The network effect

Unlike the simple connectivity provided by Software-Defined Cloud Interconnect (SDCI) vendors or the ‘telco clouds’ now appearing on the market, Evolution Platform from Orange Business was always conceived as a marketplace-based platform.  

In a meeting in 2021, executives within Orange Business were detailing their vision of ‘Teclo Cloud Services’ to one of Gartner’s senior telecoms analysts, who observed that the company had the opportunity to become the ‘Hyperscaler of the connectivity world’. The implication was that this platform could not only serve as a delivery mechanism for Orange Business’s own infrastructure services; it could also do the same for a theoretically limitless number of third parties that needed a robust, secure platform to deliver their applications to their customers.   

Of course, this would not be easy. It would require monolithic services to be broken down into their constituent parts, embedded onto the platform, and pre-integrated so customers could provision services from any vendor on the platform in near real-time. Ecosstem partners would have to agree to have their services dissassembed in this fashion – and delivered according to the consumption-based pricing model on which Evolution Platform was premised.   

This was a big ask. But it was possible. And Orange Business was uniquely placed to fulfil this vision. It had unrivalled expertise in the cloud, connectivity, and cybersecurity domains required to build such a platform. It had a large ecosystem of best-of-breed partners. And it had the Tier One network that ensured customers had seamless ‘real-world’ connectivity to this cloud-based platform.  

By the end of 2012, the vision was complete. Evolution Platform aimed to “Orchestrate a composable architecture, featuring the integration of multiple cloud-based services and legacy network services… This would ensure availability and performance SLAs, design consistency, and more value from data”. The ultimate ambition was to ensure the network behaved like a cloud with “an agile multi-service platform allowing on-demand access to multi-vendor services”.  

Fast forward four years, and that vision is a reality. What sets Evolution Platform apart is customers’ ability to effortlessly assemble services from any of the partners on the platform: These services can be compared to ‘Lego-like’ bricks, where all the back-end integration is automated so they can be seamlessly connected. These bricks can be combined in different instances: new instances must be created and populated to our 50 Points of Presence (PoPs) around the world, a process that might take a few weeks, but is far quicker than any equivalent service in the market. However, customers can deploy pre-built instances in moments, gaining immediate access to new capabilities.  

With Evolution Platform, customers can adapt their digital infrastructure at the speed the world and their businesses demand. The modular and automated nature of Evolution Platform makes it optimally suited to helping our customers to achieve mastery in the moments that matter – when they are required to pivot quickly to respond to a threat or take advantage of a new opportunity – by providing them with the control they need, the choice they want, and the convenience they have come to expect. They can even swap out one provider for another if their circumstances change.  

Evolution Platform’s open nature means customers can exploit innovations like our Virtual Network Edge technology to experience the frictionless nature of services delivered upon it. Customers, even those who want to retain their current integrator partners, can plug into Evolution Platform on a low-risk, low-cost basis: this is particularly relevant for urgent, clearly-defined needs such as merging (or demerging) network environments as a result of an acquisition or divestment. 

Today, there are  partners embedded onto Evolution Platform offering 25 different services, including:  

• Connectivity & SD-WAN services: Aviatrix, Cisco, Fortinet, HPE Aruba Networking, and VMware.   
• Cybersecurity & SASE services: Palo Alto Networks, Netskope, Orange Cyberdefense 
• Cloud & Hyperscalers: Microsoft (Azure and the Bleu trusted cloud offer available in France), AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle.  
• Automation, AI & Orchestration services: ServiceNow, Splunk, Blue Planet (Ciena), and LangChain:  

There are over 400 Evolution Platform customers, and more than 700 instances in production for these customers (and the growing number of customers joining them) to choose from. This is where Metcalf’s Law starts to kick in: the more users on Evolution Platform, the more value it creates.  

As more customers sign up to the platform, they not only benefit from existing instances but also inspire the creation of new ones. Each additional instance enhances the platform’s capabilities, creating a virtuous circle in which increased adoption leads to more instances, which in turn attract even more users and ecosystem partners, greatly escalating the platform’s overall value.  

Evolution Platform always aimed to enable Orange Business’s customers to consume its unified infrastructure services in new ways; but it was never conceived as a platform for our exclusive use. Cloud vendors have always turned to Orange Business to ensure that they could deliver their services with the robust, real-world connectivity that their customers could rely on: today, Evolution Platform provides that same connectivity in near-real-time and at global scale.  

The fact that partners like Cato Networks and Zscaler are choosing to host their cloud-based services on Evolution Platform validates that original vision. And the number of third parties choosing to leverage the advantages of Evolution Platform is growing quickly. We also ensure that customers can access Orange Business’s consulting and professional services resources if they need any help in maximising the value of the platform.

Evolution Platform is reshaping how businesses approach connectivity, cloud integration, and digital infrastructure. By harnessing the network effect and a composable, marketplace-driven architecture, Orange Business has created an ecosystem that delivers unprecedented agility, choice, and scalability. As the demands of the digital era continue to accelerate, Evolution Platform’s ability to deliver real-time adaptability, seamless integration, and frictionless service provisioning ensures that customers are not only prepared for the challenges ahead but positioned to thrive.  

This visionary approach is redefining the future of enterprise connectivity, making Evolution Platform the cornerstone of next-generation digital transformation. As customers strive to adapt to volatile business conditions, they will find that the large and increasing number of options available to them via Evolution Platform will be an invaluable resource that will truly help them to ‘master the moment’.