Should operators embrace cloud-native automation or evolve NFV MANO for autonomous networks?

The telecoms industry is realising that to maximise operational efficiency benefits from network automation, it is necessary to move beyond traditional network management and orchestration solutions based on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) network functions virtualisation (NFV) management and orchestration (MANO) architecture. Cloud-native automation (CNA) approaches aim to achieve this by leveraging the orchestration capabilities of Kubernetes. However, telecoms operators may also attempt to evolve their NFV MANO deployments, either through applying new tooling, extensions and plug-ins, or by aligning with upcoming ETSI standards for a new Telco Cloud MANO (TC-MANO) architecture. Operators need to learn to navigate the changing network automation archetypes in order to accelerate their transition to L4 autonomous networks and decide which approach best suits their primary business and operational goals.