Crosswork Network Automation

Use cases

• 1

  Plan and Design the Network

  Scope and details of the physical, virtual, and logical arrangement of infrastructure in the network.
  Needs

  • Up-to-date view of all active network resources and assets
  • Authentication and validation of all resources and assets to be onboarded
  • A network model consisting of all required resources to address both current and future service needs 

  Cisco solution

  • V
    Comprehensive multivendor network discovery and access to historical/current network data in minutes
  • V
    Federated multilayer/multidomain/multivendor network source of truth
  • V
    Integrity and posture status of all active devices leveraging industry-leading Cisco Trust Anchor technology
  • I
    Analysis of failures, design changes and impact of traffic growth

  Example benefit

  • Network design OPEX savings around $1.8 million per year for a national operator
• 2

  Build or Expand the Network

  Implement the planned network design including validation, integration of systems, and set-up to ensure the network is ready to deliver services and can be managed by operators.
  Needs

  • Flexibility to integrate new toolsets and workflows without business disruption
  • Support for multivendor devices, systems, and tools
  • Extensibility to incorporate new technologies and domains

  Cisco solution

  • A
    Use diverse set of APIs to integrate new tools with current OSS/BSS, DevOps toolchains, CI/CD pipelines and existing workflows and more
  • A
    Choose any device from any vendor to add to network; Crosswork provides mediated access to more than 1000 multivendor devices and systems
  • A
    Build multivendor IP and Optical networks leveraging pre-built integration with domain controllers from vendors like Ciena, Juniper, Huawei, Nokia and more
  • V
    Visualize real-time state of every device and service in the network to provision using point-and-click wizards
  • A
    Expand into new use cases with pre-built function packs (examples: CNFO, T-SDN, 5G)

  Example benefit

  • ROI of up to 383% and savings up to $3 to $16.7M for Tier 3 to 5 providers and more than $70M for Tier 1 and 2 operators over 5 years
• 3

  Deploy Services

  Provision, configure, and instantiate services, guided by intent-based policies, and update network/service models.
  Needs

  • Error-free configuration of services
  • Timely delivery of services

  Cisco solution

  • A
    Configure, provision and chain physical, virtual and cloud elements using a fully transactional approach
  • A
    Rapidly instantiate services using innovative ”stateful convergence’ algorithm that calculates shortest path to achieving service intent
  • A
    Deliver services across IP, optical, 5G transport using single pane of control

  Example benefit

  • Up to 90% reduction in time spent by operators from management of order entry to fulfillment
• 4

  Monitor Services Health

  Continuous checks to ensure services are running per committed SLAs.
  Needs

  • Continuous visibility to every part of the network
  • Timely information on how the network is performing and operating against SLAs

  Cisco solution

  • V
    Real-time views into service status and all associated network resource components
  • V
    Dynamic mapping of service intent to detailed network telemetry and KPIs
  • I
    Up-to-date awareness of congestion between network elements and peering points and actionable data for enabling traffic engineering decisions
  • I
    AI-driven identification of patterns and trends that indicate current or future service issues

  Example benefit

  • Reduced mean-time-to-know issues that will impact critical services via microsecond latency measurements and sub-1% packet loss detection
• 5

  Optimize the Network

  Re-configuration of the network to ensure SLAs are met and costs are optimized under changing traffic conditions.
  Needs

  • Maximum utilization of network capacity and resources
  • Optimization of both service performance and cost of operations

  Cisco solution

  • A
    Configure the network in real-time leveraging advanced traffic engineering based on industry-proven Segment Routing optimization algorithm
  • A
    Route traffic away from congestion toward additional capacity or resources and increase network utilization and lower capacity requirements over time
  • I
    Automated recommendations on how to distribute traffic loads across least expensive links
  • A
    Re-route traffic toward best alternate paths leveraging multilayer awareness and visibility during maintenance

  Example benefit

  • 99% time savings in finding a faster network path and validating the new configuration
• 6

  Assure Services

  End-to-end process involved in identifying and remediating the root cause of service-impacting issues.
  Needs

  • Eliminate unplanned network outages
  • Avoid service disruptions and SLA violations

  Cisco solution

  • I
    End-to-end customer experience awareness using Intent-based service quality monitoring
  • I
    ML-assisted analyses of abnormal trends and patterns in the network
  • V
    Operator-specific data visualization across SOC, NOC and domain operations for rapid troubleshooting
  • A
    Pre-emptively mitigate imminent service issues by leveraging predictive analytics

  Example benefit

  • Reduced mean-time-to-resolution resulting from anomaly detection with millisecond response time