Dell Technologies Inc. today announced a new telecom cloud infrastructure platform that’s designed to help communications service providers deploy cloud-native networks faster and with less hassle.

The new platform has been co-engineered with the open networking provider Wind River Systems Inc. and is based on a modular approach to building cloud-native networks.

Dell says that CSPs can save time and money by constructing their cloud-native networks using its new, pre-packaged Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks that are custom-built for specific telecommunications workloads. The blocks are said to be the fastest way for companies to deploy the Dell Telecom Multicloud Foundation platform, which automates cloud-native network deployment.

Along with that platform, the Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks consist of multiple Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell’s Bare Metal Orchestrator management software. Wind River is providing an integrated telecom cloud software platform, Wind River Studio.

The modular nature of Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks will ensure CSPs can scale up their cloud-native networks to meet any workload, the company said. That’s just as well, because Dell says that unlike with typical cloud platforms, CSP network cloud infrastructure must be built to address much wider, distributed geographic areas and strict service level agreements, while supporting a wide range of software, compute and networking technologies.

Using Dell’s fully engineered, cloud-native infrastructure building blocks, CSPs will also be able to simplify the process of building modern networks immensely, the company said. It cites a study by ACG Research that estimates CSPs who deploy the blocks can reduce their operational expenses by as much as 42%, resulting in a 134% return on investment over five years, versus a traditional telecom cloud infrastructure deployment.

What’s more, by automating the deployment of Wind River Studio, CSPs can significantly reduce the complexity and operational burden of managing a distributed cloud platform that delivers a reliably consistent, telecommunications-grade experience. Wind River Studio is software for managing Open Radio Access Networks, which are networks based on interoperable cellular network equipment sold by different vendors.

Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager of Dell’s Telecom Systems Business, said that the more telecom networks disaggregate, the more challenging it becomes for operators to effectively acquire, deploy, test and operate a myriad of open, cloud-native systems.

“With our portfolio of software, solutions, development labs and partner programs, including our first open, telecom cloud engineered system with Wind River, we can partner with communications service providers globally to simplify their transition to cloud-native technologies,” Hoffman said.

Wind River Studio provides the Containers-as-a-Service layer for a distributed cloud and the tools to automate and optimize “Day 2” operations at scale, Dell said. “Our collaboration with Dell will help address complex CSP challenges in deploying and managing a physically distributed, ultra-low-latency cloud-native infrastructure for intelligent edge networks,” said Wind River President and Chief Executive Kevin Dallas.

Dell is also planning to grow the ecosystem around its nascent telecom cloud infrastructure stack with the launch of a new certification program for partners that want to integrate products within it. The Dell Telecom Partner Self-Certification Program for independent software vendors and other partners will enable third-parties to certify their software’s readiness for integration with Dell’s hardware.

Partners will be able to follow a simple and transparent process for validating their offerings on Dell’s hardware within the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab. Any software platform that receives certification is guaranteed to be compatible with, and run optimally on Dell’s hardware.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said today’s partnership with Wind River is all about making it easier for telecommunications firms to go live on Dell’s hardware and services. “What’s really of note is the new partner self-certification program,” the analyst said. “Partner certification can be slow and is normally always very expensive. So unleashing a self-service process for partners can be a huge accelerator, as long as the quality of the certification is not compromised.”

Dell said its Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Wind River Studio will be globally available next month, while the partner self-certification program is up and running starting today.

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