SONATA D7.5 Market Feasibility Study (final) · D7.5 Market Feasibility Study Project Acronym...

D7.5MarketFeasibilityStudy

ProjectAcronym SONATAProjectTitle ServiceProgrammingandOrchestrationforVirtualizedSoftwareNetworksProjectNumber 671517(co-fundedbytheEuropeanCommissionthroughHorizon2020)Instrument CollaborativeInnovationActionStartDate 01/07/2015Duration 30monthsThematicPriority ICT-14-2014Advanced5GNetworkInfrastructurefortheFutureInternet

Deliverable D7.5MarketFeasibilityStudyWorkPackage WP7Exploitation,Dissemination,Standardsand5GCollaborationSubmissionDate 23May2016Version Version1.0Status FinalEditors JimAhtes(Atos)Contributors InputfromSONATAcommercialpartnersviadistributedsurveyReviewer SoniaCastro(Atos)

SONATAD7.5MarketFeasibilityStudy|2

©SONATAConsortium-www.sonata-nfv.eu

DeliverableTypeR Document XDEM Demonstrator,pilot,prototype DEC Websites,patentfilings,videos,etc. OTHER

DisseminationLevelPU Public XCO Confidential,onlyformembersoftheconsortium(includingtheCommissionServices)



ExecutiveSummary

ThefollowingdeliverableprovidesanextendedmarketanalysisfortheSONATAproject,whichservesasitsmainaudience.ItisaconsolidatedmilestonebasedonactivitythatbegunonDay1oftheproject,influencingthefirstyearofdevelopmentandfurtherprioritizingthedirectionofitsupcomingsecondyear.Therelatedexerciseshavealsoinfluencedtheproject’spositioningandopensourceadoptionstrategytowardsstakeholders.

Itdefinesthetargetmarket,technologycontext,idealadopterprofilesandtheirchallenges,supportingstakeholders,comparablealternativesthatarecurrentlydevelopinginthemarket,andareaswheretheproject’sinnovationanddifferentiationcanmakeanimpact.

SONATAisfocusedonNetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV),acornerstoneoffuturesoftwarenetworksthatinfluencesheavilyhowtheyarebuilt,deployedandmanaged.CoupledwithSDN,NFVisabuildingblockforfuture5Gnetworksandservices.

Thisisanattractiveupgradefornetworkoperatorsofvarioussizesandscope,whethertheyarealargecommunicationserviceprovider(CSP)oranenterpriserunningtheirownnetwork.ThesupportingbusinesscaseincludeslowerCapExonhardwareprocurementandupgrades;flexibilityandalleviatedvendorlock-in;reducedOpExwhileincreasingefficiencyandabilitytoscalenetworkoperations;andpotentialforagileservicedevelopmentandimprovedtime-to-market.

SONATAisdevelopingaNFVserviceplatformfortheoperator,asupportingSDKforservicedevelopersandaDevOpsworkflowthatconnectsthesestakeholderstogether.TheprojectidentifieswiththeMANOlayeroftheETSIarchitecture.ItsprimaryvaluepropositionistohelprealizetheaforementionedNFVcorebusinesscaseasachiefcomponentintheoverallarchitecture(i.e.NFVorchestrator);alleviateNFVadopters’initialpainpointsrevolvingaroundmulti-vendorcomplexity;andempowerCSPsandsupportingthird-partydeveloperswiththeworkflowandtoolsneededfortheagileservicedevelopmentanddeploymentenvisionedfor5Gnetworks.

TheNFVMANOfieldiscrowdingquickly,andover20comparablesolutionshavebeenanalyzedinthedeliverable.Asthesesolutionsarenotyetbenchmarkedorvalidatedinproduction,thecollectionofsourcedvendorwhitepapersandmarketingwascontrastedwithbroader,vendor-agnosticanalystreports,surveysandCSPtestimonials,referencedthroughoutthedocument.

Asurveywasalsolaunchedbytheproject,aimedatbetterunderstandingstakeholderprioritiesforNFVMANOfeaturesandcharacteristics.

Conclusionsareextensive,andcanbefoundconsolidatedinthefinalsectionofthedeliverable,organizedpertopicarea.



TableofContents

ExecutiveSummary................................................................................................................................31 Introduction...................................................................................................................................8

1.1 DeliverablePurpose..............................................................................................................81.2 ContinuousMarketWatchandDeliverableTiming..............................................................81.3 DocumentOrganization........................................................................................................91.4 SONATAProjectinBrief......................................................................................................101.5 TerminologyandListofAcronyms......................................................................................10

2 SoftwareNetworksandEnablingTechnology:NFV,SDNand5GNetworks................................122.1 NetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV)inBrief...................................................................122.2 NFVReferenceArchitectureandtheManagement&Orchestration(MANO)Layer.........132.3 Software-DefinedNetworking............................................................................................142.4 5GNetworksandServices..................................................................................................15

3 BusinessCaseforNFVandMANO................................................................................................173.1 BusinessCaseforNFVAdoption.........................................................................................17

3.1.1 LowerCapExonhardwareprocurementandupgrades.................................................173.1.2 Flexibilityandalleviatedvendorlock-in.........................................................................173.1.3 ReducingOpExwhileincreasingefficiencyandagilityinnetworkoperations...............183.1.4 Facilitatedservicelifecycleandtime-to-market.............................................................18

3.2 BusinessCaseforNFVMANOLayerandServiceDevelopmentTools................................184 NFVDeploymentTimelinesandMarketForecast........................................................................19

4.1 EstimatingNFVAdoptionandDeploymentTimelines........................................................194.2 EstimatingNFVMarketSize................................................................................................20

5 StakeholderandValueChainAnalysis:TelecomSectorTransformationviaSoftwareNetworks226 ChallengesandPainPointsforCSPstowardsNFV/SDNAdoptionand5GNetworks..................24

6.1 ComplicationswithMulti-VendorNFVIntegrationandLegacyCompatibility...................256.2 AgileServiceDevelopmentNeededRevenue.....................................................................26

7 SolutionPresentation:SONATANFVSystemandValueProposition...........................................297.1 SONATAArchitectureOverview..........................................................................................29

7.1.1 SONATANetworkServiceSDK........................................................................................297.1.2 SONATAServicePlatformwithNFVOrchestrator..........................................................307.1.3 SONATANFVDevOpsWorkflow.....................................................................................30

7.2 SONATAFeaturesandValueProposition...........................................................................308 ComparativeStudy:AlternativeNFVMANOSolutionsinDevelopment......................................33

8.1 CommercialNFVMANOSolutions......................................................................................338.1.1 NokiaCloudBand............................................................................................................338.1.2 NEC/NetcrackerOrchestration.....................................................................................35



8.1.3 ADVAOpticalEnsembleOrchestrator............................................................................368.1.4 AffirmedNetworksMobileContentCloud.....................................................................378.1.5 AnutaNetworksNCXEnterprisePlatform......................................................................378.1.6 ATTOResearchATHENENFVPlatform...........................................................................388.1.7 BrocadeVNFManager....................................................................................................388.1.8 CienaBluePlanet............................................................................................................398.1.9 CiscoNetworkServicesOrchestratorandElasticServicesController............................408.1.10 EricssonNetworkManagerandCloudManager........................................................418.1.11 FujitsuVirtuoraServiceOrchestrator.........................................................................418.1.12 HPEnterpriseNFVDirector........................................................................................428.1.13 HuaweiFusionSphereCloudOS.................................................................................438.1.14 JuniperContrailNetworkingServiceOrchestration...................................................448.1.15 OracleCommunicationsNetworkServiceOrchestrationSolution............................448.1.16 AmdocsNetworkCloudServiceOrchestrator............................................................458.1.17 RIFT.ioRIFT.ware........................................................................................................468.1.18 LuxoftSuperCloudNFVOrchestrationPlatform........................................................47

8.2 OpenSourceNFVMANOCollaborativeProjects................................................................488.2.1 OpenStackTacker...........................................................................................................488.2.2 OpenBaton......................................................................................................................498.2.3 OPNFV.............................................................................................................................498.2.4 OpenSourceMANO(OSM)............................................................................................518.2.5 OPEN-O...........................................................................................................................51

9 StakeholderSurveyonNFVMANOFeatures...............................................................................529.1 FlexibilityofMANOOrchestrationSystem.........................................................................529.2 SoftwareNetworkTransitionandSupportingLegacy........................................................549.3 NetworkServiceDevelopment,ToolsandDevOps............................................................559.4 StandardsandOpenSourceCommunities.........................................................................569.5 AdditionalTechnicalCharacteristics...................................................................................57

9.5.1 AdvancedResourceManagement..................................................................................579.5.2 PerformanceIsolation....................................................................................................579.5.3 VerificationofNetworkServiceSLAs..............................................................................57

10 ConclusionsandRecommendationsforSONATA...................................................................5810.1 UntestedSolutionsandMarketingvs.Reality....................................................................5810.2 Multi-VendorSupport.........................................................................................................5910.3 OpennessandCustomizability............................................................................................6010.4 MonitoringandEvent-basedPolicies.................................................................................6110.5 ServiceCompositionandDevOps.......................................................................................6210.6 LegacySupportforanIterativeNFVAdoptionRoadmap...................................................63



10.7 5GNetworkReadiness........................................................................................................6310.8 CommunitiesandStandards...............................................................................................64

References............................................................................................................................................66Annex:“NFVMANOAdoptionPrioritiesforSoftwareNetworks”SurveyTemplate...........................71

ListofFigures

Figure1:ETSINFVReferenceArchitecture(source:ETSI[6]),withMANOdomainhighlighted.........13

Figure2:Examplesof5Gservicesperbandwidthandlatencyrequirements(source:GSMAandHeavyReading[11]).............................................................................................................................16

Figure3:NFVandSDNearlyadoptionin2016(source:Atos[13])......................................................19

Figure4:Telecomvaluechain,adaptedforsoftwarenetworks(simplified).......................................22

Figure5:NFVadoptiontechnicalinhibitors,numberofrespondentsbasedonsurveyof84serviceproviders(x-axis)(source:AshtonMetzler&Associates[20]).............................................................24

Figure6:CSPpriorityfactorswhendevelopingaPoCorprototype,withmulti-vendorinteroperabilityratedhighest–1low,6high(source:TelecomTV[24])......................................................................25

Figure7:Telcocloudservicesestimatetoincreasemonthlyrevenuesby10.5%byDec2021(source:STLPartners[21]).................................................................................................................................27

Figure8:Surveyoftop3prioritiesforoperatorsfortheirnetworks(source:HeavyReading[29])...27

Figure9:SONATAarchitecture[33].....................................................................................................29

Figure10:NokiaCloudBandproductportfolio(source:Nokia[34])....................................................34

Figure11:NEC/NetcrackerNFVServiceandNetworkOrchestrationservices(source:NEC/Netcracker[39])...................................................................................................................................35

Figure12:AnutaNCXPlatformarchitectureandmappingtoETSINFVMANO(source:Anuta[44])..37

Figure13:ATTO'sATHENENFVPlatformnetworkservicechaining(source:ATTO[46])....................38

Figure14:BrocadeVNFManagermonitoringhealthofdeployedVNFs(source:Brocade[48]).........39

Figure15:BluePlanetNFVOrchestrator,Multi-DomainServiceOrchestration,andvisualizedservicechaining(source:Ciena/BluePlanet[49][50])....................................................................................39

Figure16:CiscoElasticServicesController(ESC)andNetworkServiceOrchestrator(NSO)identifiedinETSINFVarchitecture(source:Cisco[53]).......................................................................................40

Figure17:EricssoncomplimentaryNFVsolutions(source:Ericsson[57])...........................................41

Figure18:FujitsuVirtuoraServiceOrchestratorproductsuiteandecosystem(source:Fujitsu[59])42

Figure19:HPEDirectorv3.0featuremap(source:HPE[60])..............................................................43

Figure20:HPENFVEcosystem(source:HPE[61])...............................................................................43

Figure21:JuniperContrailnetworkservicedesignapplication(source:Juniper[66])........................44



Figure22:OracleCommunicationsNetworkServiceOrchestrationSolution(top)andcontextinlargerMANOarchitecture(bottom)(source:Oracle[68])...................................................................45

Figure23:AmdocsNetworkCloudServiceOrchestratorwithinNFVenvironmentcontext(source:Amdocs[71])........................................................................................................................................46

Figure24:Amdocspartnerecosystemshowingdiversityofvendorfocus(source:Amdocs[72])......46

Figure25:RIFT.wareNFVStack(source:RIFT.io[74]).........................................................................47

Figure26:LuxoftSuperCloudNFVOrchestrationPlatformbuildingblockdiagram(sourceLuxoft[76])..............................................................................................................................................................48

Figure27:OpenStackTackerdemoscreenshotofonboardingVNF(source:OpenStackTacker[79])48

Figure28:OpenBatonNFVOusinggeneric(left)orthird-partyVNFMs(right)(source:OpenBaton[80])......................................................................................................................................................49

Figure29:OPNFVBrahmaputrareleasecomponents(source:OPNFV[84]).......................................50

Figure30:OSMArchitecture,simplifiedversion(source:OSM[86])..................................................51

Figure31:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:importanceofflexibility-relatedfeaturesinMANOsolutions(1-5,centerringleastimportance,outerringhighest)........................................................53

Figure32:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:importanceofsupportinglegacyandopensourcesystems,1(low)to5(high)..................................................................................................................54

Figure33:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:servicedevelopmentsupportprioritiesbetweenvendorsandCSPs,1(low)to5(high)...................................................................................................55

ListofTables

Table1:ListofAcronyms.....................................................................................................................11

Table2:CarrierNFVmarketfor2019(source:IHSandInfonetics[14])..............................................20

Table3:NFVAdoptionDriversandBarriers(adapted/extendedfromSDxCentral[18]).....................21

Table4:NFVimpactandtransformationonthetelecomvaluechain.................................................23

Table5:SONATAfeaturesandvalueproposition................................................................................30



1 Introduction

1.1 DeliverablePurpose

ThefollowingdeliverableprovidesanextendedmarketanalysisfortheSONATAproject.

ItaconsolidatedmilestonebasedonactivitythatbegunonDay1oftheproject,influencingthefirstyearofdevelopmentandfurtherprioritizingthedirectionofitsupcomingsecondyear.Therelatedexerciseshavealsoinfluencedtheproject’spositioningandopensourceadoptionstrategytowardsstakeholders.

Itdefinesthetargetmarket,technologycontext,idealadopterprofilesandtheirchallenges,supportingstakeholders,comparablealternativesthatarecurrentlydevelopinginthemarket,andareaswheretheproject’sinnovationanddifferentiationcanmakeanimpact.

Atitsmostspecificsegmentofanalysis,itfocusesexclusivelyonNFV’sManagementandOrchestration(MANO)area,whereSONATA’sserviceplatformandsupportingSDKcanprovidevaluetonetworkoperators.

Thedeliverablecanbeunderstoodasastandalonedocument,andprovidesaminimaltechnicalcontextofNFV,MANO,SDNandfuture5GNetworks.Furthertechnicaldesignanddetailscanbefoundinthefirstyeararchitecture,D2.2ArchitectureDesign,andlower-levelimplementationdeliverablesD3.1andD4.1representinginitialdevelopment.TheupcomingD5.2(summer2016)willbeafirstprototypeoftheSONATAserviceplatformandSDKinanintegratedform,anditsopensourcecodewillbeavailablepubliclyonGitHub.Theidealreferencepointforallaforementionedtechnicaldocumentsistheprojectwebsite:www.sonata-nfv.eu.

Additionalforthcomingdeliverablesforthefirstyear,D7.2andD7.6,arepresentingtheimpactplansoftheproject,includingstakeholderengagement,disseminationplans,opensourcestrategy,communityprojectcontributions,standardizationinfluence,partnerexploitationplans,etc.Theexercisestakentocompletethisdocumenthaveinfluencedthoseactivities.

1.2 ContinuousMarketWatchandDeliverableTiming

2016hasprovedtobeakeyyearforNFVdevelopments,andthedeliverableworkplanhasbeenextendedtocompensate.

February’sMobileWorldCongress2016[1],forexample,presentedtwonewopensourceinitiativesinthesamedomainasSONATA,coveredinthisdocument.IndustryperspectivetakenatotherQ1andQ22016stakeholderevents,suchasMPLS+SDN+NFV[2]andLayer123NFVWorldCongress[3]havealsoprovidedfreshstakeholderperspectives,includinganew“realitycheck”onhowNFVadoptionandintegrationisevolving.

InMarch,asurveywasthenlaunchedbySONATAinthe5G-PPP[4]SoftwareNetworksWorkingGroupandtowardsadditionalindustryresearcherstofurtherevaluaterelatedfeaturesandrequirementsthatshouldbeprioritizedbytheproject.Theresultsandanalysisofthatsurveyareincludedinthisdocument.

ThereisalsoanongoingmarketwatchsinceDay1ofSONATAthatisupdatedcontinuouslyintheprojectpartners’collaborativewiki,trackingtrendsandsolutionsdevelopinginthemarket.This



documentservesasamilestoneinthatactivity,whichbuildsontopofitsworktodeliverananalysisofmorethan20comparablesolutionsintheMANOarea.Asremindedlater,however,theanalysisisdoneat“facevalue”(i.e.basedonadvertisedfeaturesandarchitecturecharacteristics),asNFVMANOsolutionshavenotyetbeenbenchmarkedorvalidatedinthemarket,exceptfortrialscurrentlyrunningbehindcloseddoorsbetweenvendorsandtheirCSPcustomers.

Tocompensateforpotentialmarketingbias,theworkofvariousanalysts,publicreportsandparallelsurveyswereconsultedandarereferencedthroughoutthedocument.Astonotrepeatworkthatisalreadyinthepublicdomain,theprojecthasfocuseditsresourcesonmeta-analysisacrossrecentmarketstudiesandperspectives,comparativeanalysisofSONATA-likesolutions,extendedstakeholderconsultation,andmarketfeasibilityanalysisofforthcomingprojectresults.

Theend-gameobjectiveoftheseactivitiesistofurtherinfluencetheprojectdirectionanditsiterativedevelopmentcyclesinordertoensuremaximumstakeholderimpactofSONATA.

1.3 DocumentOrganization

Thedeliverableisorganizedinthefollowingmanner:

• Section1(thissection)isanintroductiontothedeliverable,aswellastotheSONATAproject.

• Section2isanabridgedtechnologycontextforthereader,focusingonNFVarchitectureanditsMANOlayer,alongwithbriefcontextonSDNandfuture5Gnetworks.

• Section3isapresentationofNFV’sbusinesscasetowardsnetworkoperators.ThelinktosolutionsrelatedtoMANOandnetworkservicedevelopment,includingSONATA,istoenableandfulfilthisbusinesscaseasachiefcomponentofthelargerNFVarchitecture,aswellascreatenewrevenueopportunitiesinservicedevelopmentandagility.

• Section4includesforecastsforNFVadoptionandgrowth,lookingatbothmarketsizeanduptakepatterns.

• Section5isavaluechainandstakeholderanalysis,examiningthechangesbeingmadeintelecommunicationsmarketanditsactorsinthetransitiontoSoftwareNetworks.

• Section6isaconsolidationofNFVadoptionchallengesandothernetworkoperator“painpoints”thatSONATAlookstoaddress.

• Section7isthenapresentationofSONATA’sfeaturesandvalueproposition,includingitsNFVserviceplatform,orchestrator,SDKandDevOpsworkflow.

• Section8isanextensivecomparativestudycoveringover20relatedcommercialandopensourcesolutionsinSONATA’sdomain.

• Section9isasupportinganalysisderivedfromtheproject’sstakeholderinterviewsonNFVMANOfeaturesandpriorities.ThesurveytemplateisincludedastheAnnextothedeliverable.

• Section10providesconclusionsandrecommendationstoSONATAbasedontheaboveinput,organizedbysubjectmatter.



1.4 SONATAProjectinBrief

ThefollowingprovidesabriefintroductionoftheSONATAprojectanditscontext.

SoftwareDefinedNetworking(SDN)andNetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV)areemergingasmajortransformationaltechnologiestowards“softwarenetworks”,anewparadigmthatisevolvingthetelecomsectorwithnewnetworkcapabilitiesandbusinessopportunities.SONATAaddressesthesignificantchallengesassociatedwithboththedevelopmentanddeploymentofthecomplexservicesenvisionedfor5Gnetworksandempoweredbythesetechnologies.Coreobjectivesinclude:

• Reducetime-to-marketofnetworkedservices:SONATAstreamlinesdevelopmentwithabstractprogramingmodels,SDKandaDevOpsmodelthatintegratesoperators,manufacturersandthird-partydevelopers.

• Optimizeresourcesandlowercostsofservicedeploymentandoperation:SONATAorchestratescomplexservicestoconnectivity,computingandstorageresources,andautomaticallyreconfiguresrunningservices.

• Accelerateindustryadoptionofsoftwarenetworks:SONATAsupportsthefullservicelifecycle:development,testing,orchestration,deployment,managementandoperations,andisdefiningaroadmapforuptakeofitsresultstowardsstakeholders'largertransitiontoSDN/NFV.

SONATAisdevelopingaNFVframeworkthatprovidesaprogramingmodelanddevelopmenttoolchainforvirtualizedservices,fullyintegratedwithaDevOps-enabledNFVservicemanagementandorchestrationplatform(NFVMANO).

