NewsUC&C28 Feb 2023 · 5 min read

Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus Now in Public Preview

Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus is now in public preview, giving CSPs hybrid cloud, vRAN, 5G, AI and observability tools.

Jonny Wills

Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus public preview

Microsoft has announced the public preview of its next-generation cloud platform Azure Operator Nexus.

Operator Nexus is designed for CSPs (communications service providers) performing network functions such as packet core, virtual radio access network (vRAN), subscriber data management and billing policy. The platform has been in private preview since MWC in 2022.

Operator Nexus is a first-party Microsoft product with features such as Mariner Linux, Hybrid AKS, Arc, and more in security, lifecycle management, and observability. Microsoft services for DevOps and automation are set to continue.

Jason Zander, Executive Vice President, Strategic Missions and Technologies Microsoft, stated:

"We’ve expanded the capabilities of Operator Nexus to meet the needs of operators looking to modernise and transform their network."

Zander elaborated on Microsoft's commitment; he said: "Our aim is to be the most trusted co-innovation partner through every stage of the digital evolution, committed to working with communications service providers (CSPs), enterprises, developers, and ISVs alike on the future of a ubiquitous cloud that unlocks the true potential of modern connected apps."

Trillion-Dollar Market Impacted by the Cloud

Potentially, trillions of dollars are going to be impacted by the cloud by 2030 across Fortune 500 firms, according to management and organisation theory specialists McKinsey Quarterly.

According to Zander, the future of the cloud will look very different than today. Zander predicted its shape: "It will expand to become a highly distributed fabric, spanning 5G to space. It will be powered by a modern network infrastructure. It will enable a new application and connectivity paradigm — modern connected apps — that puts compute even closer to the problems we must solve."

He continued: "This new generation of highly distributed, low latency, and network-aware applications uses 5G innovation to enable computing where it’s needed most and opens entirely new scenarios for operators, enterprises, and developers across various industries."

One of Microsoft's goals is to enable operators to optimise existing investments and services and to accelerate network transformation on a carrier-grade, trusted hybrid platform.

Central to this goal is its Azure for Operators portfolio, which includes Operator Nexus.

For service providers, some of the features of Operator Nexus include:

Lower cost: Enables operators to use cloud technology to modernise and monetise their network investments — lowering total cost of ownership (TCO)

Improved resilience with AI: Drives operational efficiency and resiliency with advanced AI and automation, improving the security of highly distributed, software-based networks

Workload running options: Operators can run workloads on-premises or in Azure, seamlessly deploying, managing, securing and monitoring everything from bare metal to network to tenants

Equivalent experience: Operator Nexus leverages the same Azure experience as the hyper-scale public cloud, offering first-party solutions and an extensive partner ecosystem from industry-leading Network Equipment Suppliers (NEPs).

One upside of a hybrid cloud infrastructure is the ability to harness harmonised observability for infrastructure and applications. This means easy monitoring, troubleshooting, and ensuring systems are running well.

Zander explained the capabilities of Operator Nexus and said: "The platform collects logs, metrics, and traces from network function virtualisation infrastructure (NFVI) and network functions (NFs). It also offers a rich analytical, AI/ML-based toolset to develop descriptive and prescriptive analytics.

For Microsoft and the providers it serves, data is key, as Zander confirmed: "Our goal with this observability architecture is to securely bring all operator data into a single data lake where it can be processed to provide a global-network view and harvested for operational and business insights.

"Moreover, we are committed to fostering a partner ecosystem that accelerates the availability of new capabilities for Azure while ensuring operators own the underlying data. This allows operators to harness the power of data with comprehensive analytics and tools so they can develop better insights faster."

How Azure Operator Nexus Works

Built on the ARM: The Operator Nexus management plane is based on Azure Resource Manager (ARM), providing a consistent user experience across the Azure portal and Azure APIs

Modelling and lifecycle management: Azure resource providers facilitate modelling and lifecycle management for Operator Nexus resources such as clusters, bare metal machines and network devices

Operator Nexus Controllers: The cluster manager and network fabric controller are deployed in a Vnet — a managed virtual network — connected to the operator's on-premises network. Controllers enable functions such as infrastructure bootstrapping, configuration, and service upgrades.

Integrated services: Operator Nexus is integrated with many Azure services such as Azure Monitor, Azure Container Registry, and Azure Kubernetes Services

Regional and locational connection: ExpressRoute is a network connectivity service that connects Azure regions and operator locations

Operator Nexus in Action

AT&T is a pioneer of network virtualisation and SDN. It runs its multi-vendor 5G Standalone Mobile Core on the Operator Nexus platform while continuing to deploy and operate it in AT&T data centres.

Igal Elbaz, Senior Vice President, Network CTO, AT&T, stated: "AT&T made the decision to adopt Operator Nexus platform over time with the expectation to lower total cost of ownership (TCO), leverage the power of AI to simplify operations, improve time to market, and focus on our core competency of building the world’s best 5G service. We appreciate the efforts of our Network Function ecosystem collaborators to support the evolution of our Mobility Core platform."

Combining Ericsson’s cloud-native 5G Core applications and orchestration suite with Microsoft’s carrier-grade Operator Nexus platform, the Swedish firm believes there will be many opportunities for CSPs to digitally transform their core networks while improving customer experiences and creating exciting new mobile services.

Monica Zethzon, Vice President and Head of Solution Area Core Networks, Ericsson, said: "Building on our success at mutual customers such as AT&T, Ericsson, and Microsoft are investing together to ensure Ericsson 5G Core cloud-native applications run on the Operator Nexus platform efficiently, securely, and reliably."

Just how much security are we talking about? According to the Operator Nexus sign-up page, Microsoft invests over $1 billion annually in cybersecurity research and development. It is dedicated to data security and privacy by employing over 3,500 security professionals.