Adaptive Network is Most Valuable Asset for Companies Today

Q: What solutions does Ciena offer?

A: Ciena is a networking systems, services and software company that has several product portfolios for optical network interconnection. We have a routing and switching portfolio, a network automation software division (Blue Planet) and we also offer professional services. Some customers are more autonomous during the adoption process and ask us, for instance, to bring the equipment to their facilities but not necessarily to participate in the assessment or implementation process. However, we can also provide full support to our customers. We have a pool of experts who can work with clients, showing them how the technology works during the assessment process or implementation and operation in the field.

Our software portfolio includes a number of tools that allow us to create solutions to automate the operation of services in networks or to have a complete view of the network inventory, which can then be translated to the planning and creation of services. Our solutions are responsible for enabling virtualized functions. In other words, it is like adding different apps to your smartphone according to your work or personal profile. The same thing happens in a company where traditionally a number of devices were installed for all the functions that that company required: connectivity, router, among others. All that is now compressed into one single hardware that Ciena offers. Companies do not have to look for two or three suppliers to have a complete solution.

Ciena has been in the market for almost 30 years, and in Latin America for just over 20 years. We have many success stories with traditional operators and new operators that have emerged due to the evolution of the market. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia are our most important markets in this region. We seek to remain at our clients' side for the long term, not working through third parties. Although we can work with partners, Ciena's core business is to be the direct provider, working with companies to evolve their networks and introduce new services. 

Q: What solutions are most in demand in the Mexican market?

A: Most of Ciena's business today is based on optical transmission. At the beginning of 2020, we introduced the latest coherent optical transmission technology, which supports systems running at 800GB/s. This allows us to support and further accompany all companies that need to adapt to exponential growth in network traffic. This technology is already being implemented in the market and we are seeing examples where minimization is going to be introduced to offer the technology in compact and mobile components. That will make it possible to take advantage of the technology at any point in the network.

The pandemic forced everyone to work from home overnight and that translated into exponential growth in the amount of traffic generated from homes. In the past, traffic generally flowed into homes. With this shift, we are now experiencing traffic generated from the end-user to the network. More capacity and flexibility are needed to support and adjust to traffic demand. Ciena's technology offers solutions to address these problems as they arise by taking advantage of the ability to reprogram interfaces to support more traffic.

Q: In which industries is Ciena more involved in Mexico and in which would you like to grow your presence?

A: Historically, Ciena has focused on telecommunications companies, offering connectivity solutions and sometimes service development, and also on the government and the financial markets. We are also taking part in new business models that are beginning to grow, such as telemedicine, autonomous vehicles and factory automation. 

With the development of autonomous and network-connected 5G vehicles, there has to be a network that supports real-time communication needs. In telemedicine, meanwhile, there are many opportunities to enable a specialist to examine a patient remotely without fear of delays or network failures.

Ciena is a networking systems, services and software company. It is present in more than 35 countries and serves more than 1,800 clients worldwide