How service providers can benefit from cloud-native telecom development

Technologies in the IT field do not stand still. The pace of improvement in tools that enable developers to create better products is constantly accelerating. At the same time, standards and approaches to work are changing — the time frame for bringing a finished product to market is decreasing, and the quality bar is steadily increasing. 

Fortunately, telecom software development companies have found a simple and effective way to speed up processes without sacrificing quality. We are talking about cloud services. This is not just a set of new technologies, but a certain model for the organisation and use of information systems. The cloud offers many advantages and conveniences for service providers. Let’s take a closer look at them.

#1 Enhanced scalability

Computing systems often face heavy loads. Also, cloud technologies fall under this. Systems are expanded in order to suit user needs and optimise operation. Innovative software resources are used to adjust performance to customer requests. The most effective technology is scaling.

Adding computing resources improves system performance. Both software and hardware upgrades fall under this. To do this, existing code is rewritten.

Cloud resources are scaled using:

Vertical extensions

The overall capacity of processes increases by improving the efficiency of internal resources. These are such hardware as memory, processors, and disks.

Horizontal extensions

More nodes are added to increase the computational resources. This scaling option is necessary when the digital load and traffic are rapidly growing, and the underlying architecture cannot cope with increased requests and fails.

Diagonal extensions

This innovative method is used in cases where the stability and efficiency of internal processes cannot ensure horizontal expansion. Simultaneous bilateral enlargement is performed — horizontally enlarged nodes are vertically expanded.

How can you create maximum scalability? Clustering is a very resource-efficient method for improving system performance. The system divides and groups servers into clusters and containers. It’s also worth paying attention to caching. Horizontal scaling cannot simply cache multiple components, that’s why optimisation is done using hardened storage.

#2 Improved agility 

Employees from various companies have been gradually moving from offices to home, and remote work has become widespread with the spread of the coronavirus. Cloud platforms are initially focused on remote access to the services they provide, so companies practicing remote employment schemes will not have to rebuild when switching to using such platforms.

#3 Faster time-to-market

20% of products whose launch was delayed for various reasons do not achieve their stated goals. The increase in time-to-market has a negative impact on business: during development, competitors can launch an analog and collect all the cream from the market.

Accelerating the development of your digital services is one strategy to lower time-to-market. For this, DevOps is used — a special development approach that helps automate work processes. Developers deploy code 2–10 times faster in about 83% of cases after applying DevOps, according to GitLab.

Developers, testers, and administrators share responsibility for a given area when using a DevOps method. They collaborate on the product, exchanging code with one other almost instantly. Thanks to this, the team releases IT products faster and reacts more flexibly to changes — for example, it can quickly make changes to the code.

Development automation is closely related to cloud solutions: 96% of companies with a high level of DevOps use a cloud-native approach to development, compared to only 24% of the laggards.

The cloud is popular in DevOps because it offers pre-configured development tools such as: 

• Databases
• Testing environments
• Continuous integration
• Delivery solutions, etc. 

The development team does not need to assemble everything from scratch; they take ready-made tools, customise them, and get to work.

#4 Cost efficiency

Cost efficiency is ensured by reducing the costs of the following: 

• Purchasing and repairing equipment
• Software licensing
• The salaries of specialists who provide technical support 

An essential part of the cost is the need for backup. This calls for the availability of extra resources as well as the proper equipment. In most cases, cloud providers take on all these tasks themselves. 

Also, efficiency is increased by automating several routine processes. The cloud helps schedule many standard procedures, such as backups, compression, or clearing caches. They can be carried out without the assistance of a person.

#5 Enhanced reliability and resilience

Fault tolerance in IT infrastructure is the ability of a system to continue normal operation even in the event of: 

• Partial failures
• Unexpected errors
• Failure of individual system elements

This means that even if failures occur in individual parts of the IT system, they do not entail a stop of the entire service. In a highly resilient system, these kinds of issues are recognised and fixed automatically. They have no effect on the availability or general performance of the system.

A multi-tier system is often used to improve the efficiency of cloud storage. This method makes the assumption that not all data are in equal demand. Therefore, it is necessary to vary the access activity and store files at different levels.

There can be huge resource savings by establishing a data hierarchy. Cheaper resources can be used for low-activity and unused files. Information that is likely to be needed in the near future will be stored at a more productive level. If necessary, you can automatically or manually configure file availability and distribute the load on cloud services.

Compared to hosting databases on actual hardware, this method makes more sense. Additional fault tolerance of cloud servers is achieved through disaster tolerance. Even in the event that the entire data center fails, the cloud will keep working. But, as a rule, cataclysms happen extremely rarely, so such a scenario can be called unlikely.

