WHITE PAPER \U2013 AMDOCS NETWORK SERVICE EXPOSURE PLATFORM

White Paper

AMDOCS NETWORK
SERVICE EXPOSURE
PLATFORM

Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

Table of contents

Page

01 Introduction 03

02 Business context 04

03 Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform (NSEP) 06

04 Summary 09

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

Introduction NaaP is built on three design principles. The first is
the need for a unified service model and catalog
To maximize the variety of their service offerings that can serve as a single source of truth across the
to both internal users and external partners, CSPs business, IT, and network layers.
require a platform that can manage service agility
and network complexity, as well as expose service The second is the ability to abstract network APIs
infrastructure capabilities via APIs. from service/product APIs to enable independent

development, testing and integration in both IT
Moreover, to support the use cases demanded by and network domains, as well as with partners.
digital customers, such a platform must also be Importantly, these must be able to occur in parallel,
aligned with and support network standards that as well as in a decoupled manner, to allow for
include 3GPP, TMF, CAMARA, TIP and more, and service velocity and scale. At the same time, it must
have the flexibility to expand beyond standard APIs conform as closely as possible with open standards
so that they can uniquely customize the required to minimize silo creation and technical debt accrual.
capabilities.
The third principle is having highly configurable data
Network-as-a-platform (NaaP) was created to model-driven decomposition and orchestration,
address the stringent needs to provide low latency, which enables the NaaP and isolation layer to not
accurate device monitoring, optimum functions/ only support B2B and B2C communication services,
app placement, strong privacy and security, all while but also services that support B2C, B2B and B2B2X.
conforming with cloud-native and disaggregation
principles. Furthermore, with its future-proofed To comply, network service providers must do the
service infrastructure, applications’ cloud-native following in a safe and agile manner:
character and ability to consume basic network
services via abstract APIs and data models, it is able • Open their network menu
to support B2B and B2B2X collaboration.
• Expose APIs to consumers, businesses and
partners in an application developer-friendly
manner

• Create a service creation ecosystem for
developers

• Expose new network and IT capabilities

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

This whitepaper addresses factors for boosting
network service velocity, strategies for extracting
maximum value from a traditional network- or
service-centric strategy, and as a result delivering
enhanced NaaP capabilities.

Business context The answer lies in deploying an intermediate
software layer both between IT and the network,
As customers demand new, differentiated 5G as well as between the customer and operator
services, and as CSPs strive to achieve vertical – forming an end-to-end solution comprising
specialization and extended business/operational an environment that has the power to support
footprints through hyperscaler and metaverse the simple creation and consumption of bundled
ecosystems, the pressure on CSPs has never been capabilities. The benefits of this “as a platform”
greater. To achieve these objectives, these players concept range from scalability and lightweight
are constantly on the search for agile business/ operational capability management, all the way to
operating models and partnerships. reduced integration costs.

Yet such models and partnerships must be able The ability to leverage such benefits becomes
to provide solutions to support a network whose particularly crucial in any environment where the
complexity far surpasses that of 4G: with more diversity and scale of tech demands are constantly
layers, more network functions, as well as a shift growing and evolving. Examples include the need
to software and cloud-native principles and tools,
while being programable and self-configurable.

Expose Network Principles

Platform Users Developer Enterprise Aggregator Marketplace Internal Telco Other telcos

TMF APIs MEF LSO APIs OPEN APIs CAMARA APIs Proprietary APIs

Exposure Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Layer

Design Fulfillment Operations Monetization
Design, Model, Service Ordering, Monitoring, Assurance Revenue
Orchestration, Configuration
Onboarding Analytics Management

DOCSIS Fiber Deep Mobile 4G Mobile 5G Mobile CBRS

Partners Network Clouds User Devices
Elements

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

to adjust network behavior in real time, support Yet to realize these benefits, these players first had
drone networks for equipment maintenance (e.g., to evolve their service infrastructure to become
in farming and engineering use cases) and AR/ more cloud native-driven, flexible, self-optimized
VR applications. Inevitably, such complexity will and specialized. On the flipside, such capabilities
only grow with the next wave of consumer and came at the cost of introducing multi-dimensional
enterprise services on the horizon, with autonomous complexities resulting from the diversity of network
vehicles, electric flying vehicles (eVTOL) and smart suppliers, function and testing/validation, and
cities, all of which will require high bandwidth, evolution requirements.
carrier-grade reliability, and cost efficiencies.
In addition to the above, CSPs in pursuing similar
Support too will need to be found for evolving goals, will also face industry-specific 5G challenges
customer expectations. While previously, services such as massive traffic volumes and growing

on-demand would suffice, demand is now growing numbers of connected devices. In their favor,
for online services, coupled with new connectivity standards bodies from TMF, ETSI, O-RAN Alliance,
options (including 5G), as well as support for highly TIP and Linux Foundation (CAMARA project) are
accurate visibility and monitoring. To ensure full already addressing this problem with prescribed
lifecycle management for such solutions, enterprise open interfaces and reference implementations.
partners will need to build their own services and
make them available within the network operator Based on our long-standing involvement in these
ecosystems. bodies, as well as our established leadership in
BSS and OSS, Amdocs is frequently approached
For a glimpse into this future reality, we need by the operator community for our experience
look no further than verticals, such as retail and and expertise in bridging the gaps between IT and
entertainment, that have already adopted this network.
approach with the following outcomes:

• New services created to meet new demands in
days rather than months

• Easy, rapid creation and integration of new
services that can be charged for in simple and in
novel ways

• Ability for app providers to leverage network
capabilities:

− Extract information from network

− Control networking, applications, services, and
functions on demand

• New business models that support offer

bundling, including:

− Leveraging the network, cloud-native functions,
and vertical applications

− Shuffled as a platform

− Available on demand

− Ability to support industry-specific use cases

− Made available through API exposure

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

Amdocs Network
Service Exposure
Platform (NSEP)

Amdocs’ vision uses software engineering
techniques to build a network abstraction and
exposure layer that modularizes and decouples the
network from IT. This ensures ordering issues remain
with IT, while network teams provide the “how” of
creating a service.

Meanwhile, partner capabilities can be used to
compose or enrich network service capabilities,

which can be subsequently exposed alongside other
network APIs to formalize customer end-to-end
solutions.

As part of the network abstraction layer, we provide
the following key capabilities:
• Service catalog to define network services,

validation rules and API parameters

Network Service Exposure Platform (NSEP)

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

• API management of the integration layer, Use case example:
providing access to network capabilities via a network service edge and lifecycle
variety of APIs management

• Network services & edge orchestration for highly 5G services, such as network slicing and mobile
configurable, data model-driven decomposition private networks, can be extremely complex and
and orchestration span several domains, including those of solution
partners. Their definition and management must
• Service fabric including access to the network be designed to handle partial failure and therefore
service topology with network capability incorporate either open or closed loops (for
definitions autonomous corrective behavior). Some illustrative
steps for presenting such services are provided in
• Event monitoring & analytics framework the diagram below.

• Charging trigger component that triggers new The following is an example for 5G service
chargeable events to update billing monetization

• Security for access & usage policies • Network catalog and network orchestration

• Operational portals for CSP NetOps and − Onboard network functions and network
partners applications are required for end-to-end service
creation
Taking this approach a step further, our broad
view of service lifecycle management addresses − Define and design new services with all service
the requirements of network, service and IT, as elements, including 5G slice definition
well as the delivery of data and control via pre-
programmed service behaviors (also known as − Define service lifecycle management
“intents”). This ensures relevant requests are routed operational and orchestration policies
to relevant functions via closed-loop automation,
based on the scope of each request. So for − Deploy service definition across network
example, while a request to change session quality ecosystem
would be sent directly to the network, a QoS
request to change the entire service for all users − Expose new service definition from network
would be routed through the network abstraction catalog to IT service catalog
layer.