Thecurrentlydevelopingresultsinclude:

1. Programmingmodelandsoftwaredevelopmentkit(SDK)tofacilitatenetworkservicedevelopmentforthird-partydevelopers.

2. ServiceplatformwithmodularNFVorchestrationframework(NFVO)fornetworkoperators.

3. DevOpsmodelforsoftwarenetworksthatintegratesthesestakeholderstogetherforanagileservicelifecycle.

1.5 TerminologyandListofAcronyms

Tobeconsistentwithstakeholderreferences,thefollowingterminologywasused,highlightedheresincethereareseveralcompetingtermsfortheseactorswhendiscussingthemarket:

• CommunicationServiceProvider(CSP):aka“NetworkOperator”,“Operator”,“Carrier”and“Telco”,referringtoanyoperatorofacarrier-gradenetwork,whetherfixed,mobile,etc.,andthatalsoprovidesorsupportscompetitiveservicesthroughit(the“serviceprovider”halfoftheirprofile).Notethatasmallerscaleprofileofanetworkoperatorreferredtointhedeliverableisattheenterpriselevel.

• NetworkEquipmentVendor:aka“Vendor”or“Manufacturer”,referringtotheactorthatprovidestheequipmentorvirtualizedsolutionstotheirnetworkoperatorcustomers(CSPorenterprise).Aslaterexplainedinthedeliverable,theirroleasasystemintegratorisincreasing.



Thefollowingtableprovidesamorecomprehensivelistofcommonacronymsfoundthroughoutthedocument.

Table1:ListofAcronyms

5G “5thGeneration”Networks5G-PPP 5GPublicPrivatePartnership(industryassociationandECpartnership)B2B Business-to-BusinessB2C Business-to-ConsumerBSS BusinessSupportSystemCapEx CapitalExpenditureCD ContinuousDelivery(oftenaddedwithContinuousIntegration,CI/CD)CI ContinuousIntegration(oftenaddedwithContinuousDeployment,CI/CD)CLI CommandLineInterfaceCOTS CommercialOff-the-Shelf(referringtotelecommunicationshardware)CPE CustomerPremiseEquipmentCSP CommunicationServiceProvider(e.g.telecommunicationsoperator)DevOps DevelopmentandOperations(workflowandorganizationalconcept)Dx Deliverable#EMS ElementManagementSystemEPC EvolvedPacketCoreETSI EuropeanTelecommunicationsStandardsInstitute(SDO)FSM Functional-specificManager(SONATAcomponent)GUI GraphicalUserInterfaceISG IndustrySpecificationGroupMANO ManagementandOrchestration(layeroftheETSINFVarchitecture)MNO MobileNetworkOperator(atypeofCSP)MVNO MobileVirtualNetworkOperator)Mx Month#oftheprojectworkplan(e.g.M2)NFV NetworkFunctionVirtualizationNFVI NetworkFunctionVirtualizationInfrastructureNFVO NFVOrchestrator(componentofMANO)NS NetworkServiceOpEx OperationalExpenditureOSS OperationsSupportSystemOTT Over-the-Top[providers]PNF PhysicalNetworkFunctionPoC ProofofConceptPoP PointofPresenceQoE QualityofExperienceQoS QualityofServiceROI ReturnonInvestmentSDO StandardsDevelopmentOrganizationSME Small-to-MediumEnterpriseSSM Service-specificManager(SONATAcomponent)TOSCA TopologyandOrchestrationSpecificationforCloudApplications(specification)VIM VirtualInfrastructureManager(componentofMANO)VM VirtualMachineVNF VirtualNetworkFunctionVNFM VNFManager(componentofMANO)VoIP VoiceoverIPWAN WideAreaNetworkWPx WorkPackage#(e.g.WP5)YANG “YetAnotherNextGeneration”datamodelinglanguage



2 SoftwareNetworksandEnablingTechnology:NFV,SDNand5GNetworks

Thefollowingsectionprovidestheminimaltechnologycontexttounderstandthecorecontentofthedeliverable,relatedtomarket-relatedperspectivesandanalysis.NFVisfirstintroduced;thentheMANOlayer(particularlyimportanttoSONATA)andwhereitfitsinacommonreferencearchitecturefromETSI;theneighboringSDNtechnologyisthenbrieflyexplained;andfinally,avisionof5Gnetworksisprovided,amilestonewherethesetechnologieswillconvergeandactasenablers.

2.1 NetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV)inBrief

NetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV)isacornerstoneofsoftwarenetworks,andrepresentsalargeshiftinhownetworksarebuilt,deployedandmanaged.NFVdoesthisbyintroducingavirtualizationlayeranddecouplingthesoftwarefromthehardware.Thesoftware-basedassetsthenbecometheinnovationanddifferentiatingvalue,whilethehardwarebecomescommodity.

Thisisanattractiveupgradefornetworkoperatorsofvarioussizesandscope,whethertheyarealargecommunicationserviceprovider(CSP)oranenterpriserunningtheirownnetwork.

Commercialoff-the-shelf(COTS)hardwareforsoftwarenetworkswillbegenericbydesign,replacingwhatisnowaproprietarylandscapewithharddependenciesbetweenphysicalnetworkfunctions(PNFs)andlegacytelecommunicationhardware.Virtualnetworkfunctions(VNFs)ontopofvirtualizedinfrastructureandgenerichardwarehaveasignificantimpactonnetworkoperations,theircosttomaintain(OpEx)andupgrade,andthehopeofbusinessagilityforoperatorstomixandmatchfromavarietyofvendorsandVNFdevelopers.NetworkservicedevelopmentandlifecyclemanagementisalsoalargefocusofNFV,largelyfacilitatingservicerolloutandmaintenance.[5]

ETSIhighlightsthesekeydifferencesbetweencurrentandfutureNFV-enablednetworks[6],paraphrasedinthepointsbelow:

• Decouplingsoftwarefromhardware:creatingtwoevolutionarytracksthatareindependentfromeachother,andcreatingmulti-vendorscenarios.

• Flexiblenetworkfunctiondeployment:allowingamoredynamicrelationshiptooccurbetweeninfrastructureresources,andspeedingupthenetworkfunctioninstantiationandautomationviavirtualizationandcloudtechnologies.

• Dynamicoperation:providinggreaterflexibilitytoscalenetworkfunctionperformanceandwithfinercontrol,e.g.reactingtoactualtraffic.

Althoughthepointisoftenlostinmarketingmaterialandvendorwhitepapers,itshouldbestressedthatNFVisatechnologythatisnotinwideusetoday.Theparadigmshiftissignificantandhighlydisruptive,andnetworkoperatorsareseekingagradualtransitionfromtheircurrentlegacynetworks,OSS,physicalelements,etc.Thisroadmapwilltakeyearstocomplete,butinitialdeploymentsarealreadyunderwayinalimitedcapacity.(SeeSections4and6forroadmapforecastsandcurrentchallenges.)



2.2 NFVReferenceArchitectureandtheManagement&Orchestration(MANO)Layer

ETSIevolvedtheNFVconceptthroughtheNFVIndustrySpecificationGroup(ISG)[7].Astheyprogressed,areferencearchitecturewasreleased,showedbelowinFigure1.

Figure1:ETSINFVReferenceArchitecture(source:ETSI[6]),withMANOdomainhighlighted

TheETSINFVReferenceArchitecturepublicdocument[6]providesadetaileddescriptionofeachbuildingblock.Foramoresimplifiedtechnicalcontextofthismarket-orienteddeliverable,onlythedefined3workingdomainsoftheNFVarchitecturearebrieflyreviewedbelow:

• VirtualizedNetworkFunction(VNF):SoftwareimplementationofanetworkfunctionwhichiscapableofrunningovertheNFVI.Theyreplicatethefunctionalityofspecializedtelecommunicationselementsandhardware,fromasimplefirewalltoalargesuiteofserviceslikeEvolvedPacketCore(EPC).VNFscanbechainedtogetherforanetworkservice(NS).

• NFVInfrastructure(NFVI):Includesthesetofphysicalresources(compute,storage,network)andthevirtualizedenvironment.

• NFVManagementandOrchestration(MANO):TheorchestrationandlifecyclemanagementofphysicalandsoftwareresourcesthatsupportthevirtualizedinfrastructureandVNFs.

Thelastdomainlisted,NFVMANO,isthefocusofSONATAandthemarketcontextforitsserviceplatform.MANOessentiallycoversallthevirtualization-relatedmanagementacrossaNFV-empowerednetwork,andismadeupofseveralcomponentstocarryouttheresponsibility,highlightedaboveinFigure1:



• VirtualizedInfrastructureManager(VIM):ManagestheNFVIresourcesinasingledomain,includingthecreation,maintenanceandtear-downofvirtualmachines(VMs).

• VNFManager(VNFM):ManageslifecycleofaVNF,intermsof:

o Creation,maintenanceandterminationofVNFinstances.

o Fault,configuration,accounting,performanceandsecuritymanagementoftheVNF.

o ScalesupanddowntheVNF.Therecanbea1-on-1approachbetweenVNFMandVNF,orseveralVNFsmanagedbyasingleVNFM.(Thisdiversityinapproachisbecomingabigchallengeinintegratingmulti-vendorVNFs,anddiscussedlaterinthedeliverable.)

• NFVOrchestrator(NFVO)coversbothresourceandserviceorchestration:

o ResourceOrchestration:Coordinates,authorizes,releasesandengagesNFVIresourceswithinasinglepointofpresence(PoP)oracrossmultiplePoPs.TheNFVOcandirectlyinteractwiththeVIMs.

o ServiceOrchestration:Createsend-to-endnetworkservices(NS)betweenseveralVNFs,bycoordinatingwiththeinvolvedVNFMs.Thisimplies,forexample,VNFsofdifferentvendors(easiersaidthandone,asdiscussedlater).TheNFVOcanalsoinstantiateVNFs,andcreateVNFforwardinggraphs,atopologymanagementofthenetworkservicesinstance.

SONATAfocusesontheupperlevelsoftheMANOlayerinitsplatform,includingtheVNFMandNFVOfunctionality.TheVIM,ontheotherhand,iscoveredextensivelybyexistingopensourcesolutions,suchasOpenStack[8]andOpenMANO[9],andSONATA’sefforthereistowardscompatibilitywithseveralVIMalternatives(multi-vendorintheVIMcontext),insteadofdevelopingyetanother.DiscussedfurtherinSection6,therearechallengesandneedsforinnovative-yetpragmatic-solutionsforNFVadoptersthatareindeedontheorchestrationlayer,whereSONATAisbeingpositioned.

Itshouldbenoted,however,thatSONATAisnotjustfocusedonthemanagementandoperationssideofNFV,butalsoextendsdeeplyintotheservicecreationarea.TheprojectisdevelopingaSDKandDevOpsworkflowtoempowerCSPsandthird-partydeveloperstowardsNFV’sbusinesscaseofserviceagility.(UpcomingSection7containsafullSONATApresentation.)

2.3 Software-DefinedNetworking

Software-definedNetworking(SDN)isanotherkeytechnologythatenablessoftwarenetworks,andisoftenpairedwithNFVwhenstakeholdersconsiderthefulltransformationneededtowards,forexample,5Gnetworks.

SDNmakesthenetworkprogrammablebyseparatingthecontrolplanefromthedataplane,relyingonswitchesthatcanbeprogrammedthroughaSDNcontroller.OpenFlowhasbecomeacommonde-factostandardprotocolforthisrole.[10]

AbasicunderstandingofSDNisneededforatleasttwotopicsintroducedlaterinthedocument.

Thefirstreferstothecloserend-to-endorchestrationandmanagementthatnetworkoperatorsareseekingtosupporttheirNFV/SDNroadmap.Thisrequires,forexample,aMANO-relatedsolutionto



becompatibleoreasilyextensibleforatighterintegrationwithitsSDNcontrollercounterpart(apriorityforSONATA).AlsoseeninthedevelopingmarketareSDNcontrollersolutionsgoing“north”andcoveringsimilarfunctionalitythatETSI-compliantarchitecturesassociatewithMANO(e.g.seeJuniper’ssolutioninthecomparativeanalysisofSection0).

Asecondtopic,coveredinthesubsectionbelow,isrelatedtothe5Gconceptofnetworkslicing,wherespecific“slices”ofthenetworkcanbeconfiguredforanindustryverticalinparticular.Forexample,5Gnetworkandservicerequirementsformanufacturing(i.e.“Industry4.0”)wouldbequitedifferentthannextgenerationstreamingmedia,andalargenetworkoperator,leveragingSDNmanagement,couldcatertowardsboththroughbespokeslices.[11]

Althoughseparatetechnologies,manyexperts,includingETSI,seeafuturewhereNFVandSDNbecomelessdistinguishableasindependenttopics,andintegratedintoaunifiedsoftwarenetworkparadigm.[12]

2.4 5GNetworksandServices

5Grepresentsavisionforthenextgenerationofnetworksandservices.Whilethetermmightmistakenlyimplyaniterativeupgrade,itisinfactafreshandquitedisruptiveapproachtofulfillrequirementsoffutureservicesandscenarios.

The5G-PPPprovideskeychallengestofulfillinthisvisiontowards2020[4],andthosethatSONATAcanmostimpactarehighlightedinbold:

• Providing1000timeshigherwirelessareacapacityandmorevariedservicecapabilitiescomparedto2010.

• Savingupto90%ofenergyperserviceprovided.Themainfocuswillbeinmobilecommunicationnetworkswherethedominatingenergyconsumptioncomesfromtheradioaccessnetwork.

• Reducingtheaverageservicecreationtimecyclefrom90hoursto90minutes.

• Creatingasecure,reliableanddependableInternetwitha“zeroperceived”downtimeforservicesprovision.

• Facilitatingverydensedeploymentsofwirelesscommunicationlinkstoconnectover7trillionwirelessdevicesservingover7billionpeople

• Ensuringforeveryoneandeverywheretheaccesstoawiderpanelofservicesandapplicationsatlowercost.

KeytoSONATA’sfocusistheagiledevelopmentandlifecyclemanagementofthenetworkservicesthatwillfurtherenhanceapplicationsthatexploit5G(e.g.higherqualityvideostreaming),andthoseservicesthatempowerapplicationsexclusiveto5Gduetotheirextremerequirements(e.g.virtualreality,connectedcars).AnalystsatHeavyReadingprovideanoverviewofsuchexamples[11],copiedinFigure2below.



Figure2:Examplesof5Gservicesperbandwidthandlatencyrequirements(source:GSMAandHeavyReading[11])

Toenablethehighdegreeofchallengingrequirements,flexibility,programmabilityanddynamicnetworkoperationsfor5G,bothSDNandNFVarerequiredtechnologies.

5Gnetworksareestimatedtobefirstdeployedin2020,althoughvariouschallengesmustbemetontheway,summarizedbyanalystsatAtos[13]:

• Variousregionsandgroupsaroundtheworldarecurrentlycompetingtolead5Gstandardizationactivities,andeffortsmustbemadetocoordinateand/orconsolidateeffortstoavoidfragmentation.

• 5Gmustaccommodateawiderangeofusecasesfromdiverseverticals,eachwithadvancedrequirementsaroundlatency,reliance,coverageandbandwidth.ThisimpliesmuchclosercollaborationbetweenCSPsandtheirverticalstakeholders,andbuildingthetoolsfordevelopmentandnetwork“slices”toaccommodatethem.

• 5Gincludesacombinationofdiversetechnologies,suchasNFV,SDNandothers.Thematurityofthesetechnologieswillvary,andareinfactseparateevolutionarypaths,thusaffectinginitial5Gdeployments.

Relatedtothelatter,althoughactingasenablers,SDNandNFVarenotexclusiveto5G.Theyareindependenttechnologies,andthereforecanbeappliedto,forexample,evolving4GLTEnetworks,aswell.

HEAVY READING | DECEMBER 2015 | WHITE PAPER | 5G: A NETWORK TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVE 6

5G Services With key parameters of virtually no latency combined with broadband speeds > 1 Gbit/s, the types of applications and services that can be offered from 5G networks are almost limitless. Over time, services are expected to move beyond simply audio and data toward visual, tactile and cognitive, creating an anything-as-a-service (XaaS) environment for service providers. Figure 4 illustrates bandwidth and latency requirements for both existing services and some potential 5G use cases.

Although there are some challenges to supporting services that require both >1 Gbit/s downlink speeds and sub-1ms latency, 5G networks will not only leverage new network design principles based on SDN, but a range of emerging technolo-gies, such as millimeter wave, massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), mobile edge computing, Anchor-Booster Cell and device-to-device communica-tions (D2D). Additionally, a unified air interface that is scalable and adaptable for all spectrum, whether licensed or unlicensed, for both higher and lower spectrum bands using multiple domain types (time, frequency, orthogonal and non-orthogo-nal) is expected to enable these requirements.

Figure 4: Bandwidth & Latency Requirements of Potential 5G Services

Source: GSMA, Heavy Reading



3 BusinessCaseforNFVandMANO

TounderstandthemotivationbehindSONATAimpact,thebusinesscaseforNFVissummarizedbelowontwolevels:NFVingeneral,andNFVMANO.

ThegeneralbusinesscaseforNFVispresentedtoprovidecontextofthepotentialdemandforSONATA,asNFVMANOisinfactorientedtowardsthosenetworkoperators(i.e.CSPorenterprise)thathavealreadyboughtintoaNFVadoptionroadmap.ItisthoseNFVadoptersthatarethetargetmarketoftheproject,togetherwiththethird-partyservicedevelopersthatCSPscansupport.

3.1 BusinessCaseforNFVAdoption

ThebusinesscaseforNFVisextensive,anditmustbeunderstoodtolaterdiveintothemorespecificvaluepropositionofwhataMANO-relatedsolution,suchasSONATA,candeliver.

Networkoperators,mostnotablyCSPs,looktoadoptNFV(andcoupledwithSDNinthelargersoftwarenetworkcontext),andonlytakeonthecomplexandcostlytransitionbecauseofclearbusinessbenefits.ThefollowcategorieshavebeenconsolidatedthroughananalysisofCSPmotivationsandastudyofvariousvendors’NFVportfoliosadvertised(seeSection0),wherethemarketingfornetworkoperator/CSP“buyin”forNFVisquiteconsistent.Shortcomingshavealsobeenidentified,andlaterexpandedintheformofcurrentchallengesinSection6.

3.1.1 LowerCapExonhardwareprocurementandupgrades

TheswitchtomoregenerichardwarereducesCapEx.Asvarioushardwarevendorscansupportthesamevarietyofvirtualizedassets(intheory),increasedcompetitionintheCOTShardwarespacewilldrivecostsdown,andeliminatetheneedformanyspecializedhardwaresystemsthatcannowbereplacedwithsoftware-basedsolutions.

Hardwarelifetimevaluecanalsobeextendedbysoftwarefunctionupgrades.Or,thereverse,wheregenerichardwarecanbereplacedmorecheaply,andfurtherscaledbysoftwarefunctions.

Operatorscansetupredundancytoprepareforcontingenciesinamuchlessexpensivemanner,whereworkloadsaretransferredtoothermachinesinadynamicfashion,maintainingcapacityandQoS.CapExisfurtherdecreasedasadditionalexpensive,proprietarysystemsarenotneededtoprovidebackup.

3.1.2 Flexibilityandalleviatedvendorlock-in

Relatedtotheabove,thedecouplingofsoftwarewithhardwaredisruptswhatwashistoricallybasedonproprietarysolutionsandvendorlock-in.Operatorswillnowhavebetterchoicewhenselectingarangeofhardwareandsoftwarebasedsolutionsbetweenmultiple,competingvendors.TheriseofsupportedopensourceNFV/SDNsolutionsisalsoashiftthatoperatorsrecognizeasawelcomerelief,withthepotentialtointegrateseveralsolutionsintoaholisticsuite.

However,asseeninthechallengesofSection6,thisisnotworkingasseamlesslyashoped(perhapsunrealisticallyso),withsignificantinteroperabilityissuesbetweenvendorsarisingduringinitialtrials.AhighlycustomizableMANOsolutionwillbeneededbytheCSPtocoordinateamulti-vendorNFVenvironmentinabrown-fieldscenario.



3.1.3 ReducingOpExwhileincreasingefficiencyandagilityinnetworkoperations

ThecombinationofNFVandSDNforsoftwarenetworksbringsamuchmoreefficientandagileoperation.Performancemanagement,abilitytoscaledynamically,increasedautomationandothernetworkmanagementconsiderationsdroptheassociatedOpExofdeployingandmaintainingthenetwork.

However,clearchallengeswithhybridnetworks(newvirtualizedassetsworkingwithphysicallegacy)andcoordinationofadditionallayersofmanagement(introducedbythevirtualizedenvironment)bringnewlevelsofcomplexityanddemandforhighlyflexibleMANO-likesolutionssuchasSONATA.

3.1.4 Facilitatedservicelifecycleandtime-to-market

Virtualizedfunctions(VNFs)canbeleveragedforanewgenerationofnetworkservices.Amoreagiledevelopment,deployment,management,configuration,maintenance,etc.ofsuchassetsareawelcomeimprovementfromwhatwasacostlyandslowprocesstorolloutnewservicesandfunctionality,inadditiontothetrialinginvolved.

CSPsneedthisacceleratedchanneltobecompetitivewithnewOver-the-Top(OTT)providerservices.Thegainsinservicedeliveryandagilitymeannewrevenuestreamsfortheseoperators,andoffernewplatformstocatalyzethird-partysupportandecosystems.

NFVadoptionbyitselfisnotsufficient,norabasicMANOsolutionontop,andtheCSPrequiresadditionalinnovativetoolsandagiledevelopmentworkflows(e.g.DevOps)thatSONATAcansupport.

3.2 BusinessCaseforNFVMANOLayerandServiceDevelopmentTools

TheabovecoverstheprimarybusinesscaseforNFVadoption,referringtothemotivationofthenetworkoperator,primarilytheCSP,tobuyintothetransitionandbeginlong-terminvestmenttowardssoftwarenetworks.

Withinthatcontext,the“businesscase”forMANOisoneofnecessity:toenableandensuredeliveryonthepromiseofNFVbenefitsandROI.Ashintedatineachoftheabovecasesforadoption,therearenewchallengesintroducedthatrequireaMANOsolutiontotacklethecomplexityoftheNFVtransition,aswellasenablersofserviceagilityonthedevelopmentside.

