Virtualization of SMS platforms the top priority for driving
operational efficiency, and network scale and elasticity
WAKEFIELD, MA, May 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Today Xura, Inc. (NASDAQ:
MESG) , a leading provider of digital communications services,
announced the findings of research that has revealed that 70
percent of communications service providers (CSPs) plan to
virtualize some or all of their messaging platforms in the next
four years.
The global research project, commissioned by Xura and carried
out by Heavy Reading, assessed the progress, market timing,
business and technical drivers, and challenges related to the
virtualization of messaging services through the implementation of
network functions virtualization (NFV).
Report author, Jim Hodges, senior
analyst, commented, "What makes this level of commitment so
profound is that it is driven by a broad range of technical and
business drivers. For example, on the technical side, CSPs cite
Operational Efficiency followed by Network Scale and Elasticity as
the top two drivers, while on the business side CSPs are moving
messaging solutions into the cloud to achieve not only Service
Agility and Flexibility, but also Hardware Related Opex Reduction
and Capex Reduction."
The research found that the messaging services CSPs prioritized
for migration to an NFV-based virtualized platform in 2016 were SMS
(27%), followed by Spam/Fraud messaging control (22%), and then IP
Messaging (21%).
David Spann, VP technology and
architecture at Xura, said, "It's clear that CSPs are looking to
virtualize the services that are most heavily used - like SMS - on
the network first and then align the launch of brand new services
that may not yet be offered, like IP messaging, with deployments in
NFV. Interestingly, those services like MMS that have probably
taken the biggest hit from over-the-top (OTT) applications seem to
be furthest down the priority list, with nearly a third (31%)
saying they had no plans to virtualize this service as yet."
Across the range of messaging platforms that CSPs were asked
about, the most formidable NFV implementation challenges from a
technical standpoint were product interworking, orchestration and
migration complexity. They also ranked cultural challenges and
business case definition as the top two business implementation
challenges that their organizations face.
Spann added, "When you consider the impact on an organization's
culture that virtualization and the move to NFV will have, part of
the issue will be with who has responsibility for the service
implementation and delivery. Will it be the network team, the value
added services team or the IT department; who manages the budget,
the platform and the team that will have responsibility for running
it on a day to day basis?"
Another key finding of the research was that there is no clear
consensus over which cloud orchestration framework CSPs want NFV
virtualized messaging applications to support. Over 40 percent of
respondents indicated they wanted support for OpenStack - using
integrated in-house contractors, telecom vendors or integrators. -
as well as VMware.
"OpenStack is gaining real credibility as a carrier grade
framework in the market place, but given the continued demand for
VMWare, and to a lesser extent Microsoft Azure (10%), it's clear
that solutions need to be agnostic in their support for different
orchestration and virtualization environments," commented
Spann.
As already indicated though, orchestration is considered to be
one of the biggest implementation challenges, and while over half
(55%) of respondents said they would like to utilize a single
management and orchestration (MANO) orchestrator, they also concede
that this will be difficult.
On the concerns of CSPs with orchestration, Hodges said,
"Orchestration is still an issue for commercial deployments and
there is a concern that CSPs will be forced to deploying a number
of vendor specific VNF orchestrators, which adds both cost and
complexity into any virtualization migration."
Spann added, "It will be interesting to see how the seven
percent of respondents that are planning to use a single MANO
orchestrator turn out, because they could set the template for
where the rest of the industry moves to in the next few years."
Hodges concluded, "The deployment of NFV will increasingly
transform CSPs into cloud operators. By doing so it enables CSPs to
go on the offensive with message service delivery, a capability
they have lacked for a number of years. In the next four years,
there will be a period of sustained activity that will see CSPs
undertake the migration of many of their messaging services to the
Cloud, to reap a whole range of benefits, and elegantly meet the
perpetually evolving needs of their customers."
To download the full research report, Virtualizing Messaging
Services, please click here.
About Xura, Inc.
Xura, Inc (NASDAQ: MESG) offers a portfolio of digital services
solutions that enable global communications across a variety of
mobile devices and platforms. We help communication service
providers (CSPs) and enterprises navigate and monetize the digital
ecosystem to create innovative, new experiences through our
cloud-based offerings. Our solutions touch more than three billion
people through 350+ service providers and enterprises in 140+
countries. You can find us at http://www.Xura.com.
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SOURCE Xura, Inc.