IBM (News - Alert) has recruited yet another market leader in support of its goal to deliver a comprehensive end-to-end smart grid-ready solution to accommodate the needs of utilities across the globe.

Alvarion (News - Alert) Ltd., a vendor of optimized wireless broadband solutions addressing the connectivity, capacity and coverage obstacles of public and private networks, is the newest member to achieve IBM’s SAFE (Standard Architecture Framework for Energy) certification for its wireless broadband solution for smart grid connectivity.

According to IBM, the SAFE framework is a software platform built on IBM’s service-oriented architecture to deliver network visibility and control, process automation, and business collaboration for solutions within the energy value chain in order to power smarter energy solutions across all areas of an organization.

Together, Alvarion – a 4G wireless broadband provider – and IBM – an industry-leading systems integrator, software and hardware vendor – will help energy and water utilities, municipalities and telcos meet their smart grid infrastructure needs.

One chief aspect of this newly formed partnership is the integration of Alvarion’s wireless broadband connectivity offering with IBM’s Tivoli management platform. As part of the holistic management of the smart grid network, Alvarion’s wireless broadband infrastructure will be monitored and managed by Tivoli so that utilities can achieve existing smart grid project goals in a timely manner and at an affordable cost.

Alvarion’s holistic approach to smart grid connectivity is a result of an unmatched track record of successful long-term and large-scale wireless broadband deployments, as well as its powerful network infrastructure which has been a key component of Smart Utilities and Smart City networks.

“IBM has been a long-term partner that we are proud to be associated with,” said Eran Gorev, CEO and president of Alvarion, in a press release. “This certification is also an important milestone in aligning our Smart Grid and Smart City offering to customer objectives, based on a holistic wireless connectivity approach that we are confident will bring benefits to our customers in this market.”

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell