Craig Farrell CTO Telecom IBM

Why to operators want SDN and NFV? Definitions SDN: Separate control/management & data plane of switches Centralization of control/mgmt Programmable/automated networks. NFV: Relocation of network functions from dedicated Layer 4-7 appliances to generic servers. Why – Cost – New services – Flexibility – Speed Started out in Data Center but is now core networks

What are we hearing How will network functions evolve from implementation in “boxes connected by wires” to “software functions in a sea of compute” – The Network Cloud – Is this feasible? – If feasible, what workloads are practical in the new model? – What are the technical implications of this transition? What about our existing systems? – What are the timescales in which this transition will happen? – What do operators need to do now?

What are some of the things we are doing Example 1: SDN is used to direct traffic flows through the network (pink line) while enforcing end-to-end quality of service SDN also enables customer portals to self-configure network services. Example 2: implement an ePC for our LTE trial. Example 3: Implement a series of network functions (router, VPN, firewall,…) to do a cost and performance comparison Example 4: Implement a CDN (for Netflix/you tube, Hulu, …) Example 5: Implement a standard CPE build out (softswitch PBX, etc)

What Network functions/Services will be virtualized first? Business Level Services (Telco’s) – Deploy a CDN – Deploy a VPN – Deployment of CPE Enterprise Voice and PBX services Hosting, capacity, data center functions. Business Level Services (MSO’s) – Network Storage and DVR’s (record and playback) Network Level Functions – MME (Mobility Management Entity): – ePC – MME – SGW (Serving Gateway), PGW (PDN Gateway), – HSS (Home Subscriber Server) – ANDSF (Access Network Discovery and Selection Function) – ePDG (Evolved Packet Data Gateway) – Routing, load balancer, firewall, traffic shaper, cache – HLR/HSS, SGSN, GGSN, RNC, AAA – Standard IT things (DNS, Web Servers, Diameter,..)

The Dilemma of the right number of CSR’s and other lessons we need to learn when implementing SDN Call Center CSR’s contribute to both customer satisfaction and revenue. Reducing the number of CSR’s may well reduce costs but there comes a point where it is reducing customer satisfaction and revenue by an even larger amount. Outsourcing can sometimes reduce costs while maintaining the number of CSR’s but CSPs must still monitor: – call center revenue, – cross sell and up sell rates, – first call closure rates, – average revenue per CSR

Where are the opportunities? Real time provisioning and activation. – Fulfillment (when to use NFV and when to use legacy) Policies for orchestration. (when NFV and when legacy). Automation and integration with existing OSS and BSS solutions. – Automation must happen – Some OSS/BSS process changes Service Assurance for virtual topology as legacy logical topology Started out in Data Center but is now core networks – Want the same provisioning for IT and Network

Timing and Success – We are still learning, POC’s – What will be the measures of success? Cost (deploy a new network, deploy a new service) Speed (deploy a new network, deploy a new service) Flexibility (the number of services supported by the same infrastructure) New services (the number of new services that could not have been deployed without SDN/NFV Revenue Generates Cost reductions (Capex and Opex – number of people)? Reliability (reduced downtime) – customer satisfaction