Network monitoring and visualization deal to support CSP’s network integration and automation
As EXFO reported its quarterly results today, the company also dropped the news that it has won a deal worth $4.9 million with an unnamed Tier One service provider in the U.S., to support the CSP’s network integration and digital transformation.
The CSP will use the company’s EXFO Ontology, a network topology platform and modules that are used for network service and customer assurance and as a data source for support of visualization, troubleshooting and other work flows for network operations, service operations and care systems. EXFO said that for this customer, its platform will be used to locate and combine information from multiple data sources and turn that into a validated, accurate and searchable model; and to map and track customers’ network resources from end-to-end, therefore “generating a cohesive dataset that can be used to leverage those resources to their full potential.”
“In this particular case,” EXFO explained, “the Tier 1 service provider will leverage EXFO’s software solution to support game-changing operational automation and network integration. This challenge is compounded by the massive scale and complexity involved in combining legacy and next-generation technologies under a single, comprehensive network.”
Philippe Morin, EXFO’s CEO, said in a statement that the company’s software “provides this industry leader with unmatched visibility into their network, driving operational excellence and service agility. To deliver superior customer experience, service providers must have a unified understanding of their network resources and be able to automate their consumption and change in real time across legacy and virtual networks. As this Tier 1 service provider continues its extensive digital transformation, EXFO’s real-time network topology solution is bringing their systems and people together in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.”
EXFO reports net loss for the quarter
EXFO also reported its quarterly earnings today, reflecting solid sales growth but a net loss for the company’s first fiscal quarter of 2019. EXFO reported a net loss of $7.5 million, compared to earnings of $2.7 million in last year’s first fiscal quarter. That loss included net expenses of $6.3 million, the company noted, including $2.5 million in after-tax amortization of intangible assets and $2.7 million in after-tax restructuring charges.
Sales were up 9.2% year-over-year to $69.2 million, the company said; that figure included $7.5 million in sales from Astellia. Bookings were up 23.3% year-over-year to $81.2 million, with $7.8 million contributed by Astellia.
EXFO has begun reporting revenues and bookings based on product categories: Test and Measurement (T&M) and Service Assurance, Systems and Services (SASS), replacing its former categorizations of Physical Layer and Protocol Layer product groups. The company said that the change ” reflects the company’s long-term strategy, while enhancing comparisons against industry peers and investors’ understanding EXFO’s business.”
Morin called the quarter’s performance “solid,” noting that revenue was above the midpiont of the company’s guidance and that it had the second-highest bookings level in company history.
“Our announced strategic transformation, focused on heightened efficiency and profitability, is progressing according to plan and should be completed by the end of the second quarter,” he added. “This new structure is starting to pay off internally, but also externally with a better value proposition and more relevant engagement with SASS customers as reflected by a US$4.9 million contract win for real-time active topology software with a tier-1 service provider after the quarter-end.”
In related news, the company;s board also authorized a share buy-back program of up to 6.3% of its outstanding subordinate voting shares.
