Telcos’ move to cloud native model will transform cost and reliability of network building says white paper

[London, UK, November 27, 2017] Linking the reliability and precision of the telecom industry with IT’s agility and flexibility will transform the communications business, according to a white paper from Analysys Mason prepared on behalf of Huawei. The evolution to Cloud Native NFV: early adoption brings benefits with a flexible approach, sees Network Function Virtualization (NFV) as the catalyst for telcos to make the critical transition to Cloud Native.

Cloud Native, a long-practiced IT domain’s concept, has been introduced to telecom cloud in the form of massive distributed network software. The goal is to absorb the best practices of the IT industry while retaining the underlying telecom structure, as operators advance from NFV to NFC – network functions cloudification. This white paper describes a telecom-appropriate approach to Cloud Native software design, deployment and operation which operators and vendors are developing.

Mobile network operators realize that they must adopt Cloud Native architecture if they want to transform themselves into digital service providers with the ability to deliver new software-based services as fast as their OTT or IT competitors. The Cloud Native concept is increasingly a requirement to support emerging market opportunities, such as smart homes/meters/cars and other IoT services, AR/VR services and 5G network slices aimed at specific vertical industries. Advanced operators already implementing Cloud Native network functions are finding that they can introduce innovative features faster than their rivals, expand their services portfolios to increase customer stickiness and trial new services at low risk, and scaling quickly if the services are successful.

Cloud Native involves a series of key technologies and best practices, such as, stateless design through vertical decomposition, service modularity into micro-services through vertical and horizontal decomposition, deployment over container alongside VM, automated life cycle management and smart O&M, CI/CD over DevOps platform, etc. While adopting Cloud Native architecture, it is important to note that Cloud Native covers a spectrum of implementation approaches adapted to varying business requirements across different industry sectors. There is no ‘one size fits all’ application of Cloud Native computing that is right for every telecom use case, but there are common principles which operators can adopt to achieve similar benefits to those enjoyed by the web scale companies.

It’s well understood that these technologies won’t be introduced in a single, "big bang" upgrade. The commercial realities must be carefully thought through in each case. With the elastic, robust, agile model in mind, they will have to gradually evolve in response to evolving needs. The whitepaper rightly explains Cloud Native evolution, development & practices, and direction how market should be guided by business need and technology practicalities while evaluating Cloud Native fundamental characteristics.

Huawei has incorporated Cloud Native principles into its NFV solutions from the start of its development. The company pioneered in adopting vertical and horizontal decomposition for all core network VNF portfolio which are commercial deployed across the globe. Besides, Huawei and multiple tier 1 partner operators are engaged in joint innovation and investigation on critical containerized deployment under open DevOps platform to prepare future 5G network.

Click this link to read the white paper: www.analysysmason.com/cloud-native-nfv-white-paper-rma16