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Supporting Documents

DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION:

LF Networking Messaging Framework – draft thoughts (April 23, 2021)

Elevator Pitch

Communications networks continue to transform to unleash the capabilities of 5G and edge computing and ultimately deliver new use cases, services (and operational efficiencies?) to both consumers and enterprises. Open source innovations can help accelerate this transformation and enable the entire industry – from OEMs, ISVs and system integrators, to comms SPs, cloud SPs and enterprises – to more quickly realize operational and revenue value. LF Networking supports the largest set of open source networking projects through a broad industry community, so that the industry can more quickly leverage open source innovations to streamline network transformation.

Feedback from call:

Ok with setup in elevator pitch (landscape, role of open source, role of LFN), but should add the key problem / challenge / pain point we are addressing…software is complex and open source is the only way to scale software
Convey that LFN is the place to go / center of gravity / nexus – tap into the broadest set of capabilities and integration points to truly scale. “if you’re not part of this, you’re on the outside looking in”
"Don't try this at home" & "If you're not here you are missing the boat."
LFN fosters/incubates innovation, sphere of influence extending out to verticals
Breadth of contributors across the value chain, internalizing requirements of industry, LFN fostering new wave of open source practitioners – building that muscle and competency for the industry

Message Pillars – initial thoughts

Simplify and streamline

Benefit from simpler, more efficient ways to develop and onboard software
The ecosystem can leverage open source to move forward more quickly to support end user needs. In turn, end users can have the confidence that they can rely on community-built, interoperable solutions.
Working in the LFN community prevents unnecessary duplication of common components / technology that companies need to develop and deploy (streamline benefit), provides more vendor choice to reduce lock in, and speeds time to market for network services and infrastructure.
Projects span Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Management and Orchestration (MANO), automation, analytics, dataplane acceleration, and more…any others we should call out?

Onboard new software capabilities in a more efficient, faster way

Open compliance offers assurance of interoperability and removes guesswork. Better requirements and better testing against these requirements helps ensure software is more likely to integrate seamlessly. LFN is speeding up that process so that open source innovations can be deployed quicker and with less headache.
Onboard new services more quickly and efficiently, whether it’s leveraging a single LFN project building block or a more complete solution stack.
LFN projects are deeply integrated with the edge computing landscape and are collaborating to add capabilities and features to edge blueprints and use cases…still a relevant message and what the key audience benefit?

Take a quicker path to implement new services and operational efficiencies in vertical markets

<write this pillar to reflect aspirational nature of this LFN board priority>
Strong potential for open source innovations in LFN to enable new revenue generating services and operational efficiencies by leveraging the fast pace of technology innovation
Proof point: 5G Super Blueprint

Feedback from call:

First Pillar orthagonal to the other two.
3 possible pillar ideas: 1) You have access to innovation to make money, 2) Development efficiency: Save development cost by tapping into development community. Don’t go it alone. 3) Operational efficiency: Save operational cost
Message idea around breaking down complexity, removing the guesswork
Fostering open source innovation, example: EMCO.
Show that LFN is an "innovation center" "innovation powerhouse" "nexus".
End users are contributors, build platforms together
Churning out open source practitioners to transform the industry.

Background on open source

Is this still needed for the umbrella messaging, or should we just pull this into the comms SP and/or enterprise audience messaging?

Open source has become the de facto way to build software. More developers are embracing this because it offers a broader ecosystem of ideas and viewpoints to generate innovations, and quicken the speed of software development. No single company could accomplish what is delivered through open source community.
Companies are leveraging open source innovations more frequently in their product and service offerings, contributing to the community and using it to chart their own course in the evolving networking landscape.
As companies and developers use open source code to build their own commercial products and services, they also gain strategic value in contributing back to those projects. Open source reduces time and optimizes effort, while improving efficiencies and interoperability. Open source communities are also a key driver for building consensus across the industry, filling gaps, and driving adoption by vendors, integrations, end users.

For enterprise audience messaging: Weave in security message, more eyes on SW leads to improved security.

Feedback from call:

Agreed we should weave some of ‘why open source’ into message pillars, and also develop a “chapter” / appendix with expanded info on open source value (for audiences that need deeper dive education on open source value & benefits)

Next Steps: Lindsey & Neal to meet again offline to keep revving. Group will meet again next Friday.

Updated inputs for offline working session - DRAFT April 27, 2021:

Elevator Pitch

As service providers and enterprises alike look to deliver new use cases and services and realize operational efficiencies in new ways, technologies like 5G and edge computing can play a pivotal role. However a key challenge is the software complexity to implement the full capabilities of these technologies. Open source innovations offer THE path to quickly scale software and can enable the entire industry – from OEMs, ISVs and system integrators, to comms SPs, cloud SPs and enterprises – to realize operational and revenue value much faster. LF Networking supports the largest set of open source networking projects, offering a center of innovation excellence that the industry can leverage to accelerate software development.

Simplify and streamline development / save development costs

Software development can be costly and time consuming. As a result, many developers are actively involved in and leveraging from open source communities and open source has now become the de facto way to build software. Developers can tap into a broader ecosystem of ideas and viewpoints to more quickly generate innovations, and to speed up software development. No single company could accomplish what is delivered through an open source community.

Working in the LFN community prevents unnecessary duplication of common networking components and technology that companies need to develop and deploy. With projects spanning Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Management and Orchestration (MANO), automation, analytics, data plane acceleration, and more, developers have access to the broadest set of open source networking capabilities and integration points. They can leverage this community-driven work to develop and onboard networking software in simpler, more efficient ways. This means they can ultimately support the industry’s network services and infrastructure needs much faster and in turn, the industry (end user?) has the confidence that they can rely on community-built, interoperable solutions.

Improve efficiency of your operations

Operations need to run smoothly and can’t afford costly or time consuming software upgrades. LFN’s broad community and years of experience in driving open compliance efforts offers assurance of interoperability and removes the guesswork. The LFN community is constantly improving both the requirements and the testing against these requirements. By enhancing and speeding up the process, LFN is helping ensure software is more likely to integrate seamlessly and with less headaches, whether you are leveraging a single LFN project building block or a more complete solution stack.

LFN projects are also deeply integrated with the edge computing landscape and collaborate with other communities like LF Edge (others?) to add networking capabilities and features to edge blueprints and use cases.

Drive new revenue opportunities through access community innovation

LFN fosters and incubates networking innovation that have been implemented in communications networks globally and can be used to enable new use cases and services across a range of industries, from retail and healthcare to manufacturing and more. (give examples within industries, like improving defect detection in manufacturing and improving inventory visibility in retail?) With a breadth of contributors across the value chain and by collecting requirements from across the industry, LFN is fostering a new wave of open source practitioners and an innovation competency that the industry can rely on. This access to innovation means retailers can find new ways to optimize inventory, manufacturers can connect their factories for real-time decision making, and more (need better examples and 1 more from another industry).