Digital Transformation. Network Modernization. Intelligent Automation. You seemingly can’t get more than a few sentences deep into any conversation in our industry without these phrases being mentioned.

After many years of slow and steady progress towards these utopian end states, 2020 has pushed the digital transformation and automation efforts of many communications service providers (CSPs) into overdrive.

And there’s good reason for this focus, with automation estimated to reduce the cost of many network operations by 95-99%, and drive new service intervals from weeks to minutes (White paper: Beyond OSS, Appledore Research, 2020).

Blue+Orbit+Guide+-+Learn+MoreBlue Planet is at the forefront of this transformation, clearly shown by our recent customer announcements with companies like BT, DISH, Etisalat, and Telefonica Deutschland.

But the path to digital transformation and network automation is about more than intelligent software – you also need intelligent people to help guide you through this complex journey. With this is mind, we’ve been working diligently with the world’s leading system integrators within our new Blue Orbit partner ecosystem.

Many CSPs are embarking on ambitious, holistic digital transformation projects that our Global System Integrator (GSI) partners are leading. Blue Orbit provides the resources, training, and support that enables them to bring the power of Blue Planet intelligent automation into these digital initiatives.

The path to digital transformation and network automation is about more than intelligent software – you also need intelligent people to help guide you through this complex journey.

Blue Orbit + Blue Planet: A path to service automation

So, what is Blue Orbit? First, it’s an entirely new partner program. Some of you who have known Blue Planet for many years may remember a previous “Blue Orbit” ecosystem that focused on SDN and NFV interoperability. Today’s Blue Orbit program has evolved to focus on supporting GSIs and their customers as they navigate through complex and dynamic transformation projects that can sometimes span years. As a result, system integrators are building digital  solutions that enable the move to a more agile ‘continuous integration’ approach to managing requirements and deploying automation use cases. Our role is to help them be successful in this endeavor.

That’s why Blue Orbit focuses not just on the deployment of Blue Planet’s industry-leading intelligent automation software suite (e.g. inventory federation, multi-domain and multi-vendor service orchestration, and closed-loop assurance), but also the communications and relationships that will be needed to handle changes and overcome the bumps on the road that are inevitable.

We have packaged together a comprehensive set of curated resources for our Blue Orbit GSI partners, such as self-paced training, interactive demos, lab software licenses, and access to our DevOps Toolkits into a subscription-based program.

These resources all work together to make it easier for our GSI partners to engage with us and to sell and deliver Blue Planet solutions.

The results thus far have been very encouraging. The GSI partners we work with are innovating in the way they deliver value to their customers.

For example, they are using best-of-breed components to build digital telco platforms that emphasize agility and re-use of product and service models. This enables CSP end-customers to quickly launch many different types of services, taking advantage of new dynamic network infrastructure such as 5G, without the need for lengthy IT integration projects.

Blue Orbit ecosystem

Blue Planet’s open, cloud-native platform is aligned with industry standards and includes programmable DevOps Toolkits, encouraging our partners to develop their own capabilities on the platform.

A recent TM Forum Catalyst project epitomizes this move to evolve telecom services to a more agile digital services platform. Blue Planet worked with Infosys, BT and other project participants to demonstrate how CSPs can leverage open standard APIs to seamlessly automate the delivery of and dynamic managed services tailored to the needs of enterprise customers.

The path to digital transformation is different for every CSP and very much determined by where they are starting from and how their customers’ needs are evolving. Whether you are a CSP taking this journey, or a GSI helping them along the way, Blue Planet and our Blue Orbit partner program are here to make the process as simple and productive as possible.