Unleash the full potential of 5G with cloud native

Cloud native

Cloud native is key to unlocking the full potential of 5G and will be a prerequisite for 6G and beyond. Embracing this transformation early means gaining a significant competitive edge, delivering new functionalities faster and being at the forefront of industry-wide innovation. Find out how below.

Cloud native is a software development approach designed to fully leverage cloud computing environments and support cloud-oriented business models. Born from the need to efficiently operate large scale services with a high innovation speed, it leverages best practices such as microservices, containers and continuous deployment.

At its core, it enables the elastic scaling of capabilities, rapid introduction of new functionalities and increased automation, all of which are essential to thrive in today’s fast-moving, competitive landscape.

The modern network architectures of today – including 5G Core and Cloud RAN technologies – and tomorrow (6G and beyond) are designed and standardized as cloud native. This makes the network transformation inevitable, and a prerequisite to any modernization and efficiency journey. While 4G and new 5G networks will co-exist side by side for many years to come, efficient operation of the full network will need to be reviewed to capture new opportunities.

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What are the benefits?

Cloud native enables greater operational efficiency and shorter time to market for new services by decoupling software from the underlying hardware and decomposing it into smaller components. For Communication Service Provider (CSPs), it paves the way to disaggregation and greater flexibility in deploying telecom networks, enabling the following benefits:

Speed of change

Deploy new features and corrections much faster through a continuous delivery model with frequent small, instead of large, updates.

Efficiency

Reduce dependency on manual work, unlock better possibilities for automation and achieve independent lifecycles between different layers such as network functions and infrastructure.

Performance

Optimize and dynamically scale resource utilization with shared infrastructure and leverage cost-efficient bare-metal deployments.

Openness

Speed up development by tapping into large software ecosystems, modern cloud technologies and hyperscale cloud providers (HCPs), while leveraging a vendor-agnostic and multi-domain approach to software and lifecycle management (LCM).

Cloud native architecture is the technical framework to build scalable, resilient and flexible applications that are optimized for cloud environments. While there are many ways to create these architectures, the core objective is always the same: enable faster time to market (TTM), increase efficiency, become more cost-effective and provide the best customer experience.

There are four building blocks that form the foundation of cloud native architectures:

Defining cloud native

Microservices

A fundamental principle of cloud native applications (CNAs) is to decompose software into smaller, more manageable pieces. This is usually done through a microservice architecture: a design pattern that strives to structure an application as a collection of loosely coupled stateless and stateful-backing services.

While this approach is not new (it has always been good practice to divide code into more manageable pieces), each component now has a clearly defined scope and can be individually deployed, scaled and upgraded with a Containers as a Service (CaaS) environment. Microservices also communicate via well-defined, version controlled network-based interfaces.

Containers and container orchestration

Until recently, telco applications were primarily packaged, managed and orchestrated as virtual machines (VMs) and deployed on cloud infrastructure solutions. Fast forward to the modern cloud native deployments of today, containers are becoming the more popular alternative, providing a lighter, more resource-efficient, portable and secure solution.

Unlike VMs, everything needed to run an application is packaged in a container image without the overhead of a full operating system. This reduces the number of servers, lowering costs and improving scalability. Once the containers have been set, an orchestration platform is used to automate deployment and management at scale. Kubernetes – an open source container orchestration platform – has become a de-facto industry standard in a cloud native world.

DevOps

Cloud native application (CNA) development requires a shift towards more agile methodologies. DevOps, now an emerging best practice, fosters greater collaboration between development and operations teams, promoting a shared purpose and creating an environment where applications can be built, tested and deployed faster.

Approaches such as GitOps further extend DevOps practices, using declarative descriptions and version control to streamline complex deployments in Kubernetes clusters. Together, these practices ensure CNAs remain scalable, resilient and continuously adaptable to changing demands.

Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)

The primary goal of CI/CD is to automate the deployment of updates across all layers of the architecture stack, from cloud infrastructure to core network applications and IT domains such as OSS and BSS. In the cloud native ecosystem, CI/CD automates the flow between development, testing and production environments, allowing CSPs to deploy updates more frequently and securely. This approach is particularly vital for 5G and beyond, where swift, seamless software updates are essential to maintaining service quality and managing increased traffic. By streamlining operations and reducing manual tasks, CI/CD further improves efficiency, lowers risk and accelerates time to market (TTM) for new services and features.

Driving innovation: what’s possible with cloud native

The rise of cloud native technologies unlocks a world of new possibilities for network innovation, making it a key enabler of many advanced 5G opportunities today.

Cloud native network functions (CNFs)

As an evolution from virtual network functions (VNFs), CNFs are deployed in containers within a streamlined microservices-based architecture. This simplifies the onboarding of decomposed applications and dynamic management of network traffic. CNFs also overcome typical VNF constraints, offering greater control over how and where network functions run across clusters, enhancing flexibility and operational efficiency.

Network automation and orchestration

Cloud native applications (CNAs) offer critical automation capabilities to streamline the lifecycle management (LCM) of microservices, enabling CSPs to efficiently manage and rapidly respond to network demands. It also makes automation and orchestration of network-level use cases possible, including instantiation / decommissioning of a cloud-native application and network scaling.

Edge computing

Cloud native architecture enables CSPs to distribute network functions closer to the edge for near real-time processing, creating a programmable, data-centric infrastructure focused on security, response time, scalability and resilience. This shift empowers CSPs to move beyond traditional connectivity-service models and explore new opportunities in adjacent industries.