Thisisofparticularrelevancetothisreport,asitistheareathatSONATA’sserviceplatformandsupportingSDKaredirectlyaddressing.

ANFVorchestrator(NFVO),forexample,addressespainpointsthatarenotalwaysonthetopoftoday’smoreimmediateneedsforanoperator’siterativeNFVadoptionroadmap,butuniversallyagreedtobecriticalandnecessarytosupporttheminthelongrun.Onthedevelopmentside,tofullyrealizethebusinesscase,thereisaneedtoenableandsupportthosedevelopingandchainingVNFsintonetworkservicesinaCSP’secosystem.



4 NFVDeploymentTimelinesandMarketForecast

WiththeoverviewofNFV,relatedtechnologyandbusinesscasepresentedabove,thefollowingsectionscoverthehigh-levelquestionsthatareaddressedwhenestimatingmarketsizeandtiming:the“when”,and“howbig”.

Thetimelinesaredebatable,especiallygiventhetechnicalchallengesintransition,deployment,integrationwithlegacy,etc.(forthcomingSection6).Themarketsizeisalsoparticularlydifficulttotrack,asitislargelysubstitutiveofcurrentnetworkspending,butinitialforecastshelpprojectSONATAmarketfeasibility,asexplainedbelow.

4.1 EstimatingNFVAdoptionandDeploymentTimelines

TheeventualadoptionofNFV(andSDN),theenablersoffuturesoftwarenetworks,isaforegoneconclusion.Variousindustrysurveyshaveconfirmedthatsuchroadmapsarealreadyunderway.IHSandInfonetics,forexample,surveyedalargeshareofCSPsthatcoversalmost50%oftheglobaltelecomCapEx.Anoverwhelming97%ofCSPscommittodeployingSDN,and93%NFV.[14]

Thequestionremains:when?Variousanalystsforeseethat2016couldbeanimportantmilestoneyearfortransitionbetweentrialsandlimitedproductiondeployment.Although2020remainstheprojectedyearforinitial5Gdeployments,thedependencyonNFVandSDNrequiresmuchearliertrialsanditerative,step-by-stepproductiondeploymentswithprioritizedusecases.

Figure3:NFVandSDNearlyadoptionin2016(source:Atos[13])



TheglobalroadmapsdepictedbyIHS,Infonetics,HeavyReadingandAtosanalystsaresimilar,andcover3stagesoftheiterativetransformation:[13][14][15]

• ProofofConcepttesting(PoC)andFieldTrials:Beginningsince2013,withvendorsandnetworkoperatorsworkingtogetherinlabenvironmentsaroundSDNandNFV.Additionalprototypefieldtrialsstartedinthenextfewyearsbyfirst-movers.

• InitialCommercialDeployments:2015sawayearwhensomeearlyadopters,suchasAT&T,performedlimitedcommercialdeployments.

• WidespreadCommercialDeployments:Newphasefrom2016onward,towards2020,inaniterativedeploymentpatternthatseeshybridnetworks(physical/legacyvs.virtualized)thattakeonearlySDNandNFVusecases,suchasvCPE.

HeavyReadinganalystsforeseeatwo-stagerolloutforNFVadoption.Afirststageofincrementalupgradewillfocusonmid-termgainsinserviceagility(2016–2019).[16]Asecondstage,thefull“cloudification”expectedat5G’s2020milestone,willhaveCSPsexploitbuilt-for-the-cloudVNFs(asopposedtofirstgenerationVNFsmigratedfromlegacy)andarchitecturesbasedonmicroservices.Serviceagilitywillfurtherevolvewithmoreambitiousorganizationaltransformationsindevelopmentworkflows,suchasDevOps.Inparallel,betterinteroperableandintegratedNFVdeploymentswillprovidethelonger-termOpExsavingsinitiallyenvisioned.

4.2 EstimatingNFVMarketSize

SomeanalystsarguethatthequantitativemarketforecastforNFV(andSDN)areirrelevantandtoocomplextocalculate,sincethemajoritycanberecognizedaslargelysubstitutiveofcurrentspendingonnetworkequipmentandtechnology.Forexample,accordingtoGartner,netspendingintheareacouldevendeclineonthepathto2019.[17]

However,thequantificationisstillquiteimportantinSONATA’scontext,sincepartofthatsubstitutivespendingwillbegoingtowardsrequiredsolutionsforNFVadoption,includingtheMANOlayer.

IHSestimatestotalNFVspendingfor2019at$11.6B,butthefineprintshowsthatnewNFV-enablingsoftware(includingMANOsolutions),asafractionofthat,at$1.2B.[14]

Table2:CarrierNFVmarketfor2019(source:IHSandInfonetics[14])

© 2016 IHS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Only $6B of SDN/NFV Spending Is New in 2019

Carrier NFV Market

Source $B % of 2019

Market Categories

New $1.2 10% NFV: NFV MANO, NFVI software, Outsourced Services

Displaced $1.8 16% NFV: NFVI Hardware

Existing $8.6 74% NFV: VNFs

TOTAL $11.6 100% Total Carrier NFV

Carrier, DC and Enterprise LAN SDN Market

Source $B % of 2019

Market Categories

New $4.7 25% SDN: Orchestration and Controller, SDN Network Apps, Outsourced Services

Displaced $1.5 8% SDN: Orchestration and Controller

Existing $12.6 67% SDN: SDN Hardware

TOTAL $18.8 100% Total Carrier, DC and Enterprise LANSDN

Source: IHS Infonetics Carrier SDN Market Size and Forecast; NFV Market Size and Forecast; DC and Enterprise LAN Market Size and Forecast , 2015



However,alargepartofSONATA’svaluegenerationisfocusedonthecompositionside,wherethecreationofnetworkservicesbasedonchainedVNFs(orevennewVNFs,themselves)providesrevenueinanecosystem-likemarket.

AnotherstudybyHeavyReadinganalystscoversthisdynamic,estimatingupwardsof$450BofNFV-enabledservicesby2020,makingup20%ofCSPrevenueworldwide.[15]

Thesefigurescanofcoursevarysignificantly,andindeeddosoacrossanalystreports.However,giventheoverwhelmingpercentageofeventualNFVtechnologyadoption,thesubstitutespendingthatwillgotowardssoftware-basedsolutions,andtheend-goalofnotjustoptimizingnetworkoperationsbutenablingbetterservices,itisassumedthatthemarketisindeedthere.

Certaindriversandbarriersmustbetrackedthatcanraiseandlowersuccessandspeedtowardsthesegoals,summarizedinTable3below.Furtherinthedeliverable,inSection6,thebarriersarelookedatinmoredetailintheperspectiveofcustomer(CSP)challengesandpainpointsthatSONATAcanhelpalleviateintheirSDN/NFVtransition.

Table3:NFVAdoptionDriversandBarriers(adapted/extendedfromSDxCentral[18])

InfluencingAdoptionDrivers InfluencingAdoptionBarriers

• computevirtualizationadoptionserviceasacatalystforNFV(andSDN)adoption

• continuedgrowthofcloudcomputinginvestmentandconvergencebetweenITandtelecom

• aggressiveCSPeffortsfornewsourcesofrevenueandmonetizationofnetworks(e.g.competitionwithOTT),andreductionofOpExandCapEx

• complexityofinitialNFVsolutions,andinteroperabilitybetweenthem

• shortageofadequateskillsetsforsoftwarenetworks(SDN,NFV,etc.)

• difficultyinintegratingwithlegacy,brown-fieldscenarios

• initialperformanceissuesoffirstgenerationvirtualizedtelecominfrastructure,notyetvalidated

• agiledevelopmentatCSPsisaradicalorganizationalchange



5 StakeholderandValueChainAnalysis:TelecomSectorTransformationviaSoftwareNetworks

NFVandSDNtechnologies,andtheroadto5G,havecauseddisruptiveshiftsforallactorsintheclassictelecommunicationsvaluechain,mostnotablynetworkoperatorsandequipmentvendors,alongwiththeirrespectivebusinessmodels.

Figure4belowrepresentsasimplifiedvaluechaintoreferencetheinvolvedstakeholders,andthesectionbelowhighlightshowtheserelationshipshavechangedtoadapttothetechnologytransition.

Figure4:Telecomvaluechain,adaptedforsoftwarenetworks(simplified)

Atthefarleftwehavethetelecomequipmentvendor,nowpotentiallyfragmentedashardwarebecomesmorecommoditized,andtheircustomers(e.g.CSPs)haveapotentialpiecemealstrategyforNFV/SDNassetadoptionacrossvariouscompetitors.

Systemintegration,amuchmorechallengingroleinsoftwarenetworksaswithanymulti-vendordynamic,isnowafocusofvendorstoextendtheirservicesandprepareforthechangingbusinessmodel.However,thiscanbeaseparate,specializedrole,withthearrivaloflargesystemintegratorinsurgentsfromtheconvergingITworld.

Thenetworkoperatorexploitstheirnewmulti-vendoroptionswiththeNFVoperationalbusinesscasetodropCapExandOpEx.ForCSPsinparticular,theyalsolookformoreagileandquickerservicedevelopment,regainingsignificantmarketlossfromOTTproviders.TheCSPisrecognizedasthemainadopteroftheSONATAserviceplatformandprovidingaservicedevelopmentecosystem,andisanalyzedindetailinthefollowingSection6.

However,thereisalsoanothernetworkoperatorprofilethatwillbeadoptingNFV:theenterprise.InasurveyconductedbyAshtonMetzler&Associates,82%ofparticipatingtelecomindustryrepsrecognizethatNFVprovidesvaluetoanenterpriseenvironment.[19]CSPsstillhavethemosttogain,duetothescaledcomplexityoftheirnetworksandstrongerfocusontheservicedevelopmentside,butsmallerscaledeploymentsofNFV(andSONATA)shouldnotbediscountedfortheenterprise.

Serviceplatforms,suchasSONATA’s,cancatalyzeanecosystem-drivenmonetizationofCSP’snetworkandsupportthird-partydevelopers(inadditiontotheirown)tocreateadded-valuenetworkservicesfortheend-user.

ThechangingdynamicsandprioritiesofthesestakeholdersaresummarizedinTable4below.

NetworkOperator/ServiceProvider(CSP)

ServiceDeveloper(third-party,OTT)

SystemIntegrator

Vendor:VNF

EnterpriseNetwork

End-User

NFV/SDNSolutionsVendor:NFV/SDNSolutions

GenericHWVendor:GenericHW



Table4:NFVimpactandtransformationonthetelecomvaluechain

TelecomSegmentStakeholder NFVImpactandTransformation

NetworkOperators(CSPs,Enterprises,etc.)

• NFVhasdecouplednetworkfunctionswiththeproprietaryhardwarethathistoricallylockedinnetworkoperatorstotheirvendors.

• NFVlowersCapExandOpExwithlessexpensivehardwareandgainsinnetworkoptimizationandoperationalefficiency.

• NFVallowsnewserviceagility,rapidinnovation,continuousupdatesandreducedtimetomarketacrosstheirnetwork,helpingtocompetewithOTTproviders.

NetworkEquipmentVendorsandSolutionProviders

• Largeincumbentvendorsseesoftwarenetworksasbothaliabilityandopportunity,andmustredefinethemselves,significantlyshiftingresourcesfromcostlyproprietaryhardware(replacedwithgenericCOTS)towardsSDN/NFVsolutions,ecosystemsandsystemintegration.

• Thosevendorswithsubstantialcapitalandportfoliosleantowardsend-to-endofferingsthatencompassallofthecustomer’s(e.g.CSP)needs,andareattemptingtoreplacevendorlock-inwithconvenienceandalleviationofmulti-vendorinteroperabilityissues(acounter-argumenttoNFV’sCSPmulti-vendorvalueproposition).ThosewithlargerportfoliosareprioritizingamigrationofPNFstoVNFs,creatinganinitialcriticalmassofearlyassetsforthemarketchanges.

• Newentrieshavebeenempowered,aswell.Withtheconvergenceoftelecommunicationswithamoresoftware-basedIT,smallersolutionprovidersfindopportunitywithNFVMANOsolutionsorspecializedbest-in-classVNFs,attemptingtochallengelarger,incumbentequipmentvendors.

SystemIntegratorsandTechnologyPartners

• Systemintegrationhastakenamuchmoresignificantrolewhenforeseeingamixofinteroperablesolutionsdeployedattheoperator.Thisisoftenpartofthevendor’stransition,butcanalsobeaseparateactorwiththisspecializedrole,suchassystemintegratorsfromtheconvergingITsector.

• VirtualizinganetworkinfrastructurehasbecomeabusinessopportunityforlargeITtechnologyvendorswithabackgroundincloudcomputingandvirtualization,rollingoutNFV-enablingplatforms.

Third-partyDevelopers,OTTProviders

• Focusingonsoftware,NFV/SDNlowersthefinancialbarriertoenterthetelecommarket,aswellastime-to-marketforVNFsandnetworkservices.ThisisanopportunitynotonlyforincumbentCSPs,butalsoforthird-partyserviceproviders,includingSMEs.

• High5GrequirementssuggestthatOTTprovidersneedclosercollaborationwiththeCSPstoensuresufficientQoS/QoEfortheend-user.



6 ChallengesandPainPointsforCSPstowardsNFV/SDNAdoptionand5GNetworks

ThepromisedbusinesscaseforNFVisextensiveforCSPs(Section3),revolvingaroundsavings(lowerOpEx,CapEx)andrevenue(e.g.newservices,agility,businessmodels,etc.).Itisacasethathasyettobefulfilled,however,duetothecomplexityofsuchatransitionandtheseveraltechnicalandorganizationalbarriersthecomewithit.

Thoseofatechnicalnatureincludeseveralbarriersthatarefamiliarwithimmature,unintegratedtechnologyinbrown-fieldscenarios,wheretherealreadyexistsheavyinvestmentinlegacy.Severalsurveyshavebeendoneonthetopic,includingonebyAshtonMetzler&Associates[20]inFigure5below.Topconcernsincludeend-to-endserviceprovisioningofhybridphysical/virtualnetworkresourcesinpotentiallymultipledomains,needofanewgenerationofagileOSS/BSS(andopeninterfacesfromMANOsolutions),immaturityofcurrentNFV/SDNproductsandchallengesinorchestrationandend-to-endservicemanagement.

Figure5:NFVadoptiontechnicalinhibitors,numberofrespondentsbasedonsurveyof84serviceproviders(x-axis)(source:AshtonMetzler&Associates[20])

Thoseofanorganizationalnatureareproportionatetothemassivescopeofthetransformationtosoftwarenetworks.CSPshavetomakeradicalchangestowardsamoreagiledevelopment,deploymentandoperationalculturetoexploitthenewlygainedserviceagility.Thisextendstohumanresources,wherearefocusedworkforceandtrainingforsoftwarenetworksisneeded.[21]

2015and2016sawseveraldeploymentcomplicationsintrials,causingfrictionbetweenfirst-moverCSPsandtheirvendors,withtestimonialsstillcominginduringthemonthofthisdeliverablepublication.[22][23]

Fortheseearlyadopters,evenwithlimitedsuccessfulimplementation,thefulfillmentoftechnicalgoalsandbusinessobjectivesisstilllacking.Forinstance,VNFsareoftenintheirinfancy,beingpartofalargemigrationofvendorlegacyportfoliosfromphysicaltovirtualizedfunctions.Butastheyarenotbuiltdirectlyforthecloud,theyoftendonotadequatelyexploittheirvirtualized

Figure 7: Technological inhibitors to the adoption of NFV

Armengol agreed with the concern that was expressed by the survey respondents over the immaturity of the current products and said that “There are a lot of gaps in the current technology, mainly automation, management and orchestration.” He said that another concern he has relative to the technology is that the established vendors have developed VNFs by merely porting code from their existing products. The result of this approach is that these VNFs typically don’t perform well and improving their performance requires a major architectural change. In contrast, products from the newer players are typically architected for a virtual environment, but don’t have all of the necessary functionality.

Relative to the concerns that the survey respondents had with OSS/BSSs, Mark Bieberich, Senior Director, SDN and NFV Strategy, NetCracker stated that a traditional OSS/BSS doesn’t lend itself to the provisioning of virtual resources and that “We need an orchestration platform that is designed to support that.” He added that NetCracker is advocating for the unification of service and network orchestration in part to avoid having the “zoo of orchestrators” that was recently referred to9 by Axel Clauberg, vice president of IP architecture and design at Deutsche Telekom.

Steve Vogelsang, VP and Chief Technology Officer, IP Routing and Transport, Alcatel-Lucent said that one of the biggest technology inhibitors is the pace of technological change. He pointed out that the initial discussion of NFV focused on the use of CloudStack and now OpenStack has replaced CloudStack. Another example he gave was that most of the discussion of NFVs has them running in virtual machines

9 https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/nfv-network-functions-virtualization-fuel-deutsche-telekom-transformation/2014/06/



environmentandassociatedbenefits.Thisisalogicalmovebyvendorsastheymustcapitalizeoncurrentassets,butoperatorsareanxioustoreachthetrueNFVvaluepropositionandROI.

Atthesametime,the“leftbehind”riskhasbecomeaseriousthreattolong-termroadmaps,whereeventhemostconservativeCSPrecognizesthatNFV/SDNadoptionisanecessityintheroadmapto5G.ThecustomersofthoseCSPslooktothemtobeinnovativeandprovidelong-termassurancesoncompetitiveservice,and2016hasbecometheyearthatmanyoftheslowadoptersarenowrampingupaniterativeadoptionroadmap.

ThefollowingtwosubsectionsreviewparticularchallengesandpainpointsfortheCSPthatSONATAcanhelpalleviate,inadditiontobeingacomponentforthebasebenefitsofNFVcoveredinSection3.Justasthebusinesscasecanbesplitintosavingsandnewrevenue,thesechallengescoverbothnetworktransformation(overcomingcomplexityvs.long-termsavings)andservicedevelopment(increasedagilityandrevenuevs.risinglossesfromOTTcompetition).

6.1 ComplicationswithMulti-VendorNFVIntegrationandLegacyCompatibility

Thealleviationofvendorlock-inisacorevaluepropositionoftheNFVbusinesscase.Thisincludesthevisionofamulti-vendor,integratedNFV/SDNsystemattheCSP,mixingandmatchingbestofbreedcomponentsandVNFs.AsurveybyTelecomTVofCSPsshowsthatinteroperabilitywithsolutionsfromothervendorsistheirtopprioritywhenconsideringaNFVPoCorprototype.[24]

Figure6:CSPpriorityfactorswhendevelopingaPoCorprototype,withmulti-vendorinteroperabilityratedhighest–1low,6high(source:TelecomTV[24])

However,thecomplicationsarrivingwithafirstattemptofintegratedNFVsolutionsisthreateningthisvision.AnalystHeavyReadingcitesconcernssohighthatCSPsarerethinkingthefeasibilityofsomecoreaspectsofNFV’sbusinesscase,includingthegoalofamulti-vendorintegratedecosystem.[15]

Thecostandcomplexityofintegrationisveryhigh,andoftenbeyondthecapacityoftheCSPitself.Pre-integratedsolutionscomingfromvendorsandindependentsystemintegratorsarebecomingrecognizedasthe“easyoption”,andcreatingarebirthoflock-indynamicsbetweenecosystemscenteredaroundlarge,incumbentvendors.EvenarchitectureandVNFintegrationwithinasinglevendorpartnerecosystemhasprovidedinteroperabilityissues,delaysandrestartsinapproachesduring2015and2016.

7

When creating a Proof of Concept or prototype...? (Please rank in terms of importance for the following elements, where 1 is the least important, 6 is the most important)

Interoperability and carrier-grade reliability were firmly favoured in the aggregate result.

(CSPs only) When creating a Proof of Concept or prototype...? (Please rank in terms of importance for the following elements, where 1 is the least important, 6 is the most important)

The interesting difference here is that CSPs were, in aggregate, slightly less inclined to rank carrier grade

performance. Perhaps this difference might indicate that vendors are adhering to ‘carrier grade’ as a selling point

more than CSPs are, but it’s also true that CSPs might be less inclined to rank carrier grade as important at the Proof

of Concept stage.

All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder/s. Copyright Decisive Media Limited. All rights reserved.

Q5.

Q5.

Carrier Grade availability and Reliability

3.24

3.37

4.82

2.93

3.78

Technical Support from suppliers/ component vendors

Interoperability with solutions from other vendors (Lock-in avoidance)

Contributions to Open Source communities

Open Source code

Adherence to industry and defacto Standards 3.36

Carrier Grade availability and Reliability

4.00

3.33

5.00

2.71

2.89

Technical Support from suppliers/ component vendors

Interoperability with solutions from other vendors (Lock-in avoidance)

Contributions to Open Source communities

Open Source code

Adherence to industry and defacto Standards 3.71



Aninitialmulti-vendorinteroperabilityexercisewasmanagedbytheNewIPAgency,performingtestsbetween12vendors,4NFVIsand18VNFs.Thefullexercisesaw64%success;24ofthe39combinationstested.[25]

ThestudywasmostlylimitedtoNFVIandVNFassets,anddidnotcoverthecomplexorchestrationlayer.However,theexercisestillappliestotheMANOlayer,suchastestsinvolvingdifferentdeploymentapproachesforVNFMsamongvendors(1-on-1VNFM-VNFpairingvs.genericVNFMformultipleVNFs),alongwithinteroperabilitybetweendifferentvendors’OpenStackimplementations.

Non-proprietaryopensourcesolutionsaresometimesbecomingaformof“lock-in”,aswell.[24]Thesesolutionsareseldomadoptedandintegrateddirectlybytheoperator,andoftenarepackaged(andheavilycustomized)viaavendor.Insomecases,theresultbecometoodifferentiatedandbringsinteroperabilityissueswithitsopensourcebaseandexpectedcommunityecosystem.

