Casa Systems partnered with Google Cloud to make it possible to integrate the company’s cloud-native 5G standalone core with a hyperscaler public cloud. The advantage of this type of integration, according to Casa, is that it makes it possible to deliver ultra-low latency applications even when the control plane and user plane are separated by hundreds of miles.

Casa said its engineers worked closely with engineers at Google Cloud’s ISV/SaaS Centre of Excellence to field test the solution. The field test demonstrated that it’s possible to separate the control plane and user plane of Casa’s cloud-based 5G SA core across hundreds of miles while still delivering a latency of just 10 milliseconds.

Casa said that during the field test it deployed its 5G SA core in multiple locations and placed the control and user plane functions at different locations. In this case, the control plane was located in Google Cloud’s North Virginia Region and the user plane was placed in Casa’s Andover, Massachusetts, facility.

Casa added that there are other advantages to using the hyperscale public cloud with a 5G SA core. For example, this type of integration will also make it possible for service providers and enterprises to provision services that are deployable anywhere —from the network edge to public clouds, private clouds, and carrier networks.

But Casa Systems isn’t the only company working with a hyperscaler to deliver a cloud-native 5G core. Nokia announced earlier this year that it had teamed with Google Cloud to jointly build cloud-native 5G core solutions for service providers and enterprises. And like Casa Systems, Nokia is also working with Google Cloud’s Anthos for Telecom solution, which is a platform Google built specifically for delivering workloads to the network edge on Google Cloud.

Cloud-native networking is gaining traction with telecom providers because it makes it possible for them to develop applications faster and scale them to a much larger number of subscribers than is possible with traditional applications. Cloud native applications also require less management and have lower operational costs.

Although some operators may move to 5G SA without the benefit of a cloud-native architecture, many experts view having a cloud-native network as being critical to 5G and without it, operators won’t be able to take full advantage of 5G standalone networks.

The cloud computing market has surged since the outbreak of the pandemic which saw years of digital transformation efforts compressed into months, and in some cases even weeks, as the world moved online.

As business confidence in the UK hits a five year high and economies start to reopen, this growth shows no sign of slowing down. Gartner predicts that the public cloud computing market will be worth $397 billion by 2022 and could be as high as nearly $700 billion by 2026.

Behind this huge figure is a vast ecosystem of potential partners, with a variety of solutions and services. Of these providers, the hyperscale cloud providers – such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud – all have the scale, expertise and cutting-edge innovation capabilities to ensure businesses can take advantage of all that the cloud has to offer. But, with so many options and a unique solution for every single company, it can be a difficult decision to navigate.

Not your typical procurement exercise
The first step is to shift your mindset towards your cloud provider and remember that this isn’t a one-way street. The hyperscale providers are betting on growth from their customers too. Organisations should therefore try not to see their cloud provider as a typical supplier, but rather a business partner. This means the relationship should be elevated right up to the C-suite.

These partnerships are likely to last for years, so businesses need to have a clear strategy and do their research to find out what fits their requirements. Asking several key questions upfront can help crystallise this strategy:

What are your unique needs?
The majority of your fundamental requirements can likely be met by each major player, so you need to think carefully about what unique needs your business has. Some providers are well-established in particular industries, offering out-of-the-box solutions you can get up and running quickly and cheaply. Others might have more advanced analytics and artificial intelligence offerings that could give you a leg-up over the competition in the long-run. Look at the roadmap of each provider over the next 12-18 months and evaluate which best matches your own vision.

Your current technology environment will also guide your decision and is unique to every business. The same goes for data sovereignty, depending on the regions you operate in, as well as other regulatory factors you need to adhere to, such as GDPR requirements.

How far do you go in on the platform?
Do you plan to use hyperscaler platform services (PaaS) or build your own applications on its infrastructure (IaaS)? Do you plan to adopt a hybrid-cloud model and still maintain some data on-premise? This decision must carefully consider the skills, capabilities, and time available to your team to ensure you can get the most out of your investment.

What incentives are being offered?
Nearly all hyperscalers will consider financial incentives to smooth initial costs and accelerate the transition, such as cash offers, asset purchase and service credits. It’s often the case that the more workloads you give to a provider the cheaper the cost will be per workload, which may also impact your decision.

How do I avoid getting locked-in to one partner?
By far one of the most common concerns is being locked-in to working with just one cloud partner. But, while this can happen, most businesses use hybrid solutions to choose from a marketplace of providers. In fact, recent Accenture research shows 67% of enterprises use two or more public cloud providers. With a clear strategy and vision of each business need you can take a targeted approach that gets the best services from multiple providers.

There are also technical measures you can put in place to vendor avoid lock-in, such as using open standards. For example, you could use openSQL or PostgreSQL rather than a proprietary database. Containerisation, such as Kubernetes, also means you can switch between architectures smoothly.

More isn’t always merrier
There can also be disadvantages in trying to spread across too many providers. More partners mean greater complexity when trying to join up data and applications across the business, which may end up setting you back. It also means your team must take significant time and resources gaining the skills necessary to operate across every platform.

For most organisations, the best solution is to select one or two primary hyperscalers for the majority of critical workloads, then work with secondary providers on a case by case basis where the specific needs of the business require specialised capabilities. This approach means that you are still in a strong position to take advantage of many offerings and have greater business continuity, whilst keeping training requirements to a manageable level.

Work in progress
Having your core cloud partnerships in place is not the end of the process. Hyperscale providers are always innovating and developing new services in areas such as IoT, AI and more. Organisations should constantly check in with the provider to see how their new services, tools and capabilities can enable their business to operate differently.

What’s more, if your needs change, having a strong relationship may place you in an advantageous position and save you having to switch. Providers are often willing to invest in developing unique capabilities for loyal customers. This is particularly the case if there’s a good partnership at the C-suite level or if they’re looking to catch up with a competitor that’s dominant in a certain area.

Cloud is a journey, not a destination
With nearly every company now undertaking some form of cloud journey, simply being ‘in the cloud’ is no longer the differentiator it used to be against the competition. But collaborating in partnership with the right hyperscaler for your business needs can take your company to the next level.

While choosing the right provider is vital though, ultimately the ongoing responsibility of managing the IT environment and getting the most out of it comes down to the business and its IT leaders. The final article in this series will explore how IT leaders can get the most value from cloud by using it to reinvent how the entire organisation works.