LOS ANGELES – VMware is integrating Cellwize’s automation and orchestration technology into its Smart Assurance Suite to provide network operators with a full-loop view into their operations.

Gabriele Di Piazza, VP of VMware’s Telco Products and Solutions business, said the Cellwize integration allows for deeper monitoring and network management. This includes end-to-end visibility of the radio access network (RAN) topology along with the virtual and physical elements of the network; an automated root cause analysis that uses machine learning and impact correlation to provide more control over the network; and the use of self-optimization and self-healing to optimize the RAN and core network power management.

“We can now improve this process and correlate this information with all the other parts of the network,” Di Piazza told SDxCentral during this week’s MWC Los Angeles 2019 event.

The integration will build on Smart Assurance Suite’s existing capabilities. VMware acquired the Smart Assurance Suite platform last year from sister company Dell EMC. That platform includes software that monitors network health, performance, and root cause analysis for communication service providers. The vendor moved the platform into its Telco NFV portfolio, adding automated service assurance capabilities to support VNF deployments.

“This, combined with what we provide in the network, allows us to give actionable insight and close the loop on our side,” Di Piazza said. “We can now improve this process and correlate this information with all the other parts of the network.”

Cellwize CEO Ofir Zemer said that his company has been focusing on moving away from traditional self-organizing networks to broader automation. “Everything needs to work on a contextual basis,” Zemer said during a panel discussion at the event.

Di Piazza also explained the importance AI was playing in the ability for the platform to help monitor network operations. VMware itself recently bolstered its AI efforts by acquiring Uhana and Bitfusion.

VMware this week also provided an update on a deal with Ericsson that the companies announced at the MWC Barcelona event earlier this year tied to a certification lab. Ericsson was using that lab to test VNFs running on VMware vCloud NFV.

VMware explained that production deployments of Ericsson VNFs on VMware had doubled, that more than 50 operators were running 567 deployments on the platform, and that more than 70 operators were using Ericsson’s Business Support Systems running on VMware.