It has been assumed for some years that operators would increasingly move towards software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings for key business applications, and even network software. That would see them following a long-established enterprise trend and reducing upfront capex while making the cost of software more predictable and scalable. In reality, while operators have followed the SaaS model in general enterprise functions, such as sales management, just like other enterprises, they have made far slower progress than expected in telco-specific areas such as OSS/BSS. However, Nokia clearly thinks the time is right for a big shift in behavior, probably accelerated by many operators’ rising willingness to work with public cloud providers for a whole range of network functions. The Finnish company has announced…