How to make sure your OSS is ready for 5G?

The 5G era is starting, and preparing for its challenges has become a priority for the telecoms. The first step is to make your OSS ready for the increasing complexity of the network infrastructure. How to do that? Here’s a brief guide

Not that long ago, we would consider the 5G technology of the future – but now it’s turning into reality! For the consumers, this transformation means more comfort than ever – the speed of the transfer is even 20 times faster than in 4G! 5G stands out with its lower latency and higher capacity, opening a chapter of a new digital era.

On the business level, the situation is slightly different. Even though 5G creates many business opportunities for the telecom companies (like improved performance and security), they come with challenges. This new generation network requires them to extend their existing network infrastructure. Adding new elements to it enhances the level of complexity, making it harder for the telcom companies to manage their networks. However, with optimized operational support systems, they can handle this transformation, providing the best experience to the customers.

When switching from 4G to 5G, it’s worth verifying your system in terms of the aspects listed below.

#1 Does your OSS BSS support intent-based networking?

To effectively manage the software-defined network inventory, you should be able to send detailed requirements to controllers. When preparing for the 5G transformation, make sure your OSS supports intent-based networking, automating the administrative tasks with machine learning and network orchestration.

#2 Is your network using a network slicing approach?

When switching to 5G, it’s essential to eliminate delays in service delivery with network slicing management and orchestration. You can divide your network into slices to make your system customer-service-driven. Each slice can cover a particular service, like the Internet of Things or mass data streaming.

The network slicing approach allows you to segment your services and manage them via an intuitive catalog. It’s worth teaming up with a partner that has optimized the system’s architecture in line with this approach.

#3 Is your network able to self-heal?

Since the complexity of the network increases with the 5G elements, it becomes harder to control all of it. Automation enables the system to fix the detected issues in the business support systems and operations support systems automatically without manual intervention. Such fault management helps with preventing long-term network outages.

Leading software providers have already prepared their OSS products for this new era, including all the features and approaches described above in their systems. Make sure to choose those who apply the technology neutral architecture in system design to maximize your benefits.