Software development for telcos

11 Oct · 4 min read

Most telcos have been extensively using open-source technologies for a lot of different scenarios. At Infopulse, our telecom software development team guides companies on making the right decisions for these solutions.

Open-source can be easily modified and redistributed. In comparison, out-of-the-box tools have restrictions on meddling with underlying source code. RedHat OpenShift is an open-source product that is designed specifically for enterprises. Similarly, Amazon also has several open-source products and commercially available open-source code. Let’s look into the various aspects of open-source and out-of-the-box solutions.

Open-source Solutions

95% of telecoms already use open-source code in some capacity. These are mostly used for application development, infrastructure modernization and digital transformation. They are also used as discrete code, middleware abstraction and virtualization, and as a component for other software.

Let us consider open-source software used on Operational Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS). These software have the following pros and cons:

Pros

Allows for high degree of customization
Newer innovations are added faster as a global, diverse set of contributors are involved

Unlimited opportunities for integration and hybridization
Usage is cost-effective, especially for large-scale projects

Cons

Slower rollout of frameworks
Requires greater tech expertise

Limited support services

Open-source frameworks can be ideal for testing hypotheses to determine the feasibilities of new features. It is easy to experiment with different approaches and build new solutions.

Popular open-source tools

Kubernetes: This is a container orchestration platform that can be used to automated the deployment, scaling and management of container-based apps.
Elasticsearch: This is as part of a commercially available open-source ELK stack that acts as a RESTful search and analytics engine.
Terraform: This is an Infrastructure as a Code (IaaC) tool that is used to manage hundreds of cloud services by providing a consistent CLI workflow.

Out-of-the-box Solutions

Out-of-the-box tools provide ready-for-deployment solutions that are tailored to specific use-cases. Some of these are even built on already available open-source software by adding customizations and enhancements. Like in the case of open-source, out-of-theobox solutions too have their pros and cons:

Pros

Faster roll-out and deployment
Wider range of existing functionalities
Requires lesser tech support

Full access to maintain and manage the services

Cons

Less flexibility and customization capabilities
High initial investment

Out-of-the-box solutions are more suited for large-scale projects that are high-impact or security-sensitive. They have better cybersecurity protocols and SLAs that are more applicable to complex and custom solutions.

Popular out-of-the-box tools

Splunk: This is a cloud-based data management platform that offers a wide range of data security and monitoring capabilities.
SumoLogic: This is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that aggregates and analyzes telemetry-related data like logs and traces.

Datadog: This is a data monitoring and security analytics platform that has inbuilt data analytics functionalities.

Conclusion

In most cases, developers and IT specialists have favoured open-source tools as they are a lot easy to work with and have a wider range of frameworks. Yet, the telecom industry has mostly used proprietary and legacy software and are yet to switch to a cloud-first environment. The wide portfolio of infrastructure elements paired with existing solutions also brings in a lot of integrational, maintenance and support challenges.

By opting for out-of-the-box solutions, it can be easier to roll-out the new application. With the right vendor and well-managed deployment, companies can seamlessly integrate their existing solution with the new architecture.

If there is higher levels of customizations required, hybrid systems are the way to go. With out-of-the-box solutions built on open-source code, customizations become easier and is a better way to deal with complex systems, especially in the telecom industry. The telecom experts at Infopulse can help you plan the optimal tech stack for your project. Contact us to get a system tailored to suit your needs.

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