Cisco Systems, IBM, Microsoft and Citrix are among the technology firms that are working with the Linux Foundation to create an open-source platform for software-defined networks (SDNs).
Other members of the the collaborative project, dubbed OpenDaylight, include Juniper Networks, VMware, Red Hat, Intel, Brocade, HP, Dell, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nuage Networks, PLUMgrid, as well as privately held Big Switch Networks and Arista Networks.
The project aims to build a common and open SDN platform for developers to utilise, contribute and build commercial products and technologies.
Under the collaboration, each company will contribute technology such as code to the project which will make network management easier and cheaper.
The Linux Foundation said the project will help customers with their IT strategies by having a single, multi-vendor and open source SDN platform while additional development by firms and individuals alike can also be fostered.
The first code from the project is expected to be released in the third quarter of this year.
The Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin said that all the companies working on the project have decided to combine efforts in a common platform in order to innovate faster and build better products for their customers.
"The world has learned that collaborative development can quickly drive software innovation, especially in fast moving markets," Zemlin said.
Cisco Systems CTO of engineering David Ward said: "We see Open Source as critical to our customers and equally important as our standards efforts for SDN, and we look forward to collaborating with partners, customers and developers to help them increase the speed of building and deploying software-defined offerings."
