With Public Cloud, CSPs can unlock huge funds for 5G investment: Danielle Royston, Optiva

Canada-based telecom software solutions provider Optiva Inc is one of the leading providers of digital technologies. The company has a portfolio of monetization products that enable real-time OSS/BSS solutions on Public Cloud.

Voice&Data got an opportunity to interact with Danielle Royston, CEO of Optiva, who on her maiden visit to India is promoting the advantages of Public Cloud to Indian Communication Service Providers (CSPs). With over 20 years of executive experience in the technology industry, she is known best for propagating the adoption of Public Cloud in major industry verticals. Excerpts of the interaction:

Voice&Data: How are Optiva solutions helping CSPs transform their customer experience? How can Indian telecom operators leverage Optiva’s expertise?

Danielle Royston: India is one of the largest telecom markets where Optiva wants to establish a strong foothold. The Indian telecom market poses a highly competitive environment, with especially Reliance Jio invading the market with new selling plans. Jio has set the competitive spirit in India, where operators are structuring new cost-effective models to sell their services. Here is where Optiva sees a strong potential to bring in its products’ functionality and also promote awareness on the Public Cloud vendors. Optiva has immense expertise in helping CSPs move to Public Cloud. The outcome of moving OSS/BSS processes to Public Cloud can cause substantial monetary benefit of 80%. The monetary benefit would obviously result in cost savings, which can be diverted into creating newer technologies to boost end-user experience.

The outcome of moving OSS/BSS processes to Public Cloud can cause substantial monetary benefit of 80%.

Voice&Data: Why do you believe that telecom operators should migrate their OSS/BSS processes to the Public Cloud? Why can’t they be happy with their private cloud?

Danielle Royston: Optiva has served the CSPs around the world for 20 years, and the company knows exactly what applications consume the company’s funds. While deploying IT applications like the OSS and BSS, only the licence cost and maintenance fees are considered. The total cost of ownership (TCO) is far larger and includes the cost of installation, database licenses, hardware, networking resources, power, management and time. A shift to Public Cloud can eliminate process hurdles to a far extent and cause a drastic reduction of costs for CSPs, reducing the TCO by up to 80%.

Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services and Azure have opened up large avenues for enterprises to host their applications on Public Cloud. The primary advantage for service providers is the cost. Big savings await CSPs moving Applications to Public Cloud. The second advantage is the elasticity of the provision. As telcos are on their way for 5G uptake and its association with IoT, an exponential volume of data would be generated. There would certainly be a subsequent increase in the data to be stored. Public Cloud can conveniently manage this data swell ahead of the 5G launch and help manage the economics of the deployment for the operators.

Public Cloud can conveniently manage this data swell ahead of the 5G launch and help manage the economics of the deployment for the operators.

We assure customers that moving to Public Cloud can reduce infrastructure costs by 10x by leveraging the elasticity of cloud computing. The third advantage is the scope for innovation. The reality is that hyperscale web companies out-gun CSPs in terms of their research and development (R&D) and spending on data centres. Telcos can put their best brains on the job to align themselves with data centre operations and manage data securely over Public Cloud.

Voice&Data: Agreed that telecom operators can leverage the significant advantages of moving to Public Cloud but would they have a guarantee on data security?

Danielle Royston: One hundred percent, I can vouch for security over Public Cloud. My primary role as a CEO is to agitate enterprises and awaken them to this new option of Public Cloud. In the process of this awakening, I am often posed with several myths about data security on Public Cloud.

Let us take Google as an example. Google has spent more than $30 billion to build data centres to support its Public Cloud. It has also spent more than $3 billion annually on cloud security. I can bet that CSPs cannot match that level of investment or the pace of Google’s innovation in security solutions. Google manufactures its own chips and does not even rely on external infrastructure at its data centres. And Google provides highly secure encrypted services to its Public Cloud customers and also provides the option for its customers to create its own encryption code. These codes can offer security at the highest level that cannot match enterprise level private cloud security.

Google provides highly secure encrypted services to its Public Cloud customers and also provides the option for its customers to create its own encryption code.

Voice&Data: When compared with other sectors, how has the telecom industry at large responded to moving to Public Cloud? What are their apprehensions about the move?

Danielle Royston: As an outsider coming into this industry, it was shocking for me that more CSPs haven’t figured out the benefits of the Public Cloud before now. From my experience, I am certain that one of the slow adopters of Public Cloud is the telecom industry. The industry is so stuck with legacy systems or rather the 90s type of bare metal apps. It is time for CSPs to embrace Public Cloud and undergo the necessary tectonic shift to cost-effective technologies. Cost and security are two main apprehensions that might prevent a CSP to adopt Public Cloud. As said earlier, security on Public Cloud is rated superior over the private cloud and the cost certainly falls within the budget. Analysis says that 80% of operational savings from Public Cloud can be helpful to companies that want to deploy the funds to boost their customer experience.

We have great hopes that myths surrounding the Public Cloud can be changed. In 2019, we are going to witness a lot number of CSPs engaging themselves in Public Cloud. By moving large workloads to the public cloud, telcos are going to harness the single biggest innovation to come to IT application management in the last ten years, and with it reap massive cost savings.

In 2019, we are going to witness a lot number of CSPs engaging themselves in Public Cloud.

Voice&Data: Indian telecom service providers and vendors are on a preparatory mode for 5G. In your opinion, how will operational migration to Public cloud help them partake in 5G spectrum investments?

Danielle Royston: Absolutely! If CSPs want to strategically route funds for 5G then Public Cloud is the way forward. It is a game changer for CSPs, giving them a competitive advantage and the elasticity of Public Cloud will serve a great deal. Real-time scalability, i.e., scaling up and scaling down services will get a lot easier in Public Cloud. It allows CSPs to successfully keep pace with demands, deliver advances like 5G and IoT, grow their businesses and cost-efficiently meet margin targets. The operations on Public Cloud can result in huge savings. CSPs by virtue of moving to Public Cloud can unlock those savings and deploy them into the investments for 5G.

The operations on Public Cloud can result in huge savings. CSPs by virtue of moving to Public Cloud can unlock those savings and deploy them into the investments for 5G.