Furthermore, greater fault tolerance in cloud storage is achieved via the latest replication methods. Also, this ensures data mobility, as well as the ability to transfer resources from one server to another without stopping actual access.

The cloud is most often based on several tier III data center servers. The tier III level allows for almost complete fault tolerance of the physical infrastructure, which in turn increases the availability of cloud storage.

Additionally, the principle of geographical distribution of the cloud can be applied. In this case, the storage is based on two independent sites that are located at a distance from each other. For example, these could be data centers of the same supplier in different cities. A geo-distribution cluster is deployed based on data centers.

The data center contains communication provider points, ensuring the best connection quality. You may always rapidly reconstruct routing and connect to the network through alternate providers in the case that one provider shuts off your connection.

#6 Better customer experience

Customer experience is not a list of actions. It’s a feeling. It’s the opinion that people have about your brand after interacting with you. Every interaction provides an opportunity to improve — or damage — that relationship. Thus, it is crucial to preserve any favorable impressions that clients may have of your business. You should make it a top priority. 

The accessibility of cloud technologies is a major benefit. Cloud applications are available from anywhere and on any device with Internet access. As a result, clients are much more satisfied because they may use the business’s services and goods whenever and wherever they want.

Solutions in the cloud are scalable, so you can change resources fast and easily. This implies that services will run smoothly and uninterrupted at times of high demand, which will have a direct impact on the client experience. Because of the pace at which cloud development updates and improves its offerings, you may add new features and changes to products and services fast and maintain client satisfaction and interest.

Analytics and monitoring technologies are frequently included in cloud solutions. Companies can swiftly detect and fix issues with their assistance. This enables you to give clients better and faster service. Their experience with the good or service is enhanced by this strategy. Also, cloud platforms support integration with various data and analytics systems. It helps you better comprehend the tastes and actions of your customers. The creation of individualised offers and services is possible with the usage of this knowledge.

#7 Innovation enablement

Today, the cloud is both a force for innovation and a great tool for quickly sharing it with the world. Companies can easily rent the necessary capacity and technology to test and work with breakthrough ideas in the fields of the Internet of Things, VR, AR, XR, and others.

Cloud technologies are flexible, which is one of its key advantages. Cloud platforms allow you to quickly develop, test, and launch new ideas and products. This shortens the time it takes for a concept to become a commercial product since businesses can react swiftly to shifts in the market and client needs.

#8 Security and compliance

Since telecommunications is closely related to personal data and payments, information security plays a very important role in this area. Cloud platforms provide advanced encryption capabilities. Telecom businesses can now safeguard critical data thanks to this. 

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a feature that clouds provide to limit user access to systems and stop illegal activity. These include the following:

• Multi-factor authentication 
• Single sign-on
• Configuration of group policies 

You may now manage access and keep an eye on everything that is done. Most cloud IAM solutions also provide seamless integration with existing identity services and third-party authentication providers. Processes for managing users are made simpler while security is raised.

The issue of meeting all regulations pertaining to the processing of personal data, information storage security, and leak prevention is resolved in this way. Some cloud platforms offer built-in features such as data masking and tokenisation. Anonymisation of personal data improves privacy. Solving this problem in a local infrastructure environment is often impossible or too expensive.

What challenges might service providers face?

Despite its many benefits, the adoption of cloud technologies faces several challenges and complexities that require careful consideration and a strategic approach. The majority of companies’ experiences have led to the identification of the following major difficulties:

Dependence on the quality of the internet connection

Strong and fast internet access is necessary for cloud computing. Issues with the network might lower availability and performance.

Solutions:

• Network optimisation
• Backup communication channels
• Local caching

Integration with existing systems

For many companies, implementing cloud technologies means integrating with existing information systems. Because of variations in structure, data formats, and protocols, this process may be difficult.

Solutions:

• APIs and integration standards
• Centralised data management
• Cloud integration platforms

Dependence on third-party suppliers

The choice of cloud provider significantly impacts the success of the implementation. Companies may fall into dependency of a single supplier. It makes them vulnerable to changes.  

Solutions:

• Multi-cloud strategy
• Data backup
• Service level agreements 

Conclusion

Cloud technologies allow you to solve business problems more flexibly and optimise costs — budget, time, and staff workload. Clouds for developers are a modern solution for IT problems of any complexity. There is much to be stated for such technology’s benefits. These include, among many other things, flexibility in hardware setup and physical data protection.

The main indicator of trust in such services lies in statistics: According to recent surveys, about 82% of IT developers have used and continue to use cloud infrastructure in critical projects, and these figures will definitely continue to grow.

Tags: cloud, development, telecoms