Realizing the benefits of transport network automation

Network operators do not adopt new technologies and architectures simply for the sake of innovation. Each investment must deliver clear, measurable benefits that justify the time, effort and cost of implementation. Although operators are still in the early stages of transport automation, Heavy Reading survey data reveals they have ambitious plans to expand automation across various use cases over the next three years.

As part of its third annual Open, Automated, and Programmable Transport Networks global operator survey, Heavy Reading delved into operators' views on the benefits of transport automation. This blog discusses the key findings relating to the benefits of transport automation. It also returns to the topic of IP over DWDM (IPoDWDM) to address challenges in management and operations.

Automation cost savings

Cost savings are a common thread across many transport automation use cases — including savings on both opex and capex — but operators surveyed by Heavy Reading are achieving only modest savings from transport automation today. 45% of respondents estimate capex savings of less than 10% or no savings, and 37% estimate opex savings of less than 10% or no savings.

It is uncertain without further inquiry, but there are a few possible explanations. One possibility is that the question focuses on current automation, and the savings benefits may not yet have been quantified at this early stage. A second possible explanation is the fragmented nature of automation today. If a process, for example, consists of 10 tasks and only 5 are automated, it does not mean that 50% of the benefits are realized. One or two cumbersome, manual tasks within the overall process could greatly diminish the outcome (including cost savings).

For the transport network automation that you have already deployed, what annual savings are you achieving?

Other benefits of automation

Digging deeper into current networks, Heavy Reading asked operators to list the benefits of their existing transport automation. Here, two benefits rise to the top of the list: reduced human error (cited by 65% of respondents) and operational simplification (picked by 49%). Many also benefit from faster service turn-up (selected by 39%) and infrastructure usage optimization (picked by 38%).

The monetization of services to end subscribers with quick time-to-market, increased reliability and improved customer experience are top priorities among C-suite executives. Network automation helps them deliver on these crucial goals.

For the transport network automation that you have already deployed, what other benefits have you realized? (Select up to three)

Managing IP over DWDM networks
As highlighted in a previous blog in this series, IP and optical convergence involves much more than pluggable optics hardware in routers. Building a consistent management and operations environment around new IPoDWDM architectures is key. The survey finds that ensuring operational practices tops the list of management challenges in IPoDWDM in three specific areas:

All three challenges are multi-vendor interoperability issues (requiring vendor collaboration, industry standardization and widely accepted open APIs). The third challenge also relates to the lack of multi-layer coordination and organizational convergence discussed in the earlier blog.

What are your top challenges in managing coherent pluggable optics equipped directly in routers (IPoDWDM deployments)? (Select up to three)

The good news is that several standards bodies and industry forums are tackling these critical management challenges, working both individually and collaboratively (via official group liaisons). OIF is standardizing plug-to-host management through its common management interface specifications (CMIS), with CMIS 5.3 introduced in September 2024. New functions will continue to be added in future releases. As part of its Abstraction and Control of Transport Networks (ACTN) framework, the IETF is defining network management of IPoDWDM using CMIS-advertised module attributes — still in the pre-RFC stage. And the Open XR Forum is defining the dual management of pluggable optics modules that can include both host-dependent and host-independent management operations, as detailed in its September 2024 white paper, Open XR Optics Management Requirements.

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This blog is sponsored by Infinera.