TBR forecasts early adopters of NFV and SDN to reap greatest benefits
Telecom operators are expected to increase their reliance on software technologies based on network functions virtualization and software-defined networking to reduce costs and better compete against established software-based service providers, according to a new report from Technology Business Research.
The TBR report claims telecom operators over the next year will look to focus on consolidation and cost-cutting initiatives “to improve the profitability of their enterprise business,” citing recent moves by CenturyLink and Verizon Communications in looking to divest their data centers and IBM’s recent acquisition of AT&T’s managed application and hosting service business.
“Carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are moving away from the public cloud business due to their inability to gain market share against established competitors such as Amazon Web Services,” explained Chris Antlitz, senior analyst at TBR. “Instead, operators will focus their 2016 cloud strategies on providing network connectivity and value-added services to solutions offered by leading cloud service providers, through interconnection platforms such as AT&T’s NetBond. To reduce costs, carriers will emphasize using leasing agreements with data center providers to gain capacity, rather than investing in launching additional facilities.”
TBR also noted carriers were adopting NFV and SDN to reduce costs and gain agility in service offerings, citing AT&T’s Network on Demand platform and Verizon’s SDN-based SD-WAN offering. The analyst firm added early adopters are set to “reap the greatest benefit, gaining a time-to-market advantage in offering enhanced applications to enterprises. Offering early access to these solutions provides a differentiator on which carriers can capitalize to attract enterprises before NFV and SDN become commonplace.”
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