kentoh - Fotolia
Belgian telco Proximus picks Cloudify to support NFV roll-out
Belgium’s largest telecoms operator Proximus will deploy a cloud-native orchestration platform to support its adoption of NFV services in the business
Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecommunications operator, will lean on orchestration specialist Cloudify to support its adoption of network functions virtualisation (NFV) as part of a multi-supplier team implementing its next-generation, virtualised cloud network.
Using its cloud-native orchestration platform, Cloudify will help Proximus with NFV management and orchestration, and the on-boarding and deployment of virtual network functions (VNFs).
Proximus is using NFV to transform its legacy hardware-based network into a virtualised, cloud-native, software-driven domain that should be easier and cheaper to run.
In common with many other telcos dipping their toes in the world of NFV, Proximus’s ultimate objective is to react quicker to new trends, deploy new services and scale them, and improve its network security posture.
“NFV adoption is a key component of our strategy for digital transformation, and Cloudify is helping us transform from traditional to virtualised networks that are simpler to operate, cost less to maintain and enable us to deliver better customer experiences,” said Alex Thomas, programme manager for Cumulus and LPWAN at Proximus.
The project kicked off in earnest in 2016, and is currently working through the design, VNF onboarding and user acceptance testing phase ahead of delivering virtualised production services to Proximus customers in 2018.
Cloudify will add its open source cloud management and network orchestration software, which features a number of NFV-specific plugins and blueprints to model VNFs and service function chaining based on the telco-friendly Tosca standard.
Cloudify claims to have the only open source NFV management and orchestration service that leverages Tosca’s native, multi-VIM interoperability capabilities, and also boasts built-in support and blueprints for OpenStack, and the entire VMware stack.
Read more about NFV projects
- After deploying an NFV platform to replace its IMS service, Isle of Man-based telco has seen substantial improvements to its business agility and processes.
- Large service providers are continuing their NFV deployments, which will enable 5G wireless and IoT. But management, orchestration and standards questions remain.
“Cloudify’s approach supports both physical network functions and VNFs, in software. This enables operators to optimise existing technologies while migrating toward the benefits of automation and DevOps best practices, without having to discard existing technology investments,” said 451 Research research vice-president, William Fellows.
Cloudify CTO Nati Shalom added: “We’re lowering the adoption barriers for NFV by leveraging open source software that accelerates VNF onboarding while reducing technology risk.
“Working with Proximus, we’re deploying an NFV technology stack that is community-supported and interoperable with multiple cloud environments. As a result, Proximus will have better control of their destiny, costs and competitive advantage.”
Proximus is also working with Cisco, F5, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, Red Hat, Spirent and Tech Mahindra on the wide-ranging project. ... ... ... ... ...
