MEF Unveils Operational LSO API Portfolio for Network Services

MEF, a global industry association of network, cloud, security, and technology providers accelerating enterprise digital transformation, has unveiled its MEF enterprise business and operational Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) API portfolio.

This powerful suite empowers enterprises to seamlessly perform automated business and operations with their service providers. Aligned with MEF’s NaaS Industry Blueprint, the comprehensive enterprise portfolio features a range of new and existing MEF assets to fuel the advancement of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) for enterprises.

Large enterprises undergoing digital transformation and cloud migration can leverage APIs to seamlessly connect their internal automation systems and applications with service provider networks. This enables frictionless experiences, a core principle of digital transformation. Ideally, enterprises seek a comprehensive set of automation APIs that span the entire lifecycle of business and operational processes.

“MEF’s enterprise business and operational LSO API portfolio is a game-changer for enterprises undergoing digital transformation,” said Debika Bhattacharya, Chair, MEF Board of Directors, and Chief Technology Solutions Officer, Verizon Business. “These APIs allow for seamless automation of managed services between businesses and their technology partners, giving enterprises greater control, flexibility and visibility over their NaaS environments and eliminating the need for proprietary APIs. This translates to improved operational efficiency and a stronger foundation for innovation.”

Comprehensive Suite of Business and Operational APIs
The MEF enterprise business and operational LSO API portfolio enables service providers to use the same APIs that automate business and operational functions between service providers to automate similar functions between service providers and enterprises for subscriber services, thereby streamlining enterprise digital transformation.

Currently available MEF business LSO APIs include address validation, site query, product catalog, product offering qualification, product offering availability discovery, quote, price discovery, product order, product inventory, trouble ticketing and incidents, appointment, work order, and billing and settlement. Current and planned MEF operational LSO APIs include service function testing, service performance monitoring, and fault management.

Automating Broad Range of Subscriber Services
MEF enterprise business and operational LSO APIs are available for Carrier Ethernet (E-Line, E-LAN and E-Tree) and traditional IP Broadband and Direct Internet Access network services. New services to be added in coming months include dark fiber, wavelengths, edge compute, cross-connects, cloud connects, and satellite followed by SD-WAN, SASE, Zero Trust, and SSE.

MEF Leadership and Expertise

MEF’s Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC), formed at the end of 2023, comprises senior enterprise executives with mission-critical network infrastructures. ELC members have quickly defined enterprise pain points and provided actionable insight to guide development of the enterprise portfolio.

Initial use-cases of the enterprise portfolio include:

Buying and managing enterprise services such as network services, cloud connectivity, low latency edge compute for AI, cybersecurity, IoT, and more
Incident reporting for rapid enterprise response to service changes and cybersecurity threats
Automated buying and managing of network services, cybersecurity and incident reporting will enable enterprises to have tremendous observability and control when cybersecurity, outage and maintenance events happen.

More than 155 service providers worldwide are now in various stages of the adoption lifecycle for MEF business and operational LSO APIs. At least 35 service providers are already in production with these APIs to automate business and/or operational functions with their service provider partners, and this number is forecasted to surpass 100 by the end of 2025. These service providers can now utilize the same APIs to extend automation to enterprises for retail services.

Additionally, a growing ecosystem of LSO Solution Providers is empowering operators to harness the power of MEF business and operational APIs and to seamlessly automate with any partner. For more insights, refer to MEF’s comprehensive State of the Industry Report.

Future Enhancements

MEF’s roadmap for automation in the enterprise includes optimizing its business and operational capabilities for mobility and developer/application use cases with an emphasis on interacting with service provider networks for both wireless and wired services using light weight intent-driven automation processes.

Recognizing the need for industry collaboration to accelerate the automated NaaS ecosystem, MEF developed the NaaS Industry Blueprint which frames the market opportunity and provides a common framework for understanding and defining NaaS. The blueprint will play a major role in driving the growth of the NaaS market and helping businesses achieve their digital transformation goals. Additionally, MEF’s Global NaaS Event (GNE) 28-30 October will serve as a catalyst to fuel the advancement of NaaS for enterprises.