Embrane, which manages Layer 4-7 functions for software-defined networking (SDN), is announcing a customer win today with UOL, one of the largest cloud service providers in Brazil.

UOL will use the Embrane heleos platform to deliver virtualized load balancers and firewalls as part of its infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) portfolio for mid-sized and large enterprises.

UOL first became aware of Embrane thanks to its ties with Cisco, says John Vincenzo, Embrane's vice president of marketing. Cisco was part of a $14 million Series C round Embrane announced in March, a deal that also made the startup a Cisco ecosystem partner. That means Cisco and Embrane now share a customer base and work to bring in customer wins for one another; UOL will use Cisco's application-centric infrastructure (ACI) as part of its decision to use Embrane.

Vincenzo says the Cisco relationship works because Embrane and Cisco complement one another. While Cisco offers hardware and software for Layers 2 and 3, Embrane focuses on virtual services for Layers 4-7. Vincenzo noted that there are plenty of other companies Cisco partners with for Layers 4-7, but Embrane sets itself apart with its life cycle management tool, which also supports third-party network services. That was key to landing UOL, which is hoping that agility can differentiate it from competitors like Amazon Web Services.

Vincenzo notes, though, that Embrane isn't limited to only an ACI landscape. He said there are other vendors and companies Embrane hopes to partner with.

Also on the horizon for Embrane: looking into network functions virtualization (NFV). While he's not sure if Embrane will target it directly, Vincenzo does expect Embrane will look into NFV as a complementary approach to its SDN work.