Traditionally, connecting two separate networks made it difficult to guarantee end-to-end quality, visibility and control of the service. The team on one side would coordinate with the other team on every aspect of day-to-day operations. If a problem arose, no one team had complete visibility into the entire network. Both teams would work together to identify and address the issue -- requiring valuable time and resources for even the smallest fixes. This method also can lead to finger-pointing and customer frustration.

Prior to ENNI, network management teams were forced to coordinate efforts to isolate faults, tying up valuable resources and disappointing customers. This changed when the Metro Ethernet Forum ratified the MEF 26 specification in 2011, defining Phase 1 of the External Network to Network Interface (ENNI), they ushered in a new generation of services.

The specification guides carriers, equipment vendors, and enterprise clients concerning details such as service alignment, Class of Service guidelines and maintenance procedures. The MEF 26 ratification covers connection for both E-Line (point-to-point) and E-LAN (multipoint-to-multipoint) services, ensuring that, when two or more services are connected, the resulting link will meet end-to-end class of service (CoS) levels and operations administration and maintenance (OAM) will be maintained. With ENNI, popular products like EPL (point-to-point) and E-LAN (multipoint-to-multipoint) are enabled globally for enterprise IT professionals.

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As ENNI gains ubiquitous adoption, end-to-end service restoration will improve, eliminating finger-pointing, reducing customer frustration and mitigating down time.