Mathias Liebe separates the myths from the facts that have emerged relating to BSS virtualisation
There is a lot going on in the telecoms industry right now, whether because of the threat from more agile and faster OTT players, the fast changing dynamics in the industry or communications service providers’ (CSPs) own mindsets of not to being a dumb pipe anymore. The industry has come a long way and is becoming more open to new ideas and innovation. In the course of being innovative, CSPs are looking at many different technologies but only a few of these technologies actually stand out and virtualisation is one of them.
Virtualisation basically refers to the technology used to create virtual instances of hardware platforms, operating systems (OS), network or storage devices. Virtualisation enables multiple virtual instances running on a single platform at the same time, resulting in virtualised solutions being more portable and scalable than any traditional hardware-based solutions.
CSPs are looking at virtualisation from a network perspective and are preparing for the future to maximise SDN and NFV possibilities. This is the situation for most of the CSPs as they make the transition to the services that they hope will secure their future. And many of them have not even thought about how they will adapt their BSS and OSS capabilities to this new dynamic digital services scenario. Beyond the cost optimisation, CSPs are using virtualisation concepts to transform their BSS environments to innovate more rapidly, drive new revenues and stay competitive.
The two worlds – network and IT – have to be brought together, but it is hard to point out which direction to take or who should be in the driver’s seat. CSPs are already getting a head start on virtualisation by implementing SDN (software defined networking) and NFV (network functions virtualisation) technologies in their networks, but fast networks will be of no use if there is no suitable monetisation strategy in place. That’s where BSS systems and the effect of virtualisation on these systems come into play. A recent survey by Telecoms.com Intelligence showed that 66% of CSPs have deployed or are planning to deploy virtualised BSS by 2016.
CSPs should work on their virtualisation strategies depending on their priority and future direction. Network and BSS virtualisation though are not dependent on one another but definitely help the CSPs to realize the full benefits of virtualisation. Mission critical applications like BSS are the cornerstone in any virtualisation strategy and should not be ignored. How and when it should be virtualised depends upon the CSP’s customer demand and the individual business case. Ultimately, there is no doubt that virtualisation is the only way forward for CSPs that need to handle huge amounts of data, customer demands for new products and faster services and to stay competitive against OTT players.
As with any other new concept or technology there are certain myths around BSS virtualisation. To separate myths from facts we have put together some myths and the facts related to each of them in our latest whitepaper ‘Myth vs. Reality – 5 Myths around BSS Virtualisation’.
