Yesterday’s technology can’t manage tomorrow’s services

5G and multi-access edge computing are complementary technologies that promise to transform communications. 5G offers high-performance and low-latency transmission, while multi-access edge computing moves compute and storage resources to the network edge – closer to end-users, humans, and machines IoT – to significantly reduce latency.

45 million 5G connections are expected to be activated by 2025 across MENA, accounting for 6% of total mobile connections in the region. Multi-access edge computing provides both an IT service environment and cloud computing capabilities to help enable the real-time enterprise.

Today, service providers are deploying 5G and multi-access edge computing to provide on-demand 5G edge services. These will support new, high-quality digital experiences, from ultra-low latency services that improve gaming and virtual, augmented reality experiences, to Industry 4.0 automation that will let enterprises evolve toward efficient light-infrastructure models.

Regional service providers need to consider the following strategies in order to win the 5G race and achieve intelligent automation:

Ecosystem approach

To assemble the best mix of cloud, connectivity, and software resources, service providers are pursuing these market opportunities in an ecosystem approach that includes hyperscale cloud operators, a myriad of software vendors, and system integration partners.

The service providers, of course, bring the converged fixed and wireless network infrastructure, the hyper scalers provide the distributed cloud infrastructure, the software provides the service agility, and the systems integrators ensure all the systems and software work together.

Service providers must be able to dynamically assemble all of these ecosystem components – infrastructure, edge compute resources, and applications – to provide on-demand services; however, their legacy Operational Support Systems and operational processes cannot meet this requirement. Instead, open, multi-domain automation is required to realise the combined promise of 5G and multi-access edge computing.

Data analytics and automation

Traditional operations environments are designed for a world of pre-defined, static services, and rely on manual interaction with legacy OSS systems to design, provision, and assure services – a process that takes weeks or even months.

And the use of proprietary systems makes it expensive and difficult to incorporate new services, vendors, and elements into the OSS framework.

The 5G world is completely opposite to this. It is all about being dynamic, so service providers need cloud-native support systems that are open and standards-based, programmable, and driven by models, catalogues, and business intent.

Automating 5G edge

To help service providers implement service lifecycle automation for 5G and edge-based services, entities need an open, standards-based solution that automates the three key phases of the 5G journey:

Preparation and planning

What cannot be seen cannot be automated. Initiate the 5G automation journey with real-time insight into existing network and service resources, informed by auto-discovery and federation with pre-existing inventory systems.

Automated operations

Automated 5G service lifecycle management, including orchestration, assurance, and optimisation – end to end across the RAN, xHaul transport, and 5G Core in a seamless continuum.

Monetisation with network slicing

Productised end-to-end network slicing solution that automates the design, creation, monitoring and modification of customisable slices from end-to-end across the 5G RAN, xHaul transport, and 5G Core.

To sum it up, managing the service lifecycle from planning to activation, orchestration, and assurance is a huge challenge for all kinds of service providers. It is especially difficult in 5G networks because of the difficulties of conducting these processes in real-time for thousands of dynamic services across physical, virtual, and cloud-based resources. It is effectively impossible using traditional operational processes and legacy OSS systems – yesterday’s technology can’t manage tomorrow’s services. Analytics-driven automation is required.

The ecosystem approach to 5G – which incorporates Service providers, hyper scalers, software vendors, and systems integrators – demands a comprehensive end-to-end network approach to automation. The solution is an open and standard-based path on the journey to 5G which gives them the ability to quickly build a scalable and agile multi-vendor 5G network, and efficiently roll out new on-demand slice-based services from end-to-end across multiple domains.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 45 Million 5G connections are expected to be activated by 2025 across MENA.
• Service providers are deploying 5G and multi-access edge computing to provide on-demand 5G edge services.
• Open, multi-domain automation is required to realise the combined promise of 5G and multi-access edge computing.
• Traditional operations environments are designed for a world of pre-defined, static services, and rely on manual interaction.
• Managing the service lifecycle from planning to activation, orchestration, and assurance is a huge challenge.
• Service lifecycles are difficult in 5G networks because of the difficulties of conducting processes in real-time for thousands of dynamic services.
• Service lifecycles are effectively impossible using traditional operational processes and legacy OSS systems.

To help service providers implement service lifecycle automation for 5G and edge-based services, entities need an open, standards-based solution.