Legacy System Modernization
Todd Masters, MBA
Helping Small Business Owners DOMINATE their local markets by optimizing their Time, Team, Money & Strategy so they can work ON their business, not IN their business.
This is part 2 of 7 in my series on Cutting Through the Technical Debt: Strategies for Telecommunications Operators
Legacy system modernization is a process of upgrading or replacing outdated software, hardware, or infrastructure to improve business operations, enhance customer experiences, and increase organizational agility. In the context of the telecommunications industry, legacy systems refer to the aging technology infrastructure that has been used for many years to support key business operations such as billing, customer relationship management, and network management and infrastructure.
The Need to Modernize
The need for legacy system modernization arises from several factors such as:
1.Technological Obsolescence: Legacy systems often use outdated technologies and programming languages that are no longer supported or maintained, making it difficult to add new features or integrate with newer technologies.
Technological obsolescence is a major contributor to technical debt in the telecommunications industry. As technology evolves and advances, older systems and technologies can become outdated and unsupported, requiring costly upgrades or replacements to maintain compatibility with newer systems.
In the telecommunications industry, technological obsolescence can impact a range of systems and components, including network infrastructure, IT systems, and customer-facing services. For example, as the industry moves towards virtualized network infrastructure using SDN and NFV, older hardware-based systems can become obsolete and require replacement. Similarly, older IT systems and software may no longer be supported by their vendors, requiring costly upgrades or migrations to newer systems.
The impact of technological obsolescence on technical debt can be significant. Outdated systems and technologies can require more maintenance and support, consume more resources, and increase the risk of downtime and outages. In addition, they may limit the ability of telecommunications operators to introduce new services and features, reducing their competitiveness in the market.
To address the challenge of technological obsolescence, telecommunications operators must stay abreast of new and emerging technologies, plan for their adoption and integration into their systems, and develop a roadmap for the replacement or upgrade of outdated systems and technologies. This requires careful planning, coordination, and investment, but can ultimately lead to greater efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness in the industry.
2. Scalability and Performance: Legacy systems may not be designed to handle the growing demands of customers and businesses, resulting in poor performance and scalability issues.
Scalability refers to the ability of a system to handle increasing levels of traffic and demand without degradation in performance or reliability. In the telecommunications industry, scalability is critical to support the growing number of connected devices, the increasing use of bandwidth-intensive applications, and the demand for faster and more reliable connections.
Performance refers to the ability of a system to deliver fast and reliable services to customers. In the telecommunications industry, performance is critical to ensure that customers have access to high-quality voice and data services, as well as the ability to access content and services quickly and efficiently.
To ensure scalability and performance, telecommunications operators must invest in modern and advanced network infrastructure and systems. This may include the adoption of technologies such as SDN and NFV, which enable greater network flexibility and scalability, as well as the migration to cloud-based systems that offer greater performance and reliability.
3. Security and Compliance: Legacy systems may not meet modern security standards and regulations, putting the organization at risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Modernizing legacy systems requires a careful approach to ensure that security and compliance are not compromised in the process. Operators must carefully assess the security risks and compliance requirements associated with legacy systems and develop a comprehensive plan for modernization that addresses these risks and requirements.
One approach to modernizing legacy systems while ensuring security and compliance is to adopt a phased approach. This involves identifying critical systems and data and prioritizing their modernization based on the level of risk they pose. In some cases, it may be necessary to migrate data and systems to a completely new infrastructure to ensure compliance with modern security and regulatory requirements.
Another approach is to leverage modern security technologies and solutions to secure legacy systems. This may involve implementing advanced security measures such as intrusion detection and prevention systems, firewalls, and encryption to protect legacy systems from cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a new approach to network security that is gaining traction in the telecommunications industry. SASE combines networking and security functions into a single cloud-based platform, providing secure access to applications and services from any device or location.
SASE addresses the challenge of security in the telecommunications industry by providing a unified approach to security that is easy to manage and scale. SASE incorporates a range of security functions, such as firewall, VPN, and intrusion prevention, into a single platform, enabling telecommunications operators to provide secure access to applications and services from any location, while also ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Benefits (credit to Captain Obvious): Modernizing legacy systems can bring several benefits to telecommunication companies, including:
How to do this? To modernize legacy systems, telecommunication companies can consider several approaches, including:
Important Industry Trend: OpenRAN and OpenSource technology:
ORAN (Open Radio Access Network) and open source technologies are playing an increasingly important role in modernizing legacy systems in the telecommunications industry. These technologies are helping to overcome some of the challenges associated with legacy systems, such as vendor lock-in, lack of flexibility, and high costs.?I will discuss these trends in more detail when I talk about network virtualization, but it is important to bring them up with regards to modernization efforts.
