Telco Cloud

Virtualize Network Capabilities to Rapidly Deliver Innovative, Automated Services

The Network Virtualization Journey So Far

Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are accelerating the migration of key services and business capabilities to the cloud. Pressure on margins and costs is forcing CSPs to innovate to deliver the complex, customizable services that advanced enterprise customers are looking for.

A number of these initiatives fall under the umbrella of ‘telco cloud.’ CSPs are looking to take existing network functions that are traditionally hardware-based (5G functions, routers, etc.), and virtualize them using public, private, and/or mixed cloud infrastructure, transforming the cost structure and enabling greater agility.

So far, shifting to the cloud has not yet delivered its expected benefits. Virtualization and containerization have added new overhead for resources and infrastructure, preventing the agility that the new services require. Today, service providers face a challenge: successfully implementing end-to-end orchestration across all layers of the telco cloud, from the hardware, networking, cloud, network function and service layers. This will require a solution that’s built for complex, multi-vendor, multi-layer infrastructure.

See How Itential Can Accelerate Service Providers Through Orchestration

Multi-Layer Network Orchestration for Telco Cloud

Telcos have recognized the need for orchestration within individual network domains, but there are significant efficiency gains to find in multi-layer orchestration as well.

Using the deployment of edge data centers as an example, telcos today rely on either multiple tools or custom development to orchestrate the process top to bottom. From orchestrating network switch fabric, to configuring hardware via a bare metal controller, to installing Kubernetes or OpenStack and communicating with that orchestrator, to pushing network functions, to configuring network functions — and all of this to get to the equivalent point of plugging something in. For virtualization to drive efficiency, this process must be accelerated.

Orchestrating across every layer, domain, and vendor with a central platform is the key to unlocking telco cloud ROI. Success depends on the ability to efficiently leverage all infrastructure and integrate with every environment. With the right solution, telcos will cut resource costs while accelerating creation and delivery of innovative products to sell to customers.

Outcomes

Optimize Hardware Utilization
Size resources dynamically and move away from vendor-dictated, vertically integrated stacks to avoid paying for unutilized hardware.

Improve Infrastructure & Vendor Flexibility
Switch vendors at any layer easily, avoid lock-in, and lessen reliance on hardware vendors.

Accelerate Service Composition
Reduce time and manual effort for infrastructure creation and service activations.

Accelerate Product Creation & Delivery
Expose even the most complex network services with standard APIs so they can easily be rolled into packaged products and sold.

Implementing Telco Cloud with Itential

Itential is uniquely designed to solve the integration problem in network and IT infrastructure. Our platform orchestrates all layers of a cloud-native service, from the physical network components to the productization and delivery of the service. Other orchestration solutions in the service provider space have historically focused on a single layer or network domain.

Because Itential is designed with a dynamic, flexible data model and an API-driven integration system, orchestrating at every layer is as easy as orchestrating any single layer. The platform is designed to make adapting to new technologies and new vendors as efficient as possible.

CSPs can use Itential’s technology to accelerate network virtualization initiatives, maximize the value of network infrastructure, save costs, and generate new revenue by delivering new products more quickly.

Edge Deployments

Orchestration of deployment of 5G network functions to edge data centers.

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Global Networking

Seamless global network orchestration across IP, cloud and interconnect networks.

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5G

Enterprise mobile service activation and orchestration on virtualized 4G/5G cores.

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Telco Cloud Services

Orchestration of security, DNS, and load balancing services in telco cloud data centers.

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Multi-Layer Orchestration Capabilities

In many environments, there are orchestrators or controllers at each layer. Basic infrastructure is orchestrated by underlay controllers and cloud management systems. Tenant network functions are orchestrated and managed by NFV controllers, overlays are managed by overlay controllers, and services are orchestrated by service orchestrators or service order managers.

Creation of new systems requires interactions with all of these individual layers. Today, CSPs are using orchestrators to manage within the pieces, but the handoffs between layers of the end-to-end process are facilitated by tickets or other hard handoffs. With Itential, these manual handoffs can be fully orchestrated, removing any of the delays associated with the existing approach.

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API-Driven, Vendor-Agnostic Integration Model

This flexibility is enabled by several core capabilities of the Itential platform. The platform doesn’t force technologies to conform to a pre-defined, rigid data model — instead, it uses APIs to integrate with any system, tool, or platform, and it leverages JSON to model all payloads and transform data between API calls, creating a virtual mapping between systems, networks, and data structures.

CSPs can adopt any new vendor or expand to any new domain and immediately incorporate it into an orchestrated Itential workflow at no additional cost.

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Rapid, Centralized, Low-Code Orchestration

Itential’s low-code workflow canvas enables rapid creation of end-to-end network orchestrations across multi-vendor, hybrid, and multi-cloud infrastructure. CSP teams can orchestrate any process quickly and easily, accelerating time to value.

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Northbound API Exposure for Streamlined Service Delivery

Composing services using distributed cloud infrastructure is only half the battle. Itential’s platform allows CSPs to expose any service with standard APIs so it can be delivered as a product, through ServiceNow, through internal customer portals, etc.

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