Doing something different than everyone else can feel uncomfortable if not downright scary at times. But it also makes the recognition that you receive for taking the leap that much sweeter. For Inter.link, receiving the Arista Innovator of the Year Award in the Service Provider category was a defining moment and validated our unique disruptive approach.
During the event we had the opportunity to share the Inter.link story and journey. Our Co-Founder Marc Korthaus participated in a panel discussion and Co-Founder and CEO Theo Voss presented on the hurdles we've overcome and the pillars on which we've built Inter.link.
Automation and Sustainability are two main pillars in the development and growth of Inter.link. And we are proud to say that we’ve been well received in both the business and technical community. Our spirit of disruption serves as a reminder to others in the industry that they don’t have to rely on legacy infrastructure without any near-term commitments to Carbon Neutrality. Our philosophy is to remove barriers for customers, from automated provisioning to the flexibility to make changes without limitations.
By deciding to build a new network from scratch, a real greenfield situation, we had the opportunity to look at technology, software, and scale from a different perspective. Inter.link was looking for a partner that’s not just committed to their platform, but also to their sustainability footprint. Arista has supported Inter.link with an intensive and successful Proof of Concept, clear commitment to a roadmap and future features, as well as support from account team executives, namely CEO Jayshree Ullal, COO Anshul Sadana, and CTO Kenneth Duda.
Inter.link also decided to take a different approach by being the first Arista customer deploying a merchant-silicon only network on a global scale. And while it was a big leap, Arista supported us by investing significant resources into making merchant-silicon ready for the challenges facing Service Providers.
Inter.link is now focusing on a global rollout with new Points of Presence. Our rollout is focused on bringing more connectivity options to our customers where they need them. We’re also working on new features such as, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) based on our Network as a Service (NaaS) platform. This will include services, such as Layer 2 Point-to-Point connections, Cloud connects, and additional security features like DDoS protection.
We're also happy to continue partnering with Arista to meet the challenges of our customers and develop innovative, cutting-edge solutions for the future.