SUSE and Nokia Partner to Advance Cloud-Native Network Automation

We are excited to share a new milestone in our collaboration with Nokia Network Infrastructure: the successful initial validation of the Nokia Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform on the SUSE Telco Cloud stack. This achievement showcases how our combined expertise is paving the way for a future where telco networks are as agile, resilient, and automated as the cloud-native applications they host.

A Powerful Combination: SUSE Telco Cloud and Nokia

SUSE Telco Cloud is a platform for communication service providers and network vendors to build, deploy, and manage modern, cloud-native telecom applications like 5G Packet Core, Open RAN, OSS and BSS. As an open-source solution, it streamlines operations at a massive scale with zero-touch deployment and GitOps-ready management, helping operators enhance scalability and security while reducing time-to-market. SUSE Telco Cloud is also fully aligned with Project Sylva, an initiative by 26 major telecom operators and vendors to create an open-source, cloud-native telecom cloud, while reducing the reliance on expensive proprietary systems. 

Nokia EDA platform is a cloud-native network automation platform designed to simplify the entire lifecycle management of a network. It aims to achieve “Human Error Zero” by creating a reliable, multi-vendor network. The platform automates the network lifecycle from Day 0 design through Day 1 deployment and Day 2 operations, responding quickly to infrastructure events by triggering automated actions without manual intervention.

A Shared Philosophy: Orchestrating the Declared State

“This successful test validates the open architecture of Nokia Event Driven Automation (EDA) and demonstrates Nokia’s continued dedication to this approach.”

– Darren Richards, Regional Product Manager DC Fabric & Automation, Nokia

What truly excites us is how Nokia EDA’s architecture perfectly aligns with SUSE’s cloud-native philosophy. By treating network devices as Kubernetes objects, EDA shifts the focus from manual configuration to declarative intent. This brings successful Kubernetes concepts to data center networking. The principle of a declared, desired state orchestrated by a Kubernetes control plane is a core of SUSE’s own strategy for managing everything from bare-metal servers to IoT devices. This deep technical synergy is the foundation of our partnership, enabling a cohesive infrastructure from edge to core.

Nokia’s EDA offers multiple distribution options and adheres fully to core CNCF principles, thus allowing the application to be deployed seamlessly as containers. This approach makes it compatible with a wider range of Linux distributions and Kubernetes environments, such as SUSE Linux Micro and RKE2. This approach makes it compatible with a wider range of Linux distributions and Kubernetes environments, such as SUSE Linux Micro and RKE2. We successfully deployed the core EDA components on SUSE Telco Cloud stack, proving the platform’s flexibility and interoperability. 

We are grateful for Nokia’s collaborative spirit and look forward to working together to explore production-ready configurations, bringing our combined vision of automated, cloud-native networks to our shared customers.