Persona-based user experience for IP and optical networking convergence

1 . A method comprising:

exposing a first user interface consistent with Internet Protocol technology expertise to a first user;

receiving, as input from the first user via the first user interface, first information sufficient to complete an Internet Protocol task to complete a network connection between two endpoints that relies on both the Internet Protocol technology expertise and on optical communication technology expertise, wherein the first user interface includes a first image representative of the Internet Protocol task;

in response to detecting that the Internet Protocol task is complete, exposing a second user interface consistent with the optical communication technology expertise to a second user; and

receiving, via the second user interface, as input from the second user, second information sufficient to complete an optical communication task to complete the network connection between two endpoints, wherein the second user interface includes a second image representative of the optical communication task.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

registering the first user having the Internet Protocol technology expertise as a first persona in a persona-based user experience system; and

registering the second user having the optical communication technology expertise as a second persona in the persona-based user experience system.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising assigning at least one of inventory, visualization, provisioning, or maintenance capabilities to each of the first persona and the second persona.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating a shared database with the first information and the second information.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising provisioning a connection between a first network device and a second network device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the first network device is a first router, and the second network device is a second router.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the Internet Protocol task comprises provisioning an Internet Protocol connection between the first router and the second router.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the optical communication task comprises provisioning an optical connection between the first router and the second router.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising configuring digital coherent optics (DCO) in each of the first router and the second router.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, to the first user via the first user interface, elements that relate to the optical communication technology expertise so as to progressively expose the first user to aspects of the optical communication technology expertise to enable the first user to interact with the second user interface.

11 . A device comprising:

an interface configured to enable network communications;

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the interface and the memory, and configured to:

expose a first user interface consistent with internet Protocol technology expertise to a first user;

receive, as input from the first user via the first user interface, first information sufficient to complete an Internet Protocol task to complete a network connection between two endpoints that relies on both the Internet Protocol technology expertise and on optical communication technology expertise, wherein the first user interface includes a first image representative of the Internet Protocol task;

in response to detecting that the Internet Protocol task is complete, expose a second user interface consistent with the optical communication technology expertise to a second user; and

receive, via the second user interface, as input from the second user, second information sufficient to complete an optical communication task to complete the network connection between two endpoints, wherein the second user interface includes a second image representative of the optical communication task.

12 . The device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

register the first user having the Internet Protocol technology expertise as a first persona in a persona-based user experience system; and

register the second user having the optical communication technology expertise as a second persona in the persona-based user experience system.

13 . The device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to assign at least one of inventory, visualization, provisioning, or maintenance capabilities to each of the first persona and the second persona.

14 . The device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provision a connection between a first network device and a second network device.

15 . The device of claim 14 , wherein the first network device is a first router, and the second network device is a second router.

16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the Internet Protocol task comprises provisioning an Internet Protocol connection between the first router and the second router.

17 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the optical communication task comprises provisioning an optical connection between the first router and the second router using digital coherent optics (DCO) in each of the first router and the second router.

18 . One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

expose a first user interface consistent with Internet Protocol technology expertise to a first user;

receive, as input from the first user via the first user interface, first information sufficient to complete an Internet Protocol task to complete a network connection between two endpoints that relies on both the Internet Protocol technology expertise and on optical communication technology expertise, wherein the first user interface includes a first image representative of the Internet Protocol task;

in response to detecting that the Internet Protocol task is complete, expose a second user interface consistent with the optical communication technology expertise to a second user; and

receive, via the second user interface, as input from the second user, second information sufficient to complete an optical communication task to complete the network connection between two endpoints, wherein the second user interface includes a second image representative of the optical communication task.

19 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are configured to:

register the first user having the Internet Protocol technology expertise as a first persona in a persona-based user experience system; and

register the second user having the optical communication technology expertise as a second persona in the persona-based user experience system.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are configured to:

assign at least one of inventory, visualization, provisioning, or maintenance capabilities to each of the first persona and the second persona.