SDN proposes an important architecture for the management of large scale complex networks, which may require re-policing or re-configurations from time to time. This achieved by decoupling network control from forwarding. In particular, SDN promises to provide a multi-layer platform which encompasses programmability not only at the forwarding and control planes, but also at the transport layers below and orchestration and services layers above the data and control planes.

NFV leverages virtualization technology to offer a new way to design, deploy and manage networking services. The main idea of NFV is the decoupling of physical network equipment from the functions that run on them. This means that a network function - such as a firewall - can be dispatched to a TSP as an instance of plain software. This allows for the consolidation of many network equipment types onto high volume servers, switches and storage, which could be located in data centres, distributed network nodes and at end user premises.