Asurveyofmorethan2000telcoindustryprofessionalsatTelecoms.comIntelligenceshowedthatmorethanhalfofrespondentsalreadyrecognizedthatmanagingandorchestratingVNFsisatopchallengeforthem[26],andthisprioritywillcontinuetogrowastheycontinuetheirmigration,inproportiontothecomplexityofwhatneedstobeorchestrated.

ThisisfurthercomplicatedwheninterfacingwithnewSDNcontrollersandOSS/BSSlegacy,wherephysicalelementsmustalsobemanagedandorchestratedend-to-endinahybridphysical&virtualizednetwork(therealisticscenarioforthenext5years).InterfacesmustbebridgedbetweenMANOandOSS/BSS,inadditiontointegrationwithothersoftwarenetworkarchitectureassetsthatincludeNFVI,SDNcontrollers,etc.

However,toreachsuccessfuldeploymentofNFVandachieveitsfullbusinesscase,OSSwillhavetomeetNFV/SDNhalfway,andcannotsimplyrelyonnewinterfacesontheMANOside.ETSIseesthisOSSevolution,includingamoreholisticviewofoperations(ratherthanpiece-mealapproach),withflexiblearchitecturesandend-to-endorchestrationandservicemanagement.[12]

6.2 AgileServiceDevelopmentNeededRevenue

CompetitionwithOTTprovidershasbeenfierce,andwirelesscommunicationforCSPsisatriskofbecomingcommodity.

OvumestimatesthatOTTsocialmessagingapplicationsalonecostCSPsover$30BannuallyinlostSMSrevenuessince2012,whichispredictedtoreach$54Bby2017.OTTprovidersfocusingonVoIPwillhavecosttheglobaltelecomsindustry$63Binlostrevenues.[27](via[20])

CSPsmustexploittheNFVbusinesscasetowardsservicedevelopmentandagilitytowinbacklossrevenue.STLpartnersperformedamarketexercisethatpredictsnew“telcocloud”services(i.e.NFV,virtualized)toincreasemonthlyCSPrevenuesby10.5%by2021,showninFigure7below.

Thesenewservicesmustbeagileinnature,andtheCSPmustgainfasterproductcreation,continuallyup-to-dateproducts,quickerorderturnaround,masscustomization,increasedinnovation,fasterfailure(lessinvestmentsunk),moreflexiblecommercialmodels,moreelasticservices,greateraccessiblyandincreasedstickinessofservices.[21]



Figure7:Telcocloudservicesestimatetoincreasemonthlyrevenuesby10.5%byDec2021(source:STL

Partners[21])

Buttorealizethisvision,CSPsmusttakeonaradicalchangeintheirservicedevelopmentanddeploymentculture,andbeempoweredbynew,agiletoolsandworkflowstowardsthesebusinesscriticalgoals.TimetomarketforCSPinnovationishistoricallyhamperedbyanover-relianceontheirvendorsandslowinternalcycles,takingupto12to18monthstoimplementanddeployanewservice.[28]

CSPsrecognizethisshortcoming.InasurveybyHeavyReadingofvariousoperators(CSPs),thisneedofstreamliningthedesignanddeliveryofnewserviceswasatopprioritybyasignificantmargin[29],showninFigure8below.Anothersurveybythesameanalysthad57%ofCSPsseetimetomarketfornewserviceandapplicationsastheirlargestrelatedchallenge.[30]

Figure8:Surveyoftop3prioritiesforoperatorsfortheirnetworks(source:HeavyReading[29])

DevOpsisakeyenablerofthisNFVvaluepropositionofserviceagility.Itinvolvesasoftware(orservice)developmentmethodthatstressescommunication,collaborationandintegrationbetweendevelopersandoperationsprofessionals.

New Revenue Growth from Telco Cloud | APRIL 2016

© STL Partners EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 39

Figure 14: Telco X – Telco Cloud services increase monthly revenues by 10.5% on the base case by Dec 2021

Source: STL Partners

Each service generates monthly direct service revenue shown in the purple segment of Figure 14. In the final month, December 2021, total monthly gross revenue from Telco Cloud services amounts to $161 million. However, other factors affect the total net revenue from the services:

� Positive impact on core revenues In Figure 14, the paler segments, above voice and data revenues respectively, capture the core service revenue generated as a result of the introduction of the Telco Cloud services. As mentioned previously, some services are closely linked to the telco’s core products (i.e. voice and data fixed and/or mobile services); the introduction of the new service can therefore reduce customer churn and increase ARPU for those who have taken up the service. In addition, the telco could also receive an uplift in core revenues from an increased number of gross-adds attracted by the new services.

� Service cannibalisation Customers who take up certain services may be migrating from existing services. One example of this would be Enterprise vCPE, where a proportion of the new service customers will drop their current managed service (provided by Telco X) and take up the vCPE offering instead. Another example is in the case of new digital consumer fixed services, where a TV offering based on virtual set top box will replace the telco’s current IPTV offering. The declining digital revenues (in blue) in Figure 14 reflect this effect.

The net revenue for Telco X from Telco Cloud services of $145 million in December 2021 represents approximately 9.5% of Telco X’s monthly revenues. We estimate 16.1% of this new revenue would be due to the increase in core revenues (i.e. decreased churn, increased gross adds and higher ARPUs for certain services).

$-

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

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(USD

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ons)

Voice Voice core effect Data Data core effect Existing Digital / Managed Services Telco Cloud revenues

HEAVY READING | DECEMBER 2015 | WHITE PAPER | SERVICE ORCHESTRATION & NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION: A LIFECYCLE VIEW 3

Service Orchestration in the Virtualized Network

Streamlining Network Service Delivery Is a Top Priority

When Heavy Reading surveyed operators about their top three priorities for improv-ing network operations, streamlining the design and delivery of new services was first by a significant margin.

The ability to provide network services on demand enables operators to provide a new level of customer experience. As AT&T pointed out in August 2015, it has cut provisioning times for Ethernet services by 95 percent and is receiving excellent feedback from customers as a result of programming the network using a service orchestration approach. Service orchestration is key to rapid service delivery, as we have explained in Service Orchestration Requirements for a New Era of Networking, And fast time to market is conferring significant competitive advantage on early adopters of service orchestration.

The Expanding Role of Service Orchestration

Service orchestration is an evolving term. Previously, we have defined it as a new way of automating the activation of a service in the network, through the program-matic configuration of all elements participating in a service, in a single, end-to-end transaction. Service orchestration has primarily been associated with the deployment of cus-tomer-facing services in the network and the fulfilment of subsequent customer-driven change requests, including service retirement. But new operational requirements introduced by NFV are driving an expansion in the definition of service orchestration. First, if services are to be spun up, programmatically, on demand, their monitoring and assurance can't be an afterthought. There should be no delay while the assur-ance aspects of a service are ingested and mapped to a new management model by a separate system. The service orchestration system needs to be responsible for ensuring that a service can be assured as soon as it is instantiated. Assurance becomes part of the service fulfilment process, driven by the same service models.

Figure 1: Top Three Priorities for Improving Network Operations

Source: Heavy Reading (Score is a weighted calculation. Items ranked first are valued higher than the following ranks; the score is the sum of all weighted rank counts.)



WhileDevOpsisalreadyavalidatedimprovementintheITfieldforagilesoftwaredevelopment,ithasyettoseeasignificantadoptioninthetelecomindustry.WhileCSPshavetestedautomation,theymustnowmaketheleapintocontinuousintegrationanddeployment(CI/CD).[31]TorealizetheNFVvision,theymustadoptacombinationofanetwork-orientedDevOpsworkflow,withaccompanychangesintools,skillsandin-houseorganizationalculture.

Thisagiledevelopmentmustalsoextendfromtheirowndeployedservicestoenablingnewbusinessmodelsthatfosterecosystemswiththird-partydevelopers.TheywillhavetorecognizetheOTTprovidernotjustasacompetitor,butalsoapartnerandcustomer.Extreme5GservicerequirementssuggestthatOTTproviderswillneedtocollaboratecloserwithCSPstoensuresufficientQoS/QoEfortheirend-user.[28][13]

Similarly,CSPswillneedtocollaborateheavilywithindustryverticalsinthe5Gvision,withwin-winbusinessmodelsthatcreatenewrevenuestreamsandempowerverticalswithservicedevelopmenttoolstocatertowardstheirownserviceprovision.[32]



7 SolutionPresentation:SONATANFVSystemandValueProposition

ThefollowingsectionspresenttheSONATAarchitectureanditsvaluepropositionasaflexible,integratedsolution:aNFVserviceplatformwithorchestrationcapabilities,supportingSDKfornetworkservicedevelopment,andaccompanyingDevOpsworkflow.

Itactsasanecessarycomponent(MANO)toenabletheNFVbusinesscase(Section3)andaddresseskeyCSPchallengesassociatedtoacomplexNFVadoptionandurgentneedforaquicker,moreagileservicedevelopment(Section6).

7.1 SONATAArchitectureOverview

ThefollowingdiagramreflectstheSONATAarchitecture[33]thatiscurrentlybeingimplementedforafirstprototypeinthesummerof2016.InthefollowingdescriptionsthetwomainSONATAassetsarepresented:thenetworkserviceSDK,andtheserviceplatformwithNFVorchestrator.

AsimplescenarioistakenintocontextwhereaCSPisoperatingtheplatformtooptimizetheirnetworkandcatertowardsthird-partydevelopers(inadditiontoitsown),empoweringthemwiththetoolsandDevOpsworkflowtocreatedynamicnetworkservicesbasedoncatalogsofVNFs.However,theplatformcanalsobeusedforothernetworkoperatorprofiles,suchasanenterprisemigratingtoaNFV/SDNarchitecture.

Figure9:SONATAarchitecture[33]

7.1.1 SONATANetworkServiceSDK

ThefirstmajorcomponentoftheSONATAarchitectureisasoftwaredevelopmentkit(SDK)thatsupportsservicedeveloperswithbothaprogrammingmodelandasetofsoftwaretools.TheSDKallowsdeveloperstodefinecomplexservicesconsistingofmultipleVNFs.ACSP(whichcanalsobetheservicedeveloper)canthendeployandmanagethecreatedservicesontheSONATAserviceplatformthroughthecorrespondinggatekeepercomponent,averificationtool.Servicesandtheircomponentscanalsobepublishedincatalogstobereusedbyotherservicedevelopersandproviders.



7.1.2 SONATAServicePlatformwithNFVOrchestrator

SONATA'sflexibleserviceplatformisthesecondmajorcomponentofthesystem.DuetothemodulardesignofitsMANOframework,theplatformofferscustomizationopportunitiesontwolevels.

First,theCSPcanmodifytheplatform,e.g.,tosupportadesiredbusinessmodel,byreplacingcomponentsofthelooselycoupledMANOframework,viapluginsthroughamicroservicesapproach.

Second,servicedeveloperscaninfluencetheorchestrationandmanagementfunctionalitiesoftheplatformpertainingtotheirownservices,bybundlingsmallmanagementprograms,so-calledfunction-andservice-specificmanagers(FSMs/SSMs),withtheirservices.Thisenablesanewlevelofservicecontrolcapabilitiesforservicedevelopers,suchasinfluencingplacementdecisionsofservicesdeployedacrossmultiplepointsofpresence(PoP).

7.1.3 SONATANFVDevOpsWorkflow

TheSONATAsystemisdesignedforagiledevelopmentandoperationofnetworkservices.ItenablesaDevOpsworkflowthroughthefullcompatibilityandintegrationbetweentheSDKtoolsandtheserviceplatform.Thisallowsdevelopersandoperatorstocloselycollaborateondesign,development,deployment,andlifecyclemanagementofnetworkservices,aswellasoptimizeandadaptthedesignandimplementationoftheservicesbasedoncollectedmonitoringinformationregardingthecurrentstateoftheserviceandnetworkresources.Thisisacomplexprocessthatisstreamlined,particularlychallenginginthecaseofthird-partydevelopersandthehostingCSPplatformoperator.

7.2 SONATAFeaturesandValueProposition

ThefollowingTable5highlightskeyfeaturesofSONATA’sserviceplatform,SDKandDevOps,aswellasthevaluepropositiondeliveredtonetworkoperators(e.g.CSPs)andtheirecosystemofservicedevelopers.

Table5:SONATAfeaturesandvalueproposition

Feature ValueProposition

NFV

MAN

OBusinessC

ase • basicETSIMANOfeatureset:

resource/serviceorchestrationandVNFmanagement,e.g.deploy,provision,manage,scaleandresourceplacement(seeSection2.2)

• increasedefficiencyonnetworkinfrastructure

• higherservicelevels

• dynamicnetworkscalability

• simplifiednetworkmanagement

• NFVbusinesscase:lowerOpEx,CapEx(seeSection3)



Feature ValuePropositionFlexibilityan

dCo

mpa

tibilityfo

rCSP

• customizablebydesign,includingswappablemodularplugins,suchaslifecyclemanagement,servicemonitoring,conflictresolution,etc.

• bespokeimplementationleadstobest-fitsolutionfornetworkoperatorandtheirexistingassets

• easilyextensibleforfuturerequirementsviaamicroservicesinspireddesign

• openinterfacesformulti-vendorsupport,independentofstack

• businessagilityandalleviatesvendorlock-in:flexibilitybetweenvendorsofVNFM,VIM,NFVI,etc.

• adaptabletomultipleVNFMapproaches(includedgenericVNFMorinterfacedvendor-specificVNFM)

• ETSIcompliant • lowerinvestmentrisk,furthercompatibilitywithotherNFVcomponentsfrompropietaryoropensourcesolutionsfollowingsimilarETSIcompliance

• compatibilitywithleadingcommunitysolutions(e.g.OpenStack,OpenFlow)

• ecosystemflexibility(e.g.cloudstack,managementsoftware,etc.),andsyncwithindustryde-factodirection“outofthebox”

• openinterfacewithlegacyOSS/BSSandadaptablefornewsystemsfor5G

• extendedROIforlegacysystems,lowerintegrationcosts,recognitionofiterativeNFVadoptionandbrown-fieldscenarios

• extensiblefornewOSS/BSSsystemstobeintroducedfor5G

• supportforbothvirtualized(VNF)andphysicalnetworkfunctions(PNF)

• compatibilitywithrealistic,iterativeNFVadoptionroadmapthatincludeshybridnetworks

• enablesextendedvaluechainofstakeholderstobeinvolvedindevelopmentof5Gservices

• importorcreatenewVNF,compatibilitywiththird-partycatalogs

• newB2Bopportunities,e.g.third-partydevelopers,solutionproviders,SMEs,potentialrevenuesharingwithOTT

• adaptanddifferentiateinchangingmarket

• opensource,commercial-friendlylicensing:Apachev2

• opensourcecommunitysupport,lowerprocurementcosts,vendor/operatorcustomization/extensionwithoutlicensingconflicts



Feature ValueProposition5G

inDesign

• built-in5Gslicingsupport • bettercompetitiveofferingcateringtodiversenetworkservicerequirementsforverticalindustries

• recursiveness(platformworkingontopofotherimplementationofplatform)

• operatormodelswithseparatednetwork/infrastructurefocusedproviders,orMNO/MVNOmodels

• improvedNFV/SDNintegration • enablesbetterend-to-endoperationsbetweenMANOandSDNController

• readyandextensiblefor5GSDN-empowerednetworks

AgileServiceDevelop

men

tand

NFV

DevOps

• agilemanagementoffullservicelifecycle

• methodologyandtoolstoimplementamodernDevOpsworkflowforNFVanddevelopedservices

• multi-organizationalbydesign

• compliancecomponent(“Gatekeeper”)forvettingnetworkfunctionsandservicedevelopedbySDK

• increasedproductivity,quickeriterations,time-to-market

• createecosystemwithinternalandexternaldevelopers,leadingtodifferentiationandincreasedrevenue(CSP)

• lowerbarriertoentrytodevelopservices(third-party)

• newbusinessmodels,closerB2Bcollaboration

• event-basedpoliciesforfeature/servicerelationfunctionality

• newcustomizationforthird-partydevelopers,optimizingQoS/QoEtoend-users

• morecompetitiveofferingbyCSPplatformoperatorforsupportingdeveloperecosystem



8 ComparativeStudy:AlternativeNFVMANOSolutionsinDevelopment

Thefollowingsectioncoversananalysisofover20solutionsthatarecomparabletoSONATA.ThesepredominatelyfallundertheMANOareaoftheETSINFVarchitecture,focusingontheNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)andVNFManager(VNFM).

ThemajorityofthesesolutionsareprovidedbyincumbentequipmentvendorsthathaveadaptedtothechangingdynamicsofSDN/NFV’simpactonthetelecomvaluechain(seeSection5).TheyarealsometwithnewinsurgentsthatarrivedfromtheITworld,e.g.cloudcomputingorchestration.Finally,opensourceprojectsareincreasing,aswell,includingOpenSourceMANO(OSM)andOPEN-O,bothannouncedattheMobileWorldCongressinFebruary2016,representingacollaborationbetweenvendorsandoperatorscompetingforacommonbaseandpotentiallyde-factoapproach.

Animportantdisclaimermustbeprovidedwiththefollowinganalysis:Aspresentedinthebeginningofthedocument,NFVMANOsolutionsarenotinproductionbynetworkoperatorstoday,apartfromlimitedPoCsandfieldtesting.Therefore,thesesolutionscanonlybeexaminedat“facevalue”,onebasedonfeaturesandarchitecturecharacteristics,butmissingindependentcriticalperformancebenchmarking,interoperabilitytesting,etc.thatisneededforatruecompetitiveanalysis.Insummary,thisanalysisisadmittedlyover-dependentonthebiasofvendormarketing.Networkoperatorsfindthemselvesinasimilarsituationasthecustomer,whereearlyadoptertestimonials,forexample,showthattheadvertisedmulti-vendorcompatibilitycanfallshortofreality(seeSection6).

However,thisisunavoidableatthisinitialstateofmarketmaturity.Knowingthekeydesignchoicesandfeaturesetofcurrentcomparablesolutionsisagoodindicatortobetterunderstanddifferentiationanduniquesellingpointsmarketedbetweensolutions,andseewhichpriorityand/oradditionalinnovationsthatSONATAcanfocusontoadvancethearea.

8.1 CommercialNFVMANOSolutions

8.1.1 NokiaCloudBand

Asalargetelecomvendor,Nokia,andAlcatel-Lucentbeforethem,focusesonthefullportfolioofNFVsolutiontoprovideaholisticsolutionsetfortheircustomers,facilitatinghosting,orchestration,automation,andmanagementofvirtualizednetworkfunctions.

NokiaCloudBand,acquiredin2016fromAlcatel-Lucent,isaNFVMANOportfolio[34],including:

• CloudBandNetworkDirector(NVFO):coveringbothresourceandserviceorchestration,asperETSINFVOspecfunctionality,andusingtheTOSCAstandardfordescriptionandonboardingservices.

• CloudBandApplicationManager(VNFM):performingVNFlifecyclemanagement,asperfullETSIVNFMspecfunctionality,andusingOpenStackHEATtemplatesandOpenStackMistralworkflows.[36]

• CloudBandInfrastructureSoftware(VIM):virtualizescompute,storageandnetworkservices,aspercommonVIMspecfunctionality.Thesolutionalsoprovidesanalytics,monitoringandevent/alarmnotifications,aswellasrootcauseanalysiscapabilitiesfromOpenStackVintage.[37]



CommontrendsarefollowedbyNokia,includingmulti-vendorVNFandVIMcompatibility,aswellasco-orchestrationofVNFsandlegacyPNFs.

Figure10:NokiaCloudBandproductportfolio(source:Nokia[34])

SeveralcharacteristicsstandoutonCloudBandsolutionwhenanalyzingtheNFVlandscape:

• OpenStackcollaboration:Nokia’sCloudBandunitareactiveintheOpenStackcommunity,andthisisevidentintheircontributionstovariousprojectssuchasVitrageandMistral.ThoseprojectsinparticulararethenusedbyCloudBandtoimprovetheirportfolioandensureasynchronizedroadmapwithindustrypreferences,inadditiontovisibilityasaninfluentialvendorinopensourcecommunities.Itrepresentsaclassiclargevendoropensourcestrategy,andabestpracticethatisrecommendedforSONATA.

• MigratingNFcatalogue:Nokia’sCloudBandhasthecommonadvantagesharedbyotherlargevendors:alargeexistingportfoliooflegacynetworkfunctions.ThisprovidesafirstprioritytomigrateexistingPNFstoVNFs,strengtheningtheirsustainabilitywithexistingcustomersoftheirlegacyfunctionsbyprovidingfamiliarsolutionsfortheirNFVadoption.

• Partnerecosystem:ThecombinedNFVpartnerecosystemsofNokiaandformerAlcatel-Lucentincludesarangeoftechnologypartnersandcomplimentaryvendors.[38]ThisincludesvendorsofVNFs(multi-vendorVNFvalueproposition),complimentaryNFVandSDNsolutions(NFVI,SDNcontrollers,etc.),andtechnologypartners(virtualizationvendors,etc.).

• End-to-endsupportingservices:ThecombinedbusinessportfoliosofNokiaandformerAlcatel-Lucentsharethelargevendorcompetitiveadvantageofofferingconsulting,systemintegrationandothersupportservicestotheircustomers.

• SONATApartner:ItshouldbenotedthatNokia’sCloudBandteamisaSONATApartner,andsupportstheserviceplatformandSDKdevelopment,actsasa“realitycheck”asanactivevendor,andprovideslinkstotheOpenStackcommunity.



8.1.2 NEC/NetcrackerOrchestration

AsuiteofNFVMANOsolutionsisofferedviaNetcracker,asubsidiaryofNEC.Throughasimilarlarge-vendorNFVbusinessstrategy,theportfolioisquiteholisticandaimstomeettheend-to-endneedsoftheircustomers.WhileitfollowsalltheETSI-specifiedfeaturesofMANO,itpositionsitsofferingonwhatitterms“networkorchestration”,focusingontheforeseenoperatorpainpointofmanagingVNFsofmultiplevendors(abusinessbenefit,butatechnicalchallenge).TheresultisasuiteofsolutionsthatcoverNFVOservice&resourceorchestration,aswellasVNFmanagement.

