What’s coming on telco cloud from STL Partners in 2020?
A few weeks back I wrote a piece about telco cloud, at topic we have covered at STL Partners since at least 2011. While specific definitions have shifted over time, we have always seen telco cloud as a core transformative philosophy for telecoms operators: build the right technology infrastructure, and you will have a platform for innovation and growth.
In recent years, our telco cloud focus has been on a specific technology: Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), which was the hot thing in networking before everything started to get labelled “5G”. We have worked alongside operators trying to understand the case for NFV, as well as software and hardware vendors trying to support them, and have seen deployments begin to ramp up over the last couple of years.
Much of the NFV-related insight we have gleaned has been shared with the world through our subscription research service. As the technology became more prevalent, and we published more content on the topic, we made the decision to spin out a dedicated NFV research stream in mid-2018.
Our operator clients tell us that NFV is the most available current telco cloud technology, and it works. But it is not a platform for growth in and of itself. We believe it is one tool in a vast arsenal that will help enable change.
To reflect this, we have made a shift in our line-up. Our research offer is now officially called the Telco Cloud stream.
The stream continues to include genuinely useful strategic research reports covering the “why” and “how” of telco cloud technologies – NFV and beyond. It will also continue to include our Deployment Tracker, the most comprehensive database of market intel on this technology in live telco networks.
But we now seek to look at these technologies with three key questions in mind:
There are many topics that fit within these questions. Upcoming reports include:
- a deep-dive on vRAN/C-RAN and consequences for 5G
- an attempt to de-mystify cloud native and the move to containers
- a look at how NFV could enable new models for structural separation of telcos
- a modelling exercise to determine when telco cloud will pay for itself
- an in-depth study of a Tier 1 operator’s network cloud programme
I’m excited and confident that we’re on the right path. But our research is for the industry, not for us – it exists to be useful. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see from STL Partners in 2020. Get in touch!
Author: Matt Pooley, Telco Cloud Practice Lead
Insights on Virtualisation, NFV & SDN: The current state of telco cloud in the industry
This 24-page document will provide you with a summary of our insights from our virtualisation research and consulting work:
· Overview of NFV/SDN deployments worldwide
· Benefits of telco cloud: state of the industry
· Deployment approaches: implications and challenges
· How STL Partners can support you
Just click on the button below to request your free Insights on Virtualisation, NFV & SDN pack.
