ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) has extended its portfolio of professional services with the introduction of an Automated Network Intelligence offering. The software suite, which will be offered as a deliverable software toolset or as a service, enables operators to assess the current bandwidth capacity use of their infrastructure and evaluate the cost/benefit relationship in various upgrade scenarios.
The Automated Network Intelligence suite performs a pair of primary functions, according to Girish Kadam, head of managed and cloud services at ADTRAN. First, it enables operators to assess the capacity of their networks and how much of that capacity is in use. Second, using operational, financial, and marketing data from a variety of sources, it enables operators to evaluate the potential benefits and costs of various upgrade scenarios side-by-side or how the network might be affected by the potential success of new marketing initiatives. Benefits include improved time to market for new services (65% to 80%, ADTRAN asserts) and budgeting accuracy (greater than 90%, the company adds).
The tool will work in multivendor network scenarios across the full range of access network technologies, from all copper to hybrid fiber/coax to all fiber, said Kadam. Thus, operators of all stripes could benefit from Automated Network Intelligence, he added. In addition to delivering the toolset to market in standalone and “as a service” fashion, ADTRAN also offers to use the tool to perform capacity management of a customer’s network.
“Edge computing, 5G, and increasing bandwidth demands are forcing service providers to upgrade their networks,” said Andy Hicks, principal analyst at GlobalData, via an ADTRAN press release. “Their network planning must evolve from the current reactive, manual, and best-guess-based processes to a more granular and efficient system. The capacity planning tools they use should accommodate multi-vendor infrastructure, as well as incorporate capex and opex optimization. Given today’s speed of change, automation is the only way to accomplish this.”
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