TheirNFVO/VNFMportfolioincludes:[39]

• ServiceOrchestration:MANOfunctionalityenablingend-to-endlifecyclemanagementacrossnetworks,includinglegacynetworks,SDN-enablednetworks,andcloudandNFVIenvironments.SpecialattentionisalsogiventoaDevOps-drivenservicedesign,automaticservicechaining,servicefault&performancemonitoring,andinventory/topologyvisualization.

• NetworkOrchestration:MANOfunctionalityresponsibleforonboardingmulti-vendorVNFs,unifyingpolicy-basedservicefulfilmentandassurancemanagementforvirtualnetworksandcontrollingVNFlifecycles.ThisofferingalsooptimizesVNFperformancebyplacementaccordingtosecurity,performanceandlatencyrequirements.

Figure11:NEC/NetcrackerNFVServiceandNetworkOrchestrationservices(source:NEC/Netcracker[39])

Bydescription,thelatter,“NetworkOrchestration”,isamixofNFVresourceorchestration,NFVserviceorchestrationandVNFmanagement(NFVOandVNFMfunctionality,accordingtoETSI).

Third-partyVNFsupportisoffered,inadditiontoNECandNetcracker’sowncataloguesandmarketplace-likefeatures.Themulti-vendortrendalsocarriestowardssupportforvariousSDNcontrollersandVIMs.

NECandNetcrackeralsosupplyawealthofsupportservicesaroundtheirportfolio,rangingfromconsultationtosystemsintegration,strengtheningtheirpositionasanend-to-endvendor.

Particularareasoffocusinclude:

• HybridDomains/LegacySupport:Althoughacommonstrategyforlargevendors,NECandNetcrackerfocusheavilyonthevaluepropositionofsupportingphysicalnetworkfunctionsandsupportforlegacyOSSintegration.ThisiscapturingthecommonunderstandingthatNFVuptakebyoperatorswillbeagradualtransformationthatmustworkinbrown-field



scenarios,withNFVMANOsolutionsworkingbetweenbothsoftware-basedandlegacynetworks.ThishybridapproachalsorepresentsNEC’shistoricrelationwithoperatorsasahardwarevendor,ensuringamigrationpathfortheircustomersthatrespectscurrentlydeployedassetsandpreviousCapEx.

• ServiceDesignandDevOps:WithintheirservicedesignandorchestrationisaparticularfocusonDevOps,recognizingtheITtrendthatneedstobeadoptedbythetelecomindustrytofulfilthevaluepropositionofsoftwarenetworkswithanagileservicelifecycle.TheapproachusesaservicedesignenvironmentwithautomatedimportofYANGmodelsandTOSCAdeploymenttemplates.

• OpenStackcollaboration:NECisasupporteroftheOpenStackcommunity,andusesthedynamictosupporttheirNFVportfolio.Itisastrategicinvestmentforthevendorforbothtechnologyroadmapsandvisibility.

• End-to-endsupportservices:ApartfromtheNECsupplyingthehardwaretoaccompanyitssubsidiaryNetcracker’ssoftwareassets,theparentcompanyalsoprovidesthefullsetofcomplimentaryend-to-endservicesthatoneexpectsfromalargevendor(e.g.seeNokia/CloudBand),includingconsultancy,systemintegration,migrationsupport,etc.Althoughtheyprovidethesoftwaretosupportmulti-vendor(e.g.third-partyVNFs),theecosystemisholisticandaimedatfulfillingalloftheoperator’sneeds.

• SONATApartner:NECresearchlabinHeidelberg,Germany,ispartoftheSONATAteam,andsupportstheserviceplatformandSDKdevelopment,actsasa“realitycheck”asanactivevendor,andprovideslinkstotheOpenStackandETSINFVISGcommunity.

8.1.3 ADVAOpticalEnsembleOrchestrator

ADVAOpticalNetworking,atelecommunicationsvendor,offerstheEnsembleOrchestrator,anETSIMANOcompliantNFVorchestrator(NFVO).

StandardfunctionalityincludesVNFonboarding,networkservicedesign,servicedeploymentandserviceoperations,andsupportforbothphysicalandvirtualizednetworkfunctions.Thesolutionvisionalsoincludesrecognitionofthenetwork“edge”ofdistributedNFVinfrastructures,inthesensethattheEnsembleOrchestratorsupportsVNFplacementincentraldatacenters,multiplePoPsorcustomerlocation.[40]

FullVNFlifecyclemanagementisfeatured,incompliancewithETSINFVMANOspecs,aswellassupportforpre-definedpolicies.RESTAPIsaredesignedforeasierintegrationintooperatorOSS/BSS.Astrengthcouldbeitsfocusonanalytics,includingeasyintegrationwithanotherADVAsolution,EnsembleAnalytics.

CompatibilitywithleadingVIMslikeOpenStack,aswellasgenericVNFManagers(VNFM),allowtheEnsembleOrchestratortobepartofalargerpartnerNFVecosystem.

Somedistinguishingcharacteristicsinclude:

• OpenAPIs:ADVAusesopenAPIsforeasierintegrationwithotherproprietaryandthird-partyNFVsolutions,aswellasoperatorOSS/BSS.TheformerisaconsistentstrategywiththosevendorsprovidingaspecificMANOsolutionandnotafullNFVsuite;inthiscase,itisanNFVOfocusedonserviceorchestration.



• Focusonuserinterfaces:AwebGUIisincluded,andalsosupportstheEnsembleDashboard,anotherADVAsolutionconsistingofamoreextensivemanagementandvisualizationsystem.

• MonitoringandAnalytics:Acomplimentarysolution,EnsembleAnalytics,offersananalyticsmodelforNFVservicemanagement,alsoforhybriddomainsmixingphysicalwithvirtualizednetworkfunctions.[41]

8.1.4 AffirmedNetworksMobileContentCloud

AffirmedNetworksofferstheMobileContentCloud,ascalableMANOsolutionthatisdeliveredonitsproprietaryplatform,butalsosupportscompatibilitywithmanythird-partyvendors’COTShardware(thecommonNFVvision).[42]

TheMANO-likesolutionextendsfromAffirmedAcuitasEMSoffering,anditsownAffirmedVNFManager,andincludesservicechaining.ItsvEPCincludesdynamiccapacityscaling,andtheportfolioincludesseveralmorevirtualizedsolutions,suchasthevirtualizedWi-FiGatewayandActiveIntelligentvProbe.

ThevendormarketsthesolutionasfullyETSINFVcompliant,andanexampleofacompanyfocusingexclusivelyontheNFVfrontwithafirst-moverstrategy.AsApril2016,thecompanyhas30customerdeploymentsand40trialsunderwayusingtheirvirtualizedsolutionportfolio.[43]

8.1.5 AnutaNetworksNCXEnterprisePlatform

AnutaNetwork’sNCXPlatformisaNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)andVNFManager(VNFM),compliantwiththeESTIMANOarchitecture.

Figure12:AnutaNCXPlatformarchitectureandmappingtoETSINFVMANO(source:Anuta[44])

TheNCXplatformiscompatiblewithmultiplevendorproducts,suchasCiscoCSR1000V,CiscoNexus1000V,CiscoXRV,VMwareDVS,CitrixNetScalerVPX,F5BIG-IP,JunipervSRX,JuniperFirefly,VyattavRouter&FirewallandRiverbedSteelheadWANOptimization.[44]

NCXoffersfullNFVMANOfunctionality,includinglifecyclemanagementincludingVNFinstantiation,placement,imagemanagement,servicedefinitions,provisioning,commissioninganddecommissioning.



Anuta’splatformalsohascharacteristicscommontoitscompletion,includingmulti-vendorVNFsupport,andhybridsupportforbothphysicalandvirtualassets.[45]

8.1.6 ATTOResearchATHENENFVPlatform

ATTOResearch’sATHENENFVPlatformisextendedontopofaserver-switchSDNbasedservicecontroller.TheplatformisfocusedprimarilyonnetworkservicedesignandchainingofavailableVNFs.AGUItoolisusedwithdrag&dropfeatures.[46]

Figure13:ATTO'sATHENENFVPlatformnetworkservicechaining(source:ATTO[46])

VNFManager(VNFM)functionalityisalsopartoftheplatform,aswellasalimited(unclearinliterature)NFVorchestration(NFVO).

Thearchitectureiscluster-basedandscalable,meaningthatseveralATHENEplatformscanbeoperatedtogetherthroughdirect(moreflexibleservicechaining)orparallelextension(compensationofbandwidthspikes).

8.1.7 BrocadeVNFManager

Brocade,atelecommunicationvendor,offersaVNFManager(VNFM)solutionbasedontheOpenStackTackerproject(seeOpenStackTackerentryinSection8.2.1).Thisfollowstheidealopensourcestrategy,creatingacommercialMANOsolutionontopofanopensourceprojectwithinarichandindustry-supportedcommunity.AsaVNFMinanETSI-compliantarchitecture,itsupportsbasiclife-cyclemanagementofVNFsandbasichealthmonitoring.[47]

ItfeaturesanenhancedversionoftheBrocadeGUIframework,andusesstandardmodelling(TOSCA)forVNFcataloguesupport.[48]



Figure14:BrocadeVNFManagermonitoringhealthofdeployedVNFs(source:Brocade[48])

Futureorchestration(NFVO)functionalityisexpected,asitisintheroadmapfortheunderlyingTackerproject.ItalsoexploitsBrocade’slargerportfolio,withanemphasisoncompatibilitywiththeBrocadeSDNcontroller,animportantaspectforend-to-endNFV/SDNintegration.

8.1.8 CienaBluePlanet

BluePlanet,adivisionofCiena,providesaNFVOrchestratoraswellaswhattheytermaMulti-DomainServiceOrchestrator.

Theformer,anNFVO,provideswhatisexpectedfromthecomponentofETSI-compliantarchitecture.Forexample:[49]

• VNFinstantiation,servicechainingandconnectivityforvirtualizedservices

• Open,vendor-agnosticarchitecture

• RESTAPIsandTOSCA-basedtemplatesforprogrammabilityandself-serviceon-boardingofvirtualresourcesandVNFs

Figure15:BluePlanetNFVOrchestrator,Multi-DomainServiceOrchestration,andvisualizedservicechaining

(source:Ciena/BluePlanet[49][50])

TheirMulti-DomainServiceOrchestratorprovidesend-to-endserviceautomationandorchestrationacrossmultipletechnology(physicalorvirtual)andvendordomains.[50]Thissolutionisinrecognitionofthechallengesthatnetworkoperatorswillfacewhenintegratingwithvariouslegacyassets,third-partySDNcontrollersandevenotherNFVMANOorchestrators.Itsmodularand



programmablestructuresupportscontrolofmultipletechnologicallydiversedomains:cloud,multi-layerWAN,NFV,IP/MPLS,etc.

Alargepartnership,“BlueOrbit”,providesanecosystemofhardwarevendors,VNFandNFVIvendors.[51]BluePlanetwasafirst-moverinthisarea,andhasvariousongoingPoCsandtrialsunderway.

8.1.9 CiscoNetworkServicesOrchestratorandElasticServicesController

Ciscofollowstheindustrydirectionasalarge,incumbenttelecomvendorinvestingheavilyintheirNFVportfolio.TwoassetscovertheirNFVMANOstrategy:

• CiscoNetworkServiceOrchestrator(“NSO”),enabledbypartnerTali-f,andcoveringtheETSINFVOrchestrator(NFVO)functionalityofbothresourceandserviceorchestration.Inamodel-drivenformat,serviceanddeviceconfigurationanddoneinYANGformat.[52]

• CiscoElasticServicesController(“ESC”)isthevendor’sVNFManager(VNFM),andshipsoptionallywiththeaboveNFVO,withcommunicationdonethroughtheNETCONFprotocol.TheVNFMiscompatibleoutoftheboxwithOpenStackandVMwareVIMs,andsupportsthird-partyVNFs.[53]

Figure16:CiscoElasticServicesController(ESC)andNetworkServiceOrchestrator(NSO)identifiedinETSINFV

architecture(source:Cisco[53])

TheNFVO/VNFMMANOcombinationmanifestscommoncharacteristicsastheircompetition:multi-vendorVNF,physical/virtualhybridsupport,ETSIspeccompliance,etc.

AfewdistinguishingapproachestakesplacethroughCisco’sNFVOsolution:

• NetworkElementDrivers:“NEDs”areusedtoensurequickcompatibilitywithnewdevices,usingaCLIinterfacethroughtheNFVO,anddonesointheYANGdatamodelformat.

• SupportingNFVI:AlargedifferentiationforCiscoisitssignificantNFVIpresence,withsupportingtechnologypartnerships(e.g.RedHat,Intel),allowingthevendortoapproachcustomerswithamoreholisticNFVdeploymentofferingwithcompute,storage,network,VIMandinfrastructuremanagement.[54]



8.1.10 EricssonNetworkManagerandCloudManager

Ericsson,alargetelecommunicationhardwarevendor,hasalreadyinvestedinitscloudassets,extendingthemforNFVscenariosinsoftwarenetworks.Theseinclude:

• EricssonNetworkManager:TheNetworkManagertakesontheroleofVNFManager(VNFM),aswellasspecial5G-facingrequirementssuchasnetworksliceorchestration.[55]

• EricssonCloudManager:IntheNFVenvironment,thiscomponentcarriesoutthestandardETSIMANOroleofNetworkFunctionOrchestrator(NFVO),aswellastheunderlyingcloudinfrastructure.[56]

Figure17:EricssoncomplimentaryNFVsolutions(source:Ericsson[57])

Itisexpectedthatothervendorsgotowardsthe5Gslicingsupport,butEricssonisoneofthefewthatexplicitlyaddsitasarequirementtotheirMANOsolution.[57]

TheecosystemisfurthersupportedwithNFVIsupport,throughtheEricssonCloudExecutionEnvironment.ThesupportingvirtualizationmanagementincludesOpenStack,VMWare(vCenter)andMicrosoftAzure,withmulti-VIMsupportdonewithadaptersoragents.ThisactsaspartofEricsson’s“heterogeneousclouds”vision,whereastheNFVapproachsupportsmultipleunderlyingtechnologyanddistributedresources.

OpensourcecommunitysupportfromthevendorincludestheOpenStackandOPNFV.

8.1.11 FujitsuVirtuoraServiceOrchestrator

FujitsucoverstheNFVMANOarchitecturewiththeirVirtuoraServiceOrchestrator.TheproductsuiteincludesstandardNFVOandVNFMfunctionality,aswellasaserviceplatformwithmulti-tenantservicedesign,configurationandmanagement,aswellasacustomerportal.[58]



Figure18:FujitsuVirtuoraServiceOrchestratorproductsuiteandecosystem(source:Fujitsu[59])

Value-addedapplicationsextendthesuitetoincludeincreasedfunctionalityin,forexample,policy-basedorchestration,enhancedanalyticsandtesting.AccompanyingsolutionsinthesoftwarenetworkdomainalsoincludeFujitsu’sownSDNmanagementsolutionofthesamelabel.Asalargevendor,FujitsunaturallydeliversitsownVNFswithinitsNFVecosystem,inadditiontosupportingthird-parties.

ApartnerecosystemandtechnologysupportseescompatibilitywithNFVIassetsandVIMssuchasOpenStack.

8.1.12 HPEnterpriseNFVDirector

HPE’s(HPEnterprise)NFVportfolioisextensive.HPENFVDirectorisitsflagshipMANOsolution.Currentlyonv3.0,thesolutioncoverseverythingexpectedfromanETSI-compliantNFVOrchestrator(NFVO),serviceandresourceorchestration.Thereisalsoanemphasisonmonitoringandpolicy-basedmanagement.[60]MonitoringinparticularincludesVNF-basedmonitoring,correlationofphysicalinfrastructureviewsintoVNF-specificvirtualinfrastructureviews,andfinallyofthenetworkservice,chainedfrombothVNFsandtheirphysicalcounterparts,PNFs.

HPENFVDirectorhasabuilt-inembeddedVNFManager(VNFM)functionality,butcitessupportforexternalVNFMs.ThisisconsistentwiththemarketpatternofNFVOsbeingdeliveredwithgeneric“default”VNFMstoprovideholisticsolutionsfortheoperator,yetadvertisingcompatibilitywithothervendors’MANOassets.



Figure19:HPEDirectorv3.0featuremap(source:HPE[60])

AclearportfoliopresentationofHPE’sOpenNFVarchitecture[61](nottobeconfusedwithOPNFV)providesalookatitscomplimentaryNFVportfoliosolutions.ThisincludestheaforementionedHPENFVDirectorfortheMANOlayer(NFVO/VNFM),aswellasitsowncarrier-gradeversionofOpenStack,HPEHelionOpenStackattheVIMandNFVIlayers.

Figure20:HPENFVEcosystem(source:HPE[61])

Asalargevendor,HPE’sstrategyisafullend-to-endNFVportfolio,includingtheunderlyinghardwaresystems.althoughmulti-vendorsupportispartofitscommonNFVvalueproposition.Consultingandintegrationservicesroundoutitssupportingbusiness.HPEcurrentlycitesmorethan60NFVPoCinplaywithpartners,standardsbodiesandcustomers.[62]Itisalsoquiteactiveinopensourceandstandardscommunities,includingOpenStack,OPNFV,ETSINFV,etc.

8.1.13 HuaweiFusionSphereCloudOS

Huawei’sfirstanswertotheNFVMANOlayeristhroughextensionofitstelecomcloudsolution,FusionSphereCloudOS.[63]

However,withcurrentlyavailablematerialtheexactroadmapisnotclear;forexample,anarchitecturemapontheirwebsiteshowsacloudinfrastructureframework,butwithoutlinkstoan



NFVimplementationorcommonETSIreferencepoints.AlthoughitisexpectedthatcommoncompetitiveMANOfeatureswillbeincludedacrossNFVOandVNFMfunctionality.

MoreinterestingistherecentannouncementofOPEN-OrchestratorProject(OPEN-O),ajointeffortbyseveralvendorsandtechnologypartners,withalargepushfromHuawei(seeOPEN-OentryinSection8.2.5).Duetotheinvestment,itisexpectedthatthiswillheavilyinfluenceitscommercialportfoliotowardstheNFVMANOlayer.

Alsoexpectedfromthelargevendoristhetypeoffullspectrumofsoftwarenetworkrelatedproductsandservices,aspartofitstransformationstrategytomeetoperator’sneedsforNFV/SDN.

8.1.14 JuniperContrailNetworkingServiceOrchestration

JuniperhasextendeditsContrailNetworkingportfoliofromitsSDNrootstoaContrailServiceOrchestrator.[64]Afocusonnetworkservicedesignapplicationisavailable,aswellasanadministratorandcustomerportalasadditionalGUIs.

Figure21:JuniperContrailnetworkservicedesignapplication(source:Juniper[66])

Inthiscase,serviceorchestrationisextendedfromthelowerSDNlayer,providingfunctionalitysimilartothatofNFVETSIarchitecture,howeverrelyingalsoonanextensivepartnerprogram,suchassuchasAmdocs,IBM,NEC/Netcracker,andothers.[65]AJuniper“CloudCPE”solutionisanexampleusecaseandoffering.

Althoughcomingfromdifferentroots,theorchestratorofferssimilarvaluepropositionandbenefits,includingVNFlifecyclemanagement,proprietaryandthird-partyVNFcatalogs,facilitatedintegrationtoexistingOSS/BSSviaAPIs,etc.

JuniperisalsomeetingservicecreationwithDevOps,withtheJunosOSfeaturedintheirsuppliedhardware,extendedtowardsnetworkserviceusecases.[67]

8.1.15 OracleCommunicationsNetworkServiceOrchestrationSolution

Oracle’slargetelecomvendorportfolioincludestheOracleNetworkServicesOrchestrationSolution,aNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)inETSIterms.

Afullbreakdownoffunctionalityscopecanbefoundinthediagrambelow,includingonboarding,instantiation,configuration,scaling,healingandterminationofVNFandcomposednetwork



services.[68]CommoncharacteristicsaresharedbyOracle’sNFVO,suchasthird-partyVNF,VNFMandVIMsupportwhereneeded.

Oraclehasanextendedvisionof“intelligent”orchestration,featuresintheirwhitepaperonthetopic[69],includingboth“decision”intelligence(thatofbusinessortechnologyrules),andthatof“analytic”intelligence(databasedonnetworkperformanceanduse).Italsocallsforpredictiveanalysisandhybridorchestrationsupport,featuressimilartoSONATAinfunctionality.

Figure22:OracleCommunicationsNetworkServiceOrchestrationSolution(top)andcontextinlargerMANOarchitecture(bottom)(source:Oracle[68])

AnecosystemsurroundstheirNFVO,withgenericorthird-partyVNFMsupportandunderlyingOracleorthird-partycloudinfrastructuremanagementsystem.Theextentthattheymarketthethird-partysupportacrosscomponentsandfeaturesreinforcesthatthemulti-vendorvisionhasbeenacceptedbyindustryleadersasarequirementforcompetitivenessinnextgenerationsoftwarenetworks.

OutsideoftheMANOlayer,Oracle,asalargevendor,offersavarietyofNFVIandhardwareofferings,providingamoreholisticNFVroadmapfortheircustomerswheretheycan.

8.1.16 AmdocsNetworkCloudServiceOrchestrator

Amdocswasafirst-moverintheNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)spacewithitsNetworkCloudServiceOrchestrator.ItfeaturesalltheETSINFVOcharacteristics,aswellasgenericVNFManager(VNFM)tocompletetheMANOframework.

Thesolutionisanopen,catalog-drivensolutiondesignedtohelpCSPstransitionfromphysicalnetworkstocloudserviceenvironments,supportingthehybridroadmap,aswell.[70]Usinganalytics,itcreatesandmanagesnetworkservicesbasedonreal-timenetworkcircumstancesand



customerinformation.Thesolutionismulti-vendorVNFsupport,themarketingnormforNFVOofferings.

Figure23:AmdocsNetworkCloudServiceOrchestratorwithinNFVenvironmentcontext(source:Amdocs[71])

AninnovationthatAmdocsbringstotheMANOlandscapeisitsSenseitechnology,forintelligentreal-timeservicedesignandexecution,deliveringanoperationmodelthatcoversfulfillmentandassuranceinacyclicalprocess,includingpre-definedservicepolicies,datacenterstatus,networkstatus,customerordersandSLAconsiderations.[71]

AsanITsoftwareprovider,asopposedtoalargerincumbenthardwarevendor,Amdocsreliesonapartnerecosystemstrategyforprovidingtheircustomerswithpre-integratedVNFsandNFVIelements.[72]

Figure24:Amdocspartnerecosystemshowingdiversityofvendorfocus(source:Amdocs[72])

8.1.17 RIFT.ioRIFT.ware

RIFT.wareisamodel-driven,opensource,ETSI-compliantNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)fromRIFT.io.AswiththeNFVOobjective,itfocusesonthecompositionandmanagementofnetworkservices.[73]ItalsoactsasthecontributingNFVserviceorchestrationfortheOpenSourceMANOproject(seeOSMentryinSection8.2.4).



Figure25:RIFT.wareNFVStack(source:RIFT.io[74])

Thesolutionprovidesamodulararchitecture,soopensourceadoptingvendorsandoperatorscancustomizeandsubstituteMANOmodulesandothersoftwarenetworkassets,e.g.SDNcontrollers,existingOSS/BSS,etc.(anapproachsimilartoSONATA).

Amodel-drivenGUIisalsoincluded,whichisacontributingcomponenttotheOSMintegratedopensourceproject,aswell.

RIFT.wareUI&AutomationisanintuitivedevelopmentandmanagementinterfacethateliminatestheneedformultipleCLIs.Developersandadministratorscancreateorganizations,defineandlaunchenvironments,managepoolsandenvironments,andmanageandmonitornetworkservicesandinfrastructureenvironmentdetails.

PartnervendorIntelprovidesIntelEnhancedPlatformAwareness,foroptimalnetworkandcloudinfrastructureoperation.

Alicensedversionisalsoavailablefromthecompany,providingsupportandmaintenanceasanaccompanyingservice,viaaclassicopensourcebusinessmodel.

8.1.18 LuxoftSuperCloudNFVOrchestrationPlatform

Luxoft’sSuperCloudNFVOrchestrationPlatformfitsETSINFVOrchestration(NFVO)andVNFManagement(VNFM)specs.

SuperCloudsfocusesoncommonvaluepropositionforitssolutionclass:multi-vendorsupport,third-partyVNFecosystemsupport,ETSINFVarchitecturecompliant,intelligentserviceplacementandautomation,andSLAawareness.[75]

Thearchitecturecoversaserviceplanningandserviceexecutionlayer,seenintheblockdiagrambelow.[76]



Figure26:LuxoftSuperCloudNFVOrchestrationPlatformbuildingblockdiagram(sourceLuxoft[76])

Specialattentionisalsogiventoenabling“DevOpsagility”forCSPs,butitisnotclearfromliteraturewhatapproachisprovided.

Luxoftoffersseveralsupportingservices,suchasconsultancy,bespokecustomization,testing,deploymentandmaintenanceoftheirSuperCloudsorchestrator.

8.2 OpenSourceNFVMANOCollaborativeProjects

8.2.1 OpenStackTacker

OpenStackTackerisanESTI-compliantMANOopensourceprojectoftheOpenStackcommunity.[77]

RecentlyithasbecomepartoftheOpenStack“bigtent”,partofthecorereleasesandrecognizedasthego-toVNFManager(VNFM)andNFVOrchestrator(NFVO)solutioninthecommunity.[78]

CurrentlyitisafunctioningVNFM,andamongunderlyingstandardsisOASISTOSCAforVNFdescriptors.Ithaslargevendorsupport,andledbyBrocade,whousesthebaseopensourceVNFMmanagerforitsowncommercialsolution(seeBrocadeVNFManagerinSection8.1.7).

Figure27:OpenStackTackerdemoscreenshotofonboardingVNF(source:OpenStackTacker[79])



Infact,for2016theTackerroadmapincludesextendingtoNFVOfunctionality.ThisisanopportunityforSONATAtocollaborate,inparticularanapproachcomparisononthenetworkservicedescriptors(NSD)andpossiblydirectimplementationofitsnetworkservicecatalogs.

GivenitstiestoOpenStack,itisofnosurprisethatitusesthisselectionasitsunderlyingVIM,butisalsokeenonbecomingtechnology-agnosticinthisregard.

OpenStackTackerhasbecomeapriorityopensourcetargetforSONATAcontribution.A“greenfield”hasbeenidentifiedfortheNScatalogue,forexample,andtimelinesbetweenprojectssyncedsothatSONATA’sownopensourcereleasecansupportthis.

8.2.2 OpenBaton

OpenBatonisanopensource,ETSI-compliantNFVOrchestrator(NFVO).

OpenBatonwaspartoftheOpenSDNCore[81]projectstartedalmostthreeyearsagobyFraunhoferFOKUSwiththeobjectiveofprovidingacompliantimplementationoftheETSINFVspecification.[80]

OpenBatonisanextensibleNFVOthatworkswithOpenStack,andprovidesapluginmechanismforsupportingadditionalVIMtypes.ItuseseitheragenericVNFMorinterfaceswiththird-partyVNFMs.

Figure28:OpenBatonNFVOusinggeneric(left)orthird-partyVNFMs(right)(source:OpenBaton[80])

Thebasicreleasefitsthemainfunctionalitiesofprovisioningandmanagingnetworkservices.Futuredevelopmentandreleaseswillfocusonincreasedautomationinnetworkservicemanagement,includingauto-scaling,faultmanagement,TOSCAtemplates,etc.AdashboardisalsoincludedformanagementoftheNFVenvironment.

8.2.3 OPNFV

OPNFV(“OpenPlatformNFV”)isacarrier-grade,integrated,opensourceplatformtoacceleratetheintroductionofnewNFVproductsandservices.ItisanopensourceprojectundertheLinuxfoundation.

AimingtocreateadefactostandardopensourceNFVplatformfortheindustry,OPNFV’sgoals,asquoteddirectlyfromtheirwebsite[82],are:



• DevelopanintegratedandtestedopensourceplatformthatcanbeusedtobuildNFVfunctionality,acceleratingtheintroductionofnewproductsandservices.

• IncludeparticipationofleadingenduserstovalidateOPNFVmeetstheneedsofusercommunity.

• ContributetoandparticipateinrelevantopensourceprojectsthatwillbeleveragedintheOPNFVplatform;ensureconsistency,performanceandinteroperabilityamongopensourcecomponents.

• EstablishanecosystemforNFVsolutionsbasedonopenstandardsandsoftwaretomeettheneedsofendusers.

• PromoteOPNFVasthepreferredplatformandcommunityforopensourceNFV.

Unlikeindividualopensourceprojects,OPNFViscollectionofintegratedupstreamprojects,buildingNFVInfrastructure(NFVI)andVirtualizedInfrastructureManagement(VIM)byintegratingcomponentslikeOpenDaylight,OpenStack,CephStorage,KVM,OpenvSwitch,andLinux.Thesecomponents,togetherwithAPIs,createthefoundationinfrastructurefortheMANOlayer’sVNFMandNFVOtofunction.

Whenlaunchedin2014,OPNFVinitiallyaddressedtheNFVInfrastructure(NFVI)andVirtualizedInfrastructureManager(VIM)areasoftheETSIarchitecture.In2016,OPNFVhasexpandedthescopetoaddressManagementandOrchestration(MANO),aswell.[83]

ThediagrambelowrepresentsOPNFV’ssecondrelease,“Brahmaputra”,anditsincludedupstreamprojects.

Figure29:OPNFVBrahmaputrareleasecomponents(source:OPNFV[84])

Participationishighamongleadingtelecomoperators(e.g.Vodafone,TelecomItalia,NTTDocomo,AT&T,ChinaMobile,etc.),vendors(e.g.Huawei,Juniper,Cisco,Nokia,Ericsson,NEC,Brocade,HPE,Dell,etc.)andtechnologyproviders(e.g.RedHat,EMC,etc.).



8.2.4 OpenSourceMANO(OSM)

Anoperator-driveninitiativefromETSIlaunchedtheOpenSourceMANO(OSM)initiativeattheMobileWorldCongressinFebruary,2016.Itwillbearegularlyupdated,directimplementationoftheETSIMANOarchitectureandcommoninformationmodel,aswellasprovideafeedbackmechanismtowardstheETSINFVISG.[85]

ThearchitectureincludesRIFT.ioforaGUIandtheserviceorchestrationfunctionalityofaNFVO(seeRIFT.wareentryinSection8.1.17).Telefonica’sOpenMANOactsastheresourceorchestrationofaNFVOandunderlyingVIM,andtheVNFConfigurationandAbstractionfromCanonicalandJuJu.OtherpartnersincludeIntelforprovidingtheNFVIfordevelopment.[86]

Figure30:OSMArchitecture,simplifiedversion(source:OSM[86])

InApril2016aconcreteroadmapwaslaidoutatthegroup’skickoff.[87]Inthesummerof2016theywilllaunch“Release0”,integratinganddocumentingtheopensourcecodefromTelefonica,RIFT.io,Canonicalandotherpartners.

CommonpartnerswithSONATAincludeTelefonicaandBT,andapotentialcollaborationisbeinginvestigatedduringMay2016.

8.2.5 OPEN-O

AtMobileWorldCongressinFebruary2016,theOPEN-OrchestratorProject(OPEN-O)wasannounced.UndertheLinuxFoundation(alsohostingOPNFV),OPEN-OisacollaborativeefforttowardsanopensourceframeworkandorchestratorforagileSDNandNFVoperations.[88]

TheinitiativeisledbyChinaMobileandHuawei,withsupportfromBrocade,ChinaTelecom,IBM,DynaTrace,Ericsson,F5Networks,GigaSpaces,Infoblox,Intel,KT,RedHat,Raisecom,RiverbedandZTE.

Thearchitectureandreleasemilestonesareyettobeannounced(asofMay2016),butthegoalofcreatinganintegratedorchestratorthatcoversbothNFVandSDNlayersinamulti-vendordomainisambitious.Thelargevendorsupportsuggestsacompetitiverelease.



9 StakeholderSurveyonNFVMANOFeatures

Asanadditionalexercisetotheongoingmarketwatch,SONATAlaunchedafocusedsurveyinFebruaryandMarch2016,asaconsultationofstakeholderprioritiesforNFVMANOfeatures.

TheriseofNFV/SDNandthesoftwarenetworkparadigmhasseenafloodofadoption-relatedsurveysinrecentmonths,severalofwhichhavebeenconsultedforthisreport.Therewasnoneedtoconductyetanotherofthatscope,whichwouldhaveprovidedlittlenewinsightandmostlikelyasmallersamplethanmanyofthelargemediaoranalystbackedactions.

Instead,SONATApreparedthesurveywiththesolepurposeofhelpingtoprioritizeYear2development.

Thesurveyaskedrespondentstoratefeaturesandcharacteristics(1low,5high)ofaNFVMANOplatform,aswellassomeopenanswersforbetterinsight.Thesequestionswereputintoseveralsections:flexibilityofMANOorchestrationsystems;softwarenetworkstransitionandlegacysupport;networkservicedevelopment,toolsandDevOpsaspects;relationshipwithstandardsgroupsandopenssourcecommunities;andother,miscellaneoustechnicalcharacteristics.

ThesurveywascirculatedthroughSONATAcommercialpartners,the5G-PPPSoftwareNetworksWorkingGroup,andextendedtoadditionalNFV/SDNR&Dcontactsintheindustry.Follow-upinterviewswereconductedinsomecasestoprovideadditionalinsighttocomments.

22participantscompletedthesurveyandinterviews,including6networkoperators/CSPs,7vendorslabs1,4telecomsolutionproviders,2largeITsystemintegrators,and3researchinstitutescollaboratingdirectlywithindustry.Participationwasdoneontheconditionofanonymity.

Thefollowingsectionsconsolidateandanalyzetheseresultspercategory,andcontributetotheconclusionsinSection10.TheoriginalsurveycirculatedcanbefoundintheAnnexofthisdocumentforreference.

9.1 FlexibilityofMANOOrchestrationSystem

“Flexibility”isageneraltermthatreferstohowwellanddiverseaNFVMANOsystemcanadapttovariousscenarios,formats,othersolutions,vendors,etc.AscoveredinSection6,theopenness,flexibilityandcustomizabilityofNFV-relatedcomponentsisoneofthehighestprioritiesofadoptingCSPs.

Characteristicsrelatedtovendorindependencewereofcourseincludedinthecategory,includingsupportformultipleVIMs,VNFs,VNFMsandevennetworkcontrollers(SDN)ofdifferentvendorsandcommunities.

AlsoincludedwerefeaturesthatSONATArelatesto“flexibility”inthesenseof5Gscenarios.Forexample,multi-serviceprovisionsupport(e.g.builtfor5Gnetwork“slicing”);andrecursionsupport(e.g.serviceplatformworkingontopofanotherimplementationoftheplatform)thatcanhandlemorecomplexserviceproviderbusinessmodels(e.g.MVNOontopofMNO).

17vendorlabs/groupsacross4vendorecosystems



Together,thesecharacteristicsrepresentthewiderreachofadaptabilityinecosystemsofmultiplevendors,andmultiple5Gdeploymentscenarios.TheradarchartbelowinFigure31summarizestheresults,whereparticipantswereaskedtoratethesecharacteristicsfrom1(least-centercircle)to5(highest-outercircle).

Figure31:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:importanceofflexibility-relatedfeaturesinMANOsolutions(1-5,centerringleastimportance,outerringhighest)

• Despitethelackofvariation,thebigpictureseenisthattheaveragescorewas3.5orhigheronallvendor-andscenario-relatedflexibilitysupport(apartfromrecursivedeployment;seelastpoint).Thiswassupportedbyparticipantcommentsthathighlightedcustomizableintegrationandalleviationofvendorlock-in(i.e.mix-and-matchcomponentsandVNFsfromdifferentvendors)asacorevaluepropositionofNFV,andatoppriorityforanyMANOsolution.

• Multi-vendorVNFsupporthadaleadingedgeamongthemajorityofparticipants(furthermoreatleasthalfapointhigherforCSPparticipants),consistentwithmarketcommentaryonthepriorityofCSPsofintegratingthebest-in-classofeachfunctionbycompetingvendors.

• SupportformultipleVIMshadaslightlylowerratingofimportance.OpenStackwaspopularamongparticipants,whetherviacoreorvendor-customizedimplementations.

• Vendorshadaparticularlyhighratingforsupportingdifferentdescriptorformats,likeTOSCA.Theyunderstandtheneedfordiverseservicesupportastheypreparecompetitiveplatformsforcomplexecosystems.

• OfvirtualizationsupportbeyondstandardVMs,containersupportwascitedconsistentlyhigherthanotheroptions,suchasunikernelsupport,byallrespondents,independentof

multi-VIMsupport

multiplenetworkcontrollers

multi-vendorVNFsupport

differentVNFM/EMapproaches

differentservicedescriptorformats

containersupport(beyondstandardVMs)

stackablelayersofNScomposition

NFVIaaSsupport

resourceslicing

recursive/stackedMANOplatforms

PrioritiesinMANOFlexibility



profile.ThisisconsistentwiththeITtrendandpopularityofcontainertechnologysuchasDocker.

• Whilesomeadvanced5Gfeatures,suchasslicingsupport,weregradedashighpriorities,otherSONATAdesignchoicestocatertowards5G-envisionedbusinessscenarios,suchasrecursionandstackeddeploymentmodels,werenotrecognizedassuch.Thiscouldbeduetotheindustry’spriorityoffirstsupportingthe“statusquo”models,beforetacklingorchestrationbetweenMVNO-to-MNOscenarios;orasplittingbetweentwoserviceprovidersfocusingondifferentareasofthesoftwarenetwork,suchasaservicelayervs.underlyinginfrastructure.Alessonlearnedhereisthatamorefar-reachingfeaturelikerecursionmustbepresentedwithclear,pragmaticexamplescenariosinthe5G2020+narrative.

9.2 SoftwareNetworkTransitionandSupportingLegacy

NFVispartofalarger,complextransitionalroadmaptosoftwarenetworks,impactingheavilythenetworkoperatorandsupportingactorsinthetelecomvaluechain.Itisbuildingontopofalonghistoryofadoptednetworkassets.

Participantswereaskedtoratetheimportanceofsupportinglegacysystems,bothproprietaryandopensource,andidentifywhichsystemsinparticularweretheirpriority.AverageresultscanbefoundbelowinFigure32.

Figure32:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:importanceofsupportinglegacyandopensourcesystems,1(low)to5(high)

• Legacysupportforproprietarysystemswasanoverwhelminglyhighpriority,withanaverageofalmost4.5,withnosignificantdifferencebetweenprofiles.

• BothCSPsandvendorscitedlegacyOSS/BSScompatibilitytobeakeyrequirement.OneCSPstronglydismissedthenotionofa“fork-lift”NFVupgrade,referringtoamoresilooriterativeapproachofNFVadoption.SomeremindedinthecommentsthatupgradingOSStomeettheNFV/SDNexpectationsisadauntingbutnecessarystep,aswell.

0

1

2

3

4

5

compatibilitywithexistingpropietarysystems

compatibilitywithexistingopensourcesystems

Support forLegacyandOpenSource



• AfewparticipantscitedPNFcompatibility,aswell,againreferringtothehybridphysical/softwareassetsthatwillneedtobeorchestratedinthefirstphaseofNFVadoption.

• Therewasageneralconcernfromafewvendorsonthebrown-fieldscenariooftoomanymanagementsystemsrunningtogether,asignificantsystemsintegrationchallenge.

• AdditionallegacysupportexamplesincludedWANconnectivityservicemodelsandintegrationwith3GPPcomponents.

• Legacysupportforopensourcesystemswasratedlessofaprioritythanitsproprietarycounterparts,atanaverageof3.6(comparedto4.5).Oneoperatorexpressedthatopensourcesolutionsbytheirnatureshouldbescalableandextendable.Thosethatprovidedexamplesmostlyreferredtopopularopensourcesystemsthatprovideenablementtosoftwarenetworks,suchasOpenStack,OpenDayLight,etc.,ratherthanaginglegacyprojects.

• AfewSMEsolutionsproviderspredictedthattheirnetworkoperatorclientswouldonlypullbacktheirrequirementsforheavylegacysupportwhensoftwarenetworkdeploymentsreachthesameperformanceandreliability.

9.3 NetworkServiceDevelopment,ToolsandDevOps

NFVempowersserviceproviderstoadoptmoreagileandDevOps-enabledworkflowsfortheirplatformsandsupporteddevelopers,answeringacurrentpainpointofCSPs(seeSection6)quicklylosingrevenuetocompetitors,suchasOTTproviders.MANOplatformsoftensupportnetworkservicedevelopmentthroughVNF-chaining,andprovidethetoolsandinterfacestohelpCSPsinthisdirection,asseeninthecomparablesolutionsofSection8.

Participantswereaskedtorateinimportancethefeaturesandsupportmechanismsneededtofulfilthevaluepropositionofserviceagilityandquickertime-to-market.

Figure33:SONATAsurvey&interviewresults:servicedevelopmentsupportprioritiesbetweenvendorsandCSPs,1(low)to5(high)

0 1 2 3 4 5

NSdefinition,validationandcatalogingtools

sandboxexecutionvertificationenvironment

CI/CDsupport

DevOpsmodel

ServiceDevelopmentSupport

Vendor Operator /CSP



• Intheareaofservicedevelopmentandsupportingpriorities,therewasabitmoredifferentiationbetweenparticipantprofiles.CI/CDsupport,andDevOpstoalesserdegree,showahigherrecognitionbyvendorsthanoperators.Thiscouldbeduetovendors’quickertransitiontoadeveloperandsystemintegratorrole.

• Relatedtotheabove,vendorsandoperatorsalikeciteCSPssloweradaptiontotheagiledevelopmentmindsetthatisneededtoembracethevaluepropositionofserviceagilityinsoftwarenetworks.Severalparticipantsremindedthatthisisasmuchaculturalandorganizationalchallengeasitisatechnicalone.

• CommontoolsandservicepreferencesincludedDocker,AnsibleandGIT.Proactiveservicemonitoringwashighlightedbyavendor,aswell,includingSLAs,inventory,softwarelicensingandrollbackrequirements.

• Avendorandanoperatorbothcitedthesamemulti-organizationalchallenge,inthesensethatsuchaworkflowwouldhavetosupportthethird-partyservicedeveloperecosystemsthatSONATAisaimingfor.

9.4 StandardsandOpenSourceCommunities

Theadvancementofsoftwarenetworks(SDN,NFV,etc.)hasspurredastrongerpresenceofopensourcesolutionsinthenetworkstackandadditionalstandardsinitiatives.ExamplesofactivecommunitiesincludeOpenStack,OpenDaylight,OpenFlow,OpenMANOandevenfirstintegrationssuchasOPNFV.Onthestandardsfront,ETSINFVISGhasreleasedNFVarchitecturespecifications.Theconvergenceofnetworktechnologywithsoftwarestackshasalsoledtothere-useandextensionofvariousexistingstandards.

Participantswereaskedtohighlightwhichgroupstheydeemmostimportantforsupport.