How cloud native can revolutionize the industry

The evolution is rapidly advancing in enterprises across all sectors, with Gartner estimating 95% of all digital workloads will run on cloud native platforms by 2025. The telecom industry is keeping pace and cloud native practices have been a part of an ongoing standardization – both in 3GPP and other forums – for a long time.

Over the past several years, significant progress has been made in the technological aspects and a solid foundation with all the necessary building blocks is in place. The focus is now shifting to the evolution of processes, ways of working and operations as the next steps in accelerating the realization of cloud native benefits.

Adoption among CSPs continues to increase with many pioneering service providers already pushing the boundaries in both technology adoption and operational models. However, many are still evaluating the timing and rationale for investing in cloud native solutions. This indicates significant missed opportunities. A key lesson from 4G is that early adopters gained the most market share. Those leading the shift will similarly drive innovation and disrupt digital service delivery.

95 %

of all digital workloads in 2025 will be deployed on cloud native platforms

Source: Gartner

61 %

of CSPs want to use cloud native technology, even if it’s not suitable for every workload

Source: TM Forum Digital Transformation Tracker (DTT8)

Challenges in adopting cloud native

While the transformation offers many benefits, it also introduces key challenges that impact not only the technology stack, but also organizational culture, operational processes and skill sets. Navigating these hurdles can be challenging without the right strategic guidance.

Reshaping traditional operating models

Traditional telecom operating models are not optimized for cloud native environments, requiring a fundamental shift in operational models to fully maximize its value.

Balancing automation and legacy systems

Automation cannot simply be added to outdated processes and legacy technologies, and must instead be evolved alongside new cloud native practices.

Cloud platform fragmentation

Cloud native applications often need to run on diverse infrastructures and platforms, requiring careful management to ensure compatibility across different systems.

Complexity of distributed systems

Managing the numerous components of distributed systems can be overwhelming without the right tools and processes for development, testing and deployment.

Skills gap

There is a shortage of specialist knowledge and internal expertise to work with, and integrate, increasingly complex technology stacks.

Resistance to cultural shifts

Resisting the adoption of DevOps practices and not embracing new ways of working can hinder the cultural transformation required for success.

The four components of successful transformation strategies

For CSPs, the shift to cloud native technology is only one piece of the puzzle. Successful transformations – and unlocking speed, efficiency and performance in network deployments – hinge on four key aspects:

Application design and development
Processes and ways of working
Technology and infrastructure
Management and orchestration

The aspects must be approached holistically, whether developing a new cloud native network function (CNF) or transforming an entire network. Overlooking any one of these can lead to missed opportunities and added complexity.

For example, if applications, infrastructure and orchestration follow cloud native design patterns, but the ways of working and organizational structure have not been aligned, the full cloud native potential will not be realized.

Areas of transformation

Explore the four key areas to consider for a successful cloud native transformation with Peter Wörndle, Senior Expert Deployment Architectures.

How to transform your ways of working

Unlike previous technology shifts from 2G to 4G, where existing operational procedures could largely be reused or adapted with basic automation, cloud native transformation demands entirely new operational approaches and far deeper levels of automation.

While each CSP’s journey will be shaped by their unique needs and starting points, our experience working with providers on a global scale has revealed common practices that drive success in the telecom industry. There are several key steps that can help CSPs effectively navigate and shape their unique journey.

Articulate future needs

It is important to establish a baseline for expected needs based on the existing business plan and strategy. For example, reduced cost of upgrades or more frequent updates such as security patches. This can serve as a guiding star for the cloud native transformation with clear goals set along the way.

Start small, scale over time

Start with small, passionate teams in a confined environment. Focus on building skills and experiences, while also challenging current processes and operations. These proof-of-concept-like activities should include technology, as well as ways of working and collaboration with key vendors. As maturity is achieved, preparations can be initiated to scale to different domains based on business needs and strategy.

Separate SW and functional LCM

A key element in the evolution towards cloud native operations is the separation of LCM in the realization (software) domain from the functional domain. This means introducing best practices and tooling from the vibrant IT ecosystem, including the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). This will significantly improve our industry’s flexibility, reducing costs and TTM.

Invest in new competencies and upskilling

The cloud native journey requires significant investment in skills. It is not only about implementing new tools and best practices but also about making the most of them. This is a challenge for the entire industry, where we can make use of key learnings from IT departments in vendors as well as CSPs.

Evolve into cloud native operations

The ultimate goal in this transformation journey is to create a fully cloud native operation, where the best of IT is merged with the needs of telecom. This is pivotal in positioning our industry as a driver of future value creation not only for CSPs, but for our customers as well. This will require an industry-wide journey of collaboration, where we work together to become an important and contributing part of the ICT value chain.

Building a cloud native 5G Core | Guide series

Explore and navigate the different domains that will be impacted throughout the transformation journey to a cloud native 5G Core.

Explore the guides

As the telecom industry continues to shift toward 5G and cloud native, CSPs need more than just technology: they need a trusted partner who can provide strategic guidance and deliver proven results.

Ericsson is a frontrunner in bringing cloud native technologies to CSP customers and has created a set of principles specifically made for telecom applications based on microservices, containers and state optimized design. These design principles serve as the foundation of our industry leading infrastructure solutions: fully optimized for hosting cloud native 5G applications.

From supporting Swisscom in transitioning from virtual to cloud based operations, to running Ericsson 5G Core on bare-metal with SK Telecom, we have broken new ground and know what it takes to make cloud native work.

What could cloud native mean for you? | Video | 2 min.