NFV and SDN: Culture shock and the need for adventure
06 Dec 2016
NFV and SDN: Culture shock and the need for adventure
The communications industry constantly adopts and adapts new technologies, and NFV and SDN aren’t any different. However, as well as the technical issues, there are huge human and organizational challenges too -- and if we don't fix them, we won't reap the full benefits of virtualization.
So, what can we do? A panel of experts discussed the urgency of this issue and some potential solutions at TM Forum Live! Asia in Singapore today.
As Ari Banerjee, Senior Director Strategy, Netcracker, pointed out, SDN changes many things, including the political dynamics within a company…"a router now becomes a routing function that someone in IT needs to understand,” which necessitates new skills. He added, “Also, how do you commercialize it? Chaining is one thing [for a value-added service] but it touches catalog and needs automation to ensure the BSS [business support system] understands it. You need a cloudified infrastructure and critical mass to make money."
Kashif Haq, Head of Digital Services, Technology & Innovation, Axiata, described NFV and SDN as being components of the overall digitization strategy and enablers. Customers demand speed and agility, and virtualization enables them.
He said telcos must use the assets they have more intelligently, commenting, “It’s challenging, it requires a new mindset, new people and new culture but it’s imperative; it has to be done.” And if telcos don’t do it, somebody else will, he warned.
Haq acknowledged this is a shift for vendors, too, turning their product development “upside down and inside out”. He added, “They have to talk to customers and develop features for service providers that will enable them to monetize. We need features we will use – at the moment in IN [intelligent networks] how many of the features are used? Ten percent? They need to talk to us about what we want."
Yosi Mor Yosef, Head, Service Fulfillment Marketing, Amdocs, agreed about viewing NFV and SDN as enablers for innovation. He said they offer a way for service providers to win where they have been losing for a number of years – the monetization of their services beyond connectivity.
He gave the example of how in recent years, the network has been an inhibitor, for example, preventing service providers from launching cutting-edge cloud services. In theory, an agile and flexible network will enable service providers to win the battle when it comes to monetizing cloud services.
He argued that operators ultimately need a software-based network, but recognized that all but the largest will have to go through silos of development for different use cases, which will limit their benefits and potential. Hence “the big guys who can invest will get most benefit – it’s a real challenge."
Easwaren Siva, General Manager, Technology, Strategy and Governance, Vodafone Hutchison Australia, stated operators need to think about the role they want to play, before looking for a role for NFV and SDN: Do they want to be an all-encompassing provider or part of a jigsaw where they enable others?
Ari Banerjee agreed about making NFV and SDN part of the innovation strategy. He cited a large European operator who found it was losing revenues from enterprise services to OTTs. He said they were able to offer all the services via physical assets, but this took too long. How to turn the assets into competitive advantage? By centrally creating virtual network functions and disseminating them.
So, what can we do? A panel of experts discussed the urgency of this issue and some potential solutions at TM Forum Live! Asia in Singapore today.
As Ari Banerjee, Senior Director Strategy, Netcracker, pointed out, SDN changes many things, including the political dynamics within a company…"a router now becomes a routing function that someone in IT needs to understand,” which necessitates new skills. He added, “Also, how do you commercialize it? Chaining is one thing [for a value-added service] but it touches catalog and needs automation to ensure the BSS [business support system] understands it. You need a cloudified infrastructure and critical mass to make money."
He continued, “We need the industry as a whole to address it, working in a DevOps way, and cross-functional teams within organizations… A common data model is important and so is onboarding – without these we can’t attain critical mass and without those things the funding for it will start drying up.”
NFV and SDN are enablers
Kashif Haq, Head of Digital Services, Technology & Innovation, Axiata, described NFV and SDN as being components of the overall digitization strategy and enablers. Customers demand speed and agility, and virtualization enables them.
He said telcos must use the assets they have more intelligently, commenting, “It’s challenging, it requires a new mindset, new people and new culture but it’s imperative; it has to be done.” And if telcos don’t do it, somebody else will, he warned.
Haq acknowledged this is a shift for vendors, too, turning their product development “upside down and inside out”. He added, “They have to talk to customers and develop features for service providers that will enable them to monetize. We need features we will use – at the moment in IN [intelligent networks] how many of the features are used? Ten percent? They need to talk to us about what we want."
Yosi Mor Yosef, Head, Service Fulfillment Marketing, Amdocs, agreed about viewing NFV and SDN as enablers for innovation. He said they offer a way for service providers to win where they have been losing for a number of years – the monetization of their services beyond connectivity.
He gave the example of how in recent years, the network has been an inhibitor, for example, preventing service providers from launching cutting-edge cloud services. In theory, an agile and flexible network will enable service providers to win the battle when it comes to monetizing cloud services.
He echoed Haq’s urgency, saying, “It’s a complex journey, a total paradigm shift and it changes the culture of service providers – but it’s inevitable if they want to stay relevant in this game.”
He argued that operators ultimately need a software-based network, but recognized that all but the largest will have to go through silos of development for different use cases, which will limit their benefits and potential. Hence “the big guys who can invest will get most benefit – it’s a real challenge."
Innovation strategy
Easwaren Siva, General Manager, Technology, Strategy and Governance, Vodafone Hutchison Australia, stated operators need to think about the role they want to play, before looking for a role for NFV and SDN: Do they want to be an all-encompassing provider or part of a jigsaw where they enable others?
Ari Banerjee agreed about making NFV and SDN part of the innovation strategy. He cited a large European operator who found it was losing revenues from enterprise services to OTTs. He said they were able to offer all the services via physical assets, but this took too long. How to turn the assets into competitive advantage? By centrally creating virtual network functions and disseminating them.
Banerjee commented, “So then NFV gave the operator a business case and reason to invest. Operators need to be a bit more adventurous in their thinking rather than defensive.”
