ORLANDO, Fla. -- Genband Perspectives -- Verizon is banking on using SDN and NFV in its network to handle the growth in IP traffic, but at least one executive thinks the company is behind in thinking about the operational impacts of the emerging technologies.

Speaking here on Tuesday, Kyle Malady, SVP of global network operations for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), said that the carrier has a "strong program to leverage SDN and NFV," but he's concerned because he's seen a lot of hype of this kind in the past, such as with IMS. (See Defining SDN & NFV.)

"It's one thing to think about it on paper and another in the field with operational problems," he warned. "We are running behind in my company on thinking about the operational impacts of SDN and FNV on our business."

His main concern is that, in the past, if one of his engineers had a problem with, say, Genband Inc. equipment, it would call Genband. "In an NFV world, I'm not sure what happens," he admitted. "There could be a lot of different maintenance issues and people to talk to in order to fix one box." (See Liability Issues Increase in Virtual World.)

That said, Malady thinks SDN and NFV hold a lot of promise, and Verizon is "banking on it." It is just moving more cautiously than some of its competitors like AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), which has been more bullish about the potential for the virtualization technologies. (See AT&T Working on Home-Grown SDN Controller for Later in 2014 and AT&T Spotlights Early SDN Efforts.)

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading