Grant Lenahan, Partner and Principal Analyst We’re on our way to virtualization – primarily NFV and SDN, but where are we in terms of real benefits? Are we on track? Where do we need to focus? Appledore Research Group spoke to several Tier-1 CSPs and suppliers (more to come) and so far they have validated both our hopes and our concerns. We believe that major opex, capex and agility benefits are possible, and that automation is absolutely essential. So far that hope has been confirmed – CSP leadership is on board. We also believe that the journey, and especially the implementation of management platforms, is only partially complete, with several limiting factors that we will itemize below. That concern has also been validated (more by CSPs than by suppliers, naturally). Summary: we are on the right track, but still far from the point where most operational, performance and capital utilization benefits accrue. Over the past month or so I have had the privilege to speak with senior technology executives at leading CSPs. I’ve also been privy to many discussions from suppliers that were documenting their progress – on everything from existing product lines to how to view AT&T’s ECOMP open-source […]