‘Developing the right technology at the right time is a business challenge’

Cloud Xpress, the recently launched cloud-labeled product from Infinera, promises to provide solutions to high-speed broadband connectivity and data explosion. In an interaction with Voice&Data, Vinay Rathore, Senior Director Solutions Marketing, Infinera, talks about the new product and the challenges attached to developing new technologies.

Voice&Data: Tell us about Cloud-X press and what prompted you to venture into cloud platform?

Vinay Rathore: The Cloud Xpress was designed with direct feedback from some of the world’s largest Internet Content Providers. Today, Infinera provides long-haul DTN-X solution to three of the top four Internet Content Providers in the US. These ICPS were looking for an optical platform to interconnect their data centers at high speed, they asked for high capacity in a small space and so Cloud Xpress was developed, offering one terabit per second of input and output capacity in 2 rack units (3.5”). They asked for low power consumption, the Cloud Xpress consumes 50 percent less power than the current market leader for metro data center interconnects.

Voice&Data: What would be the USP of this product?

Vinay Rathore: The Cloud Xpress is designed for network operators that need to interconnect data centers at very high speed with a system that is easy to install and consumes as little power as possible. The Cloud Xpress is the only solution that includes our unique photonic integrated circuit (PIC), a tiny powerful chip that can transmit 500 gigabits per second of data. Infinera first developed the PIC for the DTN solution in 2005. The first PIC was 100Gbps. In 2012, we started shipping the DTN-X platform with 500 Gbps PICS. The Cloud Xpress is the only system that can deliver so much capacity in such a small amount of space while using so little power, and these things are all uniquely enabled by our PICs.

Voice&Data: What type of products are you planning to launch in the near future?

Vinay Rathore: Infinera is constantly working with its customers to figure out what they will need next and will build products accordingly. Today, we are focusing on the Cloud Xpress because the market demand is imminent, it is predicted to be a fast growing market, and the Cloud Xpress is planned to be available in December 2014.

Voice&Data: How was the response from the DTN-X solution and what type of response are you expecting from the Cloud Xpress?

Vinay Rathore: The response to the DTN-X was astounding. To date, we have 46 customers around the world deploying more than a petabyte per second of optical transmission capacity with the DTN-X for long-haul networks upgrading to 100G. We see the market for the Cloud Xpress starting to ramp up in early 2015.

Voice&Data: In how many countries do you operate and how are you planning to increase your footprint?

Vinay Rathore: We operate in over 50 countries today, and we continue to work with new channel partners to expand our footprint for new opportunities.

Voice&Data: What are the challenges in deploying any new technology?

Vinay Rathore: The biggest challenge is driving continuous innovation. Incremental improvements to existing products aren’t enough to move the needle anymore. Cloud operators are looking at new ways of doing business, and the challenge for equipment suppliers is first to listen to the customer and second to execute on their desires. Developing technology is easy, developing the right technology at the right time is a business challenge.