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Corine Suscens, Head of Global Marketing at MDS Global discusses 10 foundational principles that define a modern, resilient, and future-proof technology strategy for telcos.
Corine Suscens, MDS Global
Architecting agility: 10 technology foundations for future-ready digital telcos
In an era where telecommunications operators face constant pressure to innovate, simplify, and scale, their digital infrastructure must be built on solid and future-ready foundations. As the industry embraces cloud-native principles, AI-driven automation, and standards-based interoperability, a clear architectural philosophy becomes essential to reduce complexity and seize new growth opportunities. Here are 10 foundational principles that define a modern, resilient, and future-proof technology strategy for telcos:
An API-first approach enables agility by design. In a telecom environment increasingly built on modular systems and ecosystems, APIs are not just connectors—they are value enablers. Purpose-built APIs empower CSPs to easily interconnect systems, replace legacy components, and innovate in ways that were previously too complex or costly.
Customisation has long been a double-edged sword in telecom IT. While tailored solutions address unique needs, they often compromise ease of maintenance and future enhancements. Modular architecture, in contrast, offers configurable capabilities without bespoke development, allowing operators to scale and adapt faster while keeping technical complexity in check.
The shift to cloud-native technologies is well underway, but agility truly emerges when solutions are also cloud-agnostic. This ensures CSPs can leverage public, private, or hybrid cloud strategies without vendor lock-in, supporting business continuity and cost optimisation in a dynamic market.
User experience should evolve at the pace of customer expectations, not backend release cycles. Decoupling the UI from backend systems enables telcos to rapidly iterate and personalise interfaces—critical in B2C and B2B markets alike—while maintaining core functionality behind the scenes.
Open source fosters innovation, transparency, and collaboration. Strategic adoption—especially in non-differentiating components—allows CSPs to reduce costs, avoid vendor lock-in, and contribute back to communities shaping the future of telecom tech.
AI is no longer a future ambition—it’s a design imperative. To unlock its full potential, telco platforms must be architected with AI in mind from the outset. This will enable CSPs to confidently deploy intelligent capabilities across the service lifecycle, from network optimisation to customer engagement, driving faster decisions, better experiences, and greater efficiency at scale.
As threats become more sophisticated, security can no longer be an afterthought. Modern telco platforms must be secure by design—embedding protection mechanisms at every layer of the architecture to safeguard data, ensure compliance, and maintain trust.
Telecommunications is a high-volume, high-availability domain. Whether supporting national infrastructure or serving millions of subscribers, the technology stack must be architected for scale and resilience, capable of handling peak demand with zero downtime.
Standards such as TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and Open APIs are crucial to interoperability and future-proofing. Compliance not only ensures smooth integration but also accelerates time to market by leveraging proven, industry-wide frameworks.
In an industry defined by operational complexity and rising customer expectations, automation has become a strategic enabler. From zero-touch provisioning and real-time monitoring to self-healing systems, automation reduces human error, accelerates time to market, and supports always-on service delivery. Automation must extend beyond the network to the full service lifecycle—guided by data, driven by AI, and aligned with business goals.
The telecom industry is at a pivotal point—caught between legacy complexity and the urgency to become truly digital. By anchoring transformation efforts in these 10 technology foundations, CSPs can build the agility, resilience, and innovation needed to thrive in the digital/AI era – and position themselves for long-term relevance and success.
