Intelligent management for the networks of tomorrow

Network management

Telecom is an increasingly complex landscape of high expectations, evolving security threats and unprecedented levels of data and traffic generated by billions of connected devices. Intelligent network management makes handling day-to-day operations simpler, so you can focus on the big picture – securing, serving and scaling business opportunities.

Network management is a broad topic, covering a wide range of activities and operations, from deploying and activating a secure network to upgrading and ensuring everything is running smoothly and efficiently.

This process of administrating, managing and operating a public or private network involves using a network management system (NMS) to monitor performance, maintain reliability, control security and manage access to data or parts of the network. These systems manage network configurations, automate tasks, perform software upgrades, track usage and bandwidth and help identify and troubleshoot issues. The ultimate goal? A network that’s always up and delivering at its best.

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Why is it so important?

As digital transformation continues and communication service providers (CSPs) transition to 5G and beyond to meet growing consumer expectations, networks are becoming increasingly data-intense, dense and complex. We’re seeing a shift toward openness and multi-vendor environments, new network infrastructures with technologies such as network slicing, heightened security risks and a rise in latency-critical devices, generating massive amounts of data.

This changing environment makes simplifying and automating operations and managing networks securely, intelligently and efficiently more crucial than ever. To deliver more than best-effort connectivity and leverage new opportunities from technologies like the Internet of Things and immersive reality use cases, robust network management systems are a must. Essentially, advanced network management is vital for navigating the complexities of today’s digital landscape.

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Effective mobile network management involves managing and overseeing a number of primary functions and areas.

Network deployment and monitoring

When deploying new network elements, or introducing new functionalities and technologies, having the right tools is crucial so you can access what you need to know, when you need to know it. Bring all your network and component data together to monitor the activity you’re interested in in real-time – from bandwidth and latency to energy consumption and software upgrades.

Fault management and maintenance

Downtime in networks can mean big impacts – on costs, customer experience and even lives. To ensure reliable connectivity, it’s critical to identify and locate problems as they occur, so they can be resolved quickly – or even better, use intelligent fault management to predict them before they happen.

Security and access management

Network security is about always staying one step ahead – either of threat actors looking for vulnerabilities or users being able to access data or components they shouldn’t. Network management ensures your network is protected from evolving threats with full control over access and up-to-date security measures.

Network automation and orchestration

Work smarter, not harder! On the road to the zero-touch operations of the future, automation is key. Advanced network management enables you to leverage your network data plus the power of AI and network automation to optimize your operations and deliver next-level service orchestration.

Network performance management

As network slicing enables differentiated connectivity and tiered, service-based offerings, understanding how your network is performing on a granular level will become more important than ever. This can even extend beyond tracking performance indicators, to managing and adapting network configurations dynamically to better deliver on business goals.

What are the trials facing CSPs?

1. Increased complexity on the road to future networks

We’ve already mentioned the complexity of managing large and diverse networks as a central concern when it comes to network management. Overseeing so many devices, components and applications efficiently is no easy task, and things are only expected to grow more complex as 5G Advanced rolls out and we continue the journey toward Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN).

2. Countering evolving cybersecurity risks

With increasing openness, network exposure and greater integration with ICT systems in the telecom security landscape, the number of threat vectors for attacks also grow. To counter the ever-present threat of attacks and minimize cybersecurity risks, a range of network management capabilities need to be engaged - data, monitoring, access control and authentication plus automation and real-time responsiveness.

3. Energy management

For CSPs, energy costs have traditionally represented up to forty percent of total operating expenditure – their largest cost factor. Simultaneously, environmental sustainability goals and efforts to reduce carbon footprints are increasingly prioritized. With the arrival of 5G, it is business-critical that service providers reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, without compromising on network performance.

4. Scalability and flexibility

Networks, industry digitalization and consumer needs are all evolving rapidly, making scalability and flexibility key factors. Network management systems need to not only support legacy systems and components, but also be flexible and future-proof, taking a continuous improvement approach so they can be easily upgraded and expanded to meet future needs – including Open RAN and multi-vendor environments.

On-premise vs cloud-based network management

On-premise network management

It is where all hardware and software are located on-site, giving companies full control over their network and data. As everything is managed internally close by, it allows for high customization, low latency and strong security. It is ideal for manufacturing or industrial enterprises and mission-critical use cases, but comes with greater costs for hardware, maintenance and staffing.

Cloud-based network management

It is hosted remotely by a provider, offering more flexibility, lower upfront cost and ready scalability due to the lack of on-site deployment. It operates on a subscription model, making it more cost-efficient. However, companies have less direct control over the infrastructure and configuration, latency can be higher and data is stored off-site, which may raise security concerns.

Benefits of intelligent network management

Technology transformation

AI and automation enable CSPs to continuously optimize end-to-end processes of both legacy- and new infrastructures, driving continuous technological transformation of the network and connecting enterprise.

Accelerate new service creation

Through automated agile resourcing, intelligent network management balances time-to-market with enhanced security, performance and reliability of new applications – allowing service providers to be first to roll out new services.

