To successfully plan, build, and deploy new 5G services, mobile network operators must have a holistic view of active and passive assets and maintain an accurate and up-to-date inventory of all physical, logical, and virtual network resources. Unified resource management is the common foundation on which an end-to-end 5G network is built and plays a make-or-break role in activities such as cell site acquisition, merger and acquisition integration, orchestration and automation, network slicing, and managing hybrid networks.
Although historically static, vendor EMS and NMS are increasingly adding levels of automation (sometimes being rebranded as “controllers” in the process). However, even with automation, these element and network management systems remain vendor-specific; therefore, they cannot provide the required end-to-end view. Third-party vendors are moving to fill this end-to-end management void by focusing on vendor-agnostic management of virtual resources, but CSPs must be careful in their selection. It’s important to choose a complete solution that can effectively manage the entire hybrid infrastructures that will exist for many years to come.
A complete, end-to-end network resource repository is required for the database to fulfill its function as the single source of truth in the network. As a 5G network consists of many domains, technologies, sites, suppliers, and active physical, logical, and virtual resources as well as passive infrastructure, unified resource management is essential to gain a holistic view across the entire hybrid network infrastructure to manage the different operational processes efficiently. Ulrich Schälling, Head of Business Line Networks at FNT Software, discussed the importance of unified resource management for 5G network deployments in The Fast Mode. Read his article here.
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