BT jumping into the virtualisation pool

By Alun Williams

Posted on 2 Mar 2006 at 10:46

BT is jumping wholeheartedly into the virtualisation pool, powered by grid computing (where computer resources are pooled and made available on-demand to a range of applications). Speaking at a UK grid computing seminar, BT Group's Innovations Delivery Manger, Frank Falcon highlighted the role of delivered services to the telco's long term future.

Identifying network connectivity as the key issue in realising the potential of virtualisation, he sees this as playing to the strengths of a telecomms provider. In other words, in a converging world where voice data is digital and can be delivered alongside a myriad of other services - there must be more to life than just being a broadband supplier. Instead of facing constantly eroding margins, 'take over' the services that are required, within which broadband connectivity is merely the transport layer.

There are three elements to this approach, he highlighted. First, add virtualisation to the resource layer, so that networking, processing, storage, hardware and software can be access flexibly. Second, abstract the facilities offered by the resource layer, using a SOA (services oriented architecture) to leverage the resources into services. And third, integrate service capabilities to provide value-added products to customers, for example include management capabilities into the mix.

Think of it as a pyramid, with a broad range of available resources at the base, surmounted by a layer of virtualisation to flexibly divide those resources, atop this layer sits the SOA that maximises the possibilities offered by virtualisation, and, finally, atop the pyramid is the goal of business oriented architectures. In other words, all technology being driven towards core business requirements.

BT will, he asserted, be offering 'SLA (service level agreement) type' offerings within nine months, and is aiming to provide 300 virtualised service applications within a year. It is a world of VSUs ((VPN (virtual private network) Service Units), which would be running at 10 per cent load, with the rest available for customer use 'on-demand', as IBM has coined the phrase.

The VPG (virtual private grid) platforms will apparently be based on GridXPert and Synergy technology - BT working with United Devices, for the scalability it can support.

The ideal vision for BT, he suggested, would be for software developers to browse a catalogue of available services or assets in the virtualisation pool and be able to draw them in to their own application.

Underpinning these developments, of course, is BT's 21st Century Network, with phone calls, broadband and other Ethernet services being delivered over a next-gen telecommunications network. With voice services becoming digital, computing power is needed to drive communications along data pipes, and Cardiff has been the first test bed for delivering a new range of services. These include BT Fusion, a mobile phone that uses Bluetooth and IP technology to automatically connect to a landline when used at home, and BT LiveTime, which enables the broadcast of TV and digital radio to mobile handsets. (Last week BT trumpeted another £12m investment in the network

At the heart of this grid/SOA vision is the idea of outsourcing, or contracting-out. By devolving non-core business issues to third-parties, business should be able to more flexibly manage their core concerns. The holy grail - as always, as in the previous days of ORBs (object request brokers) and CORBA (common ORB architecture) - is to more closely align technology with real business issues and concerns, rather than the cart driving the horse, as it were. For example, for a financial services institution, instead of concentrating on in-house IT management issues the data can be crunched externally, and potentially more responsively.