Nokia to acquire Deepfield to power network and service automation with real-time, big data analytics

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced plans to acquire Deepfield, the US-based leader in real-time analytics for IP network performance management and security. The acquisition will extend Nokia’s leadership in real-time, analytics-driven network and service automation, providing customers including communications service providers, cable operators and cloud, webscale and large technology companies with greater network and application insight, control and DDoS protection.

Even though cloud applications and services – including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Google Docs and Facebook – make up more than 60% of network traffic today*, providers have very limited insight into which applications are running on their networks, and what impact this application traffic is having on their networks and subscribers. At the same time, the advent of SDN and NFV technologies is creating increased demand for network and service automation, which requires big data analytics – delivered in real time – to drive it.

Deepfield’s powerful and unique Internet Genome technology solves the visibility problem by identifying over 30 000 popular cloud applications and services, tracking how this traffic runs to and through networks to reach subscribers, in real time, and without the need for expensive probes, taps and monitors in the network itself. The result is powerful multi-dimensional views of the network and the applications that flow through it that can support advanced IP network engineering and assurance use cases.

Nokia plans to solve the network and service automation problem by coupling Deepfield big data analytics with the dynamic control capabilities of open SDN platforms, such as the Nokia Network Services Platform (NSP) and Nuage Networks Virtualized Services Platform (VSP). Together, these products become the cognitive “brain” that makes real-time, automated changes to wide area networks (WANs) and datacenter networks so they can quickly adapt to changes in application demand, flow and traffic patterns. This will allow Nokia customers to drive greater network efficiency, help assure quality and enhance security – without manual intervention, and in real-time.

Nokia’s service assurance and customer experience management portfolios would also leverage Deepfield’s big data analytics, including per subscriber application performance, to automate actions that ensure ongoing service health and customer satisfaction.

Basil Alwan, president of Nokia’s IP/Optical Networks business group, said: “We are impressed with Deepfield’s unique approach to network analytics and their deployments with major providers around the globe, delivering critical visibility into how leading cloud applications and services flow through their networks. Combining Deepfield’s cutting-edge analytics with Software Defined Networking techniques (SDN) will allow our customers to automate engineering and assurance processes while enhancing performance, utilization and security. We believe this capability will only increase in importance as networks and applications become more complex, diverse and dynamic.”

Craig Labovitz, founder and CEO of Deepfield, said: “We are very pleased to join Nokia, a like-minded global leader in IP networking with shared values in network innovation. I look forward to leveraging the strength of Nokia’s world-class customer, sales and support footprint to take our Deepfield technology worldwide. This will also give us a solid foundation from which to accelerate the creation of new value – both in the Deepfield portfolio, and in joint areas such as telemetry and automation.”

Deepfield was founded in 2011 and is privately held. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the company employs approximately 65 people. The planned transaction is expected to close in Q1 2017, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

* According to a study by Deepfield