Azure and Teams were well established in 2020 when MetaSwitch was
acquired. The ongoing "welding" is being driven by AI
Quoting Alex Balashov via VoiceOps <voiceops@voiceops.org>:
I don't think it's getting run over by AI. Peter R called it; it's
about welding everyone to Azure and Teams.
— Sent from mobile, apologies for brevity and errors.
On Aug 13, 2024, at 3:46 PM, Jeff Brower via VoiceOps
<voiceops@voiceops.org> wrote:
"The telecommunications industry remains a priority industry for Microsoft"
that is questionable. Like other areas getting run over by AI,
priorities are shifting. Maybe they expect that if their AI gets smart
enough, it can solve telecom use cases anyway :-)
Quoting Jawaid Bazyar via VoiceOps <voiceops@voiceops.org>:
"Azure for Operators" is what Microsoft was calling the Metaswitch products.
This went out a couple months ago:
---
We are reaching out to customers of our Azure for Operators
portfolio, which includes products we acquired from Affirmed
Networks and Metaswitch Networks, to explain recent updates to our
portfolio.
__In 2020, we announced our Azure for Operators initiative. As
part of this effort, we acquired Affirmed
Networks, Metaswitch Networks, and IP from AT&T to acquire “Telco
DNA” that would enhance our operational / technical engineering
skills for building a carrier grade platform. As these acquisitions
came together with Azure, we created Azure Operator Nexus – a
carrier grade, hybrid cloud platform. We are moving Azure Operator
Nexus into our broader Azure Edge and Platform portfolio and
continue to service operators.__
___Based on customer demand, the Azure for Operators initiative
also focused on automation and analytics capabilities as early
products. Given the acceleration of Microsoft’s AI capabilities
overall, we are now aligning these early efforts with Microsoft’s
broader portfolio.___
___As we advance our platform and AI capabilities, we are
shifting our focus from the Network Function layer to partnerships
with industry leaders of these capabilities. We will fulfill all our
contractual obligations to existing customers and we will be
consistent with published end-of-life policies. We will not expand
our customer base for Microsoft’s Network Functions, including the
former Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks software products.___
__The telecommunications industry remains a priority industry
for Microsoft. We will continue to empower telecommunications
organizations to achieve more through a trusted and secure platform
built to elevate customer experiences, streamline enterprise
operations and business support systems, accelerate network
transformation, reinvent product innovation and monetization, and
build a secure data-driven business.__
___We appreciate the importance our products provide in
supporting your network. We also appreciate the long-term planning
that network development requires, so we will communicate our
roadmap plans at the earliest opportunity. It is important to note
that these changes do not require immediate action from you today,
nor do they change any agreement that you have in place
with Microsoft. We will continue to meet all customer contractual
commitments.___
___If you have any questions, please contact: AFO Sales
Questions afosales...@microsoft.com.___
___Thank you.___
____ ____
___FAQ___
___Q: IS THERE ANY ACTION I NEED TO TAKE TODAY? WHEN WILL YOU
HAVE MORE DETAILS TO SHARE ABOUT RETIREMENT DATES (AZURE SERVICES)
OR END OF LIFE DATES (METASWITCH NETWORKS & AFFIRMED NETWORKS
PRODUCTS)?___
___A: We will continue to meet all customer contractual
commitments and be consistent with published end-of-life policies.
We also appreciate the long-term planning that network development
requires, so we will communicate our roadmap plans at the earliest
opportunity.___
____ ____
___Q: WILL YOU STILL SUPPORT OUR CLOUD AND AI TRANSFORMATION?___
___A: Yes, Microsoft is refining the offers we provide to
operators to reflect the strong demand for cloud and AI based
solutions.___
____ ____
___Q: IF YOU ARE ANNOUNCING AN END OF SALE FOR THE AFFIRMED
NETWORK AND METASWITCH NETWORK PRODUCTS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS AND NET
NEW DEPLOYMENTS, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MY EXISTING SERVICE?___
* ___We will meet all existing customer contractual obligations.___
* ___We will continue to maintain the software to provide
security patches and bug fixes. We highly recommend that customers
follow standard security practices and upgrade to the latest
releases.___
* ___We will provide support consistent with existing contracts.___
* ___We will continue to offer project level support /
maintenance services on a case-by-case basis (as we do today).___
* ___We will support the expansion of volumes of current
deployments.___
* ___We will not expand the customer base / add new customers.___
* ___We will not expand to entirely new deployments for
existing customers (e.g., launching for a new OpCo or OpCo not
currently deployed) where the new deployment is not already
contractually committed.___
* ___We will not expand or offer new feature sets beyond those
that have already been committed.___
____ ____
___Q: WHAT ARE YOU ANNOUNCING FOR THE AZURE FOR OPERATORS PRODUCTS?___
___A: Here is a summary of these changes:___
* ___We promoted Azure Operator Nexus to Azure’s Edge and
