SEATTLE and VIENNA - F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) and Siemens Convergence Creators GmbHannounced today that they have successfully completed comprehensive interoperability tests of F5’s BIG-IP® Policy Enforcement Manager™ (PEM™), and Siemens Convergence Creators’ policy and charging rules function (PCRF) product, Siemens Policy Manager (SPM).
To continue delivering the rich content subscribers want, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) need an intelligent solution that can dynamically manage network resources and enable new pricing and business models. This versatility can also help minimize churn by providing significant additional value to subscribers. Confirmed interoperability of these leading products across a diverse set of use cases will facilitate rapid co-deployments, thereby helping CSPs deliver a best-in-class customer experience.
Historically, services such as video on demand and online TV streaming have posed a challenge to CSPs when it comes to maintaining profitability, as these services can eat up an increasing amount of network bandwidth while many subscribers pay only a flat rate for data services.
Combining F5 and Siemens technology gives operators the ability to monetize networks by enabling them to customize rate plans for different types of use cases and subscribers. In addition, CSPs can generate additional revenues by creating subscription plans that are tailored to fit their strategic business goals.
Solution Details
Siemens Policy Manager manages network and subscriber policies according to business needs and priorities. It weighs and evaluates millions of parallel sessions and makes efficient decisions to solve problems in real-time, helping CSPs to deliver the Quality of Service (QoS) their subscribers have paid for. SPM also makes available a wide range of pre-configured use cases to choose from, and provides compelling tools to easily adapt plans to further differentiate from competitive offerings.
F5’s BIG-IP PEM serves as the policy enforcement engine for the joint solution. Essentially, it understands the type of traffic being transferred on the network and can forward, steer, chain, and apply QoS (prioritization, rate-limiting, etc.) as needed via powerful application and subscriber-aware policies. This visibility into the specific nature of traffic traversing the network also provides opportunities to layer in additional services—such as optimization or security—where and when needed.
Joint customers can set policies to meet their business needs (such as tiered/premium service offerings or plans) with Siemens’ PCRF capabilities, while BIG-IP PEM provides the awareness and enforcement necessary to assure policies are carried out appropriately based on network and user conditions specific to the services being delivered.
Supporting Quotes
“Through our partnership ecosystem, we seek out opportunities that give customers the most value for their technology investments, while preserving the ability to evolve their infrastructures over time. The F5 Synthesis™ architectural vision promotes integration and interoperability testing efforts with leading companies like Siemens to help CSPs confidently deploy adjacent technologies and realize benefits beyond what individual vendors can provide.”
Mallik Tatipamula, VP of Service Provider Solutions, F5
“Our strategy focuses on leveraging partnerships like the one with F5 to enhance customer capabilities and benefits. The pre-tested solution of F5’s BIG-IP PEM and Siemens Policy Manager will give our CSP customers a head start in applying policies to control and manage network resources. This will allow them to effectively and quickly adapt to changing market trends and demands, and provide new monetization options for services such as video on demand or streaming. This is made possible by adopting a traffic architecture that provides for equitable sharing of revenue between content and network providers.”
Roland Steiner, VP, head of LTE business unit at Siemens Convergence Creators
