There are many choices for MANO platforms. But most have gaps. Open-source MANO projects seem economical, but it takes a large effort to make them do something. Large commercial solutions are functional, but they require massive investments to customize and deploy. Here’s our view of how MANO should work, and how ADVA’s purpose-built MANO solution fits the bill.

What is MANO?

MANO is the software that manages the NFV infrastructure and VNF lifecycle. In the ETSI NFV model, MANO comprises an NFV orchestrator (NFVO) and VNF manager (VNFM). 

• The NFVO takes care of the cloud infrastructure and lifecycle of the VNF services. 
• The VNFM handles the lifecycle of the VNFs themselves. That includes initialization, operation, scaling, and termination.

Some MANO implementations are part of a larger end-to-end system that controls all aspects of a network. The NFV/uCPE management requirements are an afterthought.

Not ours. The ADVA MANO solution was built from the ground up for the NFV domain. It includes two optimized software components:

• Ensemble Orchestrator: a fully functioned NFVO and multivendor VNFM.
• Ensemble Virtualization Director: manages operational aspects of NFVI platform. Key features include zero-touch provisioning, software management, disaster recovery and configuration management.

Out-of-the-box functionality

Getting MANO solutions to actually work is a big problem. Open-source MANO packages are really just toolboxes. They may require extensive configuration and fiddling to get them to build and run. Once you get it built and running, support becomes the next issue.

Competing commercial solutions aren’t much better. They usually require extensive and expensive professional services to customize and integrate them. Before that they aren’t usable.

ADVA’s MANO solution works right out of the box. It supports:

• Zero-touch provisioning with several means of VNF initialization
• Full NFV lifecycle management with live service edits
• Easy onboarding of VNFs
• Support for custom applications
• Software management
• Disaster recovery
• Configuration management
• Graphical and machine-to-machine interfaces

And these are all built in. All that’s required is basic configuration of the VNFs and service templates.

ADVA’s MANO solution can be installed in a VM on a local server, or run in a VM in the cloud. We even offer SaaS options for using our MANO. 

And we also offer professional services. These include installation, onboarding of VNFs, creation of service templates, and integration with third-party systems. But you can also do those yourself if you prefer.

Choose a solution that does what it promises today. 

Success-based economics

Competing commercial MANO solutions are expensive.

• First, you write a big check to license the software.
• Then you write another big check for the customization mentioned above.
• Finally, you write more big checks for licenses associated with the managed nodes.

That’s not how we do it. ADVA’s model is success-based. We make money when you make money.

Specifically, we don’t charge you an upfront price for the MANO software itself or any “per seat” charges. We charge purely based on the number of uCPE nodes being managed. So you don’t pay until you’re deploying services. And what you pay grows with the generated revenue. It’s a win-win.

Open, open, open

Another problem with many MANO solutions is openness. 

• Can you add a new VNF yourself, without paying the supplier?
• Does the system support user-applications?
• Does the secure management work with standard security gateways and authentication systems?
• Does the system have APIs to external VNF software (such as SD-WAN orchestrators)? Or to connect to higher-level OSS/BSS systems?

In the case of ADVA’s MANO solution, the answer to each of these questions is YES! Sadly, the answer is often NO for competing solutions.

Go with a MANO solution that works

Choose a solution that does what it promises today. And fits you budget. And that will power the innovation that NFV brings – when properly managed. 

And let us know if you’d like to see a demo of MANO that works for you.