The MEF has enlisted the Open Networking Lab (On.Lab) as a partner in trying to bring software-defined networking (SDN) to enterprise Ethernet services.

The organizations announced a partnership today that intertwines On.Lab's E-CORD effort with the MEF's Open Connectivity Services (OpenCS) and Open Lifecycle Service Orchestration (OpenLSO) efforts. So, if you thought there were too many open source organizations — now they're ganging up in criss-crossing partnerships, too.

E-CORD is the enterprise version of On.Lab's Central Office Reimagined as a Data Center (CORD) project. CORD, which describes an architecture based on white-box switches and open source software, was created with the help of AT&T and has caught the eye of Verizon.

Enterprises don't have central offices, but the MEF sees E-CORD as a good seed for OpenCS, which in turn can help instantiate the “third network” concept that the MEF has been promoting. The third network is a connection between operators' networks, with particular attention paid to elements such as fulfillment and assurance (i.e., making sure the connection gets established and remains healthy).

Those operational elements form the basis for what the MEF calls lifecycle service orchestration (LSO).

The first fruits of the MEF/On.Lab partnership will be on display this week at the Open Networking Summit (ONS) in Santa Clara, Calif., where the organizations will show an OpenCS reference platform.

The groups also plan to make sure E-CORD and OpenLSO stay in alignment as both projects progress.