 Service Provider News ReportThis newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTelNetwork World's Service Provider News Report Newsletter, 06/20/07Fanfare works behind the scenes to improve carrier netsBy Carolyn Duffy MarsanFanfare doesn’t make the networking devices that service providers use on their next-generation networks. It makes those networking devices better. That’s the pitch from Tom Ryan, CEO of Fanfare, a venture-backed start-up founded in 2004 to automate, simplify and speed up the mostly manual process of testing network devices. Fanfare’s software is used by 28 network equipment manufacturers including Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent, Aztek Networks, SilverPeak and Edgewater Networks.
"Hardware devices are growing in complexity, but the testing of those devices is still in the Dark Ages," Ryan says. "Manufacturers like Cisco have thousands of manual testers." FanfareSVT software automates the process of creating re-usable test plans and running them hundreds or thousands of times to validate the functionality and performance of equipment. The software also measures pass-fail criteria and generates documentation that can be easily shared. "When we talk to our customers, they say quality assurance represents 30% of the effort required to release a product and 50% of the timeline," Ryan says, adding that Fanfare is one of the only commercial software vendors offering solutions in this space. In late May, Fanfare introduced the iTest Personal product line, which helps configure test beds, execute tests and generates reports. While FanfareSVT is designed for automation teams, iTest is a simplified product that is optimized for individual developers. With automated testing, manufacturers can run more tests in a shorter time frame and ideally detect defects earlier in the process. This should result in the shipment of higher-quality equipment to service provider and enterprise customers. With Fanfare’s software, "device quality is going to go up and the reliability of the devices is going to go up because of the all the testing they can get done," says David Gehringer, vice president of marketing for Fanfare. "We help get better-tested products to market faster." Fanfare officials say their software is good news for enterprise customers of the carrier services based on them. Indeed, Fanfare recently started selling its software to service providers to validate the performance and interoperability of the network equipment they are purchasing. "We have two or three customers that are very large telcos, worldwide brands," Gehringer says. "They spend weeks or months testing a new piece of equipment before it goes onto their nationwide or international network." Both manufacturers and service providers are using Fanfare test cases to validate equipment. "Fanfare test cases are the lingua franca between the end customer and the manufacturer," Gehringer says. "Both parties want to work in an environment of automation that quickly resolves bugs and disputes." Alcatel-Lucent used FanFare on its Litespan product line. A company spokesman said that using Fanfare "at least doubled the productivity of the entire team." Juniper has been using FanfareSVT for three months on the development of a new product. "One of the problems we have been trying to solve is how to get early automation in the release cycle of the product. What Fanfare gives us is the ability to do that," says Pankaj Malhotra, director of engineering for Juniper. "It pulls the automation phase up into the chain, which in turn helps us with repeated iterations of testing. It has an impact on the overall quality of the product." "One of the things that customers look for is that you have done testing," Malhotra continued. "It should have an impact on the confidence level they had and knowing how many iterations of tests plans were done. Customers can ask what we were able to test and how many times we were able to test it." If a product has better testing, it should "be out the door with fewer bugs and when we release the product it should have fewer follow-on maintenance releases," he added. Fanfare says its business is growing 400% annually. The company has raised $25 million in venture funding, including a $12 million investment announced in May. "With those funds, we have more than enough to reach cash flow positive in second quarter 2008," Ryan says. Although its focus is on network equipment, Fanfare sees opportunity in other markets. "Our software has applicability to any high tech equipment manufacturer, including medical, automotive, industrial, military, aerospace and consumer electronics," Ryan says. "We’re just starting to expand into those markets."
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| Contact the author: Carolyn Duffy Marsan is a senior editor with Network World and covers emerging Internet technologies and standards. Reach her at cmarsan@nww.com This newsletter is sponsored by ShoreTelARCHIVEArchive of the Service Provider News Report Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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