Network functions virtualization (NFV) has reached a fork in the road. It is widely accepted by operators as the way forward for their future networks (two-thirds of mobile operators expect to deploy it somewhere in their systems by 2020, according to Rethink Technology Research’s most recent survey of 76 MNOs), But those timelines could be pushed back significantly if it falls victim to fragmentation, as is looking highly likely at various places in the stack, from management and orchestration (MANO) to NFV infrastructure (NFVi). As with any situation where a promising technology threatens to fail through incompatibility, there is a chance for an organization to have significant market impact if it can provide a common solution to put things back…