• ThemostcommontargetsforsupportincludedtheETSINFVISG,OpenStackandOpenDayLight,recognizedbyallprofiles.Othermentionswenttospecificationsorcommunitiesofothertypes,suchasTOSCAandYANG,andafewevenreferencedOPNFV,thelargeintegrationofupstreamprojects.

• Ahigheraveragepriorityscoreforopensourcecommunitysupportwasprovidedbyoperatorsthanvendors,4.3vs.3.5,respectively.Conventionalwisdomwouldpointtovendorsbeingmorekeenonproprietarysolutions,butgiventhesmallsamplesizeandknownsupport(outofself-interest)forstrategicopensourcecommunitiesbetweenbothsetsofstakeholders,itwasconcludedascoincidentalcorrelation.

• Althoughvendorsscoredslightlylowerinopensourcesupport,theyweremoreconsistentlyengagingsuchcommunities,ratherthanpurelyadopting.Thisisexpected,astheyofteninfluencesuchcommunitiestoensuretheirsupportedtechnologyiswidespread,similartostandardsengagement.AlthoughrecentinitiatedopensourceinitiativessuchasOSM(seeSection8.2.4)arehighlysupportedontheoperatorside,undertheumbrellaofETSI.

• Whenaskedaboutcontributingfactorsindecidingwhichcommunitiestosupport,theanswerswereconsistentandfollowedthebestpracticesofopensourceengagement:projectmaturity,criticalmassofsupport,contributionsystem/policy,compatiblelicensing,alignedroadmaps,andsupportingdocumentation.Twooperatorswerealsokeenoncommunitiesthatrecognizedirectoperatorconcerns,andnotonlythroughvendorsasproxies.



• Backwardscompatibilitywithexistingstandards,aquestionthatwasaddedtothesection,wasgradedconsiderablylow,particularlybynetworkoperators/CSPs,at2.4.Systemintegratorsandsolutionproviderswerealsorelativelyuninterestedinsuchrequirements.Vendorsprioritizedsuchcompatibilityabitmore,atanaverageof3.5.Whilenoadditionalexplanationwasgivenofthedifferentiation,itcouldbeinterpretedthatvendorsaremoreprotectiveoftheirinvestedstandards-supportedportfoliosandarenaturallyinterestedinextendingsuchassetsforthevirtualizedenvironment.

9.5 AdditionalTechnicalCharacteristics

Avarietyofadditionaltechnicalcharacteristicswereaskedtobeprioritizedbyparticipantsonasimilarscaleof1(low)to5(high).

9.5.1 AdvancedResourceManagement

Advancedresourcemanagementfeatures,beyondcurrentexpectationsfrommarketedMANOsolutions,weregraded.Automatedefficientplacementanddynamicresponsetoresourceloadweredefaultchoices,andeachratedhigh,above4,byoperators,vendorsandotherprofilesalike.Additionalfeatureswereaddedbysomeparticipantsaspriorities,mostnotablysupportforpredictableservices.

9.5.2 PerformanceIsolation

“Cloud-like”characteristics(e.g.illusionofunlimitedresources),hostpinning(e.g.dedicatedphysicalhostpertenant),andgranularhardwarepinning(e.g.CPUpinning,enhancedplatformawareness)weresurveyedtoparticipants.Aslightlyhighernotewasgivenbyvendorsoveroperatorsacrossallfeatures,butaroundthe3to4rangebyall.

9.5.3 VerificationofNetworkServiceSLAs

VerificationofnetworkserviceSLAswerepresentedtotheparticipantsinthreestagesofthelifecycle:design,deploymentandruntime.Whiletherewasnotadifferentiationbetweenprofiles,prioritywasgrantedtolaterstagesinthelifecycle.Thedesignstage,thelowestat3.6,wasproceededbydeploymentat4.2andaveryhighruntimepriorityat4.8.



10 ConclusionsandRecommendationsforSONATA

Theconclusionsfrominputandanalysisperformedduringtheproject’sfirstyear,consolidatedinthismarketfeasibilitystudy,helpeddriveSONATA’smandate(scope,requirements),design(approach,architecture)andpositioning(compatibility,opensourcestrategy)forboththerecentfirstyearandupcomingsecondyeardevelopmentcycles.Sourcesincluded:

• OngoingmarketandtechnologywatchstartedbySONATApartnersonDay1oftheproject.

• Extensivelookatthemarketviatheindependentanalystreportsandsurveysreferencedthroughoutthedocument.

• Stakeholder,valuechainandcustomerchallengesanalysisbasedontheaforementionedresourcesandfromtheSONATApartners’experienceinthetelecommunicationsector.

• Comparativeanalysisofover20comparableMANOsolutionsbasedonwhitepapers,literatureandmarketingmaterial.

• StakeholderprioritiessurveyandinterviewsonMANOfeatureandcharacteristics,distributedbytheproject.

ThebusinesscaseofNFVremainsstrongdespitedelaysinearlyadopterROI.WhilevaryinginroadmapurgencyamongCSPs,NFVadoptionisuniversallyrecognizedasanecessaryinvestmentandtransitiontobetechnicallyreadyandcompetitivelypositionedforfuture5Gnetworks.Apartfromenablinglong-termOpExandCapExsavings,thetechnologycansupportafast-trackforinnovativeservicedevelopmentandagility,neededbyCSPstoregainlossmarginsfromOTTprovidersandrecoverfromthecommoditizationoftheirgeneralnetworkservices.ThisisanareawhereSONATAcanprovidevaluewithitsNFVMANOserviceplatform,developer-supportingSDKandDevOpsworkflowinaNFVdeploymentenvironment.

OutofthecomparableMANOsolutionsandprojectsstudied,severalpatternsandmarketcharacteristicswereconcluded,reflectedbelowinthissection.However,thisexercisehasbeenfeature-based,withabiastowardsvendormarketing,andcannotspeakfortheireaseofimplementation,multi-vendorsupportinaction,successfulintegrationwithOSS/BSS,performancebenchmarking,etc.foroverallvalidation.Thesolutionsarenotyetwidelydeployedintoday’scarrierandenterprisenetworks.Thatsaid,thisstudyhashelpedSONATAfocusitsdevelopmentinareaswheregapscanbefilledandinnovationdelivered,ortomeetnew,de-factoexpectationsthathaveevolvedbeyondtheinitialreleaseoftheETSINFVreferencearchitectureandMANOscope.

Foreaseofnavigation,conclusionshavebeensortedbysubjectmatterinthesubsectionsbelow,followedbySONATApositioningandapproachtaken.

10.1 UntestedSolutionsandMarketingvs.Reality

Markettrends:

• Scarcedifferentiationininitialmarketing:Atfirstlook,thefeature-baseddifferentiationisscarce,wherethemajorityofMANOsolutionssharesimilarvaluepropositionandfollowETSIspecificationtoensurerelevance.Somemarketingfocusesoncertainareasmorethanothers(e.g.intelligentplacement,servicecompositioninterfaces,openAPIs,multi-vendorsupport,etc.),buttheyareoftenrecognizedaspartofthatETSI-compliantvisionandcommonbenefits.Differentiationbeginstopickuphowever,onthedevelopment/



compositionsidefornetworkservices(seesubsectionbelow),wherevendorsdifferinstrength,oftenbasedonadaptedlegacysolutionsinthearea.

• Pendingvalidation,2016/2017momentoftruth:Itisexpectedthatoncesuchsolutionsreachmaturityandfaceproductiontrials,greaterdifferentiationwillpresentitself:impactofarchitecturalchoices,technicalapproach,easeofintegration,performancebenchmarking,etc.areonlyabletobevalidatedinthenextstageoftheoveralltransitionalroadmapofNFV/SDN.AstimelinesprovidedthroughanalystsandCSPsurveysestimate,2016and2017couldbeakeyperiodtoseethatdifferentiationstarttotakeplace,asprovendeploymentstartsreplacingmarketing,andambitiousfeaturesetsandliberalclaimsofmulti-vendorcompatibilitymeetreality.

SONATAapproach:

• SONATA’siterativeworkplanandmultipledevelopmentcyclesfallwithinthiscriticalperiod(2016/2017)ofNFVmaturity.Throughtheaboveanalysis,gapswereidentifiedamongafirstgenerationofNFVimplementation/integrationapproachesandCSPservicedevelopmentcapability(organizedinthesubsectionsbelow),andafollow-upstakeholdersurveyhashelpedvalidate,course-correctandprioritizerequirementsforSONATA’sseconddevelopmentcycle.

10.2 Multi-VendorSupport

Markettrends:

• Multi-vendorVNFSupport:Thealleviationofvendorlock-inasaprimaryvaluepropositionofNFVistoostrongtoignore.CustomerslookforNFVplatformsandMANOsolutionsthatcansupportdiverseVNFcataloguesfromseveralvendors,and“multi-vendor”inthisaspectisamustforanyrelevantoffering.DespitetheVNFMconflictscitedbelow,thisflexibilityandmulti-vendorcompatibilityshouldremainakeymandateforanycompetitiveMANOsolution,andfurthervalidatedinthestakeholdersurveyasapriority.

• ConflictingVNFMApproaches:ItisbecomingastandardpracticethataNFVOisbuiltwithagenericVNFMincluded,toreachthefullMANOfunctionalitydefinedbyETSI.Supportforthird-partyVNFMsisacommonmarketedfeature,butregardlessthey“ship”withagenericVNFMincaseofagreen-fieldscenario.InteroperabilitytestingbytheNewIPAgency(seeSection6.1)hasshownthatthisdiversityinVNFMapproacheshascausedconsiderablebarrierstothemulti-vendorvision,particularlyinsupportingexclusiveVNF/VNFMpairing.ProprietaryVNFMshaveprovendifficultinintegrationwithitspeers,andagenericcomponentwithacommonspecificationisneededtofulfillthemulti-vendorVNFvision.

• Multi-vendorVIMSupport:WhileOpenStackisadominantVIMchoicewithoverwhelmingsupportfromMANOsolutions,themajorityofentriesaremarketedassupportingalternatives(althoughoftennotdetailed).Regardless,beingtiedtooneunderlyingtechnology,nomatterhowpopular,isrisky.

• LargeTelecomVendors’End-to-EndPortfolio:MANOsolutionsareoftenaccompaniedbyalargerportfolioofNFVand/orSDNrelatedofferings.LargeincumbentequipmentvendorsarenaturallymorelikelytosupporttheirMANOsolutionwiththeirownVNFs,andinsomecasessupportingNFVIandaccompaniedequipment.



• PartnershipEcosystems:WhenafullMANOsolutionisnotprovidedwithin-houseassets,vendorsengagepartnerswiththemissingtechnology.ThebottomlineisthatinwhichevercontingencythevendorisapproachingthecustomerwithafullMANO(orevenNFVstack)portfolioavailabletointegrate.Insurgentsolutionsshouldatleastenvisionapartnerecosystemthroughcommercialagreements,orprovideout-of-the-boxcompatibilitywithopensourcealternatives.EvenmoresothanMANO,NFVIvendorsoftenrelyonthespecializationofpartnersinajointecosystemapproach.RedHatandVMWare,forexample,enterthetelecommunicationarenafromtheirvirtualizationroots,andactasenablingtechnologypartnersformanyincumbentequipmentvendors.Otherlargevendors,suchasOracleandHPEnterprise,withsignificantequipmentassetsintheirportfolios,usethisincombinationwiththeirMANOsolutionstoprovideanend-to-endNFVecosystemfortheircustomers.TheblowbackfromCSPssuggeststhatthisisoftencreatinganewageofvendorlock-in,sacrificingflexibilitywithconvenienceinthewakeofmulti-vendorintegrationheadaches.

SONATAapproach:

• SONATA’schiefmandateistobeaflexible,agnosticserviceplatformthatisadaptabletoaCSP’sspecificnetworkandVNFecosystem,makingmulti-vendorrequirementsatoppriority.ThisincludingsupporttoorchestrateVNFsofdifferentvendorsanddevelopers,differentVNFMapproaches(includingagenericVNFMfunctionalityifnoneisprovided),andmultipleunderlyingVIMs.

• Interfacesareakeydevelopmentobjective,andtrackingofCSPs,vendorsandsystemintegrators’firstfalseattemptstowardsthemulti-vendorvisionhasshowntheprojectthatitmustmaketheplatformanditsNFVOasopenandextensibleaspossibletobeadaptedtofuturespecifications.Itsmodulararchitectureandmicroservicesapproachalsohelpsupportthisobjective.

• FortheVIMlayer,OpenStacksupportwaschosenbytheprojectforitsfirstyearprototype,reflectingthewideadoptionandsupportbythecommunityandcomparativesolutions.AdditionalVIMswillbesupportedinitssecondcycle,suchasOpenMANO.

10.3 OpennessandCustomizability

Markettrends:

• Monolithicvs.ModularArchitectures:AnoverwhelmingamountofNFVsolutionspointtomoremonolithicarchitecturesthatprovidecomplimentarycomponents/productsinavendor-drivenecosystem.RIFT.ioandCienaBluePlanetmarkettheirsolutionasmoremodular,however.Analystroadmaps(seeSection4.1)haveforeseenamoreadvancedstageofNFVarrivingcloserto2020,whichwillneedamicroservicesapproachtosupport5Gnetworksandtheirserviceagility.

• IntegrationHeadaches:Initialtestimonials,forexamplethosecitedinSection6,haveshownthatmulti-vendorinteroperabilityinpracticeis“easiersaidthandone”,incontrasttowhathasbeensuggestedbyinitialofferingsandtheirmarketing.AlthoughholisticallythemajorityofalternativessharetheETSIMANOfeatureset,theirdifferentcomponentizationbetweenarchitecturebuildingblocks,delegatingfunctionalitybetweenthem,anddifferentVNFMapproacheshavecreatedgreatdifficultytofulfilltheoriginalvisionofanintegratedmulti-vendorNFV/SDNstackanddiverse,orchestratedVNFportfolio.



• Proprietaryvs.OpenSource:Anevenlargerjumpintoflexibilityiswhenthesolutionitselfisopensource,allowingbespokecustomizability,extensibilityandintegrationbyanoperator,vendororsystemsintegrator.WhilemanydevelopingMANOsolutionsare“basedonopensourcesoftware”,theyarethemselvescommercialsolutions,oftendifferentiatingtoomuchfromtheoriginalsourcecodeandincludingtoomanyproprietaryhooks.Thiscausesinteroperabilityissueswithotherimplementationsofthesameopensourcebase,asseenininitialtestsofdifferentversionsofOpenStack(seeSection6.1)inNFVenvironments.AnexceptionseemstobefromRIFT.io,whofollowsaclassicopensourcebusinessmodel,offeringalicensedversionwithaccompaniedsupportservices,butalsoafullyopensourceversion.

• Licensing:Amongcollaborativeprojects,suchasOpenStackorOSM,acommonopensourcelicenseisApachev2.0.Theisacommercial-friendlylicensethatisoftenpreferredamongindustry-backedcommunitiesandstandardsdevelopmentorganizations.

SONATAapproach:

• ThemodulararchitectureofSONATAisoneofitsmajorinnovations.ItprovidesNFVMANOflexibilitytonetworkoperatorswithcustomizableplatformfunctionalityandabilityto“hotswap”newfeaturesviaplug-ins.ThisisinrecognitionofthebespokerequirementsthatCSPsareaskingfor,andtherealistvisionthatSONATAwillnotnecessarilybeprovidingthebest-in-breedcomponents“outofthebox”.Thisisafuture-proofingdesignchoicethatallowsforenhancedextensibility.

• SONATAseeksamicroservicesapproachforthemostbespokeconfigurability,durabilityandeaseofmaintenancepossible.Althoughnotanimmediaterequirementfortoday’sinitialNFVimplementations,itisforeseentobeaninvaluabledesignchoiceforthefull“cloudification”ofnetworkstowards5G,andalreadytakingflightintheconvergingITsectorforsoftwaredevelopment.

• SONATAisfullyopensourceandlicensedwithApachev2.0,providingacommercial-friendlysolutionwithoutcopyleftrisksinintegrationwithothercomponents.Thisisquiteimportantforitsbespokecustomizabilityandmulti-vendorvision.Startingwithitsfirstprototyperelease,SONATAwillbehostedonGitHub.

10.4 MonitoringandEvent-basedPolicies

Markettrends:

• Monitoringofvaryingdegrees:Unliketheapplicationperformancemonitoringareaincloudcomputing,NFVmonitoringisseeingamoreintegratedapproachinitsrespectivelayer,insteadofstandalonesolutions.Theextentoftheirmonitoringisnotapparentinallmarketing.Insomecases,suchasOracleorHPE,analyticsisafocus,butintheformofanextendedcomplimentarysolution.

• Event-basedPolicies:Severalsolutionslinktheirmonitoringtopolicydefinitionfordistinctactions,butmuchofthisisontheoperatorsideanddetailsarescarce.

SONATAapproach:

• InSONATA,monitoringisprovidedfortheVNF/NSasaplatformfeature,whichiscommoninthedomain.Theinnovationbytheprojectfocusesonhowitispushedbacktotheservice



developerandtheirSDK,aspartofaDevOpsworkflow.Basicsupportforplatformhealthmonitoringisalsoafeature,sotheadoptingCSPcantrackdeploymentperformance.Theprojecthasalsochosenanextendiblemonitoringframeworkthatcanbeextendedwithfurthermetrics,perCSPrequirements.

• SONATAletsCSPsandthird-partyservicedeveloperscontrolspecificorchestrationandmanagementfunctionalitiespertainingtotheirnetworkservice,throughfunction-andservice-specificmanagers.Whileevent-basedpoliciesarefeaturedinsomealternativesolutions,SONATA’sinnovationisonhowitempowersthethird-partydeveloper,notjustthehostingCSP.ThisaccessibilityfortheservicedeveloperisprovidedthroughtheSDK.

10.5 ServiceCompositionandDevOps

Markettrends:

• VNF-chainingandinterfacesforNSdevelopment:WhileVNFchainingfornetworkservicecreationisacommonfeatureacrossmanyMANO-relatedsolutions,thereexistsadifferentiationbetweenworkflowsandinterfaces.Ofthelater,solutionsoftencomewithaGUI,butofvaryingabstractionandscope.Insomecases,theseareextendedfromexistingservicecompositionsolutions,dashboards(fortheiradministratorcounterpart),etc.andadaptedfortheVNFandNScontext.

• DevOpsworkflow:Interfacesforservicelifecyclemanagementareseeninmanyoflargevendorsuitessurveyed.Althoughcustomer-facinginterfacesareprovidedinseveralcases,theyoftenlackatrueDevOpsworkflowvision,orlackthevalue-addedperformancedataandintelligencepushedbacktotheservicedeveloper.

• LowerBarrierofEntryforVNFandNSdeveloper:Itwillbeamoredynamicmarket,andaninsurgentcouldfocusonsupplyingspecificVNFswithinanecosystem.Itismorelikelythoughthatthebusinesscaseandinnovationwouldbebettertargetedonthenetworkservicelayerforanewcomer,exploitingpubliccatalogsofblueprintVNFsfromtheCSPorvendor.

SONATAapproach:

• Thisisanareaofhighdifferentiation,andalargefocusofSONATA’seffortisdedicatedtowardstheSDK,toolsandinterfacespairedwiththeplatform’sGatekeeperverificationsystem.GUIandCLIsupportisdesignedwiththedeveloperinmind,compatiblewithaplatformecosystemvisionprovidedtheadoptingCSP.

• SONATA’sDevOpsworkflowemphasizesdynamicinterfacesbetweenserviceplatformandSDK,andpushesdataandmonitoringpushedbacktothethird-partydeveloper.ThisisatrendthathastakenflightintheITsector’ssoftwaredevelopment,butasthemarketanalysisreports(seeSection6.2),theculturechangeisstillquitelackingintheneighboringtelecommunicationssector.SONATA’sinnovativeNFVDevOpssystemfornetworkservicesisdirectlyaddressingtheneedforexponentialgainsinserviceagilityandtime-to-marketthatCSPsurgentlyrequiretostaycompetitive,andsupportsanecosystem-drivenbusinessmodelthatisenvisionedforsupportingdevelopersandverticalindustriesfor5Gnetworks.



10.6 LegacySupportforanIterativeNFVAdoptionRoadmap

Markettrends:

• HybridVNF/PNFSupport:NFVadoptionbyoperatorswillnotbeimmediate,andsupportingbothvirtualandphysicallegacydomainsisarequirementtostaycompetitiveasafirst-movervendorbefore2020.Basedonmarketing,thisisrecognizedandsupportedbyallsurveyedsolutions.

• IntegrationandInterfaceswithOSS/BSS:ThetransitionfromtheoperatorsidemustbemetwithopeninterfacestotheirOSS/BSSbyMANOsolutions.Thisrequiresworkonboththesolutionsideandthelegacyside,whereoperatorswillalsoneedtoupdatetheirOSStoberelevantinthefulltransitiontosoftwarenetworksandNFV.IncumbentvendorsandsolutionproviderswithalargeOSS-relatedportfoliocanusethisasacompetitiveadvantage.Thesameiterativetimelineto2020isimportanthere,aswell,andflexibleinterfacestoexistinglegacyOSSwillhavetheupperhandinadoption.

• MigrationofPNFstoVNFs:LargevendorsarealsoatanadvantageofhavinglegacyPNFsasafirstgenerationofVNFsthroughamigrationprocess,tryingtoarriveearlytoacriticalmassintheirVNFcatalog.Thiscanbeanadvantageforincumbentvendorswhenexistinglegacycustomersaremakingtheirtransitiontosoftwarenetworks.However,varioustestimonialsbyCSPsin2016showapointofdisillusionmentastheseVNFswerenotoriginally“builtforthecloud”,anddonotfullyexploitthecharacteristicsenvisionedforavirtualizedenvironment.

SONATAapproach:

• WhileSONATAisaimedat5G,theplatformisalsodesignedforthemoreimmediateroadmapofNFVadoption.ItsupportslegacyPNFs,asCSPsproceedwithapiecemealtransitiontowardssoftwarenetworks.