Grow revenue

Strategic and technological agility will be key to driving growth of existing business and new revenue streams on the network. This is underpinned by an ability to integrate faster with new applications, as well as managing new business-customized network slicing technologies.

Real-time, closed-loop automation

Always-on optimization technologies are intelligently engineered to adapt network performance and evolution based on business goals, delivering true balance between new traffic demands and total cost of ownership.

Improve customer experience

Through advanced machine learning capabilities on live networks, together with aggregated insights, service providers can be first to anticipate future customer needs and already begin to deliver tomorrow’s personalized experience today.

Manage threats in real time

Based on intelligent and automated technologies, complete end-to-end solutions are critical for detecting, monitoring, and managing threats using real-time risk visibility and automated resolutions – delivering robust security from device to cloud.

Reduce energy consumption

By leveraging real-time and automated intelligent site management for their energy infrastructure operations, service providers can optimize energy use and ensure the highest levels of energy efficiency and availability, while improving network up-time and saving on operational expenditure.

See what’s possible when cutting-edge technology is employed for energy management.

Today’s network management solutions leverage AI and automation to handle the increasing complexity of network infrastructures and deliver new enterprise and consumer opportunities from Industry 4.0. But this isn’t a one-way relationship. These same solutions are key for collecting and collating all the network data, configurations and components required to enable the training and use of such intelligent technologies.

When large volumes of network data are brought together in real-time, AI can analyze them to monitor patterns, detect and predict events that require action, and provide a suitable solution automatically. The technology then learns and adapts over time, ensuring robust automated network operations with significantly lower operational costs and less chance of human error.

Learn more about network automation | Explore the use of AI in networks

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Effective network management requires various components and technologies to work together to ensure efficient network operations. The most important element is a network management system (NMS), which provides centralized control and monitoring of the network and systems.

This often integrates or is complemented by tools to:

track performance
detect faults
offer real-time insights
conduct analytics or utilize AI and machine learning for decision-making
control specific automation like the streamlining of repetitive tasks such as provisioning and updates
introduce cloud integration for seamless management of both cloud-based and on-premise infrastructure.

A powerful, unified foundation for managing networks

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Ericsson Network Manager (ENM)

Built to tackle all the challenges and considerations of modern networks, ENM enables all technologies (and their evolution) to be managed and controlled securely in a single view. It offers a strong yet flexible foundation for robust network management, incorporating all the essential ingredients for success. This entirely unified NMS has been developed over years to create a powerful tool that is fully aligned with 3GPP standards and changing network requirements, including for private networks.

Advanced functionality for intelligent automation

Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP)

EIAP offers much more than a simple Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) tool. It takes a holistic approach to managing even the most complex requirements, seamlessly integrating multiple components including Ericsson Network Manager, Ericsson Orchestrator and Ericsson Intelligent Controller plus its own software development toolkit (SDK) to open up a world of opportunity for the automation and optimization of networks through third party integrations and rApps.

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Ericsson Orchestrator

A comprehensive suite of modules which enables automation and supports the orchestration of resources and services in virtualized and hybrid networks for both telecom and enterprise.

Ericsson Intelligent Controller

A non-real-time radio intelligent controller for running radio network applications (rApps) – the first of its kind Open-RAN-aligned SMO solution to be successfully launched commercially.

Ericsson Network IQ

A performance management application for multi-vendor and multi-technology environments, collecting and processing data for use in performance reporting and resource planning.

Managed Network Services

Allow us to manage your network operations and optimization leveraging the power of Ericsson Network Manager, while you concentrate on core activities while maintaining a reliable and secure infrastructure.

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Market leading technology

In the telecom industry, network management generally falls under network resource orchestration, where GlobalData listed Ericsson as a global leader according to their recent Competitive Landscape Assessment. The Ericsson Automation Portfolio (including EIAP components such as Ericsson Network Manager and Ericsson Orchestrator) was rated market leader in functional capabilities, lifecycle automation and production experience – a reflection of our years of innovation and experience in improving these solutions.

Innovation and industry leadership

To realize our vision of fully open and zero touch future networks, we are always innovating ways to improve efficiency and performance and support new use cases – whether through technology or partnership within the wider telecom and ICT ecosystems. We also utilize a Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) model for our software development, all of which is fully aligned with industry standards such as 3GPP and O-RAN which we’ve been actively involved in developing as part of our telecom standardization leadership.

Simplified end-to-end solutions

While our solutions are ready for multi-vendor environments and openness, there are significant advantages to a one-vendor stack. Benefit from greater efficiency and simpler lifecycle management, plus systems that are ready to go, with industry standard processes and solutions that enable seamless integration. Plus, if you should encounter a problem, you can enjoy the convenience of a single point of contact for support.

The path to a sustainable, secure and scalable network for the future

Learn how Ericsson Network Manager is helping meet the demands of scalable, secure, and sustainable networks. Join us to explore this future-proof choice for communication service providers, ensuring high integrity, low cost, and adaptability.

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Intelligent management for the networks of tomorrow

Network management