How CNTi Can Help With Your Cloud Journey – Part 3/3

In Part 1 of our blog series, we explored the critical role of cloud native architectures in unlocking 5G’s transformative potential. Part 2 delved into what makes a software function truly cloud native and the challenges telcos face in evaluating their vendors’ claims. Now, in Part 3, we spotlight the Cloud Native Telecom Initiative (CNTi) and its essential contributions to making cloud native adoption more accessible and measurable for telcos.

What is CNTi?

CNTi is a Linux Foundation Networking (LFN) Sandbox project whose goal is to accelerate the telecom industry’s adoption of cloud native design principles for network functions. CNTi addresses this through community-defined best practices, an open-source (and vendor-neutral) cloud native test suite and a Cloud Native Network Function (CNF) Certification program. Together, these assets help to address the complexities of deploying and managing cloud native solutions in telecom networks by providing development, deployment and operational best practices.

The project incorporates three primary activities:

• Accelerating adoption of multi-vendor cloud native network functions, enabling operators to build best-in-class networks
• Facilitating large-scale deployments to meet the operational demands of 5G networks
• Maximizing benefits for communication service providers (CSPs) through resilient, scalable and portable applications

Since its inception, CNTi has made significant strides in:

• Establishing industry best practices to guide development and deployment
• Developing a test catalog to validate vendor applications against cloud native best practices
• Launching a certification program to validate conformance to cloud native principles

The CNTi Certification Program, in particular, offers vendors and CSPs a clear framework for validating network functions in a certified Kubernetes environment, fostering trust and interoperability across the telecom ecosystem.

How CNTi Has Progressed

CNTi’s collaborative efforts have advanced cloud native adoption in telecom by:

• Engaging with complementary projects like Anuket and Sylva to enhance downstream support with open-source, vendor-neutral, cloud native tests
• Addressing gaps in test coverage and/or functionality
• Launching the CNTi Certification Program (beta), providing vendors and service providers with tools to help validate their cloud native capabilities
• Identifying and progressing new collaboration opportunities with other communities and associations that focus on driving telecom cloud native adoption

What Is the CNTi Beta Certification Program?

The CNTi Certification Program (currently in beta) is a cornerstone of the initiative’s mission, providing a neutral and robust framework to validate network functions against cloud native best practices. This program:

• Works to build trust among CSPs and vendors through a transparent certification process
• Provides the ability for vendors and service providers to self-test their network functions and gain a better understanding of how well they adhere to best practices
• Offers easy-to-use tooling which not only validates cloud native adherence but also provides remediation suggestions to help users improve their applications
• Provides ongoing alignment with evolving best practices as vendors commit to regular updates and recertification

The recently launched the beta version of CNTi Certification 2.0 empowers vendors to self-certify their network functions, showcases their adherence to cloud native principles and builds confidence among their CSP customers.

How to Self-Certify

Self-certifying with CNTi is a straightforward process:

1. Prepare: Review the certification requirements and ensure prerequisites are met
2. Run the Tests: Use the CNTi test suite to evaluate your network functions
3. Submit Results: Send test results to the CNTi Certification repository on GitHub and complete the participation form
4. Await Review: A CNTi reviewer will validate the results and certify your product as part of the current beta process

The complete instructions for CNTi Certification are available in the Useful Links section below CNTi Certification.

How to Get Involved

CNTi invites active participation from the telecom community. Here’s how you can contribute:

• Participate in test suite development calls every Tuesday at 8 am PT
• Engage in certification discussions every other Thursday at 8 am PT
• Subscribe to the mailing list and connect via the LFN Tech Slack channel (#cnti-general)

By contributing to CNTi’s work, telcos and vendors can help shape the future of cloud native telecom, ensuring the adoption of standards and tools that meet the industry’s unique needs.

MATRIXX and CNTi

MATRIXX is a founding member of CNTi, having led efforts with community members to become an official LFN Sandbox project in June 2024. As a member of the CNTi Technical Steering Committee (TSC), MATRIXX works closely with the community to drive the CNTi strategy, explore collaboration opportunities and represent CNTi at industry events like ONE Summit, KubeCon, Cloud Native Telco Day and the like.

Internally, MATRIXX leverages the CNTi best practices and test suite to ensure our products remain at the forefront of cloud native network functions.

Why CNTi Matters for Telcos

As Marc Price, CTO of MATRIXX Software, notes, “By selecting CNTi Certified CNFs, CSPs will be able to confidently speed their transitions to cloud native networks, gaining advantages of speed, agility and resilience across platforms and workloads.”

CNTi offers telcos and vendors a clear pathway to realize the benefits of cloud native architecture. Its certification program and collaborative approach provide the tools needed to validate solutions, ensure interoperability and accelerate the adoption of 5G’s advanced capabilities.

Conclusion: A More Cloud Native Future

The journey to cloud native is not without its challenges, but initiatives like CNTi are paving the way for telcos to overcome them. By adopting CNTi-certified solutions, telcos can future-proof their networks, drive operational efficiencies and unlock new revenue streams.

This concludes our three-part series on the cloud native journey for telcos. Together, telcos, vendors and open-source communities can build a more agile and resilient telecom industry. Let’s get started.

Read more information about MATRIXX Software’s involvement in industry standards bodies.

Useful Links

• CNTi Certification
• The Anuket Project
• The Sylva Project

Olivier Smith
As a member of the CTO Office at MATRIXX Software, Olivier is actively engaged in open-source communities in the Linux Foundation, where he helps advance and promote cloud native best practices for the telecom industry. He is a founding member of the Cloud Native Telecom Initiative (CNTi) and a Technical Steering Committee member.

About MATRIXX Software’s CTO Office
MATRIXX Software delivers a modern converged charging and digital monetization solution proven at scale. Global operators like Telefónica and Telstra, IoT providers like Tata Communications and network-as-a-service providers like DISH rely on the platform to overcome the limitations of traditional Business Support Systems. MATRIXX actively contributes to advancing industry standards and best practices for the next era of telecommunications through our leadership and engagement across 3GPP, TM Forum and the Linux Foundation.