SD-WAN, and Carrier Ethernet technologies.

Award winners will be unveiled at the MEF19 networking event, held 18-22 November 2019 at the JW Marriott LA LIVE in Los Angeles, California. Finalists and Winners will be celebrated at the 2019 MEF Awards Dinner Gala , 7:30 – 10:00pm, 19 November, except for the MEF 3.0 PoC Award Winners, who will be recognized on the evening of 20 November at MEF19.

“MEF is pleased to congratulate 36 Awards Finalists for all of their amazing work in driving the industry’s transformation to dynamic and assured services across a global federation of automated networks, as envisioned with MEF 3.0,” said Kevin Vachon, COO, MEF. “MEF received dozens of submissions from leading-edge companies, and we are delighted to spotlight standout leaders in service, application, technology, and professional categories.”

Service Provider Awards Finalists recognize leadership in the development and delivery of global, regional, retail, and wholesale connectivity services, as well as excellence in network and service innovation, SD-WAN, LSO strategy, and marketing.

· AT&T

· CenturyLink

· Colt Technology Services

· Liquid Telecom

· Marcatel

· Orange Business Services

· PCCW Global

· PLDT

· QOS Networks

· Saudi Telecom Company

· Sparkle

· Spectrum Enterprise

· Tata Communications

· Ufinet

· Verizon

· Verizon Partner Solutions

· Windstream Enterprise

Enterprise Application Awards Finalists recognize the most innovative use of MEF 3.0 / Carrier Ethernet / SD-WAN services to meet application requirements of industry verticals, including finance, education, government, sports and entertainment, media, retail, and other categories.

· AT&T

· CenturyLink

· Colt Technology Services

· Comcast Business

· QOS Networks

· Spectrum Enterprise

· Tata Communications

Technology Solutions Awards Finalists recognize leadership in LSO, service automation, service assurance, service analytics, SD-WAN, CE/IP, NFV, optical, and multi-vendor technology solutions. This year, we also will recognize a technology provider of the year.

· Accedian

· Amdocs

· Anuta Networks

· Blue Planet, a division of Ciena

· Ciena

· Cisco

· Ekinops

· Equinix

· Infinera

· Infovista

· LightRiver

· Netcracker

· Nokia

· Nuage Networks from Nokia

· Silver Peak

· Telco Systems

· Versa Networks

· VMware

Judges for the above 2019 MEF Awards covering services, applications, and technologies include senior analysts from ATLANTIC-ACM, AvidThink, Dell’Oro, Frost & Sullivan, Ovum, and Vertical Systems, along with independent judges.

MEF 3.0 Proof of Concept Awards recognize leadership and innovation in the MEF 3.0 Proof of Concept Showcase at MEF19. 46 companies are participating in 15 PoCs this year. A special MEF 3.0 PoC Awards Ceremony at 6:40pm – 7:00pm on 20 November in the MEF19 Networking Hall will recognize winners in 9 major categories:

· MEF 3.0 Service Implementation

· MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Implementation

· Service Assurance Implementation

· Security Assurance Implementation

· Cloud Service Implementation

· Orchestrated Virtual Network Service Implementation

· MEF 3.0 Service Automated Commerce Implementation

· Network Slicing Implementation

· Operational Efficiency of MEF 3.0 Services

Professional Awards recognize individuals who have exhibited professional excellence and advanced the work of MEF and the development and implementation of MEF 3.0 solutions. MEF will be announcing two professional awards at MEF19: Industry Executive of the Year and MEF Distinguished Fellow.

The new MEF Accredited Training Provider Award to be presented at MEF19 recognizes a MEF Accredited Training Provider (MEF-ATP) that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in training associated with MEF professional certification programs.

MEF19 is the global event showcasing network services for the digital economy, where transformation leaders converge and innovate. MEF19 focuses on accelerating the industry transition to dynamic, assured, and certified services across a global federation of automated networks.

Emerging cloud-centric “MEF 3.0” services provide an on-demand experience with user- and application-directed control over network resources and service capabilities. These services are orchestrated across automated, virtualized, and interconnected networks powered by LSO, SDN, and NFV. MEF19 has a target audience exceeding 1,000 professionals from 270+ organizations and 35+ countries.