The early high hopes for SDN and NFV have given way to the realization that the road to cloud-telco ‘heaven’ is strewn with ‘infernal’ rocks and pitfalls. We present the “devil’s advocate’s” (i.e. an extremely sceptical) view of NFV set out in eight indictments. We then examine the argument for the defence.
Metrics are an integral component of telcos’ digital and overall transformation. But what metrics are telcos using, and what metrics should they use, to measure the progress and success of their transformation initiatives? STL Partners has looked at metrics in use by three of the most advanced telcos in the world, including AT&T and Telstra, and identified the 20 that matter most.
‘Network as a Service’ (NaaS) and ‘enterprise virtual CPE’ (vCPE) are the leading customer-facing applications in which NFV and SDN approaches are being applied. This report looks at 13 leading operators in North America, Europe and Asia, what they are doing, and what strategies are emerging.
STL Partners explores in detail how thirteen leading operators are addressing NFV and SDN. By exploring each management team’s vision for the technology and the current implementation activities, we have been able to identify six segments – from dynamic ‘NFV Business Model Transformation Pioneers’ to more prosaic ‘Utilitarian Adopters’. The report also outlines three major ‘best-practice’ recommendations for other players.
Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WANs) have catapulted to prominence in the enterprise networking world in the last 12 months, driven by the growth of demand for access to cloud applications, and businesses’ desire to control WAN costs and complexity. SD-WAN may be a new “intermediary” layer in the network which has the potential to disrupt telcos’ enterprise aspirations, particularly given that it is dominated by vendors and specialist providers rather than telcos. SD-WAN may reduce operators’ MPLS and WAN services revenues and could potentially restrict future NFV/SDN opportunities. But SD-WAN also offers opportunities, where it is embraced – tactically – as part of operators’ enterprise portfolios.
Our latest analysis identifies seven key barriers that have slowed NFV roll out across six operators (Deutsche Telekom, NTT, Verizon, Vodafone, Swisscom and Comcast), and the approaches being used to overcome them.
Becoming a Telco Cloud Service Provider (TCSP) is a new vision for the future of telecoms operators, which promises hugely improved agility, a fundamentally new business model, new services, and new growth. What is this vision, how would it work, and how can it overcome the barriers to change that have thwarted most previous efforts?
To date, discussions of the benefits to telcos of NFV and SDN have mainly focused on reducing operating and capital costs, while the impact on future telco revenues has been somewhat sketchy. In order to fill this gap, this report outlines a comprehensive set of potential new “telco cloud” services, and forecasts associated revenue growth.
The mantra of MWC 2016 was “5G, the cloud, and the Internet of Things”. We think that, underlying the buzzwords, there is a more profound reality for telcos. This is that they need to encompass many of the learnings and techniques of the IT industry to transform to a new breed of truly agile player. Fast.
What was hot at MWC? We round up the action around cloud, SDN, and NFV – and discuss the impact of open-source.
In this analysis we examine the background and trajectory of Telefónica’s high-profile NFV program, how it may evolve, and the implications for other operators on or considering the journey.
Widespread use of open source software is an important enabler of agility and innovation in many of the world’s leading internet and IT players. Yet while many telcos say they crave agility, only a minority use open source to best effect. We examine the barriers and drivers, and outline six steps for telcos to safely embrace this key enabler of transformation and innovation.
Enthusiasm for creating novel so-called “digital” services is pervasive in the telecoms industry. There is a major shift afoot in the way telcos create, integrate, sell and manage value-added propositions. But how much is enabled by – or dependent on – the network itself? In recent years, most investment has been solely for improved connectivity, but there are signs that future network capex might drive new service opportunities directly, rather than just by empowering 3rd parties.
When Amazon Web Services (AWS) landed in Australia in 2012, everyone expected carnage for Australian carriers. Telstra’s Network Applications & Services division, though, is growing fast and making some interesting moves. How did Telstra do it, and what else can be learned from its successes and its latest moves into the Healthcare market?
Seven predictions and four scenarios for how the industry might play out in Europe in the next 5 years: ‘Digital Renaissance’, ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Commoditised Utility’ and ‘Telco Trainwreck’. Plus what are the take-outs for other markets?
In the first of two reports, STL Partners evaluates how several powerful forces, within and beyond the control of telcos, look set to change the shape of the European market and considers the options for how these forces might develop going forward.
As several operators in Europe downsize their Telco 2.0 Digital Services activity, some are seeking to reframe the Piper strategy as a premium-priced differentiation play based on network quality. This report argues this is deluded and dangerous – a Piper strategy is viable but only by developing cost-leadership in a commodity market.