As telcos roll out virtualized core networks and Open RAN technology, investment in assurance has been lagging in spend on new network management capabilities. Faced with the vast complexity of these new networks, telcos increasingly find themselves with two competing assurance needs:

1. Existing assurance capabilities lack the sophistication necessary to deal with hybrid, virtualized environments—requiring significant spend on new solutions.

2. Automation and intelligence offer management a cost-reduction vision with the ability to reduce headcount in the so-called “dark NOC”. Rough calculations based on fully loaded personnel costs suggest that reducing headcount in a NOC/SOC with 150 to 200 staff with a loaded per-annum cost of $80,000 would create a $14 million saving each year.