NEM's Go Soft: Reinvention for a Virtualized Network
Huawei, in early 2014, launched its SoftCom platform focused specifically on four critical virtualization trends: decoupling of hardware from software; decoupling forwarding and controlling; transitioning to a cloud-based infrastructure; and evolving telecommunications-oriented systems to internet-oriented systems.
"Current network infrastructure designs have not kept pace with ever-growing requirements and in our conversations with telecom operators, we know that they are struggling to keep up with the rapid network upgrades necessary to support their customers' increasing demand for bandwidth and personalized services,” Professor Sanqi Li, CTO, Carrier Network Business Group, Huawei said about the new platform. “Most critically, these operators have been unable to reap appropriate returns on the investments in supporting this demand growth. The industry must recognize the need for changes in its approach to managing network architecture, and that these changes should not be made in isolation. SoftCOM provides a holistic approach to help operators enhance competitiveness and optimize their returns on investment.”
Nokia Networks has staked out its turf in the telco cloud and has made great strides by forging key partnerships with Huawei, to deliver OSS, and Juniper Networks so it can leverage its MetaFabric data center architecture to boost its own Liquid Core offering for mobile operators.
"In the same way that cloud computing transformed the IT industry, telco cloud dynamics are radically changing how mobile operators plan to deploy, operate and manage their networks through virtualization and software defined networking," said Peter Jarich, Vice President, Current Analysis. "Nokia and Juniper's expanded partnership fits well into this evolution, strengthening the telco cloud ecosystem in the process."
Oracle has its immediate sights set on NFV. Oracle, just a few weeks ago, announced the launch of its own NFV Orchestrator based on ETSI standards. The Oracle solution manages virtual network function, respond to capacity ebbs and flows, and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).
“Replacing hardware networking elements with standalone, virtualized network functions instances is not enough for CSPs to unlock network virtualization service agility benefits. They also need interoperable, standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) between virtualized network functions, virtualized network functions managers, virtualized infrastructure managers, orchestrators, policy controllers, and OSS service orchestration. Oracle Communications Application Orchestrator provides an essential piece in ETSI’s NFV architecture that will facilitate CSPs’ transition to virtualized next-generation networks,” said Glen Ragoonanan, principal analyst, Analysys Mason.
Alcatel-Lucent is working on its own suite of solutions for NFV and SDN called the The Motive Dynamic Operations portfolio. Scheduled to be launched in late 2014, Alcatel-Lucent says it will enable operators to realize the promise of virtualized networks offered by NFV (Network Function Virtualization) and SDN (Software Defined Networking) technologies. Recently, the company announced its adding a full OSS suite of services that is fully automated, self-healing and driven by analytics for predictive management. The vendor adds that Telefonica is using the solution with great results.
"It is imperative to fundamentally change the current OSS approach before operators will be able to realize the promise of NFV and SDN,” Andrew McDonald, Alcatel-Lucent, President, IP Platform Business Division, says. “After launching both an NFV platform in CloudBand, an SDN solution through Nuage Networks and a comprehensive virtualized packet core, IMS and wireless network functions, Alcatel-Lucent is now bringing innovation to the OSS space with the launch of Motive Dynamic Operation, which delivers the OSS agility required for operating networks in the cloud."
