The move towards open source has had a somewhat divisive impact on the vendor community, with established telecom suppliers now having to share the attention – and budgets – of operators with new entrants.
This new rivalry has not gone unnoticed by operators, who have been somewhat critical of the vendor community in terms of providing interoperable platforms that can tie together management of VNFs from various providers.
Verizon Communications was recently cited in a Technology Business Research report as being tough on vendors for “incomplete orchestrators, not delivering on multitenant solutions capabilities, providing ‘gray’ boxes (ones that still contain proprietary designs) rather than true commodity white boxes and not fully addressing service assurance.” The carrier has also been critical of suppliers charging for “every increment of new software functionality added to” a solution rather than business value from end-customer benefits; and “to understand that delivery options for the solution must be aligned to the service provider’s needs, not the vendor’s.”
“It’s always a difficult transition,” said Tushar Saxena, senior director of DCEngine at Radisys. “What will be our biggest challenge and opportunity is how may operators can make this transition. Looking at 5G, the entire architecture is built on NFV. There is a lot of virtualization and that creates an opportunity in terms of the need to use data centers. We are starting from an open source community. We were born in that world and working to help carriers move into that world. If it slows down too much or if 5G takes longer than that could be a challenge.”
One of the most cited challenges for established vendors is the obliteration of past business models that has come with the move towards open source platforms.
“For vendors that have built their business around selling products, the next challenge is the business models,” said Dana Cooperson, research director at Analysys Mason “Telecom companies are still figuring out who exactly gets paid for what and how to value the goods and services exchanged. Vendors need to know how they are going to get paid if they embrace open source. As one contact at Nuage joked, ‘open source may be free, but is sure isn’t cheap.’ Although an open source product’s license might be zero for the CSP, some level of vendor support services are likely essential to get the value from the open source. Professional services (consulting, integration, maybe even a hosting relationship) might be required to take full advantage of the open source product. Establishing the commercial relationships that assure a supportable return for all involved takes time.”
Carriers are aware of this new operational dynamic their vendor partners are having to deal with, though the change comes with the territory.
“The whole idea of software-defined environments is to allow for ‘on-demand’ provisioning of network functions, and this requires an entirely new paradigm from the providers of those functions,” said John Isch, director of network and voice practice at Orange Business Services Network and Voice Center of Excellence. “They are no longer selling hardware, software and maintenance with long-term contracts. They are selling software licenses alone. I interact with some of these vendors on a day-to-day basis and there is a lot of hand wringing over this aspect of software-defined environments. Even if all of the technical aspects are worked out, if the financial aspects remain, it will slow the development down.”
Established vendors are taking on the challenge, with all of the big names having joined various open source industry groups and implemented open source platforms to some extent into their operations.
Nokia, for example, recently unveiled what it claims is the industry’s first complete “templating system” targeting VNF lifecycle management. The system is based on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s NFV specifications; topology and orchestration specifications for cloud application; and OpenStack tools.
The vendor said the platform is designed to streamline and automate virtual network function onboarding, integration and lifecycle management processes. For service providers, Nokia said the service offers VNF definitions to help with integration and “added support for complex structures, and eliminates the need for customization when providing VNF information to a generic VNF manager and [network functions virtualization] orchestrator.”
“By supporting both Nokia and third-party VNFs, the system gives service providers a much wider selection of virtualized network services they can offer subscribers,” the company noted in a statement.
The platform is also touted for its use of open source protocols and support for multivendor environments designed to allow for interoperability across various NFV deployment models.
“One of the goals of NFV has been to foster an open ecosystem of VNF suppliers to give service providers maximum choice in the capabilities they integrate and to offer subscribers the best available services,” explained Ron Haberman, head of Nokia’s CloudBand product unit, in a statement. “By creating an open system that improves the management of VNFs, we aim to make it easier for service providers to quickly add new value-added services to differentiate their offerings, generate new revenue opportunities and deliver better user experiences.”
Established vendors can also take some solace in the history they have with telecommunication operators. Sure, those operators are looking to break down the walls of vendor contracts, but when it comes time to sign deals that shared history can be the difference between getting the signature or losing out to a new player.
“Carriers like their current sales and vendor teams. An entrenched community with carriers and vendors that difficult to dislodged and unseat,” said Jennifer Clark, VP at 451 Research. “Carriers do want to move to this new environment, but when it comes down to signing the checks, they are more comfortable dealing with the companies they have been dealing with.”
Regardless of how the vendor or carrier community tackles the new world of open source, rapidly changing market dynamics are dictating the direction the telecommunications space needs to take in order to remain competitive. While the details of next-generation network technologies aligned with buzzwords like “5G” and the “internet of things” remain in flux, increased reliance on open source software is one of the constants in those discussions.
For more on the topic of open source software check out the latest RCR Wireless News feature report “Open Source: Opening up the telecom world for new opportunities and challenges.”
Also, check out the accompanying webinar on the topic, with panel members from Analysys Mason, Orange Business Services, Radisys and Sonus.
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