Ciena's Gina Nienaber joins the podcast to explain what IP/optical convergence is and how it fits in with service providers' strategies to automate their networks.

Light Reading's research group Heavy Reading recently partnered with Ciena to survey 220 service provider executives about IP/optical convergence. In the survey, "61% [of respondents] defined IP/optical convergence as the streamlining of operations across IP and optical functions. To me, that involves multi-layer intelligent software control and automation," said Nienaber, director of marketing for the routing and switching portfolio at Ciena.

In addition, 87% of respondents said that IP and optical convergence is important or critical in next-generation networks. Nienaber explains that cost savings, revenue generation, network reliability, optimized routing capabilities and the ability to automate the management of network congestion are among the top priorities for service providers investing in IP/optical convergence.

"When Heavy Reading asked service providers how important IP/optical convergence was across desired business outcomes, the top three most critical drivers were higher network reliability and CAPEX savings (38%), followed by greater agility to deliver new services (33%). These were closely followed by increased services revenue, OPEX savings and operational efficiency," wrote Nienaber in a recent blog post.

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— Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading