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Tag: 5G

  • Stay Ahead of the 5G and DevOps Race with Continuous Network Monitoring

    Stay Ahead of the 5G and DevOps Race with Continuous Network Monitoring

    All car owners are aware that they should have their car regularly serviced. This includes routine maintenance checks, as well as expert assessments for potential future problems. Whether you like it or not, it’s important to pay attention and listen to your mechanic’s warning–it could be as simple as your tire treads, or abnormal wear and tear that could bring back worse issues if not fixed in the foreseeable future.

    Automobiles aside, another industry that benefits from being proactive rather than reactive is telecommunications. Not only does the telecoms world requires routine checks and maintenance, but it also needs to identify problems before they cause larger issues or disruptions.

    Networks are evolving rapidly and this will continue as 5G deployments expand; as will the need for regularly scheduled maintenance and examinations. DevOps–a set of procedures that automates between software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) along with continuous delivery (CD)–allows for a level of agility that enables new features and services to be deployed within weeks or days. There are four stages of establishing these services–design, deploy, test and operate–all of which demand a constant pace and network monitoring.

    To maximize DevOps and CD, including the speed benefits that come with both, predictive network monitoring (PNM) is vital. 

    Powering Networks with Prediction Services

    PNM services predict abnormalities within a network and their subsequent implications, isolate affected areas, examine outcomes and recommend actions. PNM also utilizes continuous monitoring functions; leverages real-time data to address issues before they affect the business; and provides continuous verification in near real-time in order to offer a holistic performance overview of all levels of a telecommunication ecosystem.

    PNM has the potential to reduce the number of occurrences affecting networks by nearly 40%; to reduce restore time by 48%; and to reduce faults per subscriber by 85%. When you put this all together, PNM can then improve the time between failures by 64%, and when you use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), even better numbers can be achieved. This is because AI and ML can monitor network data in a closed-loop system, enabling the automatic detection of anomalous behavior and system abnormalities.

    While a majority of cars lack these types of PNM services, telecom networks are already ahead of the game with their increased ability to predict issues and intervene before they can adversely affect the business, thus saving time, money and effort for operators.

  • Accelerating IoT by Switching Gears to 5G

    Accelerating IoT by Switching Gears to 5G

    Unprecedented breakthroughs in technology have often resulted in the emergence of disruptive technologies and outstanding innovations. A major development in one technology always fuels the growth and advancement of several other technology domains and industries that take advantage of it, resulting in a need to transform businesses to address new opportunities.

    The evolution and development of various generations of mobile wireless technologies—mobile phones, mobile application development, eCommerce, banking, transportation, hotels, etc.—have seen a cascading impact on the growth and advancement of various applications. We are about to witness a similar multi-dimensional growth in several industries with the advent of the 5G wireless technology. With speeds that could be at least 10 times faster than 4G networks, 5G is expected to create pathbreaking opportunities for innovation and development in a variety of domains including but not limited to education, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and health care.

    5G networks offer three major benefits, bigger channels, reduced latency and scalability, which allow the connection to a large number of sensors and devices. This combination will enable the government and other industries to introduce advanced digital initiatives involving AI, machine learning (ML), Industrial IoT (IIoT) and a variety of other data intensive applications.

    This article focuses on the effect of 5G networks on IoT, and the role that DevOps could play in this mix.

    Where Does 5G Fit with Regards to IoT?

    At a high level, the focus areas for the five generations of mobile network technologies can be summarized as: 1G, voice; 2G, voice and texting; 3G, voice, texting and data; 4G, everything as in 3G but much faster; and 5G is expected to be everything in 4G but extremely faster. 

    IoT devices employ a wide range of wireless technologies such as WiFi and Bluetooth, in addition to cellular technologies such as GSM, LTE, 4G and 5G. In the field of IoT, cellular technologies such as 4G, have helped a great deal with regards to device provisioning and device management. These technologies have also improved and ensured coverage, performance, reliability and security of IoT devices and applications.

    5G brings in a variety of other benefits that are not available with 4G. The speed, higher capacity and low latency of 5G will make it more ideal for simultaneously connecting a large number of devices. Further, additional enhancements made by some 5G service providers aim at expanding the frequencies for data transfer by digital cellular technologies. These features will also make 5G a major enabler in applications that use IoT where real-time performance and decision making are critical. Remote medical diagnosis and remote surgery are some examples where 5G’s ultra-low latency will help improve the virtual and augmented reality experience, making them more powerful tools in the medical industry—especially at a time of crisis like the currently prevalent COVID-19 pandemic. 

    The bandwidth reliability and resiliency offered by 5G will pave the way for several new applications for IIoT systems. For example, factors such as operator productivity in manufacturing, reduction in cost of quality management and enhanced quality through continuous monitoring and improvement, are some examples where IIoT can be made more effective with the use of 5G.

    The volume of real-time data exchanges with IIoT devices will be greatly increased with 5G. This helps with obtaining more frequent and reliable data on several KPIs in manufacturing, worker productivity, root-cause analysis, etc. Predictive maintenance, which is turning out to be a major use case for 5G and IIoT, aims at predicting failures before they occur by leveraging AI.

    The Difference that 5G Makes on IoT Data 

    Prior to the advent of 5G, technology required to offer a higher bandwidth and reliable network connectivity were quite limited and have further prevented from realizing the fullest potential of several edge devices. These devices can potentially generate and transmit large volumes of data that can be processed and analyzed by cloud-based applications. With 5G, there will be a sharp increase in the capture and use of valuable data from edge devices leading to greater insights and predictive analytics on IoT implementations.

    5G technology offers a significant increase in transmission bandwidth, theoretically up to 10 Gbps, as opposed to 4G which only offers 100 Mbps. This increase in bandwidth will result in significant growth in the volume and quality of IoT data and a proportional growth in AI applications leveraging ML and big data. The mass volumes of data created by IoT under the influence of 5G have the power to revolutionize everything, from education to healthcare to manufacturing and even autonomous vehicles.

    With 5G, there will be a surge in the volume of data generated by sensors, cameras, drones and edge IoT devices. Integration of data from different sources will lead to the development of several large data-intensive applications that help draw valuable insights regarding the domains in which they are implemented. The convergence of 5G technology, IoT and data analytics will also pave the way for innovation and several new business opportunities. IoT applications leveraging 5G technology will proliferate wearables, smart home appliances, industrial automation and also future self-driven vehicles.

    All Things Considered

    There is absolutely no doubt that IoT is already taking the world by storm. The power of IoT, when harnessed with the power of 5G technology, will certainly lead to several innovative approaches and open up new business opportunities. Overall, the speed, reliability and low-latency offered by 5G makes it ideal for connecting a large number of IoT devices.

    IIoT devices will find a great use for 5G as they can now collect and report large volumes of real-time data from manufacturing units and sensors, helping companies obtain valuable insights and take well informed decisions. The large bandwidth supported by 5G additionally provides edge devices the ability to transmit larger volumes of data more frequently to applications that can process and use the data effectively for AI and ML.

    We will definitely see the industry witness a sharp growth in IoT, AI and ML applications relatively soon, given the fast growth of 5G and the enhancements that several service providers are already making in this technology.

  • LF Edge Moves Open Networking Push Forward

    LF Edge Moves Open Networking Push Forward

    A vendor-neutral initiative dubbed the State of the Edge was acquired this week by LF Edge, an arm of The Linux Foundation focused on defining an open source stack of software for edge computing applications.

    The State of the Edge project will be merged with the existing Open Glossary of Edge Computing initiative that LF Edge already had in place. That combined initiative will now be known as the State of the Edge project within the larger umbrella of LF Edge projects.

    State of the Edge was launched by Vapor IO, Arm, Rafay Systems, Packet by Equinix and Edge Gravity by Ericsson to provide free research reports. Arpit Joshipura, general manager for networking, edge and Internet of Things (IoT) for The Linux Foundation, said that mission will continue as part of a larger effort to advance open software-defined networking software.

    The goal is to define stacks of software and implementation blueprints that will make it simpler for both telecommunications carriers and enterprise IT organizations to implement open source networking software both at the edge and in the cloud, said Joshipura.

    That’s critical because as IoT continues to evolve it’s apparent that IT and operations technology (OT) teams will converge, he added, noting the challenge is enabling organizations to achieve that goal around using a suite of programmable open source platforms that are truly interoperable with one another.

    Existing LF Edge projects include Akraino Edge Stack, an edge computing platform; Baetyl, a cloud-based management platform; EdgeX Foundry; a framework for sharing data between devices; Fledge, a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for common administrative tasks; Home Edge, a platform for deploying consumer applications; and Project EVE, a virtualization engine.

    Interest in building and deploying applications at the network edge is on the rise in anticipation of 5G wireless networking services becoming widely available. Most of the organizations building those applications will be relying on best DevOps practices to achieve that goal. Less clear for now is the degree to which traditional network operations will be rolled up into those DevOps practices. The more programmable the networking environment becomes the more control each developer theoretically can have over the network services being accessed by their applications. However, network bandwidth is often a finite resource; there most likely will need to be some governing mechanism that determines how much network bandwidth any one application would be allowed to access at any given time.

    Of course, the open source community is not the only entity eyeing the rise of edge computing. Providers of commercial networking platforms ranging from Cisco Systems to VMware are all focused on enabling edge computing applications. Historically, open source platforms such as OpenStack have been embraced by carriers. However, within enterprise IT environments open source networking platforms have not gained much traction. The open source community will need to galvanize around a set of platforms and blueprints for edge computing platforms quickly. Otherwise, many organizations will most likely turn once again to commercial networking platforms to provide services to edge computing applications.

    — Mike Vizard

  • How 5G Mobile Networks Will Change IoT Security

    How 5G Mobile Networks Will Change IoT Security

    Depending on your location, you might have noticed a new 5G icon on your cell phone recently. The roll-out of the new 5G mobile network is largely a positive change for consumers and businesses. The fifth generation of cellular networks (hence 5G) purports to be one of the fastest wireless networks ever created.

    This technology claims to provide more efficient interconnectivity, and faster data transfers between people, objects and devices. All good things, right? But what security risks does 5G represent for the modern age?

    Some cybersecurity experts suggest that new vulnerabilities are versions of problems not entirely flushed out from 4G and even 3G networks. This article will attempt to explore some problems and opportunities that IoT security experts need to be aware of, and how savvy enterprises can be proactive about security in the age of 5G.

    Riding the 5G Wave

    A business’s potential is only as great as the technology they elect, as an organization, to adopt and use. One of the first benefits that 5G provides comes from the additional speed that the network provides. 4G posted average download speeds around 20Mbps. With a fully deployed and optimized 5G network, users should expect those download speeds to reach anywhere from 500 to 1,500Mbps. 

    Raw speed is one thing, being able to harness this type of efficiency is another. A Barclays’ poll recently reported that only around 28% of businesses understand 5G or the practical business applications the network offers. 

    Along with the challenges of leveraging the increased speed of the 5G network for business purposes, another important aspect of 5G education involves the security risks associated with faster technology. We suspect that if only 28% of businesses understand the practical applications of a 5G network, the awareness of potential security risks may be a similarly low figure.

    Getting Up to Speed on G Security

    While 5G touts a tighter grip on security, experts in the space will remind us that some of the concerning holes in the security of 4G, and even 3G, networks have been carried over into the rollout of 5G. Give credit where it’s due, the 5G security wins are associated with the encryption process which improves anti-tracking and spoofing features. This means that would-be criminals have a much harder time tracking and manipulating device connections.

    5G is also more software and cloud-focused than previous versions, which allows for better monitoring so threats can be spotted and mitigated more quickly. 

    While this is good for consumers, it’s not a perfect system by any means. “Stingray” devices can still be used to deploy fake base station attacks, which allow attackers to intercept mobile traffic and potentially manipulate data.

    Downgrade Attacks

    Purdue University and the University of Iowa outlined findings from design issues in the 5G protocol that exposed 11 vulnerabilities that may be exploited by bad actors. Five of these discovered vulnerabilities were carried over from 3G and 4G networks. Notably, a “downgrade attack” which essentially reverts the devices to use old mobile data networks. On top of potentially leading to higher wireless bills, this may allow attackers to track calls, texts or browsing habits on devices.

    If a device is forced to operate in a limited-service mode, an article in WIRED explains how IMSI numbers may also become exposed because of a downgrade attack.

    “One purported benefit of 5G is that it protects phone identifiers, like your device’s ‘international mobile subscriber identity,’ to help prevent tracking or targeted attacks,” stated WIRED. “But downgrade attacks like the ones the researchers found can bump your device down to 4G or put it into limited service mode, then force it to send its IMSI number unencrypted. Increasingly, networks use an alternative ID called a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity that refreshes periodically to stymie tracking.”

    Tips to Avoid Security Pitfalls in the Age of 5G

    In the age of the fastest speeds ever seen and nearly ubiquitous connectivity because of the rapid adoption of IoT devices, it’s becoming apparent that a zero trust model could help address security concerns with 5G and beyond. 

    This may require additional education to be available for employees, but an increase in security best practices for endpoint users is something that will benefit an organization tremendously. Zero-trust security models continually check the user’s presence and behavior within a network regardless of whether the user is human or machine. 

    It might seem like a great idea, but adopting the model isn’t a change to be taken lightly. A survey conducted by AT&T about 5G security indicated that just 33% of respondents reported they are currently using multi-factor authentication—the road to zero trust will take buy-in from executives and managers. 

    Sharing the Burden of Security

    The 5G rollout does provide built-in security features, but it should not be viewed as the Holy Grail. An organization will benefit from having a comprehensive security model, but that doesn’t mean they need to single-handedly oversee every aspect of that model. 

    5G is a combined effort that involves network operators and enterprises, and shared responsibility is essential for long-term success. Managed service providers should be considered by companies that may be short-staffed, or don’t have the in-house resources to cover other important areas of security, such as ransomware protection.

    Security within a business can’t exist in a silo, it’s a team sport—make sure you’re on the winning side.

    — Marty Puranik

  • Predictions 2020: Five Real-Time Data Predictions

    Predictions 2020: Five Real-Time Data Predictions

    According to Gartner, 85% of big data initiatives end in failure. In 2020, organizations are out of budget and operational runway, and need to start executing and getting the big data recipe right.

    It is not just about big data; it is about using data differently. Rather than rearward-facing business intelligence, leading companies are driving differentiation and profit by using data to make fact-based decisions in real time. This requires the broader application of real-time information to make a difference in user experience, in prioritization of production and manufacturing schedules, and in spotting problems before they happen.

    Rather than reports for a few people, the new data-driven business processes are engaged continuously, and across all customer engagements, transactions and decision points within business processes. Scale means throughput across millions of transactions and with potentially millions of customers. Database systems have to be engineered differently, with different technology built to deal with real-time demands and high throughput across huge numbers of endpoints.

    As we enter the next decade, here are five predictions, centered on real-time data, that we expect to emerge.

    Machine Learning and AI Models Finally Get the Data They Deserve

    Most AI and machine learning initiatives are niche, nascent and not operating anywhere near scale. According to industry research (O’Reilly), hardware and data are the primary bottlenecks in getting enough data processed fast enough to harness the full promise of AI. That’s changing, with the arrival of new wire-speed hardware (from companies such as Intel) and clever data platforms designed to leverage hardware innovations for real-time efforts on a massive scale. It’s all about the amount of data you can process in real time to make AI and machine learning actually work. This is what is needed, and it’s becoming practical.

    Privacy Prompts a New Era of Data Innovation

    Businesses hoard data. And often, so much of it isn’t used due to infrastructure costs and technology bottlenecks. Now, as new privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) show their teeth, companies really need to make all that data worth the risk. It will drive new real-time business processes that are not only safer but squeeze value out of data in new and exciting ways.

    Companies face a delicate balancing act. They must comply with the realities of new regulations, while also being able to use personal data in real time to serve customers what they want and expect. Companies that can satisfy the regulators and appeal to customers will win.

    If an Economic Downturn Occurs, Data Will Drive the Next Round of Economic Gains 

    An economic downturn is inevitable. When it happens, companies will be asked to do more with less. As a result, they will need to completely rethink their solution and delivery strategies.

    In that environment, with fewer markets opening or providing a sufficient return on investment, the next wave of gains is to optimize your existing segments and operations to the fullest extent. These data-driven initiatives require that companies understand customers better, and be able to instantly target them in critical moments—harnessing massive amounts of data to suggest and expand purchases. 

    5G Will Accelerate Customer Expectations

    As bandwidth increases and high bandwidth communication becomes available across devices (on cars, planes, homes, ships, buildings, etc.) and in more situations, we will see data being used differently. What may have been processed intermittently in batches with high degrees of latency will now be processed in real time, driving higher efficiency and removing risk from supply chains, customer interactions and equipment maintenance and performance. It will no longer be OK to know how you’ve done and correct it next quarter; rather, things must be corrected in near real time. New standards will be set by the highest-performing companies, and entirely new businesses will emerge that are leveraging a new level of availability to real-time data.

    Decline of Globalization Will Force Companies to Know Their Customers Better

    As global markets shrink, it becomes imperative for companies to up their game and drive for more market share within the available market. Companies that have been treading water and growing at the rate of the global market expansion are going to start to shrink. Differentiation through better customer experience and better management of supply chains will make the difference between continuing to grow versus stagnation or shrinkage.

    Companies that have invested in instrumenting their supply chains, who have a deep understanding of what comes from where and what the alternatives are, have already begun to optimize around the new web of tariffs. Those that are less agile are seeing reduced profits or reduced sales based upon the elasticity of their pricing options.

    The more real-time data one has, the clearer the picture of what options are available as the global situation changes. The faster a company can process that data means either missing financial targets or outperforming peers.

    Want to learn more about what to expect in 2020? Join us Jan. 23 for our Predict 2020 Virtual Summit  featuring discussions from some of the industry’s best and brightest offering up their visions for the future. Sign up today for this free daylong virtual event.

    — Lenley Hensarling

  • Headless Commerce: Why E-Commerce Is Losing Its Head

    Headless Commerce: Why E-Commerce Is Losing Its Head

    How headless commerce is changing the way commerce platforms are designed and services are offered

    Within the last 15 years we’ve seen commerce technology evolve at a breakneck pace. In the early nineties, online shopping was limited to simplistic webstores built around self-contained, all-in-one software solutions. And with consumer engagement restricted to web browser access via at-home desktop computers, many assumed e-commerce would never find its way to mainstream acceptance. Fast forward to the present: E-commerce is ascendant and traditional retail has been toppled from its throne. Immersive online shopping environments establish a sense of belonging, transforming casual shoppers into lifelong brand loyalists. Seamless e-commerce experiences are tailored to specific individuals, complimented by lightning-fast fulfillment, next-day delivery and 24/7 customer service.

    As a result of these changes, self-contained software solutions have surrendered to agile commerce platform architectures offering a more open, granular approach digital customer experience management. In particular, “headless” commerce has drawn significant hype for its unique approach to commerce architecture, involving separation of a commerce platform’s front-end customer experience from back-end business processes. But just how much of a game-changer is headless and who stands to benefit most from it as this approach becomes more widespread?

    Separate the Front and Back

    Historically, the front-end and the back-end of commerce platforms were intrinsically tied at the hip. Headless commerce allows a brand to separate the front-end experience from the back-end business processes such as management of the merchant’s catalog, product pricing, promotional offers and day-to-day management activities. This separation enables marketers to embrace new channels and new customer touchpoints by removing any dependencies of new front-end releases having to be developed, deployed and managed together with the back end. It gives the front-end UX team complete creative control over what the experience should be and can be based on the needs of the brand. This is opposed to being prescribed a commerce experience that has to follow specific processes and workflows. When done effectively, headless opens up and gives the front-end customer experience designers freedom to think outside the box and build experiences that aren’t constrained in any way.

    5G is Bottom Line

    With the evolution of 5G networks and the ability to put low-cost transmitters into any device or product, the number of things in the workplace or products we own that are connected to the internet has increased significantly. A few years ago, only a few items things such as your laptop and your phone were connected to Wi-Fi. Now it’s a list of 30 or 40 things in your house that are permanently connected to your Wi-Fi. Eventually, Wi-Fi will become obsolete and everything will connect over 5G, leading to the possibility of having hundreds of connected devices just inside your home. All of those connected devices will ultimately fuel business models that can only benefit from a headless approach.

    Many of the products we buy today are becoming more connected. By being connected to the internet, businesses can provide a value-add service, whether that’s a paid subscription or something freely provided by the brand. For example, if you buy a NEST home security camera from Best Buy, you pay a one-time fee of $400. However, once you buy it there’s also a subscription for recording and storing all the video footage. This scenario is ideal for companies looking to profit from a headless commerce business model, as the product needs to continually call home to determine if it has entitlements, if the customer is up to date on their paid subscriptions and so forth.

    Headless in the Future Means Preparation in the Present

    While headless is the future, everyone isn’t fully ready. It requires budget and teams capable of using headless commerce technologies. Generally, it’s a fit for larger, well-funded enterprise organizations that have significant in-house technical capabilities, architects and their own development teams versed in building their own custom, front-end experiences. For smaller businesses, a lot of it is about future-proofing their platform technology to prepare for a solution that supports headless in the future.

    With much-misunderstood hype around the topic, headless is still a growing term and concept within the industry. It’s going to take a push from those who are creating demand for headless such as a chief architect or CTO. If you don’t have a strong IT organization that really understands the vision of how your company is going to be more agile with a headless approach, then it’s kind of a non-starter.

    Traditional commerce is becoming a thing of the past. Headless is the future and it’s going to take everything we have to pave the way.

    — Peter Sheldon

  • There’s No Silver Bullet for 5G Deployment

    There’s No Silver Bullet for 5G Deployment

    When it comes to 5G, a common mistake is to think there is a silver bullet for successful deployment. Often operators assume there is one magic remedy that if introduced to their network, will see them succeed. For example, automation is a key pillar of the 5G era; end-to-end automation maximizes the efficiencies and responsiveness of 5G. However, it would be a mistake to assume there is one method of automation that leads operators to successful 5G deployment. There are a vast range of automation areas and use cases such as network slicing and DevOps that can play a key role.

    But first, the key point about there being no silver bullets was part of the reason Nokia commissioned Analysys Mason, a global research organization, to assess and index operators’ maturity and readiness for 5G transformation. With 5G deployment, there are a number of available automation options that need careful consideration.

    While the Index made a number of significant findings on operators’ readiness for 5G and provided guidance for how to align technology investments, one of the most intriguing sections was on DevOps. In short, the Index found DevOps, as a key part of network automation, will enhance the impact of 5G on customer experience and service agility, but on the whole is not being adopted.

    Key Findings from the 5G Maturity Index

    The 5G Maturity Index showed it is paramount operators invest in a variety of digital technologies that can enhance the impact of 5G, including artificial intelligence learning as well as new processes such as DevOps. The following are the most vital findings of the research:

    On Automation

    • The 5G world will be characterized by the co-existence of physical and virtual infrastructure for a foreseeable future–without automation, the cost of managing functions across the two worlds will be crippling for operators.
    • Even when there is a vision for end-to-end network automation, business process automation is not clearly tied to network automation and is often in its infancy.

    On DevOps

    • Only 32% of network operators are using or are planning to use DevOps by 2020 as means to improve consumers’ experiences.
    • A significant 35% of network operators have no plans to use DevOps at any point.
    • The level of confidence in DevOps is low.
    • DevOps is becoming the norm in cloud and data center environments, but they are only slowly extending into network services.

    Why Deploy in a DevOps Mode?

    It’s clear that network operators are not yet deploying in a DevOps mode on a major scale. But what are they missing out on? DevOps has been proven, in the cloud environment, to support rapid and flexible service creation–an important goal for operators. At the heart of DevOps is continuous integration, delivery and deployment. The process enables collaboration throughout the entire development pipeline from concept and building to deployment and testing.

    Furthermore, the continuous testing and feedback loops of DevOps enable teams to consistently provide up-to-date and reliable software to customers. This enhances the consumer experience and creates new revenue streams for operators. While operators should consider adopting DevOps, it’s equally important they view it as a part of the automation process–one of the key supporting structures to the building, but not the only one. Together with other vehicles for automation, DevOps is a building block for faster time-to-value and paves the way to an agile 5G environment.

    Conclusion

    DevOps has a critical role to play in meeting 5G networks’ requirements for faster time to customer and improving the customer’s experiences. What is crucial is that operators remember:

    1. There is no silver bullet to overall automation, a menu of complementary options is needed.
    2. DevOps is a critical part of this menu, because of its ability to create efficient processes which ultimately leads to a greater user experience for businesses and their customers.

    It’s critical to align digital technologies carefully to an overall transformation strategy with clear objectives–DevOps will be a critical element of this, but do not be tempted to fall for the tale of the silver bullet.

     

     

    This article was co-authored by Stefan Kindt, technology marketing at Nokia Software. Kindt heads the operations automation and DevOps marketing. Prior to his current role, Stefan was leading the cloud market development at Nokia where he was responsible for the market positioning of Nokia cloud to enterprises and communication service providers. With more than 20 years of experience in the ICT and telecommunications industry, Stefan has extensive knowledge in the data center as well as the telco space, with global market insight and first-hand experience from Asia and Europe.

     

    — Volker Held

  • Bringing 5G-Enabled Digital Services to Life Calls for Cloud-Native Operations

    Bringing 5G-Enabled Digital Services to Life Calls for Cloud-Native Operations

    Spotify, Netflix, IoT connectivity and cloud storage are a few examples of the digital services providing new options for fun and function to consumers and businesses alike, while representing a growing boon for communications service providers (CSPs).

    Gartner predicts by 2020, nearly one quarter (23%) of CSPs’ large enterprise business communication revenues will be driven by digital services—up a staggering 10 percentage points from 13% of revenues in 2017. This gain should come as no shock to developers who favor building in the cloud or using tools such as Microsoft Teams to collaborate, or who stream video from HBO Go or skim stories in Apple News during their commutes. Today’s customers (consumers or businesses) expect value-driven, digitally enabled services that inspire personalized and meaningful experiences with their brands of choice.

    The good news is companies are eager to meet demand: CSPs want to deploy services in the cloud to address the challenges of web-scale companies. In fact, 85% of companies surveyed say launching new digital services is critical to their business strategy.

    What’s the catch? To do it, they’ll need to be agile. Although telecom is not an industry known for its agility, and is often thought of as the opposite, it has been transforming—like many industries—through adopting more agile approaches in business strategy. CSPs are striving to maximize resources and reduce inefficiencies, while at the same time sparking innovation. Nothing has been more of a stimulus for agility than the cloud, especially for the web-scale companies whose services pose the greatest threat to the telco industry.

    A key requirement will be cloud-native applications that improve the agility of network functions. However, being cloud-native involves a lot more than just shoehorning code into a container previously ported from an appliance to a virtual machine.

    Rather, at Oracle, cloud-native means faster development and deployment through DevOps and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. CSPs can only achieve an agile cloud with an environment enabling developers to innovate true cloud-native solutions if they implement an operational framework that embraces a key set of principles. Specifically, we at Oracle have identified the principles for successful cloud-native operations.

    System Immutability

    Everything, including software and configuration, is code. All changes are made through CI/CD, where they are deployed as immutable artifacts. No manual configurations or customizations are allowed. This makes it easier to implement the principle of least privilege as there is no need to run scripts in the production environment. Also, any changes not coming though the delivery pipeline can be considered malicious.

    Automate Everything

    All aspects of build, test, verification and deployment are automated. This includes activities such as backup, recovery, password/key rotation, etc. Fully automating the DevOps pipeline, including verification and testing, removes much of the potential for human error. This automation also allows changes to be applied to the environment with confidence and provides for rapid repair.

    Disposability

    All services are transient and treated as short-lived. Instead of focusing on never failing, services are designed to go up and down quickly without service interruption. Regular repaving (re-deployment) of the environment ensures failed or failing services are removed and new ones deployed.

    Externalized Configuration

    Configuration (including passwords, credentials, location of backing stores, etc.) is decoupled from the software image, and like software, can be treated as a build artifact in a controlled and versioned manner. Versioned configuration enables development and production parity as an artifact and can eliminate costly operational errors.

    Logs as Event Streams and Constant Telemetry

    Everything needed to debug or diagnose any functional, operational or security issue is found in logs, traces or metrics data. These are treated as a stream of time-ordered events and stored in a centralized collector outside the system, enabling better threat monitoring, forensics and diagnostics through event correlation or analyzing the aggregated and holistic view. Constant telemetry is fundamentally enabled through logs as event streams and, thus, the two should always be considered together.

    Delegated Governance

    Some shared aspects of the environment are centrally managed like networking, identity management or infrastructure, but in a true DevOps fashion, teams delivering a service are responsible for operating the service. This is allowed only with strict governance, enforced through checks in the continuous delivery pipelines, giving greater control over rate of change. Business agility is improved as applications have better visibility into the operations of their service with tighter feedback loops that ultimately improve quality.

    Independent Lifecycle

    Independently upgrading, scaling and deploying each microservice is paramount for supporting other cloud-native principles as well as minimizing the amount of change in the system at a given time. Furthermore, such decoupling makes other principles, such as repaving, easier and promotes easier isolation of issues.

    As 5G introduces increased connectivity and speed, along with the need for more security and reliability, service providers will need the agility, flexibility and security of the cloud and cloud-native principles. These principles are enablers for better cloud operations. Together, they provide the ideal context in which to implement a broader view of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) landscape, giving developers a robust Platform-as-a-Service of backing services beyond just containers.

    As 5G moves from a fabled future to a reality, the market for digital services that reap its benefits is likely to continue to grow. By leveraging these principles, along with DevOps and the CI/CD pipeline, organizations will be able to evolve and prepare for 5G’s promise for innovative business models and new revenue streams—be they digital services or beyond.

    — Shirin Esfandiari

  • 5 Ways Wireless Technology Will Evolve in 2019

    5 Ways Wireless Technology Will Evolve in 2019

    2019 will be a transformative year for the wireless world, with landmark developments in 5G, cloud computing and hardware. From stadiums and retail buildings to airports and even street corners, there’s no place that won’t be affected by the rapid evolution of wireless technology. And if you’re not up on the edge, you’re sleeping on the biggest story of the year.

    As CEO of Packet, I’ve experienced firsthand the latest advances in edge computing, 5G and hardware, all of which will integrate technology into our lives more than ever before.

    Below are my five predictions detailing how wireless technology will evolve in 2019—and how these breakthroughs will impact our everyday lives:

    Software Will Eat the Wireless World

    It’s understood that in our internet-enabled world, technology equals software, even though the reality is more nuanced. And even the cloud, the grand enabler of the latest software wave is itself being eaten alive by the software movement it spawned; cloud-native ecosystems such as Docker and Kubernetes are devouring the value of verticalized cloud providers and offering a portable software experience across any infrastructure substrate, spanning architectures, providers and form factors. This multi-billion dollar industry hasn’t been disrupted, and it is growing increasingly important by the day. In short, it’s a good time to be in software!

    Hardware Technology Isn’t a Commodity

    The influence of hardware is growing steadily, and it will really hit its stride in 2019. We believe that powerful, customizable hardware in collaboration with state-of-the-art software is the next big thing in cloud computing. This trend will help drive investment in everything from accelerators to offloads to alternative processor architectures, especially as the worth of custom-built hardware grows.

    Real Estate is Becoming Digitized

    The leading enterprises of the world are looking to deploy their technology opinion quickly and at global scale. From 5G to mobility to mobile gaming, this ambition requires a go-anywhere model that enables cloud-style infrastructure in hundreds or thousands of locations. In 2019, large real estate owners will move beyond traditional data centers to digitize assets such as co-working, stadiums and retail buildings with cloud and infrastructure.

    5G Technology Is Really All About Private Networks

    Two-thirds of organizations plan to deploy 5G by 2020, according to Gartner. However, as security and control are becoming increasingly important in the wireless world, large industrial companies are being led to explore the implementation of private 5G wireless networks. By deploying private LTE networks using technologies such as Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), enterprises will be able to efficiently deliver connected experiences from the sports stadium and airports to the urban street corner.

    Edge Computing: The Buzzword of 2019

    In case you haven’t heard of the already buzzy tech phrase, edge computing is computing that takes place at or near the source of the data, rather than relying on faraway cloud data centers to do the work. Edge computing is a flexible model that can be dropped in literally anywhere, allowing developers to think–and develop–on a much larger scale than they already are. In 2019, the edge will become the most exciting frontier in the cloud.

    — Zachary Smith

  • How DevOps Can Create Smarter, More Agile 5G Telecom Networks

    How DevOps Can Create Smarter, More Agile 5G Telecom Networks

    There is no doubt DevOps revolutionized software development with its introduction of lean and agile techniques. By applying continuous deployment and continuous integration methodologies into software development, enterprises can build, test and deploy applications and release new services more rapidly. In this article, we will see how the DevOps approach is being utilized in 5G telecom networks with the rise of software-defined systems.

    Emergence of Software in Legacy Telecom Networks

    In last few decades software has changed our lives in myriad ways—mostly for the better. Now, software is starting to disrupt the telecommunication industry with the eagerly anticipated 5th generation of telecom network, also known as 5G. It is expected to provide low latency and high bandwidth network connections to serve use cases including artificial intelligence, smart city, 3D video, industry automation and self-driving cars, and to provide end-to-end real-time experiences such as virtual reality and augmented reality. A variety of these use cases have different network requirements and dependencies, and 5G is expected to provide such flexibility along with agility.

    Software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) form the backbone of the upcoming 5G network, enabling service providers to deliver lucrative services to their customers and realize a competitive advantage. SDN makes the network programmable and centrally controlled, while NFV replaces dedicated network appliances with software packaged in virtual machines on top of high-performance servers. SDN and NFV enables:

    • Better control over overall network.
    • Reduction of manual network configuration processes.
    • Lower CAPEX.
    • Network resiliency.
    • Orchestrate network dynamically.
    • Faster time to market, i.e. faster introduction of new services and features to customers.

    Application of SDN and NFV technologies in 5G telecom networks indicates the use of software in the legacy telecom network, wherein many network functions including firewall, content delivery network (CDN), network address translation (NAT), routers, deep packet inspection (DPI) and broadband remote access server (BRAS) can be virtualized and serve as virtual network functions (VNFs) in NFV architecture. This stands as the core feature of upcoming 5G networks, as most of hardware-dependent operations will be performed by software, providing higher performance with tons of benefits to end users.

    Cloud-Native Enables DevOps

    Virtual network functions (VNFs) are the software representation of network function appliances in NFV environment and a core element in 5G networks. Services can be provided by chaining different VNFs developed by different vendors. There are complexities associated with having multivendor VNFs, as each VNF has its own performance and operational issues including manual integration in NFV infrastructure, utilization of NFV hardware resources, lack of interoperability and multitenancy. For a 5G network to deploy successfully, each VNF must be configured and managed in automated way.

    As software becomes part of telecom network, the term “cloud native” becomes part of the vernacular for VNFs.

    By harnessing a cloud-native approach—including containerization, microservices-based architecture and dynamic orchestration—VNFs with their own life cycle enable:

    • Decomposition of sub processes into microservices—resources required will be automatically scaled and communicated with other services using APIs.
    • Management and simplified orchestration of VNFs.
    • Deployment within containers and connected by APIs.
    • Orchestration by container scheduler—manages provision into service and lifecycle management.
    • Portability to different NFV environments.

    More importantly, a cloud-native approach allows VNF vendors and service providers to impose DevOps (continuous deployment and integration) methods to automate process of building, validating and deploying VNFs into NFV environments.

    A DevOps approach in 5G networks brings benefits for overall network operations, enabling deployment automation and management of service chains and 5G network slices. Complete automation is required, especially for 5G network operations, which may increase operational efficiency and decrease human error, saving OPEX and decreasing expensive downtime.

    For 5G networks, requirement of DevOps methods in VNF can be for:

    • Automated onboarding and deployment of VNFs in NFV environment.
    • Automated performance testing and benchmarking for VNFs.
    • Enabling self-scaling of VNFs—automated resource provisioning for VNFs.
    • Rnabling self-healing after an error in VNFs residing in VMs or containers.
    • Real-time monitoring of VNF activities for analysis.

    More ‘Intelligent’ Network

    Cloud-native capabilities and a DevOps approach opens the possibility of incorporating artificial intelligence in 5G telecom network operations analysis and real-time monitoring. Cisco Systems has already introduced its solution based on machine learning, which it calls Intent Based Networking. We can imagine a network operation having “zero touch” feature by just providing an intent to complete network for any configuration or specific network-based instruction. The collected analysis data can be used in the management and organization of NFV for corrections of network errors, adjustments in VNF and NFV elements configuration and self-healing/scaling of network functions.

    Summary

    Development of 5G network is still in process. By taking into account a revolution in SDN, NFV, cloud native and DevOps, it is expected that we will have 5G networks by some of leading players Verizon, AT&T, Telefonica and Vodafone reasonably soon.

    — Sagar Nangare