Nokia has launched its Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform to modernize data centre network operations for the AI era. Built on Kubernetes, the platform delivers simplified, reliable, and adaptable lifecycle management for data centre networks.
EDA is designed to reduce human error in network operations and lower the risk of service disruptions and application downtime. Nokia says the platform can cut operational effort by as much as 40 percent.
Vach Kompella, SVP and General Manager of Nokia’s IP Networks business, said the next-generation EDA platform represents a significant shift for data centre networks. By leveraging Kubernetes, customers gain a modern approach to network automation that reduces operational burden and helps prevent human mistakes.
This launch arrives at a time of rapid digital transformation and growing AI workloads, combined with workforce shortages and skills gaps in data centres. These pressures are pushing webscalers, enterprises, and service providers to scale and adapt infrastructures to meet rising demand and changing workload requirements.
As more critical workloads migrate to the cloud, interruptions can have substantial economic, safety, and social consequences. Expanding automation in cloud and network operations is becoming essential to respond to demand while minimizing service outages.
Despite the clear advantages of automation, research from Enterprise Management Associates indicates that most organisations have automated under half of their data centre network management tasks. Common obstacles include a lack of scalable, open multi-vendor solutions; legacy complexity that requires specialized skills; and skepticism about trusting fully automated systems to deliver correct outcomes.
Nokia’s EDA platform addresses these challenges by providing features aimed at improving reliability, simplifying operations, and enabling interoperable automation across vendor environments.
To mitigate human error and reduce downtime, EDA includes an integrated digital twin, pre- and post-deployment checkpoints, responsive multi-dimensional observability, and a CI/CD methodology with revision control. Operational simplicity is supported through intent-based declarative automation, generative AI assistance, and low-code/no-code tools for creating custom dashboards.
EDA is designed for multi-vendor, multi-domain environments and supports a broad range of IT service management systems, event notification tools, and cloud management platforms, enabling seamless integration into existing operational stacks.
Built on Kubernetes—a widely adopted cloud automation and orchestration platform—EDA embraces an intent-based, event-driven, declarative automation model. By adopting Kubernetes constructs, the platform allows network resources to be consumed and managed in a manner consistent with other data centre applications.
Offered through on-premises and cloud-based “as-a-service” subscription models, EDA includes an app store that provides a cloud-inspired way for operators to customize and extend their automation environments.
The platform complements Nokia’s Service Router (SR) Linux network operating system and its portfolio of data centre switching and routing products, giving web-scale and enterprise organisations tools to modernize their networks.
Roy Chua, Founder and Principal at research firm AvidThink, praised Nokia’s choice to leverage Kubernetes, noting that managing the network like compute could be a transformative step for data centre operations staff. He highlighted EDA’s emphasis on enabling fast, reliable network-wide transactions as a key differentiator for automation in mission-critical environments.
Nokia’s EDA platform responds to the growing need for intelligent automation in data centre networks and aims to help deliver more dependable and efficient cloud services.
See also: After losing to Ericsson, Nokia strikes fibre deal with AT&T
Find out more about developments in data centres at the Data Centres Expo, taking place in London, California and Amsterdam.
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