Forward Networks

Industry| Computer software
Founded| July 23, 2013
Founder| David Erickson, Nikhil Handigol, Brandon Heller, Peyman Kazemian
Headquarters|

Santa Clara, California

Website| https://www.forwardnetworks.com/

Forward Networks, Inc. is an American company founded in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company develops enterprise software for network management and software-defined networking.[1]

## History

[edit]

Forward Networks was founded by David Erickson, Nikhil Handigol, Brandon Heller, and Peyman Kazemian, who met as Ph.D researchers at Stanford University. While operating software-defined networking deployments running OpenFlow[2] at the university,[3] Erickson, Handigol, Heller, and Kazemian built a software platform based on Kazemian's research at Stanford for his electrical engineering dissertation.[4] Kazemian's research enabled the use of configuration data and operational state information from devices on a network to create a virtual copy of that network.[5]

Until November 2016, the company operated in stealth mode[6] and raised $16 million in funding by DFJ,[7] with participation from Andreesen Horowitz.[8]

In October 2019 the company raised $35 million in Series C funding led by Goldman Sachs, also a customer of the company.[9]

In January 2023, following 139% year-over-year growth, Forward Networks announced it closed $50M in Series D funding.[10] The round was led by MSD Partners with support from new investors, Section 32 and Omega Venture Partners.[citation needed]

Forward Networks' other customers include PayPal, Ubisoft, and Telstra.[11]

## Intent-based networking

[edit]

Intent-based networking (IBN), a term coined by Gartner in 2017 describes a system designed to automate a network lifecycle from design and implementation to deployment and validation.[12]

Forward Networks' technology focuses on verification with regards to intent-based networking. The platform generates a mathematical model of the network to perform functions such as composing timestamped collections of network configurations and state information of a network infrastructure.[13] The product is marketed as a network assurance platform[14] called Forward Enterprise.[15]

## See also

[edit]

* SolarWinds
* Infoblox
* Red Hat

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Forward Networks Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.
2. ^ "Startup Aims To Simplify Network Management". IT Infrastructure Advice, Discussion, Community - Network Computing. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
3. ^ Butler, Brandon (2016-11-14). "Startup Forward Networks helps search, protect and predict network behavior". Network World. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
4. ^ "Accelerating and De-Risking Network Operations | Forward Networks | David Erickson". Business Magazine. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
5. ^ "Forward Networks creates digital twins to assure network performance". FierceTelecom. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
6. ^ "Forward Networks nets $16M to help prevent network outages". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
7. ^ DFJ (2017-08-23). "Fast Forward with Forward Networks". Medium. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
8. ^ Krause, Bill (2016-11-14). "Déjà Vu All Over Again with Forward Networks". Andreessen Horowitz. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
9. ^ "The Wave of Digital Media Consolidation Isn't Over Yet". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
10. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (2023-01-24). "Forward Networks raises $50M for digital twin technology to help model, manage and secure complex enterprise networks". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
11. ^ "Network Verification Software". Forward Networks. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
12. ^ "Intent-based network: the next big thing?". Network Middle East. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
13. ^ Arcilla, Alex. "ESG Technical Review: Verifying Network Intent with Forward Enterprise". www.esg-global.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
14. ^ "NFD13: Forward Networks Comes Out of Stealth to Impress". NetCraftsmen. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
15. ^ Inc, Gartner. "Forward Networks Network Automation Software Reviews". Gartner. Retrieved 2019-10-18. `{{cite web}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)[dead link]