MEF19 -- Los Angeles -- SD-WAN isn't just hot, it's certifiable.

MEF, the organization once known as the Metro Ethernet Forum, is doing just that -- certifying SD-WAN services and professionals via new programs the group announced this week. MEF, an industry association of 200 member companies, is throwing its weight behind the market momentum of SD-WAN because more SD-WAN adoption means more revenue for service providers. "We're the only organization … defining revenue-generating services," said MEF President Nan Chen.

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Earlier this year, MEF created, for the first time in the industry, a service definition for SD-WAN, said Pascal Menezes, MEF's CTO, at a press conference here. Now, MEF is taking the next step needed to speed up service adoption. By certifying companies who provide SD-WAN service and the technicians who work on the services, MEF is giving the market's practitioners a seal of approval and decluttering the massive pile of competitors currently offering SD-WAN services, of some sort, to enterprises.

MEF said seven service and technology providers are participating in the pilot phase of the group's SD-WAN certification program; it expects to announce the first group of certified companies during the first quarter of 2020.

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— Phil Harvey, US Bureau Chief, Light Reading