Cisco and NTT DATA extended a long-standing partnership that ties together enterprise-focused networking equipment, management, and services in a package designed to make it easier for IT teams to buy and deploy 5G cellular-enabled infrastructure.

The latest expansion integrates Cisco’s eSIM technology embedded in Cisco infrastructure to connect to NTT DATA’s Transatel network, which will allow those devices to be activated, provisioned, and configured directly out of the box. The new combined service will initially be available on Cisco’s Meraki MG52 cellular gateways, with plans to expand the offering to other Cisco devices down the road.

“All I do is I turn on my Cisco portal, and then I can remotely deploy hundreds of these across multiple locations using a single management portal,” Devin Yaung, SVP at NTT DATA, explained, adding that this is provides enterprises with an easier way to connect branch locations.

Analysts have noted that eSIM technology is increasingly being used to more easily and connect mobile devices.

IoT Analytics explained that the “technology incorporates embedded secure elements, providing advanced security features compared to traditional SIM cards. The secure element acts as a hardware root of trust for asymmetric encryption, ensuring secure end-to-end communication.”

The platform’s use of NTT DATA’s Transatel network also allows for unified pricing across international locations, which can help enterprises manage costs. NTT DATA’s Transatel network uses the eSIM product to allow for private-public roaming across wholesale agreements in 180 countries.

“That means I don't have to negotiate the rates in the countries that I want, then I only go to one single management portal and I can put a cap,” Yaung said. “For this country this is how many gigabytes I’m going to put a cap on. … I can know the cost.”

Simplicity is key, and maybe monetization

Masum Mir, SVP and GM for Cisco’s Provider Mobility operations, noted that this simplicity is increasingly important for enterprises as they look to further integrate new cellular technologies.

“In 5G, technologically we are quite advanced in nature,” Mir said. “Can it be super simple? If we think about if the entire world was CI/CD [continuous integration, continuous delivery] it would have been simple. But the reality of both in enterprise as well as in the carrier space is we don't live in a CI/CD world. The workforce out there is not a CI/CD workforce, so someone has to go and team CI/CD in a consumable fashion with the type of automation and workflow simplification that we have been doing together. Yes, potential is there, but it's not getting simpler anytime soon unless we actually are intentional about the outcome.”

Simplifying network connectivity is an important challenge for vendors as they look to move new services and technology into the enterprise space.

“In the tech industry, every year we have a new catalog of cool things that we have to look at,” Mir said. “We are actually in this approach is let's meet the customer where they are and make sure adoption of technology is not hard. It's an option and they can easily adapt.”

This includes 5G technology, which Mir said is robust and resilient enough to act as a primary connection in many edge and branch use cases.

“Our insertion point here is actually super simple. They're not having to make a decision. They already made the decision to deploy it. It is a choice. Now I want it to be more resilient. And when I'm doing resilience on 5G I don't lose any attribute that I have on my wireline connectivity. I think that is the approach that we are taking,” Mir said.

This more robust connectivity can also support the development and deployment of new services and use cases.

“Now we can stack solutions on top of this,” Yaung said. “This is the edge that we pop in and we can collect all the data, but now we can add applications and use cases and all these things on top of it, along with, for example, user experience design, operating model design, all the consulting services. Now we can put on top of the connectivity and the convenience that comes in with the new Cisco wireless products.”

Cisco and NTT have a history

The expanded offering builds on long-standing work between Cisco and NTT. This includes efforts to support IoT and private 5G offerings.

Mir added that this latest work further exemplifies the unique opportunities for the two companies.

“No with many of our partners can we actually solve this problem at a multicountry level,” Mir said, pointing specifically to the Transatel connection that “gives us this quick access to the market, especially for enterprises who operates in multiple countries. Bring that simplicity and the simplicity of 5G at a larger scale. We are very excited about this opportunity and what we can do for enterprises together.”