Telstra unveils new SDN services to drive increased flexibility and efficiency for enterprise

Telstra has launched PEN Exchange and PEN Marketplace, two new enhancements to its global Software Defined Networking (SDN) solution, the Telstra PEN Platform.

Using the PEN Exchange, organisations can identify and connect their network circuits on-demand with other PEN customers, driving faster, easier and more secure digital partnerships.

Additionally, the new PEN Marketplace is a simple online portal which allows organisations to instantly order virtual network functions – such as firewalls and routers – on-demand and based on their preferred vendor.

Jim Clarke, Telstra’s Head of International Products and Pricing, said the two new enhancements were designed to satisfy customers’ growing needs for secure, high bandwidth on-demand, and built on the expansion of the Telstra PEN Platform to the optical layer across 26 PEN Points of Presence worldwide in 2015.

“The launch of our new PEN Exchange is the natural next step in our SDN strategy and means we now have the unique capability to dynamically connect network circuits between PEN Exchange customers, linking different people and business sites easily and cost effectively.

“With provisioning time measured in minutes rather than months, PEN Exchange customers can also use a new application programming interface, which triggers additional capacity depending on their changing bandwidth needs,” Clarke said.

In addition to the PEN Exchange, Telstra has also launched the PEN Marketplace, a new online portal designed to make it quick and easy for customers to order virtual network functions in real-time from different vendors and for different business needs.

“With a variety of virtual network functions now accessible through the PEN Marketplace, customers no longer have to wait for the delivery and installation of hardware appliances, rather they have the power to manage their applications virtually and across multiple countries simultaneously.

“Additionally, being able to order virtual applications based on specific business requirements at specific times, means customers can also avoid overprovisioning and consequently, unnecessary costs.

"These are two exciting milestones in Telstra's SDN journey and means we can now, more than ever, deliver the choice and flexibility our customers require, in an age of bandwidth hungry applications, fuelled by distributed computing, big data and mobility," Clarke concluded.

Telstra’s SDN platform is available globally in 26 PEN Points of Presence across the Asia Pacific region, Europe and North America, with additional connectivity options into public cloud services.