Need for Orchestrators
In today’s telecommunication networks, the introduction of new technologies — revolving around containers, hybrid cloud deployments, ballooning edge networks, and an appetite to innovate on new 5G services — might result in adding disparate and multi-vendor systems in the network. On one hand, these innovations have the potential to simplify networks, reduce costs, and drive new revenue streams through 5G services. On the other hand, they could lead to increased complexity in managing those systems and costs. The scale and complexity of 5G networks have outgrown the traditional approach of having separate teams with subject matter experts in specific technologies. Instead, multi-vendor systems require the use of multi-vendor management tools and teams with diverse skill sets to effectively manage them, translating to increased professional services and operational services costs.
To mitigate the complexity, many operators are developing in-house end-to-end network orchestrators to automate various lifecycle management tasks through its integration with multi-vendor management tools. But with this approach, you would still continue to face an uphill battle to integrate with tens if not hundreds of management tools from different vendors at each layer of the network – be it the physical hardware, horizontal software infrastructure, network functions, or OSS/BSS. Even in case of a single vendor, different management tools are used to manage different tasks within each layer of the network. This not only complicates the initial integration process of the network orchestrator with all the management tools but also results in complex tracking of all the tools and updates to the network orchestrator.
Cross-plane Integration
Broadcom streamlines this process for operators leveraging VMware Telco Cloud Platform in their network infrastructure through its advanced telco automation capability – Workflow Hub. Workflow Hub is a low-code umbrella orchestrator that provides built-in workflows to automate the lifecycle management of the Telco Cloud Platform – including virtual infrastructure, CaaS infrastructure, and network functions – and supports custom workflows to orchestrate the tasks of other management tools through REST APIs or third-party automation tools. Workflow Hub workflows adhere to the serverless workflow specification. You can either design and build your own custom workflows as per the specification or engage our Professional Services team for expert guidance and support. This makes Workflow Hub a one-stop orchestrator for the lifecycle management tasks of some (if not all) of the layers of the network.
By orchestrating the platform through pre-built workflows and integrating with other network elements using REST APIs and third-party automation tools, Workflow Hub minimizes manual errors, streamlines processes, and accelerates service time-to-market. The Professional Services team can further enhance service delivery and reduce the service costs by optimizing the resources required for typical day 0, day 1, and day 2 operations through guided orchestration, lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the entire network.
Figure 1: Capabilities of Workflow Hub
Let us consider a use case where you would want to scale a network function at a specific site. Scaling a network function involves a multi-step process. First, OSS/BSS (Operations Support System/Business Support System) tools determine the required capacity to host the scaled network function. Next, the monitoring tool assesses whether the virtual infrastructure has sufficient capacity to support scaling the CaaS cluster. If not, the monitoring tool determines that there is a need to add more hosts to the virtual infrastructure before scaling the CaaS cluster. Upon finalizing the scale plan, the infrastructure platform orchestrator implements it by scaling the CaaS cluster and network functions, and as required, the virtual infrastructure. This entire process can be automated into a single, streamlined pipeline using an end-to-end network orchestrator.
There are two possible approaches to utilizing Workflow Hub in this scenario:
- As Infrastructure Platform Orchestrator: If you already have or are in the process of developing an in-house network orchestrator, Workflow Hub can be used as an infrastructure platform orchestrator. Workflow Hub offers pre-built templates that simplify the automation of the Telco Cloud Platform and network functions hosted on it. These templates can be easily dragged and dropped to create tailored workflows to automate a sequence of tasks such as scaling virtual infrastructure, CaaS infrastructure, and network functions.
For the use case considered above, the network orchestrator will integrate with OSS/BSS tools, network monitoring tools, and Workflow Hub to establish a comprehensive workflow. This workflow automates a series of interconnected processes such as capacity planning, software infrastructure planning, resource allocation, and implementation of the scaling plan. To integrate Workflow Hub with the end-to-end network orchestrator, VMware exposes Workflow Hub REST APIs to create, update, delete, and trigger workflows. To learn more about the Workflow Hub APIs, refer to the official documentation here. - As Network Orchestrator: Alternatively, Workflow Hub can be used as the network orchestrator itself, enabling end-to-end automation of lifecycle management tasks for the network. In this approach, Workflow Hub extends beyond the lifecycle management of the Telco Cloud Platform and network functions. It can be leveraged to integrate with a wide range of management and monitoring tools, enabling the automation of various network components.
In the context of scaling the network functions, Workflow Hub could integrate with OSS/BSS tools to initiate the capacity planning, then with network monitoring tools to manage the resource allocation and software infrastructure planning, and then trigger the appropriate workflow to implement the scaling plan. To integrate with these tools, Workflow Hub relies on Open API standards. However, if the tool APIs do not conform to these standards, you may need to create an Open API schema for the corresponding APIs. This schema will serve as a mapping layer, allowing Workflow Hub to effectively interact with appropriate APIs. To learn more about Workflow Hub, I recommend checking out the documentation here.
Whichever approach you choose, the underlying benefits are clear: Workflow Hub enables seamless integration with other northbound orchestrators and southbound third-party management tools. This integration allows you to reduce operating costs, improve service time-to-market and discover new revenue opportunities, while also optimizing the utilization of existing platforms in the network.
To learn more about VMware Telco Cloud Platform, refer the documentation here.
