DevOps—the fusion of software development with IT operations—has been a best practice among development and IT teams for quite some time now. More recently, the need to integrate security within the DevOps process has made DevSecOps the new gold standard for software development and operations. Although that seems like a great idea on paper, but in practice what happens when the developers, security architects, and network ops teams are not part of the same company ? This is what defines a unique requirements of Telecom where the network functions are developed by multiple suppliers.
In many cases, telecom software is developed by external vendors in a walled fashion where Communication Service Providers (CSPs) have little visibility into the development process itself. Second, compounding the complexity of DevSecOps in telecom is the need to adhere to strict telecom standards and models such as Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) , Tele Management forum (TMforum) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) etc. The third barrier is managing a single DevSecOps pipeline while juggling multiple generations of network equipment and configurations
Removing the Barriers with Open Telecommunications
So, what happens when there is no unified environment to support DevSecOps processes? You build one. That’s what Dell Technologies did with the recent launch of its Open Telecom Ecosystem Labs (OTEL). With OTEL, telecom operators and software/technology partners can work together using an end-to-end systems approach that spans seamlessly across vendor, lab, staging, and production environments.
OTEL provides everything that CSPs and vendors need to support DevSecOps processes with the new Solutions Integration Platform (SIP) including:
- Continuous integration across environments
- Continuous deployment of all new software releases in a controlled manner
- Continuous testing to ensure that updates/changes are mostly (80+ percent) automated
- A closed-loop system where pipeline decisions are driven by real-time data insights
A Holistic Approach to Integration, Deployment, and Testing
In the last few years, there has been a big push to incorporate continuous integration/deployment (CI/CD) pipelines in the telecommunications industry. This push has been met with resistance because of the aforementioned challenges: walled software development, multi-generation network technology, and stringent requirements around performance, reliability, and security. Telecom operators are not the only group feeling left out of the software development process. Telecom operators’ enterprise customers also have limited involvement in software development despite a deep interest in the functionality and outcomes of that software. For them, becoming a part of the software development process can mean getting services to market sooner with a finished product that meets the needs of end users.
Much of the goal of OTEL is to deliver telecom innovation as a platform, providing three core capabilities as follows:
- Integrated software development. Although telecom software vendors will ultimately define and control this process, OTEL offers both CSP customers and partners a unified systems approach that comes with Telecom grade packaging templates and test specifications that can be shared easily across CSP and partner
- Lab and staging environment. Once the software is validated and security-hardened, it can be deployed in the OTEL lab and pre-deployment environments to identify and fix potential issues before deployment in the production network.
- Replicated Pre/Production environment. Finally, OTEL can replicate the production environment to ensure seamless integration between all components.
Addressing the Telco security challenges
Telecom Networks are critical infrastructure and have a unique requirements on security driven by service needs and SLA’s , strong regulations and geographical laws , cyber and data privacy . For the 5G and Cloud solutions which will involve many vendors it is very important to build a zero trust security architecture that will be validated and tested in a automated CI/CD driven approach , further we also need to enable security mechanisms that can automate security tests across each layer of Network including:
- Telecom Network layer security
- Service Layer Security
- End point security
- Data platforms and Close loop automation
Integrating both the Functional and non-Functional requirements of Telecom networks including security , reliability and performance is the unique challenge Dell Technologies is trying to address through its state of art Open Telecom Ecosystem Labs (OTEL) . By reducing the complexity of telecom software development and ensuring better integration and collaboration, OTEL is giving CSPs and their partners the agility and security they need to deliver the next generation of 5G and edge solutions.
To learn more about OTEL and how you can take advantage of OTEL’s state-of-the-art lab environment, contact Dell at Open Telecom Ecosystem Labs (OTEL.)
