Comarch supports telecoms in introducing the Software Defined Networking technology

Comarch enriches its OSS Suite with support for the introduction of Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology. SDN aims to provide intelligent network traffic control and, as a result, efficient delivery of new, innovative services for customers. The main principle of SDN is centralizing the network control function, resulting in the ability to program the network according to application and service requirements, without a need for costly physical upgrades.

Comarch’s approach concentrates on supporting telecoms in fast and effective adoption of SDN, by employing BSS/OSS systems.

- The main assumption of Comarch’s vision is that an SDN controller needs a holistic view of the network, to be able to make “smart” decisions, and this holistic view can be provided by a BSS/OSS ecosystem. Employing Big Data technology enables to exploit historical OSS data,  such as alarms, KPI/KQIs etc. for trend analyses, which can assist the SDN controller in making even “smarter” decisions, says Lukasz Mendyk, OSS Product Manager at Comarch.

Comarch’s approach sees Network Inventory systems as a source of a complete view of the physical infrastructure for the SDN controller. The function of service catalog-driven NG Service Fulfillment is to play the role of an orchestrator and policy management which is to help in programming the network in accordance with business applications needs and to adjust the programming to operators' policies. NG Service Assurance’s role is to provide the SDN controller with information needed to reshape virtual networks so that they match the customer experience criteria.

The benefits of introducing Comarch Software Defined Networking include:

• Faster and more cost-effective adoption of the SDN technology by employing  BSS/OSS tools
• Customer-focus: pre-integration with the service fulfillment stack enables the SDN controller to make decisions driven by customer service needs
• Pro-activeness: pre-integration with the service assurance stack enables the SDN controller to optimize network behavior and prevent customer service degradation
• Unleashing “internal innovation” by providing an API to the end-to-end view of the network and customers for total network control functions
• A controlled way of opening up the network for OTT players

- We think that SDN has a huge potential to unleash innovation and what is more important it can be done by telecom operators using the BSS/OSS infrastructure. The most promising part is the opportunity to boost innovation in the digital service domain, which in SDN means to easily allow partners to bring in expertise in creating virtual networks, dedicated for specific business applications (for example M2M verticals), Mendyk adds.

SDN is still a new technology that is currently developing. The Open Network Foundation is an industry organization promoting and guiding the adoption of its principles, presenting use cases and defining SDN areas. Comarch’s approach is in line with the Open Network Foundation guidelines.