In June 2021, Microsoft and AT&T reached a significant milestone after we introduced an industry-first collaboration to evolve Microsoft’s hybrid cloud expertise to help AT&T’s 5G core community workloads. Since then, now we have had requests from many operators, companions, and clients to share extra particulars. This weblog is meant to just do that.
An eye fixed towards future innovation: Harnessing the ability of the cloud
By way of Azure for Operators, Microsoft has cast shut ties with AT&T personnel, product providers teams, and companions. On the coronary heart of the worth Microsoft delivers in every of those relationships, is the way in which wherein we leverage the ability of the cloud to enhance the subsequent technology of telco networks. Microsoft goals to harness traits towards Software program Outlined Networking (SDN), Cloud-Native Community Capabilities (CNFs), and Virtualized Community Capabilities (VNFs) coupled with the service-based structure of 5G, to start digitally remodeling the community.
This evolution includes introducing each hybrid infrastructure and software program, constructing scalable elastic carrier-grade networks, and utilizing the ability of AI and machine studying to construct self-optimizing networks that may heal, defend, and provision themselves. These efforts will allow operators to hyper-automate the enterprise itself, bringing down prices and enhancing the general service expertise. Azure for Operators represents the set of investments Microsoft is making to convey the ability of the cloud to the community.
Lots of the advantages that Microsoft delivered within the enterprise house are immediately relevant within the networking house. First, nonetheless, they have to be modified to account for the distinctive carrier-grade wants of operators. Our efforts are geared toward getting workloads on the community to operate on a carrier-grade cloud, which is a hybrid cloud, spanning each public and devoted on-premises cloud infrastructure. Telecommunication providers are extremely distributed and can seemingly develop into extra so over time. Because of this, the worth of making a carrier-grade hybrid cloud mannequin lives in its capacity to fulfill clients the place they’re—on the fringe of the cloud, the sting of the community, or the sting of the enterprise.
The progress towards the acquisition
In 2013 AT&T adopted an aggressive place on Software program Outlined Networks (SDNs) and virtualization, with the final word purpose of delivering 75 % of their community utilizing virtualized expertise by 2020, which they succeeded at. Again then, there was no industrial cloud possibility accessible that included the required options and capabilities to allow carrier-grade cloud. AT&T created a standards-based implementation of cloud expertise that was deployed of their on-premises knowledge facilities. This preliminary built-in cloud advanced right into a Community Cloud, and at the moment, we’ve arrived at Community Cloud 2.7—representing seven years of expertise creating on-premises cloud for community workloads.
With Microsoft’s current acquisition of this expertise, growth groups from AT&T’s Community Cloud group have moved into Azure for Operators, immediately integrating the mental property right into a Microsoft providing and assuring a seamless transition.
There are three key the explanation why this collaboration is exclusive. For starters, that is the primary time {that a} tier-one operator has embraced industrial hybrid cloud expertise to run mobility community workloads that help their present client base. The second side that’s distinctive is that the trouble is solely centered on the mobility core community versus go-to-market collaborations on the edge. And third, the association is multi-vendor. Microsoft hybrid cloud expertise helps the AT&T cell core community that spans greater than 60 cloud-native community capabilities (CNFs) and digital community capabilities (VNFs) from 15 completely different distributors.
What the Community Cloud acquisition means
Community Cloud expertise initially developed by AT&T will be utilized by a number of carriers, sustaining safety, with out dropping differentiation, and with the additional benefit of getting many prices equivalent to safety patching, vendor updates, and regulatory modifications delivered as a part of an ordinary industrial product.
These capabilities will likely be mixed with Microsoft’s edge platform, our hybrid administration platform, Azure Arc, and our ecosystem of companions together with gear suppliers, {hardware} distributors, and software program distributors. By becoming a member of the Community Cloud with our platform and rising ecosystem, now we have achieved a carrier-grade hybrid cloud resolution that will likely be delivered because the Azure for Operators platform.
One key side of this collaboration is our respective roles—Microsoft develops the carrier-grade hybrid cloud expertise that helps the AT&T mobility core community workloads. AT&T continues to pick and handle the community functions (VNFs and CNFs) and their configurations to ship mobility providers to AT&T clients. As such, we’re taking the AT&T Community Cloud expertise, constructing it into Microsoft’s normal hybrid cloud product, after which delivering a carrier-grade hybrid cloud resolution again to the market and AT&T itself, the place it will possibly run at AT&T on-premises or on Azure public cloud. Microsoft hybrid cloud expertise helps the AT&T mobility core community workloads used to ship 5G connectivity that helps client, enterprise, and the FirstNet responder neighborhood. By way of safety, it’s essential to notice that Microsoft doesn’t entry AT&T buyer knowledge—AT&T continues to carry entry to that knowledge, and Microsoft can’t see it.
For AT&T, this collaboration places them ready to ship new providers quicker and extra flexibly throughout Azure public cloud and on-premises with widespread tooling and providers, decreasing time-to-market for a cloud-native strategy. We imagine the end result will likely be higher resiliency throughout the community, value benefits in relation to scaling present providers, and a simpler introduction of recent providers leading to steady enhancements to the client expertise.
Be taught extra
Microsoft’s acquisition of AT&T’s Community Cloud, in addition to Metaswitch Networks and Affirmed Networks, brings the anchor functions and telco know-how to construct the options which might be required for a carrier-grade hybrid cloud. These options, accessible to your entire companion ecosystem, contribute to an open, interoperable community that provides help to all operators. The message to operators from Microsoft is easy and easy: your companions and your clients—and the connection is powered by our expertise. For extra details about the Azure for Operators technique, discuss with the e-book.
