NFV is a relatively new concept gaining traction in a variety of Cisco customer environments, both enterprise and service provider. This area of Devnet describes Cisco's approach to integrating with third-party (non-Cisco) VNF providers via Cisco's 'NFV Open Ecosystem'.

A brief outline of Cisco's solutions and their component pieces is provided here for context only. If you are unfamilar with the terms used here, please refer to the Wikipedia entry on NFV.

If you are familar with NFV and are looking for more information on Cisco's solutions, rather than the Ecosystem program itself, you are directed to the links under 'Resources' in the pane to the left of this text.

If you are a non-Cisco vendor looking to offer your customers a VNF that can run on Cisco infrsatructure, read on. Described here is the program through which you can submit your VNF for testing by Cisco. On success, you will be entitled to use the term 'Cisco Compatible' along with the 'Cisco Compatible' logo _{^{(subject to usage guidelines)}}.

Membership of this program is not a requirement for a non-Cisco VNF to be depolyable on Cisco infrastructure; that choice lies with our customers. However, our customers are asking us for a certification program, so they can be confident their chosen solutions work as expected. Membership of the Open NFV Ecosystem will add credibility to your product.