In June 2021, Microsoft and AT&T reached a significant milestone after we introduced an industry-first collaboration to evolve Microsoft’s hybrid cloud know-how to help AT&T’s 5G core community workloads. Since then, we have now had requests from many operators, companions, and prospects to share extra particulars. This weblog is meant to do exactly that.
A watch towards future innovation: Harnessing the facility of the cloud
By Azure for Operators, Microsoft has solid shut ties with AT&T personnel, product companies teams, and companions. On the coronary heart of the worth Microsoft delivers in every of those relationships, is the best way during which we leverage the facility of the cloud to enhance the following technology of telco networks. Microsoft goals to harness developments 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 entails introducing each hybrid infrastructure and software program, constructing scalable elastic carrier-grade networks, and utilizing the facility 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 bettering the general service expertise. Azure for Operators represents the set of investments Microsoft is making to carry the facility of the cloud to the community.
Most of the advantages that Microsoft delivered within the enterprise house are straight relevant within the networking house. First, nonetheless, they must be modified to account for the distinctive carrier-grade wants of operators. Our efforts are aimed 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 companies are extremely distributed and can doubtless change into extra so over time. Because of this, the worth of making a carrier-grade hybrid cloud mannequin lives in its capability to fulfill prospects 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 aim of delivering 75 p.c of their community utilizing virtualized know-how by 2020, which they succeeded at. Again then, there was no industrial cloud choice accessible that included the required options and capabilities to allow carrier-grade cloud. AT&T created a standards-based implementation of cloud know-how that was deployed of their on-premises information 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 latest acquisition of this know-how, improvement groups from AT&T’s Community Cloud group have moved into Azure for Operators, straight integrating the mental property right into a Microsoft providing and assuring a seamless transition.
There are three key explanation why this collaboration is exclusive. For starters, that is the primary time {that a} tier-one operator has embraced industrial hybrid cloud know-how to run mobility community workloads that help their current client base. The second facet that’s distinctive is that the trouble is solely targeted on the mobility core community versus go-to-market collaborations on the edge. And third, the association is multi-vendor. Microsoft hybrid cloud know-how helps the AT&T cellular core community that spans greater than 60 cloud-native community capabilities (CNFs) and digital community capabilities (VNFs) from 15 totally different distributors.
What the Community Cloud acquisition means
Community Cloud know-how initially developed by AT&T could be utilized by a number of carriers, sustaining safety, with out shedding differentiation, and with the additional advantage of getting many prices akin to safety patching, vendor updates, and regulatory modifications delivered as a part of an ordinary industrial product.
These capabilities will probably 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, we have now achieved a carrier-grade hybrid cloud answer that will probably be delivered because the Azure for Operators platform.
One key facet of this collaboration is our respective roles—Microsoft develops the carrier-grade hybrid cloud know-how that helps the AT&T mobility core community workloads. AT&T continues to pick out and handle the community purposes (VNFs and CNFs) and their configurations to ship mobility companies to AT&T prospects. As such, we’re taking the AT&T Community Cloud know-how, constructing it into Microsoft’s normal hybrid cloud product, after which delivering a carrier-grade hybrid cloud answer again to the market and AT&T itself, the place it could actually run at AT&T on-premises or on Azure public cloud. Microsoft hybrid cloud know-how helps the AT&T mobility core community workloads used to ship 5G connectivity that helps client, enterprise, and the FirstNet responder group. When it comes to safety, it’s essential to notice that Microsoft doesn’t entry AT&T buyer information—AT&T continues to carry entry to that information, and Microsoft can not see it.
For AT&T, this collaboration places them able to ship new companies sooner and extra flexibly throughout Azure public cloud and on-premises with widespread tooling and companies, lowering time-to-market for a cloud-native strategy. We imagine the consequence will probably be higher resiliency throughout the community, value benefits in relation to scaling current companies, and a more practical introduction of recent companies leading to steady enhancements to the client expertise.
Study extra
Microsoft’s acquisition of AT&T’s Community Cloud, in addition to Metaswitch Networks and Affirmed Networks, brings the anchor purposes and telco know-how to construct the options which might be required for a carrier-grade hybrid cloud. These options, accessible to the complete companion ecosystem, contribute to an open, interoperable community that provides help to all operators. The message to operators from Microsoft is straightforward and simple: your companions and your prospects—and the connection is powered by our know-how. For extra details about the Azure for Operators technique, discuss with the e-book.
