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NETWORK FUNCTIONS VIRTUALISATION
Traditional and Hybrid Networks
are in such a constant high state of flux. Careful deployment
of NFV/SDN can create a highly dynamic network, which in
turn is capable of delivering service agility, reduced costs,
improved time-to-market for new services and ultimately,
brand new revenue streams. While the business case for
this technological evolution almost makes itself, failure to
consider and address the operational changes this demands
in the associated operational systems will potentially
neutralise those gains and create new, previously uncharted,
high impact problems.
The hybrid network reality
The operational management of pure virtual networks is
relatively simple because a new operational component, the
NFV-Orchestrator, is designed to manage Virtual Network
Functions (VNFs) and their managers (VNF Managers),
but since 98 per cent of service providers intend to run
their existing physical networks alongside the new NFV/
SDN networks, the operational challenges are significantly
greater. The operational systems need to be able to manage
hybrid networks which are both physical and virtual: it is not
a case of either/or. Service providers need to rapidly update
their operational systems to address the complexity and
orchestration requirements of these hybrid networks. The
faster that they are able to evolve their OSS, the faster they
will be able to benefit from these new technologies and the
new revenue streams that they will surely enable.
The challenges to NFV/SDN adoption
There are two main challenges facing operators looking to
implement SDN and NFV. The first is simple to understand;
its money. Service providers will have to invest in their
operational support systems if they want to utilise and more
importantly, monetise, NFV and SDN. OSS systems today
were never designed to manage dynamic, virtual networks
and to support those networks you must invest in new
capabilities.
The second challenge is much more complex and it
relates to the organisational impact of SDN and NFV on the
service provider. Most service providers are focused on the
challenges of virtualising their physical networks and this
activity is typically being driven by the network engineering
The Hybrid Network Reality
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