Spirent’s cloud-native testing solution is addressing the biggest pain points in horizontal cloud infrastructure, according to new analysis from Omdia.
As the global telecom industry shifts toward cloud-native architecture, operators are facing operational, organizational, and performance-related challenges. Spirent’s Landslide platform is emerging as a key tool that helps operators validate, benchmark, and optimize cloud-native network functions in multi-vendor environments.
Cloud-native transformation reshapes telecom operations
The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance notes that cloud native is far more than simply containerizing workloads. It changes the core operating model of telecom networks. Telcos traditionally depended on equipment vendors to build and deploy network functions. This vertical model required limited cloud expertise. In contrast, cloud-native transformation demands new tools, new workflows, and deeper understanding of cloud infrastructures.
Omdia estimates that telcos spent about $15.7 billion on cloudifying network functions in 2024. This equals 23 percent of network infrastructure equipment capex and about 5 percent of total industry capex. The global telco network cloud market is forecast to grow from $17.4 billion in 2025 to $24.8 billion in 2030 at a CAGR of 7.3 percent. Spending is expected to rise 12 percent in 2025 as operators accelerate modernization of 5G core, IMS, and RAN systems.
Telecom operators made notable progress in cloudifying their networks in 2024, supported by targeted investments and strategic partnerships.
Telecom Italia (TIM) committed about 130 million euros to expand its cloud infrastructure and build a new data center near Rome as part of TIM Enterprise’s cloud strategy.
O2 / Telefonica advanced its move toward cloud-native networks by deploying a 5G standalone core on Amazon Web Services, marking one of the first such implementations by an existing operator, though specific capex figures were not disclosed.
Vodafone announced a long-term shift of services toward cloud and AI platforms through a $1.5 billion, ten-year partnership with Microsoft, which includes cloud modernization initiatives.
Although not all operators disclosed exact annual spending on cloud-native transformations, these moves highlight growing industry commitment to migrating network functions and operations toward cloud-based architectures.
Challenges slowing cloud-native deployment
1. Application performance and reliability
Cloud-native network functions must match the security, resiliency, and performance levels expected from traditional appliances. Multi-vendor cloud environments complicate the process, since CNFs, container platforms, and infrastructure are supplied by different vendors.
Microservices offer resiliency by isolating functions into Kubernetes pods, but they introduce complexity. Operators must understand how microservices interact, how pods scale, and how performance issues in specific components affect the network.
Many CNFs are not fully cloud native. Several still use monolithic VNF code repackaged in containers. This makes it essential for operators to evaluate each CNF for resiliency and cloud-native readiness.
2. Efficient cloud resource utilization
Underutilization of compute, storage, and networking resources remains a major issue. Even in horizontal cloud architectures, resources are often sized for peak capacity and isolated for each CNF, resulting in wasted resources.
In discussions with Omdia, BT highlighted that tight coupling between container platforms and CNFs prevents fine-grained control over infrastructure resources. CNF vendors also impose pod-affinity or anti-affinity rules, limiting scheduling flexibility and reducing utilization.
3. Organizational readiness
Deutsche Telekom shared that cloud-native adoption required reorganizing teams into infrastructure, automation, and workload groups with agile cycles. A unified automation framework and CI/CD pipeline supports continuous testing and deployment.
Smaller operators often lack these capabilities. They face constraints in integrating cloud components, managing CI/CD workflows, and supporting cloud-native operations.
Spirent Landslide simplifies cloud-native validation
As cloud and network functions decouple, telcos need to validate CNFs for performance, conformance, and security on diverse cloud infrastructures. Spirent’s Landslide platform, now part of Keysight Technologies, delivers a combined suite for CNF resiliency testing and cloud infrastructure benchmarking.
Key capabilities
1. Benchmarking cloud infrastructure for CNF readiness
Spirent’s test cases identify whether CNFs efficiently use cloud resources. They reveal vendor-imposed requirements for scaling, node selection, and workload migration. This helps operators understand constraints that impact automation and resource planning.
2. Mapping service KPIs to infrastructure demand
Cloud teams often lack visibility into service KPIs, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. Landslide benchmarks network performance against compute, storage, and network utilization. These insights help operators right size CNF deployments and avoid overprovisioning while ensuring quality of experience.
3. Repeatable testing across cloud environments
A key differentiator is the ability to integrate these test suites directly into telcos CI, CD, and CT pipelines. Test scenarios can be repeated across different hardware and cloud platforms. As CNFs and container platforms receive frequent upgrades, telcos can measure the impact on performance and resource use. This simplifies planning for hardware refresh cycles and software upgrades.
Conclusion
As operators transition to cloud-native architecture, they face challenges in performance assurance, resource optimization, and organizational transformation. Spirent’s Landslide test suite offers a comprehensive framework that helps operators validate CNFs, benchmark infrastructure, and maintain consistent network performance across multi-vendor cloud environments. The solution strengthens operators’ ability to modernize networks and manage the complexities of cloud native at scale.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
