LINTHICUM, Md. -- CIENA® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), a global provider of intelligent optical networking systems and software, today announced it is extending its distributed intelligence features of its industry-leading CoreDirector(tm) optical switch to MetroDirector K2(tm), a next-generation multi-service access and switching platform, enabling service providers to automate the software provisioning process network wide, including circuit set-up and discovery of network topology.This AutoProvisioning capability is the second element of CIENA's recently-launched Automation product and feature program designed to bring the benefits of distributed network intelligence to the Company's current and potential customers, telecom service providers. The first announced component of the program was the WavelengthDirector(tm) Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (OADM), which makes it possible for carriers to add and drop traffic-carrying wavelengths with previously unavailable single-channel granularity along network routes.AutoProvisioning by CIENA enables point-and-click provisioning of services in a composite metro-core-metro network to provide a consistent class of service in both segments of the network. The new feature allows the MetroDirector K2 and CoreDirector to work together to enable faster response to requests for new optical and electrical services and reduce effort required to provision circuits. "By extending the point-and-click provisioning capabilities of our market-leading core optical switch, CoreDirector, to the metro space with MetroDirector K2, we are providing incomparable cost-efficiency to our customers," said Steve Alexander, senior vice president and chief technology officer at CIENA. "Automating the establishment of circuits in the metro network considerably reduces operational costs while also eliminating the costly and unreliable manual provisioning process."Ciena Corp.