Platform portfolio and will continue to sell it.___
* ___We will continue to support Azure Programmable Connectivity.___
* ___We will support existing customers of Azure Operator
Insights / AIOps Copilot, but we will not accept new
customers. Microsoft Fabric will address this functionality.___
* ___We will no longer add new customers for: Azure
Communication Gateway (ACG), Azure Operator Insights (AOI), Azure
Private 5G Core (AP5GC), Affirmed Mobile Content Cloud (MCC),
Affirmed UnityCloud (UC), Metaswitch Rhino TAS,
and Metaswitch Perimeta SBC. If you have a customer who is in the
process of onboarding, please contact the appropriate In-flight
Projects contact: sallywat...@microsoft.com (APAC and EMEA)
or seanja...@microsoft.com (Americas).___
* ___We will not accept more preview candidates for: Azure
Operator Call Protection (AOCP) and Azure Operator 5G Core (AO5GC),
and we will not move these services to General Availability.___
____ ____
___Q: WHAT IS NEXT AFTER YOU STOP SELLING A PRODUCT, AND HOW
WILL YOU MANAGE THESE PRODUCTS?___
___A: We will continue to support these products in accordance
with our existing customer commitments. We will eventually retire
these services in accordance with our lifecycle policies. In
advance of retirement, we will provide notification as well as
details on transition recommendations. We are committed to
supporting you through this transition.___
____ ____
___Here are the current plans for each product, but plans may
evolve as we work with customers:___
* ___AZURE COMMUNICATION GATEWAY (ACG) – We will publish a
transition roadmap to recommend options to migrate off these
services to partner solutions when the service is retired.___
* ___AZURE OPERATOR INSIGHTS (AOI) – We will work with
customers to align this service to Microsoft Fabric before the
service is retired.___
* ___AZURE OPERATOR 5G CORE (AO5GC) – We will not move this
product from Public Preview to GA___
* ___AZURE PRIVATE 5G CORE (AP5GC) – We will provide options
to adopt services using partner solutions before the service is
retired.___
* ___AZURE OPERATOR CALL PROTECTION (AOCP) – We will not move
this product from Private Preview to GA. Operators may still use
existing Microsoft tooling and partner solutions to create a similar
solution.___
* ___AFFIRMED MOBILE CONTENT CLOUD (MCC) – We will meet
obligations as defined above until product End of Life.___
* ___AFFIRMED UNITYCLOUD (UC) – We will meet obligations as
defined above and move to product End of Life.___
* ___METASWITCH RHINO TAS – We will meet obligations as
defined above until product End of Life.___
* ___METASWITCH PERIMETA SBC – We will meet obligations as
defined above until product End of Life.___
____ ____
___Q: IS MICROSOFT EXITING THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY?___
___A: No. Microsoft remains fully committed to supporting the
telecommunications industry by empowering them to achieve more with
the power of Cloud and AI. The changes to the Azure for Operator
portfolio reflect customer demand and enable us to focus on the
technologies that drive the most value for our customers and
partners.___
____ ____
___Q: IF THESE CHANGES IMPACTED MY CONTACTS AT MICROSOFT, WHO
CAN I CONTACT?___
___A: We apologize for any inconvenience personnel changes have
caused you. Please reach out to your assigned Microsoft Account
Executive. For issues requiring escalation, you may contact the
following: ___
___ ___
___Questions /
inquiries:
afosalesqst@microsoft.com___
___Industry Lead Sponsor:
silvia.candiani@microsoft.com___
___Support Issues:
mhender...@microsoft.com ___
___In-flight Projects (APAC and EMEA)
sallywathen@microsoft.com___
___In-flight Projects (Americas):
seanjames@microsoft.com___
___Purchase Orders:
jason.ryb...@microsoft.com ___
___Executive Escalation:
shawn.hakl@microsoft.com___
____ ____
___On Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 8:41 AM Mike Hammett
<voice...@ics-il.net> wrote:___
___"Given the MetaSwitch products are no longer sold, and Microsoft
is EOLing them, and not taking new support contracts..."___
___That's news to me.___
___-----
Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions
http://www.ics-il.com
Midwest Internet Exchange
http://www.midwest-ix.com___
-------------------------
___FROM: "Jawaid Bazyar via VoiceOps" <voiceops@voiceops.org>
TO: "voiceops" <voiceops@voiceops.org>
SENT: Tuesday, August 13, 2024 7:23:05 AM
SUBJECT: [VoiceOps] Acquire MetaSwitch___
___Hello,___
___We are in the market to acquire / take over a
MetaSwitch CFS. In particular, we're looking for the virtual
edition that runs purely in VMWare.___
___The components we'd need are:___
___ CFS___
___ MRS (Media Resource Server)___
___ Perimeta___
___ SAS (Service Assurance Server)___
___ MetaView Server___
___These are fairly common components.___
___Given the MetaSwitch products are no longer sold, and
Microsoft is EOLing them, and not taking new support contracts,
we're not talking about a big cash up front kind of deal, but,
instead a revenue share kind of arrangement.___
___Anyone that has one and is interested, contact me
directly off-list.___
___Cheers,___
___Jawaid___
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