• Initssecondyearofdevelopment,SONATAisalsofocusingontheinterfacesbetweenitsplatformandanoperator’sOSS.Thesemustbeasopenandextensibleaspossible,giventheintegrationcomplexity,differentiationandparallelOSSupgraderoadmapstowards5G.

10.7 5GNetworkReadiness

Markettrends:

• Servicevs.ResourceOrchestration:WhilethedebatesometimestakesplaceonwhetherserviceorchestrationispartoftheNFVOcomponentorseparate,itisuniversallyincludedincommercialMANOofferingsinsomeformoranother.Theydifferinimplementation,andwhetherornottheyaretreatedasseparatedarchitecturalcomponentsorempoweredbypartnerecosystems.

• NFVManagementvs.SDNControllerIntegration:LargevendorswithaccompanyingSDNcontrollersintheirportfoliocanofcourseexploittheir(proprietary)interoperability.ButapartfromthegeneralrecognitionofleadingprojectslikeOpenDayLight,end-to-endlifecyclemanagementbetweenMANOandSDNdomainsremainsanobstacle.

• 5GNetworkSlicingSupport:Littleisreferencedtoadvanced5Gvisionssuchasnetworkslicingsupport.AnotableexceptionisEricsson’sportfolio,whichseesitasakey



requirementfortheMANOlayer.Althoughnotexplicitlymentioned,itisexpectedthatHuaweiandothervendorswithastrongemphasisonslicingintheir5Gvisionwillfollowsuit.

SONATAapproach:

• SONATAisafullMANOplatform,andcoversbothserviceandresourceorchestrationwithitsmodularNFVO.Thereis,however,stillaninteroperabilitygapandbetterintegrationneededwhenseekingend-to-endlifecyclemanagementbetweentheMANOlayerandSDNcontroller.ThisisaparticularareaofSONATAresearchandtesting,andafocusofitssecondyear.

• SONATAisbuildingslicingsupportdirectlyintoitsplatformdesign,aimingat5Gscenarios.Thiscanpromotespecializednetworkservicesfordistinctverticalindustries,withbespokenetworkconfigurationthroughitsSDNinterfaces.

10.8 CommunitiesandStandards

Markettrends:

• OpenSourceandStrategicCommunities:Vendorsandoperatorsalikerecognizethatacompetitivetransitiontosoftwarenetworksrequiresstrategicalliancesinthepushforde-factotechnologyandapproachesinadditiontothemoreclassicalstandardsdevelopment.ApartfromtheOpenStackexpansionfromcloudcomputingtonetworkoperations,OPNFVenteredexclusivelyintheNFVareainlate2014,andinQ1of2016twonewcollaborationsbeganwithOSMandOPEN-O.Itshouldbenotedthatmanyvendorsandoperatorsarecollaboratinginmorethanone,inanapparentdiversificationstrategywhenstandardsandsharedtechnologyisstilldevelopinginthearea.

• ETSIcompliant:ThevastmajorityofMANOsolutionscoveredinthedeliverablewerequicktopointoutintheirmarketingmaterialthattheywereindeedETSIcompliant.However,theslightarchitecturaldiscrepanciesincomponentizationandimplementationmightoverstatetheimpactofsuchcompliance,asitstillintroducesinteroperabilityissueswithothervendors’MANOalternatives.TheETSIreferencearchitectureisalsoadmittedlyvagueinsomeareas.“ETSIcompliance”,therefore,shouldbetreatedasaminimalrequirementinthesecases,andnotraiseexpectationsforeasymulti-vendorintegration.

• Existingstandardsformats:CommonstandardssuchasTOSCAandYAMLarewidelyused,carriedoverfromeffortsincloudcomputingserviceorchestration.

SONATAapproach:

• SONATAisnotlimitingitsopensourcestrategytoitsownGitHubhosting,whichcouldresultinasilo-likedevelopment.Theimpactoftheprojectistakingadiversificationstrategy,andcollaboratingwithothercommunityprojects.OpenStackTacker(Section8.2.1)isanexample,andcurrentlyplannedcollaborationwillbeusingSONATA’snetworkservicecatalogsforimplementation,aswellascomparingapproachesonnetworkservicedescriptors.



• SONATAisfullyETSIcompliant,benefitingfromkeyETSINFVISGoperatorpartnerssuchasTelefonicaandBT,whicharealsoinvestigatingpotentialOSMcollaboration(Section8.2.4).SONATA’sparticipatingvendorsalsohavestrongOpenStackties,suchasNECandNokia’sCloudBandunit.Theprojectisalsousingcommonindustrystandards,withsolutionsbasedonTOSCA.



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[23] TelcoTransformation,“VodafoneFrustratedbyNFVImmaturity”,May2016:http://www.telcotransformation.com/author.asp?section_id=389&doc_id=723300

[24] TelecomTV,“Whatdoes‘Openness’reallymean?”,2016:http://www.windriver.com/announces/open-nfv-business-titanium-server/resources/TTV-OPEN_Survey_2016.pdf

[25] TheNewIPAgency,“NFVInteroperabilityEvaluationResults-Phase1:MultivendorNFVinfrastructure-to-virtualnetworkfunction(VNF)interoperability”,December2015:http://img.lightreading.com/downloads/NIA-Test-Report-Final.pdf

[26] Telecoms.comIntelligence,“AnnualIndustrySurvey2015”:http://telecoms.com/intelligence/telecoms-com-annual-industry-survey-2015

[27] Ovum,“CounteractingtheSocialMessagingThreat”,July2012:http://www.ovum.com/research/counteracting-the-social-messaging-threat/

[28] LewisInsight,Quocirca,“CanServiceProvidersTurnDigitalCompetitorsintoCustomers?”,March2016:http://solutions.amdocs.com/Think-Better-Not-Just-Bigger-asset-6.html

[29] HeavyReading,“ServiceOrchestration&NetworkVirtualization:ALifecycleView”,December2015:http://www.lightreading.com/lg_redirect.asp?piddl_lgid_docid=722969

[30] HeavyReading,“TheFutureofMobileServiceDelivery”,February2016:https://f5.com/about-us/news/the-future-of-mobile-service-delivery-report

[31] QualiSystems,“TheCarrierDevOpsTrend”,2014:http://www.qualisystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/The-Carrier-DevOps-Trend-Okinawa-Open-Days-2014.pdf

[32] 5G-PPP,“5GEmpoweringVerticalIndustries”,January2016:https://5g-ppp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BROCHURE_5PPP_BAT2_PL.pdf

[33] SONATA:“D2.2-ArchitectureandDesign”,December2015:http://sonata-nfv.eu/sites/default/files/sonata/public/content-files/pages/SONATA_D2.2_Architecture_and_Design.pdf

[34] Nokia,CloudBandwebsite:http://networks.nokia.com/es/portfolio/solutions/cloudband

[35] OASIS,TOSCASpecificationv1.0:http://docs.oasis-open.org/tosca/TOSCA/v1.0/os/TOSCA-v1.0-os.html

[36] OpenStackMistral,projectwiki:https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Mistral

[37] OpenStackVitrage,projectwiki:https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Vitrage

[38] Nokia,CloudBandpartnerecosystemwebsite:http://ecosystem.cloud-band.com/

[39] NetCracker,NFVorchestrationportfoliowebsite:http://www.netcracker.com/products/products/orchestration/

[40] ADVA,EnsembleOrchestratorproductwebsite:http://www.advaoptical.com/en/products/network-virtualization/ensemble-orchestrator.aspx



[41] ADVA,EnsembleOrchestratorproductbrochure:http://www.advaoptical.com/~/media/Resources/Data%20Sheets/Ensemble_Orchestrator.ashx

[42] AffirmedNetworks,MobileContentCloudproductwebsite:http://www.affirmednetworks.com/products-solutions/virtualization/

[43] AffirmedNetworksblog,“LightReadingRecognizesAffirmedNetworksforInnovationandExecution”,April2016:http://www.affirmednetworks.com/light-reading-recognizes-affirmed-networks-for-innovation-execution/

[44] AnutaNetworks,NFVwebsite:http://www.anutanetworks.com/technologies/network-functions-virtualization/

[45] AnutaNetworks,NCXproductbrochure:http://www.anutanetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Anuta-NFV-Support.pdf

[46] ATTOResearch,Atheneproductwebsite:http://www.atto-research.com/index.php/solutions/athene/

[47] Brocade,VNFManagerproductwebsite:http://www.brocade.com/en/products-services/software-networking/sdn-controllers-applications/vnf.html

[48] Brocade,VNFManagerproductbrochure:http://www.brocade.com/content/dam/common/documents/content-types/datasheet/brocade-vnf-manager-ds.pdf

[49] BluePlanet,NVFOrchestratorproductwebsite:http://www.blueplanet.com/products/nfv-orchestration.html

[50] BluePlanet,NVFMulti-domainServiceOrchestratorproductwebsite:http://www.blueplanet.com/products/multi-domain-service-orchestration.html

[51] BluePlanet,ecosystemwebsite:http://www.blueplanet.com/ecosystem

[52] Cisco,NetworkServicesOrchestratorproductwebsite:http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/datasheet-c78-734576.html

[53] Cisco,ElasticServicesControllerproductfactsheet:http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/datasheet-c78-734670.html

[54] Cisco,“NFVInfrastructure:DeliveringBusinessValue”,2016:http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/network-functions-virtualization-nfv-infrastructure/white-paper-c11-736645.pdf

[55] Ericsson,NetManagerproductwebsite:http://www.ericsson.com/ourportfolio/products/network-manager?nav=productcategory005%7Cfgb_101_0382

[56] Ericsson,CloudManagerproductwebsite:http://www.ericsson.com/ourportfolio/products/cloud-manager?nav=productcategory005%7Cfgb_101_0382

[57] Ericsson,OpenStackSummit,“TelcoNFVManagementinaDistributed,HeterogeneousCloudInfrastructure”,Vancouver,May2015:https://www.openstack.org/summit/vancouver-2015/summit-videos/presentation/telco-nfv-management-in-a-distributed-heterogeneous-cloud-infrastructure



[58] Fujitsu,Virtuoraproductwebsite:http://www.fujitsu.com/us/products/network/products/virtuora/

[59] Fujitsu,Virtuoraproductfactsheet:http://www.fujitsu.com/us/Images/Virtuora-Service-Orchestrator.pdf

[60] HPE,NFVDirectorproductfactsheet:http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA5-1082ENW

[61] HPE,OpenNFVReferenceArchitecturewebsite:http://www8.hp.com/us/en/cloud/nfv-architecture.html

[62] HPE,NFVportfoliowebsite:https://www.hpe.com/us/en/networking/nfv.html

[63] Huawei,FusionSphereCloudOSproductwebsite:http://e.huawei.com/en/products/cloud-computing-dc/cloud-computing/fusionsphere/fusionsphere

[64] Juniper,ContrailServiceOrchestrationproductwebsite:http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/sdn/contrail/contrail-service-orchestration/

[65] Juniper,partnerecosystemwebsite:http://www.juniper.net/us/en/partners/technology-alliances/data-center/#cloud-nfv-orchestrators

[66] Juniper,ContrailServiceOrchestrationproductbrochure:http://www.juniper.net/assets/us/en/local/pdf/datasheets/1000559-en.pdf

[67] Juniper,“TransformingtoDevOpswithJunosOS”,October2015:http://www.juniper.net/us/en/local/pdf/whitepapers/2000586-en.pdf

[68] Oracle,CommunicationsNetworkServiceOrchestrationSolutionproductfactsheet:http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/communications/network-service-orchestration-ds-2412291.pdf

[69] Oracle,“TheRoadtoNFVSuccessIsPavedwithIntelligentOrchestration”,February2015:http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/communications/comm-nfv-success-wp-2431068.pdf

[70] Amdocs,NFVportfoliowebsite:http://www.amdocs.com/solutions/network/nfv/pages/nfv.aspx

[71] Amdocs,NetworkCloudServiceOrchestratorproductfactsheet:http://www.amdocs.com/solutions/network/nfv/documents/amdocs-ncso-data-sheet.pdf

[72] Amdocs,partnerecosystemwebsite:http://www.amdocs.com/about/partners/nfv/pages/partner-program.aspx

[73] RIFT.io,RIFT.wareproductwebsite:https://www.riftio.com/product/#orchestration

[74] RIFT.io,RIFT.wareproductbrochure:https://www.riftio.com/download/5262/

[75] Luxoft,SuperCloudproductwebsite:http://supercloud.luxoft.com/product/

[76] Luxoft,SuperCloudproductbrochure:http://supercloud.luxoft.com/resources/brochure/

[77] OpenStackTacker,projectwiki:https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Tacker

[78] OpenStack,“AcceleratingNFVDeliverywithOpenStack”,2016:https://www.openstack.org/assets/telecoms-and-nfv/OpenStack-Foundation-NFV-Report.pdf

[79] OpenStackTacker,OpenStackSummit,“NFVOrchestrationDemowithOpenStackTacker”,Tokyo,October2015:https://www.openstack.org/summit/tokyo-2015/videos/presentation/brocade-nfv-orchestration-demo-with-openstack-tacker



[80] OpenBaton,projectwebsite:http://openbaton.github.io/

[81] OpenSDNCore,projectwebsite:www.opensdncore.org

[82] OPNFVprojectwebsite:https://www.opnfv.org/about

[83] OPNFV,“PavingtheWaytoOpenSource”,2016,http://go.linuxfoundation.org/opnfv-whitepaper-030116.pdf

[84] OPNFV,Brahmaputrafactsheet:https://www.opnfv.org/sites/opnfv/files/collateral/files/opnfv_datasheet_031716_0.pdf

[85] OSM,projectwebsite:https://osm.etsi.org/

[86] OSM,“End-to-EndServiceInstantiationUsingOpen-SourceManagementandOrchestrationComponents”,February2016:https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/E2E-Service-Instantiation-with-Open-Source-MANO.pdf

[87] OSM,“ETSIOpenSourceMANOsetsambitiousdeliveryplans”,April2016:http://www.etsi.org/news-events/news/1076-2016-04-news-etsi-open-source-mano-sets-ambitious-delivery-plans

[88] OPEN-O,projectwebsite:https://www.open-o.org/



Annex:“NFVMANOAdoptionPrioritiesforSoftwareNetworks”SurveyTemplate

Thissurveyisfor5G-PPPcommercialorganisationsinthetelecomvaluechain,anddesignedtofurtheranalyseadoptionconsiderationsandprioritiesforMANO(ManagementandOrchestration)solutionsinNFV(NetworkFunctionVirtualisation).

Thesurveycanbecompletedin15minutes.

IthasbeenpreparedbytheSONATAproject(www.sonata-nfv.eu),whichisbuildinganopensourceNFVserviceplatformwithorchestrator(NFVO)andsupportingdeveloperSDKforthefulllifecycleofnetworkservices.

Yourcontactinformationandorganisationnamewillnotbeshared,onlytheanonymousbackgroundprofilewillbeusedtoputtheanswersintocontext(e.g.operator,vendor,systemintegrator,SME-sizedsolutionprovider,etc.)

Asthisisaone-size-fits-allsurvey,itisunderstandablethatnotallquestionswillapplytoeveryone.Forexample,somearegearedmuchmoretowardsoperatorsthanotherstakeholderssuchasvendors,systemintegrators,servicedevelopers,etc.Butpleaseanswerthebestyoucan,aswe’relookingforaholisticperspectivefromthevaluechain.

Contactinfo(confidentialandoptional,forfollow-upquestions)

• Name:

• Organisation:

• Email:

Background:

Howwouldyoubestdescribeyourroleinthetelecomvaluechain?e.g.manufacturer/vendor,networkserviceproviders/operators,cloudproviders,systemsintegrator,technologypartner,servicedeveloper,etc.Toclarify,whatisanexampleofarelevantofferingfromyourcompany,andwhatprofileisthetypicalcustomer?



FlexibilityofMANOOrchestrationSystem

“Flexibility”isageneraltermthatreferstohowwellanddiverseaNFVMANOsystemcouldadapttovariousscenarios,formats,othersolutions,vendors,etc.Pleaseratethefollowcharacteristicsinimportancetoyouandyourorganisation:

Characteristic/Feature importance(lowtohigh)

§ supportfordifferentVIMs(e.g.morethanOpenStack) (low)12345(high)

§ supportfordifferentnetworkconfigurationsystems(e.g.morethanOpenDaylight) 12345

§ supportformulti-vendorVNFs 12345

§ supportfordifferentVNFM/EMapproaches,e.g.vendorspecificpluginarchitecturefordifferentVNFM/EMapproaches

12345

§ supportfordifferentservicedescriptorformats/languages(e.g.TOSCA) 12345

§ changesinlayersofvirtualization(e.g.morethanVMs)

§ containers

§ unikernels

§ other?(pleasespecify)

12345

12345

12345

§ stackablelayersofnetworkservicecomposition(e.g.networkservicescontainingnetworkservices) 12345

§ stackablelayersofnetworkservicecompositionwithindependentorchestration(e.g.forheterogeneousoperationalscenariosandevolutionaryinterworking)

12345

§ supportformulti-serviceprovision

§ NFVInfrastructureasaService(NVFIaaS)

§ resource“slicing”(e.g.configuredforverticalindustrysectors)

12345

12345

§ supportforrecursive/stackeddeploymentsoftheMANOplatform(e.g.runningaMANOplatforminstancewithinasliceoftheunderlyingMANOplatform)

12345

§ Commentsrelatedtoabovecategoriesand“flexibility”:



SoftwareNetworksTransitionandSupportingLegacy:

NFVispartofalarger,complextransitionroadmaptosoftwarenetworks,impactingheavilythenetworkoperatorandsupportingactorsinthetelecomvaluechain.It’sbuildingontopofalonghistoryofadoptednetworkassets.Pleaserateinimportancethefollowingcharacteristics,andpleasespecifywithexamples.

Characteristic/Feature Importance(lowtohigh)

§ compatibilitywithexistingproprietarysystems

§ (pleasespecify)

§ (pleasespecify)

12345

§ compatibilitywithexistingopensourcesystems

§ (pleasespecify)

§ (pleasespecify)

12345

§ Whatsoftwarenetworktransitionchallengesandpriorityareasoflegacyinteroperabilitydoyouforeseeasmostchallenginginadoptionforbrown-fieldscenarios(integratingwithexistingnetworkassets)?

NetworkServiceDevelopment,Toolkit(SDK)andDevOps:

ThefocusonnetworkprogrammabilityallowsNFVsupportednetworkstoadoptmoreagileandDevOps-enabledworkflowsfortheirplatformsandservicedevelopers.PleaserateinimportancethefollowingcharacteristicsofsuchaplatformandSDKtowardsnetworkservicedevelopment,fromyourperspectiveinthevaluechain.


§ networkservicedefinition,validation,andcataloguingtools

12345

§ “sandbox”executionverificationenvironment 12345

§ featuringagiledevelopment,toolsandworkflows:

§ continuousintegrationanddeployment

§ DevOpsmodel

12345

12345

§ Foranetworkserviceproviderdeployingsuchaplatform,whatnewservicedevelopmentworkflowprioritiesandchallengesdoyouforeseewhenconfrontingamulti-actorDevOpsecosystem?(e.g.networkoperatorandservicedevelopers)

§ WhichDevOpstoolsormethodsdoyouthinkwouldbebeneficialforthedevelopmentofcarrierservices?



StandardsandOpenSourceCommunities:

Theadvancementofsoftwarenetworks(SDN,NFV,etc.)hasspurredastrongentryofopensourcesolutionsinthenetworkstackandadditionalstandardsinitiatives.ExamplesofactivecommunitiesincludeOpenStack,OpenDaylight,OpenFlow,OpenMANOandevenfirstintegrationssuchasOPNFV.Onthestandardsfront,ETSINFVISGhasreleasedNFVarchitecturespecifications.Theconvergenceofnetworktechnologywithsoftwarestackshasalsoledtothere-useandextensionofvariousexistingstandards.PleaserateinimportancethesupportofsuchinitiativesandstandardsforaNFVMANOsolution.


§ Supportfor:

§ ETSINFVISGSpecifications

§ OpenStackAPIs

§ (pleasespecify)

§ (pleasespecify)

§ (pleasespecify)

12345

12345

12345

12345

12345

§ Backwardscompatibilitywithpreviousversionsofstandards(pleasespecify):

12345

§ Whatareasinthesoftwarenetworkstackdoyouseemostadvantageoustoprovide/adoptopensourcesolutions?(asopposedtocommercialproprietarysolutions)

§ (pleasespecify,andwhy?)



§ Whatopensourceprojectsareyouengaging(contributing)and/oradopting(uptakeanduse)

§ project:(pleasespecify)engagement?adoption?



§ Whatarethe3mostinfluencingfactorsindeterminingyourengagementofanopensourcecommunity?

1.

2.

3.



MiscellaneousTechnicalCharacteristics

AvarietyofcharacteristicsthathavebeentakenintoaccountinthedesignofaNFVMANOsolution,notpreviouslycoveredabove:


§ Resourcemanagement(beyondcoreMANOvalueofefficientusageofnetwork,computeandstorageresources):

§ automatedefficientplacement

§ dynamicresponsestoactualresourceload

§ (other,pleasespecify)

(low)12345(high)

12345

12345

§ Performanceisolation

§ "cloud-like"(e.g.illusionofunlimitedresources)

§ hostpinning(e.g.dedicatedphysicalhostpertenant)

§ granularhardwarepinning(e.g.CPUpinning,EnhancedPlatformAwareness)

12345

12345

12345

§ VerificationtonetworkserviceSLAs

§ atnetworkservicedesignstage

§ atnetworkservicedeploymentstage

§ atruntime

12345

12345

12345

§ Relatedcomments:

SONATA D7.5 Market Feasibility Study (final) · D7.5 Market Feasibility Study Project Acronym...

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