Manx Telecom’s Chief Information and Technology Officer (CiTO) was a key speaker at one of the world’s premier virtualisation technology events. Kevin Paige was invited to attend the VMworld 2016 US conference – which took place in Las Vegas from August 28th to September 1st – to give his expert insight on the deployment of Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) technology. His invitation is another indication of Manx Telecom’s growing international reputation in the telecoms and IT sectors, and in particular it reflects the IT industry’s interest in a project to upgrade the Isle of Man’s entire fixed line network. This project involved deploying NFV technology to make the Island’s fixed line network one of the most advanced anywhere in the world – and its success was a key reason for Kevin’s invitation to VMworld 2016 US.

The conference focuses on software-defined businesses, from mobile devices to the data centre and the cloud – and it is attended by the industry’s top thought leaders, subject matter experts, and IT professionals. Kevin was invited to speak at the VMware NFV Executive Forum which focused on taking NFV into production and beyond. The forum was billed as an exclusive learning experience designed for strategic thinkers, architects, operations leaders and business leaders tasked with driving the transformation of the communications infrastructure for their businesses.

Kevin took part in a ‘fireside chat’ on stage with Honore' Labourdette, Vice President of VMware’s Telco NFV Group. Manx Telecom’s CiTO explained how the Island’s leading communications company has embraced VMware’s NFV solutions to expand its cloud infrastructure and create a virtualised service delivery platform capable of supporting multi-vendor applications for both network and IT functions. He also explained the strategy behind the virtualization initiative, including Manx Telecom’s collaboration with Metaswitch Networks to migrate 50,000 fixed line voice customers onto Metaswitch’s virtualized IMS (vIMS) core and session border controllers (SBCs). The success of this project has already earned Metaswitch and Manx Telecom the Fixed Infrastructure Innovation Award for Leadership in Network Virtualization at this year’s prestigious Global Telecoms Business (GTB) Innovation Awards. The new platform is enabling Manx Telecom to transform its business by increasing service agility and lowering operational cost, and in the longer-term will make it possible to introduce new services faster for consumers and businesses.

Kevin commented: “The invitation to speak at VMworld 2016 US was a huge honour for Manx Telecom and a further indication of the company’s growing international reputation. It also reflects positively on the Isle of Man’s reputation as an international business centre which offers the very latest communications and IT technology – a reputation which Manx Telecom has helped to build thanks to more than a decade of significant investment in infrastructure.”

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, also attended the event and spent time talking about VMware’s commitment to the telecommunications industry and NFV, and answering questions from delegates.

For more information about VMworld 2016 US go to https://www.vmworld.com/en/us/index.html

Image: Kevin Paige, Manx Telecom’s Chief Information and Technology Officer (CiTO).

- Ends -