Comcast Business and Versa Networks Drive Further SD-WAN Innovation on ActiveCore℠ Platform

New enhanced routing capabilities help organizations optimize and prioritize SD-WAN traffic using artificial intelligence and machine learning

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast Business today unveiled new enhancements to its software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) solution on the ActiveCore℠ SDN Platform that enable distributed workforces to bring new levels of intelligence to the network. The feature is made possible through Comcast Business’ partnership with Versa Networks and harnesses the power of application-level recognition and applies it to context-driven SD-WAN traffic prioritization.

As employers and their IT departments extend office infrastructure to remote locations, they increasingly rely on technologies like SD-WAN to manage the prioritization, quality of experience and security of application traffic. At the same time, businesses are grappling with how to effectively route the increased traffic on their networks. In the past, IT managers had to manually tag digital content (i.e. videos and emails) to ensure proper prioritization; implementing numerous static rules to direct the right traffic over the right path.

“Organizations had to adapt quickly when faced with the sudden shift to a distributed and remote workforce last year. These changes drastically transformed the way businesses interact, collaborate and communicate. As a result, IT departments have continued to be tasked with meeting evolving security, access and bandwidth challenges brought on by the need to support a hybrid workforce model,” said Jeff Lewis, VP, ActiveCore Product and Operations, Comcast Business. “Our latest SD-WAN enhancement is another example of how Comcast Business is continuing to innovate on the ActiveCore℠ SDN Platform to help our customers succeed in today’s increasingly distributed world.”

This new feature leverages proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to dynamically optimize SD-WAN traffic based on application priority and the real-time status of the network connections. The capability uses a real-time calculation to determine the best performing path per session between a content source and its destination. It looks at all available options and dynamically determines the optimal path at any point in time for traffic for an optimal user experience possible. Customers can better support business-critical applications and:

• Increase the usefulness of backup links with application-level, granular policy control
• Increase uptime and create a smarter network through proactive mitigation strategies
• Improve the quality of experience by prioritizing critical applications such as real-time voice and video

“Versa Networks and Comcast Business collaborated to enhance the AI/ML-based traffic steering algorithm,” said Apurva Mehta, CTO, Versa Networks. “This algorithm provides Comcast Business with a powerful ability to steer traffic for any application – including real-time over optimal transport paths. Additionally, this enables them to help minimize down time and deliver the best application user experience with fast switchover when any transport degrades or fails.”

Comcast Business became the first cable company to introduce a carrier-grade, SD-WAN platform for enterprises and multi-site businesses when it first partnered with Versa Networks in 2017. Today, ActiveCore℠ is an award-winning software-defined networking (SDN) platform. It enables intelligent, centralized, abstracted network control and delivers a ground-breaking experience for virtualized network functions (VNF) like SD-WAN and Managed Router and Advanced Security. When paired with the nation’s largest converged IP network, this powerful combination reduces complexity, automates network functions, speeds up application deployment, and simplifies resource management — allowing businesses to innovate faster and gain business agility.

To learn more about the Comcast Business ActiveCore℠ platform and the latest SD-WAN features, please visit: https://business.comcast.com/enterprise/products-services/activecore-software-defined-networking

About Comcast Business

Comcast Business offers Ethernet, Internet, Wi-Fi, Voice, TV and Managed Enterprise Solutions to help organizations of all sizes transform their business. Powered by an advanced network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is one of the largest contributors to the growth of Comcast Cable. Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and has emerged as a force in the Enterprise market; recognized over the last two years by leading industry associations as one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services. For more information, call 866-429-3085. Follow on Twitter @ComcastBusiness and on other social media networks at http://business.comcast.com/social.