Telecom and Network Operator: Keeping things simple for you and your customers

The growth of the IoT and new customer expectations are making networking more complex. Carried out effectively, virtualisation can help service providers overcome this challenge, enabling them to get closer to their customers

The recent launch of Google Home, the smart speaker and virtual assistant that rivals Amazon’s Echo device, underlines the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Soon, connected devices like these are expected to move from being novelties to the norm, with the IoT set for explosive growth in the coming years.

Everything from cars to trains, cities and entire manufacturing chains is being connected to the IoT. Cisco research projects that by 2020, there will be 26.3 billion networked devices and connections worldwide– that’s an increase of 60 percent from 2015.

The growing number of connected devices and objects will require flexible networks that can be adjusted and scaled easily to suit changing situations.

And this comes on top of growing customer expectations for agile, bespoke services.

To meet these new demands, many service providers are choosing to move to virtual networks. With these networks, they can develop the right products and launch them quickly.

If they can do virtualisation well, there are real rewards on offer. But if they don’t manage to make the change, they risk becoming spectators.

So how do service providers make sure their virtual network will enable them to thrive in the digital future?

Cisco Network Services Orchestrator – simplicity through automation

A virtual network comprises different kinds of technology. One of the most important elements is the orchestration engine.

Cisco’s Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) is a crucial component of our virtualisation technology.

It enables providers to design and deliver high-quality services faster and more easily, without creating custom code or causing disruptions.

It also simplifies your operations by automating processes across the network, reducing manual configuration steps by up to 90 percent.

This solution is ideal for service providers making the move to a virtual network, because it’s compatible with both virtual and physical elements.

And because it’s built using open standards, it’s flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of your business.

Cisco – a natural partner for virtualisation and orchestration

Our expertise in using the latest technology to build virtual network architecture means we can help ensure your services are agile and adaptable, as well as delivered rapidly. This allows you to meet even the most stringent service-level agreements.

The Spanish service provider Telefonica recently chose the Cisco NSO to help it create a more automated and agile network and bring new products to market faster.

Pedro López, Telefonica Business Solutions B2B customer operations director, said: “With Cisco NSO we get the agility to design, refine and repackage network devices and services at the speed of software through standards-based modelling and end-to-end zero-touch automation, responding dynamically to our customer demands and dramatically cutting service delivery cost and time.”

Expanding your offer with use cases

Setting up an effective basic architecture for your virtual network is just the start.

Our use cases allow service providers to take things one step further, offering you a reliable route to immediately deploying new services in key areas.

Earlier this year Ooredoo, a leading communications company with operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, announced that it would be using Cisco’s Virtual Managed Services use case to offer its customers automated cloud-based services.

This will enable customers to outsource the management of their network and IT services to a trusted technology partner.

And our other use cases enable service providers to offer other kinds of services, too.

Cisco Infinite Video Platform can be used to deliver on-demand and over-the-top TV services to multiple screens, and the Cisco Ultra Services Platform makes it possible to set up agile mobile networks.

There’s a different mix of technology to suit each service provider’s needs. So why not follow Telefonica and Ooredoo in trusting our expertise to help you realise the potential of virtualisation?

Why Cisco

We have deep experience of building networks and are committed to innovation. We also understand the complexity of both physical and virtual networks. Which means we can keep things as simple as possible for you.

The new digital world represents a huge opportunity. But to take advantage of it, service providers will need to go about virtualisation in the right way.

We can help you make sure that – when delivering the services that your customers are now demanding – you flourish rather than flounder.

Find out how Cisco technology can power the bespoke, agile network services of the future. Read more about the Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO)

Key takeaways

– To meet growing expectations for agile, bespoke services, many service providers are moving towards using virtual networks.

– There are lots of different ways of building a virtual network, and it’s important to go about it in the right way.

– Cisco’s NSO is a crucial component of its virtualisation technology. By automating processes across the network, it can reduce manual configuration steps by up to 90 percent.

– On top of the basic network architecture, use cases give service providers a rapid way to expand their offer into areas like agile mobile networks and OTT video.

– This makes it much simpler to operate the network. It allows service providers to deliver the flexible services their customers have come to expect, and meet stringent service level agreements.