Get Back to Basics to Overcome Service Provider Fear of Change

Facing service provider fears   

To overcome any fear, it is important to understand its root cause and then address it by breaking it down into smaller, feasible obstacles that are easier to tackle. When it comes to service providers, their primary concern revolves around network availability and performance, as these factors are critical to their core offerings. Outages or performance issues can have significant business implications, including lost revenue, damaged reputation, legal liability, and brand dilution.  

Addressing key service provider challenges  

To overcome this fear, service providers should focus on addressing the following key challenges and concerns associated with adopting a new networking vendor. By selecting a vendor capable of addressing these challenges, any concerns or fears related to embracing a new vendor can be alleviated. 

Interoperability 

When integrating a new networking solution, SPs are usually concerned about the existing network infrastructure’s compatibility with the new vendor’s products. The main concern here is the ability to seamlessly integrate the new solution with existing operations support systems (OSSs) and business support systems (BSSs), as no SP wants to manage multiple platforms. That is why SPs should seek a proven vendor who has encountered multiple integration scenarios and is well-equipped to resolve any new integration challenges that may arise. 

Openness 

Service providers strongly dislike being locked into a specific vendor’s technology, limiting their ability to switch to alternative options. In a competitive market, vendors should avoid imposing barriers that limit the utilization of their equipment, such as exclusive locking of interfaces to their own pluggable transceivers. As a result, SPs should seek networking vendors offering open solutions, allowing them to freely source equipment from bare metal to transceivers from any vendor without being tied to a specific one. 

Reliability and performance 

The core value proposition of service providers relies on their ability to deliver consistent and reliable service to their customers. Consequently, many SPs are cautious about making changes to their networks. However, while risk management is crucial, adhering solely to legacy hardware-centric solutions due to “outage anxiety” poses its own set of risks. By doing so, SPs may overlook crucial network improvements, resulting in unbalanced and limited scalability as well as costly infrastructure. Therefore, SPs must seek a carrier-grade vendor with a track record of successfully deploying large-scale network solutions, but also one that is not confined to legacy approaches. This ensures the necessary reliability and performance expected from a service provider. 

Operations and support 

Service providers typically avoid frequent vendor changes; as a result, their operational teams develop extensive familiarity, and sometimes even dependencies, with their current vendors over time. However, when network transformation becomes necessary, it poses a significant challenge in achieving a frictionless transition, as it requires overcoming existing dependencies and ensuring minimal disruption to operations. SPs should prioritize a solution that is simple and familiar to their operations team. Furthermore, they should verify that the chosen vendor can provide the necessary support and attention required to successfully manage the transition. 

Cost 

Cost is always a key factor driving integration decisions for service providers. When incorporating a new vendor into an existing network, there are substantial expenses involved, such as hardware, software, and training. SPs should carefully select a solution that can demonstrate a long-term reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO). This involves considering factors like hardware costs, scalability for future needs, efficient forecasting and inventory management, and optimal utilization of data center size and vacant rack space. Another factor is minimizing additional operational expenses, such as hiring full-time employees (FTEs) for internal integration processes. 

Breaking down the service provider’s fear of incorporating a new vendor into smaller, manageable obstacles is only the beginning. The next, more challenging step is finding a vendor who can both effectively address the challenges mentioned above and provide a truly flexible and cost-effective network architecture for service providers capable of changing SP’s current reality. Finding such a vendor can ease any fear of change, making the decision to move forward much easier. 

Addressing service provider challenges with DriveNets Network Cloud 

DriveNets Network Cloud is an innovative solution designed to address the challenges faced by many service providers who strive to embrace a new solution. SPs seek both innovation and agility to meet market demands while maintaining network availability and performance. This balance is at the heart of DriveNets’ mission to deliver a carrier-grade networking solution that combines true innovation with unwavering reliability. Unlike traditional routing solutions, DriveNets Network Cloud is an open, cloud-native, and software-based solution that effectively brings the benefits of cloud agility and cost optimization to the networking industry. 

Key benefits of DriveNets Network Cloud 

DriveNets Network Cloud enables SPs to build their networks like the cloud, offering a truly flexible and cost-effective network architecture that also can address the key challenges that may arise when adopting a new solution. 

Proven deployments  

DriveNets Network Cloud has a proven track record of successful engagements, deployments, and trials with nearly 100 SPs worldwide, including leading tier-1 carriers. With this extensive experience, DriveNets is well-prepared to provide both reliable carrier-grade performance and seamless integration with existing networks. DriveNets Network Cloud supports a wide range of open northbound interface standards, protocols, and data modules (such as gRPC/gNMI, NETCONF/YANG and more), facilitating faster integration with current and future OSS/BSS systems. 

Openness 

The DriveNets Network Cloud solution is built with an open architecture and seamless interoperability in mind. The solution can operate on any network cloud-certified hardware platform, leveraging the Open Compute Project (OCP) Distributed Disaggregated Chassis (DDC) architecture. This allows SPs the flexibility to source equipment from any vendor without being tied to a specific one. 

Improved TCO 

• Unified network
  Reducing network building blocks to only the necessary elements improves planning, procurement, stocking and maintenance.  
• Enhanced scalability and rapid innovation
  DriveNets enables incrementally adding resources using simplified and unified network building blocks, without being limited by traditional chassis physical constraints. Moreover, service provider software scalability allows for the seamless addition of network functions, reducing time to market. 
• No additional operational effort
  DriveNets Network Cloud’s automatic and hassle-free orchestration and deployment eliminate the need for extra FTEs during the internal integration process. 

Simplified operations 

DriveNets Network Cloud delivers cloud-related benefits while still feeling familiar to operations staff. This familiarity makes it easier for service providers to adopt and utilize new and revolutionary infrastructure. By transforming off-the-shelf white boxes into an orchestrated shared resource over which network functions are installed in a container, SPs can operate any function through a single command-line interface (CLI), just like a classic router. 

Overcoming fear of change by embracing new solutions 

Despite the enduring notion of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the reality is that the networking balance is currently broken, posing a challenge for service providers. Continuing with legacy hardware-centric solutions is no longer viable, as this approach has resulted in a shift in the value scale that favors hyperscalers and OTT service providers. Meanwhile, SPs find themselves burdened with never-ending network investments required to keep up with ever-evolving market demands. 

A new paradigm is crucial for shifting back the value scale and changing the current reality. To do so, service providers must overcome their fear of change by embracing new solutions that are truly worthwhile from proven vendors.