We met with Drivenets executives at the show last week and learned much about the scope of the company. Importantly, the network software company is expected to achieve cash flow positive this calendar year and has already signed up for projects worth over $1B over the next five years. The company now employs over 500 people and has over 100 open requisitions to hire more personnel. Recently, the company has announced some impressive operator wins, including KDDI and Orange. We understand that other big service provider deal announcements could come soon, but, as is typical for many technology providers to the service provider industry, getting approval to announce deals often comes well after commercial arrangements have been completed. As a software company, Drivenets works with other companies to provide solutions to its customers. It has made numerous recent announcements, for instance, in integrating with other ZR/ZR+ component companies like Fujitsu, adding to the list of other similar ZR/ZR+ partner companies like Cisco’s Acacia, Nokia’s Infinera and Ciena.
The company says it has seen an acceleration in the pace of deals over the past couple of quarters, perhaps because telecom operators have reduced their inventory network gear to reasonable levels, which triggers additional re-architecting of their networks. Drivenets says its network software is in demand because of a convergence trend underway at its service provider customers. By convergence, the company means its customers are combining what used to be separate networks for wired and wireless access and putting all traffic over a single network. Combining traffic reduces network complexity, simplifies operations, and ultimately reduces operating costs. While Drivenets has made significant progress in the telecom service provider industry, it has also made strides in data center, AI, and other markets, as well.