Dell’s New Telecom-Focused Offerings Simplify 5G Deployments

Just ahead of this week’s Mobile World Congress, Dell Technologies introduced several new offerings designed to simplify the deployment of advanced 5G solutions by communication service providers.

The new offerings center around the Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite, which automates the management and orchestration of a CSP's network infrastructure. The new suite also sits at the center of Dell's Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat update.

Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite

The Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite is an advanced solution designed to address the modern challenges communication service providers face, particularly the need to innovate and control costs amidst ever-increasing network data volumes.

Dell's new comprehensive suite enables CSPs to seamlessly automate the management and orchestration of their entire network infrastructure, encompassing compute, storage, networking, and cloud resources. The solution meets the demands of cloud-native infrastructures that involve a diverse mix of multi-vendor software and hardware.

By combining the simplicity of integrated stacks with the agility of open, cloud-native networks, the suite provides a balanced approach to network transformation. It allows for the automation of open telecom networks, streamlining processes across various network layers with the help of plugins, APIs, and TOSCA-based blueprints. These blueprints facilitate declarative automation, ensuring that automation intents are portable and easy to use across different environments.

Moreover, the suite introduces a single management and orchestration plane that consolidates control over Container as a Service (CaaS) and physical network layers, simplifying the management of complex multi-cloud environments. Its open architecture is designed for extensibility, allowing for straightforward integration with various network environments and evolving requirements.

The core capabilities that the suite brings to CSPs are numerous. They include automated workflow implementation to reduce manual errors, configuration drift detection, telemetry aggregation for AI Ops-enhanced service assurance, and lifecycle management for efficient resource consumption. Collectively, these features work towards minimizing operational expenses and promoting scalability across extensive networks.

Recognizing the complexities of integrating such a comprehensive automation solution, Dell provides extensive support services from design to deployment and ongoing management. The Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite is a robust and flexible toolset that empowers CSPs to deploy and manage their network cloud infrastructure efficiently, enhancing their capacity for innovation and cost control in a competitive digital landscape.

Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat 2.0

Dell Technologies has enhanced its Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat to support telecommunications operators better with the deployment and scaling of modern telecom networks, particularly for 5G. This solution simplifies the transition to cloud-native network infrastructures for communication service providers by reducing the complexity of building and deploying a 5G core network.

The infrastructure blocks streamline the transformation of 5G networks by offering pre-loaded, pre-integrated, and pre-validated cloud platform software on Dell hardware. This approach facilitates a more straightforward implementation process, providing a unified architecture that reduces compatibility and support issues.

Tailored specifically for 5G core networks and RANs, these blocks are co-engineered by Dell Technologies and Red Hat, ensuring a cloud foundation for 5G Core workloads running Red Hat OpenShift on bare metal.

Key benefits include simplifying network transformation, automation, and resource pooling for flexibility, new lab services for performance validation, and a single point of service and support from Dell.

The new update introduces significant advancements such as integration with the Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite, declarative automation, an extensible automation framework with rich APIs, aggregated infrastructure telemetry, enhanced server performance with Dell PowerEdge 16G servers, energy-efficient features, NEBS 3 compliance, and a future-proof design.

These improvements address the challenges of deploying and scaling 5G networks by providing a robust, streamlined solution that leverages advanced automation and server technology and focuses on energy efficiency and adaptability.

Analyst’s Take

Nearly every OEM competes for a place in the growing 5G-enabled telecom space. Beyond Dell's announcements, HPE announced new collaborations in the 5G service provider space. While Lenovo didn’t announce anything new, it’s also a strong competitor in the telecom service provider market with offerings like its “5G-in-a-Box” solution.

Dell’s introduction of its Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite is noteworthy, underscoring the company's commitment to easing the complexity of deploying advanced 5G solutions for communication service providers. It also shows that the company understands that the telecom market demands a full stack of software-driven solutions.

The new automation suite is a comprehensive solution addressing the contemporary challenges CSPs face, such as the necessity to innovate rapidly while managing costs in an environment characterized by burgeoning network data volumes. Dell's suite holistically automates network infrastructure orchestration, critical as CSPs navigate the shift to cloud-native infrastructures, increasingly relying on a heterogeneous mix of software and hardware from multiple vendors.

The emphasis on simplifying management through automation and using TOSCA-based blueprints for declarative automation shows that Dell understands the operational challenges in maintaining diverse multi-cloud environments. By offering a unified management and orchestration plane, Dell is streamlining operations and positioning CSPs to manage resource lifecycles better, reduce manual errors, and enhance service assurance through AI Ops.

The updates to Dell's Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat signify a robust collaboration that aims to deliver a seamless transition to cloud-native network infrastructures critical for deploying and scaling 5G networks.

The pre-loaded, pre-integrated, and pre-validated nature of these blocks on Dell hardware answers the industry's demand for solutions that mitigate compatibility and support issues inherent in such complex transformations.

The integration of these infrastructure blocks with the Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite, along with advancements like energy-efficient features and NEBS 3 compliance, lay at the heart of Dell's forward-thinking approach.

Dell’s most recent announcements make it clear that the company is a strategic player in the telecom sector. Dell is making the right moves, such as providing CSPs with a toolkit that brings efficiency, scalability, and innovation to their operations. These solutions will substantially lower the barriers to 5G deployment, offering Dell a competitive edge in a market at the cusp of exponential growth driven by the global rollout of 5G technology.

Disclosure: Steve McDowell is an industry analyst, and NAND Research is an industry analyst firm that engages in, or has engaged in, research, analysis and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. Mr. McDowell does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.