Business pressures such as global competition, economic downturn and global labor arbitrage are driving enterprise agility and cost requirements. Many are leveraging the Internet for back-office IT needs in the form of cloud-based computing. The Internet’s ability to deliver elastic capacity through Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) models and leading-edge applications through Software as a Service (SaaS) models are driving ever-higher rates of adoption.
Communications service providers (CSPs) are not immune to these trends. Pressures of declining ARPU and “over the top” broadband services are driving the need to balance expense, investment and innovation as never before.
Enter the “Communications as a Service” model .
To increase revenue, reduce costs and introduce new value-laden services in an agile manner, CSPs should consider extending cloud services beyond the back-office and into the network itself . CSPs could benefit from the adoption of the best of the IaaS, SaaS and open application development models and apply them to the development, deployment and operation of communications services. Due to the critical nature of this communications as a service (CaaS) model, CaaS services need to go beyond the “best effort” Internet paradigm and operate in a “five-nines,” secured, controlled and trusted environment for its CSP partners.
IMS and SIP key enablers for Communications as a Service (CaaS)
The implementation of IP technology has spawned new architectures for next generation networks (NGNs). These architectures contain new session control paradigms and protocols such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the industry standard for the NGNs and IP-based communications services.
The NGN facilitates voice service migration onto all-IP networks, and augments them with the ability to deliver new multi-media services over the same infrastructure. Fixed, mobile and MSO/cable operators have adopted a converged multi-service and multi-media network architecture based on the IP Multi-media Subsystem (IMS) standardization efforts of 3GPP.
IMS provides a number of standardized components for session routing, user registration and authentication. It uses a distributed model whereby applications, session control, bearer and access networks can run on separate planes of the network. These planes are not only functionally separate, but may also be physically separate. It is this separation that is the key enabler for CaaS; applications and session control can be run in the cloud while bearer and access planes are distributed around the network based on physical connectivity requirements.
Additionally, the IMS model supports interoperability of service through the concept of a home and visited network. Initially applied in mobile networks, IMS allows the home network to provide the applications and multi-media session control, and enables the visited network to provide the connectivity. This reinforces the ability to place application and session control in the cloud – regardless of who provides physical connectivity. But IMS isn’t limited to supporting all-IP networks. Because most of the world’s telecom networks deploy TDM/circuit-switched access, “IP only” would severely limit IMS (and therefore CaaS) applicability. Thankfully, 3GPP defined a set of migratory standards called IMS Service Consistency and Continuity (SCC), anticipating the need for service delivery from an IMS core through differing access technologies. This capability, also known as IMS Centralized Services (ICS), makes it possible to deliver consistent services through a CaaS solution to traditional circuit switch access users as well.
RCS deployment: a CaaS service example
The Rich Communications Suite (RCS) is a set of service standards defined by the GSM Association (GSMA) for the enrichment of the communications experience. It is based on 3GPP IMS, and SIP lies at the heart of these new services. RCS includes:
- Enhanced Address Book , which provides presence, communication capabilities, and network storage for use across multiple devices
- Enhanced Voice Calling , which adds media (e.g., a stored or live video or image) to conversations
- Enhanced Messaging , which invokes multi-user chat sessions, including media or file sharing
- Fixed and mobile convergence through device independence
In later releases, it is feasible that RCS will integrate with social communities and social media. Additionally, RCS is looking to co-opt the Internet’s open source/web services model by exposing core communication services for reuse in the development of innovative services, thus adding value and differentiation for CSPs.RCS can also be deployed using the CaaS model (think RCSaaS). RCS introduces complex new standards and technology (IMS Core, new RCS services, IMS and RCS interconnectivity). Traditional deployment models could require significant up-front investment in equipment, operational processes, and platforms. RCSaaS changes this model and would:
- Enable CSP introduction of RCS across its mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure with a single deployment
- Synchronise capacity, expense and revenue by leveraging the “on demand” capabilities of cloud computing
- Bring the agility of the Internet to service creation through controlled open garden services for third-party application developers
- Provide consistent interoperability and interconnection between users and content providers – regardless of the network path chosen
It’s easy to see the business benefits provided by a cloud-based RCS implementation, and RCSaaS is only an example. Once the model is operational, the CSP can expand its use to other technologies and applications within its portfolio, continuously adding value for end-users with the ease and economy of cloud-based CaaS.
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