Picture credit: Ericsson
Ericsson has announced the launch of its verified network functions virtualisation (NFV) solution, known as NFVi, which supports software defined infrastructure, as well as helps provide the building blocks for 5G and IoT infrastructure.
The move will align with various aspects of Ericsson’s current service portfolio, including its hyperscale data centre system, cloud SDN as well as its Cloud Execution Environment and Cloud Manager, as well as other consulting, system integration and support services.
The company already has NFV contracts and initiatives in place with a variety of operators, including Telstra, Telefonica, SoftBank, and Swisscom, whose head of network and data centre development Richard Schenk noted that the move will help “bring services which we do not know today, as in the IoT environment.”
“Ericsson’s NFVi solution is an important step on our journey to building the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things,” said Susan James, Ericsson head of product line for NFV infrastructure in a statement. “By offering a flexible, pre-integrated and verified open system platform, we can provide our customers with several different deployment options ranging all the way from full decoupling of NFV components to full stack solution deployment.
“This provides a shorter time to market, with increased speed, agility and efficiency for our customers deploying new services,” James added.
Writing for this publication last month Marina Kurth, research director at analyst firm Gartner, argued that the biggest challenge for Ericsson going forward, as well as other players of its ilk, is to ‘operationalise and monetise’ new cloud-based technologies, such as SDN and NFV. “Ericsson has the chance to become one of the few complete end-to-end stack vendors in the industry,” wrote Kurth. “However, it needs to become a facilitator that helps to overcome the challenges between business strategy, technology and operational planning.
“This means it must itself make the cultural shift to [a] new digital development and operations paradigm,” Kurth added.