Illustrative steps for presenting a service to customers
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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

• IT product catalog and customer order This unique, unified approach across IT and
orchestration network, enables integrated, yet decoupled single
orchestration responsibilities – from catalog and

− Define sellable product, price it, define offering design tooling to IT service order orchestration
and discounts (e.g. low latency connectivity) and network service orchestration. Furthermore,
by enabling varied cadences and model-driven
− Export sellable product specification into service integration, such a separation also avoids the need
catalog for further operational costs.

• ITservice catalog and service orchestration

− Import network service definition from network
catalog

− Import sellable product specification from
commercial catalog

− Define customer-facing services and use those
definitions as mapping between commercial
products and network services; define mapping
and re-use policies

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Amdocs Network Service Exposure Platform White Paper

Summary With a unique and innovative approach
incorporating all of the above, Amdocs Network
Network exposure comes in a variety of shapes Service Exposure Platform provides CSPs and their
and formats that seek to meet the expanding and partners with a wealth of benefits that include:
evolving requirements of the business, as well as
those of collaborative partners like wholesale CSPs • Network catalog-integrated API management,
and hyperscalers/metaverse ecosystems. service fabric and orchestration

Meanwhile, 5G exposure is rooted in the NEF • Network API exposure management supporting a
(Network Exposure Function) and its ability to variety of API options
expose and facilitate collaboration with trusted
and untrusted B2B and B2B2X partners, while • Service decomposition and orchestration to
also safeguarding the exchange with the other 5G support service lifecycle management
network functions. Furthermore, it also interfaces
with PCC (policy, control and charging), within which • Federated service fabric with support for the
PCF and CHF play key roles. network, cloud and edge service topology

Another aspect of network exposure is Network- • Single developer and operational portal
as-a-Service (NaaS), which enables CSPs/MNOs to
provide a finer definition of a turnkey solution based • Service integration services designed to help
primarily on an underlay/overlay connection offering customize Amdocs NSEP (Network Service
such as carrier-ethernet, MPLS-TE & SR-VPN or SD- Exposure Platform), uniquely defining the
WAN. Connectivity is then supplemented with other face of your business and market positioning
capabilities, such as the edge with MEC devices and and empowering to meet your customers’
edge-based applications, security with SASE and expectations
zero-trust framework, vertical applications and even
customer-located functions such as vCPE or uCPE. Yet it’s “network-as-a-platform” that takes
the crown for complexity. And it’s precisely this
Yet it’s “network-as-a-platform” that takes complexity that allows it to support solutions on an
the crown for complexity. And it’s precisely this entirely other level:
complexity that allows it to support solutions on an
entirely other level. • Ability to expand standard APIs as required by
customers and use cases

• Independence and flexibility for constant
evolution, testing, and validation (CI/CD
methodologies)

• Ability to drive new revenue models with
enterprise and developer communities

• An entirely new level of differentiated services
that ensure a truly enhanced user experience

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Why Amdocs

Amdocs leverages a deep understanding of existing
capabilities and strategies to create tailored
solutions that combine our assets with those of the
service providers’ enterprise customers. Our holistic
solution design approach considers enterprise
requirements, use cases, future vision, as well as the
degree to which the enterprise wishes to manage
its network operations.

Leveraging our vendor experience, flexible
solution blueprints, and mobile private network
deployment experience, we provide a single point
of accountability for committed SLAs, while
minimizing risks associated with mobile private
network implementations. Meanwhile, our global
delivery and support organization – spanning
RAN, core, cloud, IT, system integration, transport,
security, and software domains – enables us to
manage all the complexities of an end-to-end

mobile private network solution.

With our combination of deployment and
automation, mobile private network management
portal, and AI-enabled operations services, we lead
the industry in enhancing the customer experience,
while improving overall operational efficiencies.

To learn more, visit Amdocs Networks and discover
our other exposure solutions

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