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ORAN is an open and disaggregated architecture for radio access networks, which enables greater flexibility and scalability in the deployment of wireless networks. ORAN allows telecommunications operators to deploy radio access network equipment from different vendors and to mix and match hardware and software components, creating a more flexible and scalable network architecture.
Open source software is another key technology for modernizing legacy systems. Open source software is software that is available to the public for use, modification, and distribution. By leveraging open source software, telecommunications operators can gain access to community-driven, innovative technologies and solutions, while also avoiding vendor lock-in and reducing costs.
One example of the use of open source software in the telecommunications industry is the adoption of OpenStack, an open source platform for building and managing cloud infrastructure. By adopting OpenStack, telecommunications operators can build their own cloud infrastructure and avoid the high costs associated with proprietary cloud platforms.
Overall, ORAN and open source technologies are important tools for modernizing legacy systems in the telecommunications industry. By adopting these technologies, operators can improve network flexibility and scalability, reduce costs, and gain access to community-driven, innovative technologies and solutions.
What about AI/ML?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming increasingly important in the telecommunications industry. AI/ML technologies can be leveraged to improve network performance, optimize network resources, and enhance the customer experience.
One area where AI/ML is being used is in network optimization. AI/ML algorithms can be used to analyze network traffic patterns, predict network failures, and optimize network resources. This can help telecommunications operators to reduce network downtime, improve network performance, and enhance the customer experience.
I’ll cover the role of AI/ML in more detail in the Automation and Process Optimization sections, although AI and ML is becoming increasingly relevant in all areas of the telecom ecosystem.
INDUSTRY LEADERS IN MODERNIZATION EFFORTS:
One could argue that all vendors in the communications ecosystem are an industry leader in modernization, I am going to list the ones I have had recent contact and conversation with that specialize in legacy system modernization services for telecommunication companies. If you are a reader and believe your company should be included, please add them via the comments!?Here is my short list of the companies I have been following and involved with that I believe are industry leaders in this effort include:
MODERNIZATION SUCCESS STORIES:
#Syniverse: Syniverse is working with global network operators to sunset 3G networks and help telecommunication companies to migrate to VoLTE roaming with their new Evolved Mobility solution.?There is still over 2 BILLION 3G connections in operation around the world!?Evolving these legacy networks and working with operators to do it in a seamless method is critical and Syniverse is leading this initiative.
AT&T: AT&T worked with IBM to modernize their customer-facing applications, which had been running on a legacy mainframe system. #IBM helped AT&T migrate their applications to a cloud-based environment and modernize their development processes. As a result, AT&T was able to improve the speed and reliability of their customer-facing applications, while also reducing their operating costs.
#Telstra: Telstra, a telecommunications company in Australia, worked with #Infosys to modernize their billing systems, which were running on a legacy mainframe system. Infosys helped Telstra migrate their billing systems to a cloud-based environment and modernize their processes for managing customer data. As a result, Telstra was able to improve the accuracy and timeliness of their billing processes, while also reducing their operating costs.
#Orange: Orange, a telecommunications company in Europe, worked with #Capgemini to modernize their network operations center (NOC) systems, which were running on a legacy mainframe system. Capgemini helped Orange migrate their NOC systems to a modern, cloud-based environment and implement automation tools to improve their network operations. As a result, Orange was able to improve the efficiency and reliability of their network operations, while also reducing their operating costs.
#Amdocs: Amdocs helped AT&T modernize its network operations, including introducing new software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies. This enabled AT&T to improve network flexibility and reduce the time and cost required for network deployment and management.
These success stories demonstrate that legacy system modernization projects can provide significant benefits to telecommunications companies, including improved efficiency, reliability, and cost savings.
In conclusion, legacy system modernization is an important initiative for telecommunication companies to improve their business operations, enhance customer experiences, and increase organizational agility. This is a very complex initiative and is also well served by channel partners and System Integrators that work closely to modernize and supply carriers with the people, the technology, and the capability to execute modernization efforts.?By considering the benefits and approaches to modernizing legacy systems, telecommunication companies can develop a strategy that best fits their unique needs and goals.
Next Post: Automation and Orchestration
About me: I am the guy that has been gifted with the opportunity to work for over 20 years in this constantly evolving ecosystem in multiple roles that has provided me with experience and insight to nearly the entire value chain of the communications industry. I have served as a customer advocate helping my customers find the most cost effective and efficient solutions to deliver value and a clear path to success. Contact me if I can help.
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1 年IT legacy modernization can be an open-ended journey to streamline process efficiency, improve business performance, and create new ways of serving customers. This guide: https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/legacy-system-modernization/ walks you through the technical approaches available to legacy system modernization, as well as steps your business can take to modernize.