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Capex/opex challenges for NFV and SDN

ACG Research talks capex and opex challenges for NFV and SDN deployments

As the telecom industry continues its push towards increased reliance on software solutions using virtualization technologies like network functions virtualization, software-defined networking and cloud platforms, questions surrounding the financial implications of the move remain.

Many vendors and analyst firms have thrown our various scenarios to show savings in terms of capital expense, operating expense or a combination of both designed to garner favor from telecom operators. However, many of these scenarios only take into account a few of the actual deployment and operational variables telecom operators are likely to see in a real-world environment.

On this week’s NFV/SDN Reality Check, we spoke with Robert Haim, principal analyst at ACG Research, on a recent report the company put out looking to shine a more critical light on the financial implications of NFV, SDN and cloud deployments. Haim touched on how telecom operators should view the capex/opex trade off in terms of NFV/SDN deployments; the importance of service innovation gains in terms of the view on costs associated with virtualization platform deployments; and the potential impact “double opex” cost issue might have on how telecom operators approach their NFV and SDN plans.

Haim also questioned the current timing put forth by some operators in terms of their wide-ranging NFV and SDN deployment plans, noting many of these larger operators will be challenged to virtualize their current operations due to the breadth and depth of their current legacy equipment deployments.

Make sure to join us on Sept. 11 for our next live episode of NFV/SDN Reality Check when we speak with Mike Kay, VP of business development at Procera Networks, on some of the key barriers facing the telecom space in terms of NFV and SDN deployments.

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