Businesses and consumers are adopting cloud-based technologies at an unprecedented rate. As this trend continues, service providers mustn’t miss this opportunity to evolve with them and secure their future in a sustainable way.
Many service providers have already taken these steps. Still, many feel a false sense of security — perhaps because the infrastructure that served them so well in the past continues to do so.
Alianza, which provides a cloud communications platform exclusively to service providers, has highlighted four critical reasons why service providers should not wait any longer to ditch the legacy switch — ranging from ageing workforces to the looming shadow of hyperscalers.
1. A Lack of innovation
Businesses increasingly demand more innovative collaboration tools that often rely on cloud technology to function at the highest possible level.
Josh Moormann, Director of Customer Success for Alianza, said that service providers who have digitally transformed are already seeing revenue grow five times faster than those who resist.
A severe consequence of not evolving is a bigger player eating their lunch.
“In the arms race to innovate, if you are an RLEC or CLEC trying to compete with hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft who are all competing for the same business revenue, you have lost the battle already,” he said.
“Hyperscalers are giving away select services for free, knowing they will make it up with their other value-added services.
“The reality is that hyperscalers can out-innovate what a local provider can offer. Now it’s a matter of urgently innovating to stem the erosion of their subscriber bases — and the quickest way to do that is with the cloud.”
Even if a service provider feels it can choose the communication solutions it provides to its customers, that is not the case when it comes to legal requirements.
For example, Kari’s Law and Ray BAUM’s Act which are now in full effect, were designed to better pinpoint the location of people in need of emergency assistance.
Alianza said that service providers would struggle to adapt legacy networks to meet these requirements, particularly in facilities like hospitals and schools.
2. Single Point of Failure
Building on a cloud-based network, managed and maintained by a provider like Alianza, offloads a lot of the stress and worry associated with keeping infrastructure up and running.
This is compared to service providers with legacy systems, which often put all their eggs in one basket, Moormann said.
He explained that many networks had not been designed with fail-safes in mind. Switches that have been geo-split into two halves are often in the same city — without the support of an active geo-redundancy plan — creating a single point of failure.
This can quickly lead to the following key reasons to ditch legacy switches.
3. Lack of Support
Networking technology has evolved hugely since many legacy networks were installed — to the point where manufacturers could have gone bust, been acquired, or simply not support the required hardware anymore.
Service providers relying on Metaswitch, for example, can only access replacement products until around 2023. Meanwhile, Cisco is now in direct competition with its service provider partners following its acquisition of Broadsoft, Moormann explained.
Even if they can track down the hardware they need, it may not result in an immediate fix.
“Service providers are running into situations where inherited assets like physical switches were put in place more than 20 years ago,” Moormann said. “The manufacturer might not exist anymore, and the software running the equipment is going away.
“There might be a switch available 20 miles away, but service providers still have to deal with the switch that is failing its customers in the meantime.
“The larger the provider, the more likely they are dealing with multiple manufacturers providing the same service.”
4. Ageing Workforces
Alongside the dwindling amount of hardware for legacy systems is a reduction in skilled employees able to carry out maintenance and repairs.
The workforces credited with building these networks are retiring in greater numbers year over year — while new experts are enthused by cutting-edge technology, not infrastructure that’s on borrowed time.
This means that it will cost service providers increasingly more to either pay someone enough to stop them from retiring or find and train someone new in technology that will not be around for the long term.
