SDN, NFV and cloud continue to harbor opportunities for operators, though Metaswitch notes focus and vendor support remain crucial.
On this week’s NFV/SDN Reality Check we speak with Metaswitch CTO Martin Taylor on the challenges and opportunities it’s seeing for vendors and telecommunication operators from the use of network functions virtualization, software-defined networking and cloud infrastructure.
Taylor explained that the move by telecommunication operators towards a software-defined world is a significant transition, with the ongoing process probably moving a bit slower than some expected. However, the firm has found some forward-looking operators, including the likes of AT&T, have done a great job of pushing the pace in terms of deployment and innovation across their networks.
Taylor noted that while open source platforms can provide vendors and operators with a head start in terms of developing virtualization platforms, the business model behind such moves are still a challenge and operators should expect to work with specific vendors to ensure their deployments are supported.
Taylor also acknowledged that while telecom operators are in a different boat from webscale providers because of operational and regulatory concerns, those operators need to copy as much as they can from the webscale world in order to garner as much efficiency from operations as possible.
Thanks for watching this week’s show and make sure to check out our next NFV/SDN Reality Check when we speak with Aryaka on the growing SD-WAN space.
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