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It has been a while since the telecommunication experts came up with the idea of Softwarization, which can be considered as a broader term to describe the concept of virtualization. Surely, the Softwarization is the next major transformation of all Telcos around the world, no matter how big or small they are and the country they operate, it will be a matter of when to make the move.
Please check the below Knowledge Spark on Telco Softwarization for more information.
Virtualization is no more an “infant” technology as it is well matured not only as a concept but also as a solution, even though still there are several related aspects which need further improvements. Almost all the major telecommunication equipment manufacturers have shown clear signs of focusing on this concept in their future developments and some have already taken open approaches and come up with their own solutions.
Is it the right time to adopt this concept? Are we lagging behind? Are we going to embrace it ahead of others or wait till someone else tries it out? These are some questions which the Telcos may have in their mind-set at the moment. The common answer for all these questions is “It depends on where you are and what you do right now”.
If we narrow down our focus and concentrate more on developing markets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), they were among the first movers in adopting 3rd and 4th generation mobile technologies even though there was a significant confusion among the Telcos on emerging technologies. Market saturation, level of competition, customer expectations and past experience were among the factors which drove them from behind. In most of the cases, there were happy endings, because being first to the market helped them to harvest in a blue ocean which let them to attract the majority of the newly created markets.
Will this strategy work in Softwarization as well? May be “Yes”. Then why don’t they get it implemented as fast as before? That is the next question most of the people would ask. Well, that also has an answer.
Firstly, it should be realized that Softwarization will add more value from the operator’s perspective, such as flexibility, customization, short development cycles, cost effectiveness and so on. But from the customer’s perspective it adds little or nothing since the customer cares only on the service he/she gets and how it is delivered is beyond their concern.
Secondly, most of the Telcos have already spent a pile of money on legacy systems and hardware, which are yet to be fully depreciated and even the cost has not yet recovered. They feel like it is still too early to throw away the special purpose hardware for some general purpose hardware. That makes it harder to start the journey with virtualization and they may stick to these systems for another few years.
Next, it seems there is a degree of uncertainty among the operators about the new concepts and how long those will remain valid. As described by the Moore’s Law where the power of computing gets doubled in every eighteen months, new concepts and technologies emerge and disappear in short periods. What we see as the best might get out-dated in few years’ time.
Finally, in some cases, the bitter experience of operators may also slow down their speed of adopting new technologies and concepts. I have met several operators who had the bad experience of being the first movers and then becoming a test bed for some equipment manufacturers. These concerns will reduce the attractiveness and the speed of adoption to some extent.
My belief is that even though all these concerns are valid, Softwarization is the way to move forward form where we are right now. The vendor support on legacy hardware reduces day by day while the risk of keeping those increases considerably. On the other hand Telcos are nowadays seeking for more cost effective, less complicated and flexible solutions which gradually drive them towards the virtualization. It can be either tomorrow or some years later, slowly but surely the time will come for them to go for it.
Rajiv Weragama, ARCTube | @RajivWeragama
Note: The 1st version of this article appeared at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/softwarization-future-telcos-developing-markets-rajiv-weragama/
It has been a while since the telecommunication experts came up with the idea of Softwarization, which can be considered as a broader term to describe the concept of virtualization. Surely, the Softwarization is the next major transformation of all Telcos around the world, no matter how big or small they are and the country they operate, it will be a matter of when to make the move.
Please check the below Knowledge Spark on Telco Softwarization for more information.
Virtualization is no more an “infant” technology as it is well matured not only as a concept but also as a solution, even though still there are several related aspects which need further improvements. Almost all the major telecommunication equipment manufacturers have shown clear signs of focusing on this concept in their future developments and some have already taken open approaches and come up with their own solutions.
Is it the right time to adopt this concept? Are we lagging behind? Are we going to embrace it ahead of others or wait till someone else tries it out? These are some questions which the Telcos may have in their mind-set at the moment. The common answer for all these questions is “It depends on where you are and what you do right now”.
If we narrow down our focus and concentrate more on developing markets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), they were among the first movers in adopting 3rd and 4th generation mobile technologies even though there was a significant confusion among the Telcos on emerging technologies. Market saturation, level of competition, customer expectations and past experience were among the factors which drove them from behind. In most of the cases, there were happy endings, because being first to the market helped them to harvest in a blue ocean which let them to attract the majority of the newly created markets.
Will this strategy work in Softwarization as well? May be “Yes”. Then why don’t they get it implemented as fast as before? That is the next question most of the people would ask. Well, that also has an answer.
Firstly, it should be realized that Softwarization will add more value from the operator’s perspective, such as flexibility, customization, short development cycles, cost effectiveness and so on. But from the customer’s perspective it adds little or nothing since the customer cares only on the service he/she gets and how it is delivered is beyond their concern.
Secondly, most of the Telcos have already spent a pile of money on legacy systems and hardware, which are yet to be fully depreciated and even the cost has not yet recovered. They feel like it is still too early to throw away the special purpose hardware for some general purpose hardware. That makes it harder to start the journey with virtualization and they may stick to these systems for another few years.
Next, it seems there is a degree of uncertainty among the operators about the new concepts and how long those will remain valid. As described by the Moore’s Law where the power of computing gets doubled in every eighteen months, new concepts and technologies emerge and disappear in short periods. What we see as the best might get out-dated in few years’ time.
Finally, in some cases, the bitter experience of operators may also slow down their speed of adopting new technologies and concepts. I have met several operators who had the bad experience of being the first movers and then becoming a test bed for some equipment manufacturers. These concerns will reduce the attractiveness and the speed of adoption to some extent.
My belief is that even though all these concerns are valid, Softwarization is the way to move forward form where we are right now. The vendor support on legacy hardware reduces day by day while the risk of keeping those increases considerably. On the other hand Telcos are nowadays seeking for more cost effective, less complicated and flexible solutions which gradually drive them towards the virtualization. It can be either tomorrow or some years later, slowly but surely the time will come for them to go for it.
Rajiv Weragama, ARCTube | @RajivWeragama
Note: The 1st version of this article appeared at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/softwarization-future-telcos-developing-markets-rajiv-weragama/
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