Manufacturing facilities where all processes are connected and automated with zero-latency? Warehouses and logistics centers where orders are automatically fulfilled and dispatched as they come in? Both of these and much more are part of the 5G communications revolution. 5G will provide the speed, robustness and near-zero latency powering the networks that will make possible the super-fast and accurate communications that these use cases require.
To enable use cases where networks can be truly customized to support the smart factory or logistics center, companies will need to deploy private 5G networks. While a few large enterprises will set up their own private 5G networks, most will turn to system integrators (SIs) for the nuts and bolts of network setup. SIs are like the cushion between the 5G technology and customers; they deal with the back-end wiring, equipment deployment, and software implementation.
With a 5G private network, for example, a company like Mercedes-Benz will be able to produce vehicles much more efficiently, optimizing data linkage across connected manufacturing installations and facilities, and tracking assembly line products in real time. All that will be enabled by the deployment of advanced 5G equipment throughout the network, as well as with the software-based open systems that are features of this equipment.
And 5G isn't just for the “big players;” smaller companies and organizations will be able to take advantage of these benefits as well. Most businesses will want to work with SIs to deploy their networks, as they have the expertise and resources to do so, leaving their customers to produce and sell the products and services that are their core business.
The point of deploying a private 5G network is to make things more efficient - not to get mired down in the details of setting up and managing a complicated network. The responsibility for doing that will fall on SIs, but even though they are supposed to be the experts, running a 5G private network could be a challenge for SIs. There are many details to keep track of - a plethora of equipment, how spectrum is allocated, how resources need to be deployed. And each customer has individual needs, making the challenge even greater.
That's where the software management aspects of 5G come in - and just as end-users expect all network capabilities to be automated, SIs can take advantage of software to implement features like dynamic spectrum management to power their network. Enhancing the networks with those features - thus reducing the skillsets SIs need to implement to deploy and manage networks - will enable SIs to serve even more customers more successfully. Thus, SIs need to build or acquire automated software management systems to make their customers' 5G dreams come true.
Some of the back-end that goes into running 5G networks includes planning and configuring networks, orchestrating network functions, instantiation and clouds, and setting up and constantly monitoring thousands of network parameters like transmission power, frequencies, thresholds and mobility, among others. Implementing all these features is complicated even for large service providers with nearly unlimited resources - all the more so for SIs. The ideal would be to “IT-ify” 5G management - to turn it into a turnkey management system that enables SIs to remotely manage private 5G networks, ensuring that customers are as shielded from the back-end communication processes as they wish to be.
With this kind of management system, SIs will be able to serve more customers from more verticals, each with their own customization needs. Instead of spending days or weeks on a “custom job,” SIs can easily adjust software management systems to fit the needs of each customer. For SIs, the objective is to “build once, deploy everywhere,” developing “cookie-cutter” systems that will enable them to scale network deployment and operations between facilities like factories, warehouses, logistics centers, and more. 5G has the potential to change the world - but with automated management, that potential could actually come to fruition.
