Ahmed Abutaleb explains how Nokia IT defined requirements for a next-gen, global data-center network and why they pursued a NetOps approach. The goal was to operate on-prem infrastructure with cloud-like consistency: simple intent expression, repeatable automation, and predictable outcomes. Their first attempt (on a different platform) fell short, but moving to an open, Kubernetes-based platform—and surrounding it with open-source tooling—let a small team (3–4 engineers) learn fast, customize, and automate deeply.
Architecturally, Nokia shifted from inherited “flat” designs to a modular, flexible topology that can stitch in remote sites and support dual, geo-redundant data centers in each region (Europe, U.S., Asia) for disaster resilience. The tooling had to understand and enforce that flexibility at scale. This modernization, part of Nokia IT’s broader NetOps journey with Nokia SR Linux and Nokia Event-Driven Automation (EDA), contributed to major operational gains, including roughly an 80% reduction in trouble tickets.
This video is number 3 in a series of 6. To see the other posts, visit: https://techstrong.tv/videos/modernizing-the-data-center-nokia-its-netops-playbook