有目标的IT：电信运营互联互通的未来

Author:Dean Ramsay, Principal AnalystEditor:Ian Kemp, Managing Editor Contents 3The big picture7Key findings8Section 1:Reinventing IT for intent14Section 2:Examining the IT transformation process18Section 3:Joining the telco IT dots26Section 4:What telcos should do next – seven steps towards intent-based operations29Additional sponsor feature:Autonomous operations: The path to resilient IT34Additional resources The bigpicture A quiet revolution is taking place in telecoms, with communicationsservice providers (CSPs) working steadily towards the industry’s nextIT operating model. It centers around intent, with AI helping to bring ITand network technologies and ecosystems together to form end-to-endautomated operations. The end game will be a transformation in the waytelcos approach IT and deliver services. The AI era now presents the industry with opportunitiesto achieve these goals in a cohesive, joined-up manner,as well as a new way of thinking about future operatingmodels in the form of intent-based operations. For more than a decade operators’ transformationprojects have centered around three key areas: •In the IT layer there is a focus on automatingprocesses across systems and instilling highlevels of interoperability in complex multivendorenvironments•In the network space the drive is towards evermore advanced technology and overlying intelligentmanagement and orchestration layers•And in the business layer the trend is towardsplatform business models which will drive newservices and value, particularly in B2B markets. However, the use of AI is not without its own set ofchallenges. In this report we look at how the path tointent is developing, as well as the major challenges thatnow need to be overcome. We focus particularly onthe IT and business layers in operational and businesssupport systems (OSS/BSS) which are at the center oftransformational efforts on the path to holistic intent-based operations. The AI era now presentsthe industry with… a newway of thinking aboutfuture operating models inthe form of intent-basedoperations. As part of our research, we surveyed CSP decision-makers to give a snapshot of current attitudes andambitions in the industry. Their views are represented inthe graphics throughout the report. In total we receivedresponses from 110 individuals in 72 companies across50 countries. Some percentages in the graphics do notadd to 100 due to rounding. Making those three things happen simultaneouslyhas proven to be difficult, and thinking about them asinterleafed components of a wider transformation isoften overlooked. Solid progress has been made, butmuch of it in isolated islands of success. technology as well as their own IT and ask their telcopartner to build a package that is right for theirbusiness. Or they may engage a third-party consultantor systems integrator to do that for them. In an Intentmodel they just need to be aware of the outcomes theyneed to achieve, with the GenAI in the business intentlayer masking the underlying processes and workflows. Towards an Intent-based futureIntent-based operations represent a fundamental shift in the philosophy of operating models, marking themove from configuring traditional networks to buildservices on top, to customers expressing businessoutcomes and letting intelligent operations workout how to fulfil them. In this model, the operator orcustomer states what they want from their service –for example, ‘guarantee this service type has sub-10millisecond latency for all London users during peakhours, Monday to Friday’ – and generative AI (GenAI)in the business intent engine translates that high-level goal into policies, configurations and closed-loopautomation actions across radio, transport, core and ITdomains. Are we there yet?In short, no. Components of intent-based operations are coming out of the proof of concept phase intopilots, and progressive telcos are now using intent in live5G networks and starting to have those deploymentsindependently validated by TM Forum. A clear exampleof this evolution is demonstrated by Malaysia’s DNB, agovernment organization set up to facilitate 5G rollout. In TM Forum’s Autonomous Networks Project, thedefinition of intent-based operations is formalizedas: Standard intent models and APIs, plus lifecyclemanagement of intent objects that allow AI andautomation to continuously configure, optimize andassure services in line with business objectives ratherthan static scripts or low-level commands. “Leveraging intent-based operations allows foreffective management of the growing complexitiesinvolved in delivering differentiated 5G connectivityto multiple parties while adhering to SLAs,” says KenTan, CTO at DNB. By combining such intent frameworkswith accurate, federated inventory as a “real-timeknowledge base”, telcos and vendors are buildingnetworks that can self-configure and self-assureagainst stated intents – for example, automaticallyresizing slices or re-routing around predicted fau