Summary Bullets:

• Cost efficiencies and support for existing services continue to dominate carrier thinking around SDN and NFV deployment.
• Monetizing SDN and NFV investments (making money from them), if not top of mind for all carriers, is a priority nevertheless.
• Going forward, as funding for long-term SDN and NFV transformations continues, monetization will become increasingly important.
• While many vendors struggle with spelling out solid ways in which NFV can help operators make money from new services, Cisco has managed to provide a few, solid, early examples.

It is not easy to tie NFV directly to new service revenues for carriers.

Trust me on this one; after enough conversations where vendors struggle to explain NFV monetization, I know just how difficult the story is. The link between NFV and CapEx savings is clear, if debatable: think COTS equipment and cheaper functions. The link between NFV and OpEx savings is clear: think new, streamlined operations and service automation. The link between NFV and new service revenues? That one’s a little tougher. Continue reading “Cisco’s Latest ESP Evolution = Sixth Sense for NFV Monetization Mandate” →