A Vision for the Next Generation Platform-as-a-Service

In an increasingly interconnected world, new opportunities for telecom-based services are emerging. Innovative applications profit from cloud versatility and scalability, but require a platform to combine the optimized 5G network fabric with the advancements in the domain of cloud computing, Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV). In practice, this platform must deploy different microservices over a heterogeneous range of technologies and infrastructure, aggregating various virtualization, orchestration and control mechanisms. Moreover, the many components needed to implement this, also require collaboration among a wide mix of actors (e.g. developers, operators, hardware/software vendors, infrastructure/service providers or vertical integrators). In this multi-domain context, the next-generation Platform-as-a-Service (NGPaaS) is devised to provide a generic framework for the development and operation of network services, while still supporting a high degree of customization and automation. The presented architecture is built around a workflow-based orchestrator which groups automated tasks and coordinates their execution across selected service platforms. Tailored, use-case-specific requirements are translated into custom-built workflows and microservices which can be plugged into the system. This enables adaptive configuration, scalability, reliability or placement on specialized infrastructure domains. The system is extended with an enhanced integration of DevOps-principles to lower the barriers between development and operations, across the many isolated administrative domains that exist in the modern telco landscape.