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As the service provider software-defined networking (SDN) market grows — forecasted to rise from $289 million in 2015 to $8.7 billion by 2020 — and global network functions virtualization (NFV) is projected to reach about $15.5 billion by 2020, communications service providers are racing to capture market share. Speed and agility in launching new services and realizing business value have therefore become essential competitive priorities.
Deploying virtual services increases the need for strong assurance systems that enable operations and customer-facing teams to operationalize SDN/NFV deployments effectively. Service providers need end-to-end, top-to-bottom visibility and real-time analytics so performance issues can be identified, correlated and remediated quickly. Robust assurance delivers a seamless, high-quality experience that helps retain customers and supports sustainable business growth.
The challenges of transitioning to virtualized networks
Assuring virtual services presents challenges that are, in many cases, more complex than those of traditional, static networks. To date, much of the industry’s focus has been on network architecture and orchestration. The next critical phase is operationalizing virtual networks and assuring the performance and availability of the services running on them.
Transitioning to SDN and NFV goes beyond deployment, fulfillment and orchestration. Service assurance and performance management must be integrated into the process to ensure virtual services meet expectations. A major operational challenge will be monitoring and assuring networks in hybrid environments where legacy and virtual infrastructure co-exist — a reality that will persist for the foreseeable future.
The importance of assuring virtual networks
As networks evolve into hybrids of legacy and virtualized elements and ultimately toward fully virtualized environments, service providers need strategic assurance solutions designed to handle these changes. Without an end-to-end, scalable assurance framework in place at the time virtual services are deployed, providers risk not realizing the full benefits of SDN/NFV and may see degraded customer experiences.
An effective service assurance solution must integrate and correlate telemetry from both virtual and physical monitoring points across the network. Unlike legacy networks, which relied primarily on physical probes, virtualized environments require visibility into virtual network functions (VNFs), controllers, orchestration layers and their interactions with physical infrastructure. To achieve this, assurance platforms should come pre-integrated with SDN controllers, VNFs, network devices, element management systems and orchestration systems, enabling rapid adaptation and maintaining service quality.
Complex services such as virtualized EPC (vEPC), virtual CPE (vCPE) and SD-WAN will allow orchestrators and controllers to modify services dynamically and in real time. This demands that assurance systems adapt instantly to service changes so they accurately reflect the current state, topology and service paths of both virtual and hybrid services. A primary technical challenge will be preserving consistency of service performance metrics as virtual and physical components change over time.
Because orchestration and control layers like OpenStack and OpenDaylight — as well as various SDN controllers and orchestration platforms — will be central to virtual deployments, assurance solutions must integrate seamlessly with these systems. They need to adapt virtual service definitions in real time while retaining all historical health and performance data as services evolve. Key capabilities for assurance in virtualized environments include:
- Automated service impact analysis and correlation to pinpoint root causes quickly
- Closed-loop feedback mechanisms that enable automated remediation and service optimization to protect service integrity
- Dynamic SLA management that monitors service-level agreements in real time even as services change
In short, service providers must take a proactive approach and plan for the operational challenges of SDN/NFV deployments. Prioritizing real-time service performance, end-to-end visibility and integrated assurance workflows will be essential to successful virtual service rollouts. Doing so not only preserves network health but also safeguards customer satisfaction — the ultimate measure of success.