Data – The Key for Network Automation

There is an old, and well-worn Irish joke, that has a man lost in the countryside asking a passer-by to share with him the best route to Dublin.

“Ah, well,” says the stranger, “I wouldn’t start here.”

Just as there is no set route to Dublin, there is no set route to automation for network operators. It’s the journey that many have embarked on, and many more are contemplating. But the starting point is different for everyone, and so the journey and its challenges will inevitably be different too.

It’s probably the right journey for most though. These are not the easiest times. A variety of rising costs, now including energy, are high and volatile. In developed markets, where the battle isn’t just for customers but talent too. Growth opportunities are harder to find and profit margins under pressure. All operators battle with cost and identifying a reliable direction with the quickest solutions.

Automation is one direction and can bring relief to many of those challenges, which is why the concept has been such a focus in the industry. While every operator may take a unique route on their journey, there are core components that will be shared.

First, the arrival of powerful cloud infrastructure is finally making it possible. Initially the cloud may have been regarded as a route to efficiency and scale. Now though many are recognising the flexibility this offers to change and deliver new products and services for use internally and with customers.

More specifically it will allow operators the change to harness the full potential in the vast quantities of data each is sitting on, to bring it under control and make it accessible across the full spectrum of its business: in customer service, marketing, network management and more.

The ingestion and management of data is the turning point for operators. Other industries, such as oil and gas, and have been able to make this journey a little more smoothly, largely because they operate within a much simpler data environment that telecoms companies can only envy. Hyperscalers too are beginning to build momentum in this area.

Like our Irish traveller, the operators starting position is challenged; it contains a patchwork of siloed systems that include technology sediments like 2G, 3G and 4G that have formed over decades and must now consolidate if they are to optimize their usage of it. A consolidated environment is more capable of taking in multiple data streams from any source (network, device, customer etc.) and unifying the data. Applying intelligence offers brand new insights into many different aspects of the business, and then apply that insight to use cases that can drive better business outcomes.

There are two big hurdles to clear for operators wanting to make this leap. The first is in their mindset. A transformation of this sort takes them away from being a pure telco and towards the realm of the IT company. And it requires them to overcome the industry’s innate conservatism, to commit to transformation and change. This transformation is far deeper and widespread regarding change to the organisation, skills, processes, technology and even a move sideways to non-telco suppliers, but ultimately it provides the foundation needed to think, act and benefit from this growing population of data.

And this is the second hurdle. Many of those suppliers aren’t yet where they need to be either, and don’t have the tools or even assurance to lead this charge. That’s one of the reasons we’re optimistic that Elisa Polystar has such an important role to play.

We can bring all these data sources together not only to bring those insights necessary for the journey to automation but also develop the uses cases that can provide operators with the tools they need to make measurable and difference-making progress in their journey and give them the confidence to continue. And as we continue to develop our AI and ML capabilities to strengthen our portfolio, we will have more to offer.

The potential rewards are clear – in this interview with Telecom TV, Scott Petty the CTO of Vodafone, an Elisa Polystar customer, identifies not just the huge savings the group has made on its journey, but also the underlying transformation that has facilitated it: the addition of software engineers for example.

Others must surely follow. The telco industry is right at the start of its automation journey and there is much more to come, and still much to prove. As technology develops and expertise and confidence grows, however, the route will become much clearer and the destination closer.