DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MEF, a global industry association of network, cloud, and technology providers accelerating enterprise digital transformation, and the ITW Global Leaders’ Forum (GLF), a board representing a global network of leaders from the world’s largest International carriers, today announced that the GLF has endorsed MEF’s standards-based Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) automation APIs for its member organizations. Further, MEF and the ITW GLF have established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize the organizations’ long-standing collaboration to foster development of a global ecosystem of automated networks. The agreement describes how MEF and the GLF will promote standards-based business and operational automation being advanced by both organizations to their membership and the industry.
Automating business and operations processes using MEF’s LSO APIs assures application interoperability and supports rapid delivery of complex, high-value services to customers over increasingly connected automated networks across multiple providers. As part of the MOU, MEF and the GLF will support emerging industry requirements and increased adoption of MEF- and GLF-endorsed initiatives.
“Automation is no longer a choice for service providers. It’s a must have. Standardized APIs like MEF’s LSO APIs are an essential building block to automate business and operational functions and accelerate service delivery, speed time to revenue, and improve customer experience,” said Kevin Vachon, Chief Operating Officer, MEF. “There has been tremendous increase in market demand and global adoption for MEF’s rich set of LSO APIs, and we are honored that our years of collaboration with the ITW GLF have culminated in its endorsement. We look forward to working together to further drive development and adoption to unlock the full potential of a global automated ecosystem.”
“Business and operational automation are key features to implement GLF vision of an ecosystem of carriers competing and collaborating to better serve our customers, and the work done by MEF with the LSO APIs goes exactly in this direction. We are thrilled to work with MEF to accelerate adoption and promote ubiquitous automated connectivity,” said Elisabetta Romano, Chief Network, Operations and Wholesale at TIM and Chair of the GLF Board.
LSO APIs automate service provider and enterprise business and operational transactions and offer a standardized way for service providers to buy and sell services. More than 115 service providers worldwide are in some stage of the LSO Sonata adoption lifecycle – from interest through to implementation. Find additional information about LSO APIs here.
The GLF Board, which comprises 32 international carrier executives, supports and requires an holistic approach to a global API exposure strategy and standards as an imperative to support an automated international connectivity industry. Released in November 2022, “Tomorrow’s Telco” outlines the vision of the GLF’s Board members to be able to provide seamless endpoint to endpoint experiences for customers and highlights where collaboration and cooperation are required to realise this goal. The MoU with MEF endorsing the LSO Sonata APIs is the culmination of years of cooperative work between the GLF & MEF and is a key step towards harmonizing the industry’s approach to automation. “Tomorrow’s Telco” is available for download here.
About MEF
MEF is a global industry association of network, cloud, and technology providers working together to accelerate enterprise digital transformation through a better-together ecosystem. MEF delivers service standards, LSO frameworks and APIs, and training and certification programs for services, technologies, APIs, and professionals. The MEF 3.0 Framework enables automated delivery of standardized Carrier Ethernet, IP, Optical Transport, SD-WAN, SASE, and other services across multiple provider networks. For more information and to hear the latest Executives at the Edge podcast visit MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About the ITW Global Leaders’ Forum
The ITW Global Leaders’ Forum (GLF) is a network of the leaders from the world’s largest International ICT service providers, who convene to discuss strategic issues and to agree collaborative activities with the aim of upholding the principle of interoperability and ubiquitous international and technological coverage. The international wholesale industry is a critical part of the global ICT ecosystem, providing the backbone that enables digital services to be distributed around the world. The GLF’s primary objective is to provide leadership and direction for the industry by advocating common priorities that improve interconnectivity so that new digital services can be delivered at scale anywhere in the world. Please visit https://hubs.li/Q01DvDgr0 for more information.
Media Contact:
Melissa Power
MEF
pr@mef.net
Elena Harris
ITW Global Leaders’ Forum
elena.harris@itwglf.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eab18ffd-8b80-40d3-b88f-d179c61a6a76
