As service providers continue to adopt disaggregated, virtualized solutions that enable speed and agility, web-scale networking solutions are no longer merely "nice to have"; they are table stakes for operators looking to thrive in the next generation of the economy.
As such, operators' Radio Access Network (RAN) will become increasingly software-driven and built with a variety of software and hardware from multiple vendors. However, this brings its own set of challenges, not least of which is ensuring interoperability of the various components and optimizing deployment scenarios considering every service provider's network architecture is unique and must be treated as such.
This nuance places added emphasis on supply chain and integration. Thus, the role of systems integrators has become critical to accelerating the consumption and adoption of Open RAN architectures and the benefits they afford.
This white paper establishes the need for Open RAN within service providers' network architecture and its ability to help accelerate 4G capabilities while providing a simple and accelerated path forward for adopting 5G. In addition, we detail the value systems integration and supply chain play in deploying Open RAN and other ancillary technologies.
