Skip to content
Start For Free LOG IN

Pillar: No-Code OSS

The State of Open APIs for Service Automation

Learn how a common set of APIs across the industry aids in the fast, efficient deployment of third-party applications and services.

By Francisco Gastiazoro
Open APIs

TL;DR

Learn how a common set of APIs across the industry aids in the fast, efficient deployment of third-party applications and services.

Key takeaways

  • In 2017, MEF and TM Forum began a project to standardize APIs for Lifecycle Services Orchestration (LSO).
  • This effort has achieved steady progress, with a rich set of APIs and growing industry adoption.
  • With the growth of 5G networks, the ability to automate ordering, deployment, and configuration of network services has grown hugely in importance.

In 2017, MEF and TM Forum began a project to standardize APIs for Lifecycle Services Orchestration (LSO). This effort has achieved steady progress, with a rich set of APIs and growing industry adoption. With the growth of 5G networks, the ability to automate ordering, deployment, and configuration of network services has grown hugely in importance. A common set of APIs across the industry aids in the fast, efficient deployment of third-party applications and services.

Members of both MEF and TM Forum can participate in the standardization process. Major telecom companies and service providers have adopted the APIs. The APIs are built on the REST standard, making them independent of programming language and platform.

The initial focus was on Carrier Ethernet networks. The ability to update any kind of wide-area network with minimal human intervention is important to agile operation. Business-to-business connections can span different service providers without complex adapters at the network edge. The same principles apply to SD-WANs, MPLS, and other wide-area network technologies. The APIs are suited for all of them.

What Sonata delivers

The goal of the APIs has expanded to creating a universal standard among telecom providers and networks. Their use is already speeding the deployment and management of products and services while reducing costs.

Each provider has its internal standards for price quotes, ordering, and billing. Sonata allows automated conversion of this information, eliminating the need to go through multiple forms, inconsistent data formats, and time-consuming questions. Instead of taking hours or days, subscribing to a service or buying a product becomes almost instantaneous.

Benefits of using the Sonata APIs include:

  • Ability to deliver on-demand services
  • Automated ordering
  • Delivery in seconds
  • Availability of more options
  • Easier customization and differentiation of services

Sonata is one of seven reference points defined by the MEF 55 framework. It supports “east-west” functionality, connecting business functions of two network providers. Examples of this functionality include ordering, inventory, and billing. Service orchestration (e.g., performance metrics, parameter settings, and status queries) falls under another reference point, called Interlude. Other MEF reference points standardize management interfaces by service providers and subscriber services for customers.

LSO Sonata Release 1 came out in October 2017. It included a software development kit for setting up B2B interactions on Carrier Ethernet, but the API can work with any MEF 3.0-compliant services. The initial release defined three of the eight proposed APIs. In June 2020 MEF announced that eight service providers are production-ready with Sonata. More than 50 service providers are at various stages of adoption.

Sonata is now in Release Candidate 5. When the project got going in 2017, TM Forum included 31 APIs in its full suite; the list is now over 50 APIs. The SDK is available on GitHub.

Future steps

The LSO APIs have made vast progress since 2017, and work on them continues. The long-term goal is for providers to act less like islands and more like a cloud federation that provides standardized cross-operator services. Providers often have to work through partners to deliver services, which in the past has required considerable manual effort. With standardized APIs, the business, deployment, and management practices look like direct connections. Retail partners operate efficiently, with little need for time-consuming manual steps.

Sonata is the most mature of the seven MEF reference points. Continuing work on the others is bringing the benefits of orchestration to all aspects of commercial network services.

The MEF framework aims for a future where many of the barriers to adding services to a network come down. For businesses, it means wider markets, less overhead to doing business, and more revenue.

Contact us to learn how Intraway’s solutions can help position you for this future.

Related