Verizon, AT&T Splash the Cash for Lumina
Summary
SDN controller maker Lumina Networks today announced its Series A financing round of $10 million, led by one of its biggest customers, Verizon, and including another, AT&T.In a clear strategy to assure the success of the SDN controller start-up, the two carriers are investing their money to support Luminas open source approach."We think it is pretty exciting because obviously it demonstrates the importance of open source that they would both invest in the same company to achieve the same outcomes," said Andrew Coward, Lumina Networks CEO.Lumina "drives automation so we can make that happen in about 20 seconds," Coward says, providing the abstraction needed so that it doesnt matter which vendors gear is involved.Coward and his crew learned in their Brocade days that the process of implementing an open source SDN controller isnt as simple as downloading the software and plopping it into the network -- there is considerable integration required, and thats where the company is focused today, he says.