Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 61 | Page 52

COUNTRY FOCUS : UK
Bryan Ross , Executive Advisor , VMware Tanzu of customers continue to change rapidly – demanding bullet-proof access to faster networks , available in more places , that are delivered and supported through mature , easy to navigate digital journeys .
Telecom providers must change their playbook if they hope to keep pace ; looking towards the very latest technology and practices that provide them a capability to rapidly adapt and react to change .
Define a clear vision and strategy to the legislation as technology ( and attacks ) change and adapt in the future .
Time to act
Providers must feel that they are in an impossible position : while the government is imposing strict controls on change and operation , the desires and behaviours
To achieve radical change , it is first necessary to clearly define what the target state looks like . Those hoping to perform a gap-analysis from their current position and implement a series of ‘ mitigations ’ are likely to fail , either in short term through compliance , or in their long-term ability to continuously adapt and grow as this and other legislation develops in the future .
As the line between telco and tech company continues to blur , it is vital for providers to get out of their comfort zone and take this opportunity to look beyond their usual hardware vendors . They should look to invite engagement from software firms that have a broader view across industries and a decade of experience of modern agile development practices , cloud native platforms and secure software supply chains .
Re-imagine the telco cloud
In 2012 , the European Telecommunications Standards Institute ( ETSI ) defined the path for telco towards software-defined networks and cloud-based infrastructure in the form of Network Function Virtualisation ( NFV ).
Unfortunately , 10 years later and despite a surge in adoption , for most operators the ‘ telco cloud ’ has failed to deliver . Numerous operators chose to deploy an integrated stack from their traditional suppliers and have struggled to integrate best-of-breed solutions from other vendors . Worse , many operators are now in so deep that it is now cost prohibitive to change tack .
Rather than rely upon a single , static solution stack , providers should take a ‘ platform-first ’ approach , where the emphasis is on building an open , vendoragnostic platform that can support a rich ecosystem of technologies and vendors , covering the full spectrum of current and future telco applications .
App modernisation
We ’ ve no doubt all read many articles about ‘ Digital Transformation ’ and ‘ app modernisation ’, but how does it relate to telco ? There are five key pieces of
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