Automation is the Key to Realizing
the Full Potential of 5G
Organizational Culture
Many 5G MANO solutions have been up and running in labs for six or seven years. Orchestration works well and can deliver tangible benefits to network management. However, there are currently few, if any, live dynamic network slice deployments “in the wild.”
Figure 3 Management and Orchestration (MANO)
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AI & ML
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are currently rarely out of the news. ML could become an incredibly powerful addition to automation by extracting extra insight from the multiple data streams collated by service assurance from across the network.
ML based on neural networks brings great potential to monitor networks: 90-97 percent reliability of predictions and anomaly detection is way above current capabilities.
This, paired with ML based on scripting with 100 percent reliability in execution, has immense potential and can enable faster and effective future network management while maintaining cost control.
Conclusion
There is no business case for making changes to a core network to serve a niche market. The full potential of 5G rests on the ability to support masses of niche use cases efficiently.
Service assurance combined with automation provide operators with the tools to manage network expansion and additional network complexity with the same resources they have today.
Better coordination between ETSI, 3GPP, and TMF could enable ZSM to realise massive benefits by standardizing integration and interactions between all NFV applications.
By the time ZSM releases mature enough, the OSS environment will be ready, and devices will be available to incorporate 5G SA into diverse consumer and industrial equipment, systems, and services. This is when the high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and massive machine communications of 5G will unleash new business opportunities for operators.
