resiliency is required. Another important consideration when scaling is the use of microservices. Microservices decon- struct an application into a series of smaller, separately deployable units. When discrete parts of a solution are separately deployed, they can also be separately scaled. This allows for a solution to run multiple instances of one service while only running a single instance of another, which is critical to flexibility and elasticity to meet surges in demand. VNF management needs to support continuous tuning to optimize utilization and changing traffic flows. VNFs can be instantiated on demand, or leveraged out of a pool, depending on the requirements of resiliency and recovery targets. Pool-based VNFs can provide faster recovery and higher resiliency as the VNFs are already running. However, the VNFs consume resources even when not used. The on-demand VNFs are instantiated at the time of need, and when not needed, they are disposed of, which means that the VNFs only consume resources when they are needed. 4.5.3 VNF MANAGEMENT It is important to be efficient and cost effective when deploying clouds locally or across the globe; a homogenous approach is needed. Limiting the variances in configuration is important for adopting a homogenous approach; how- ever, when existing performance profiles (Flavor Series) do not meet the needs of the customer, concessions and exceptions must be made. This is another important function of having a strate- gic governance mechanism. For example, exceptions are managed and allow for updating existing Flavor Series as appropriate and allow for temporary Flavor Series exceptions. When the desired feature becomes part of a standard Flavor Series, the exception is revoked and the standard Flavor Series is enforced. 4.6 SUMMARY The migration to a Network Cloud has, at its core, the deployment of a NFVI. For telecom operators, leveraging any experience with the virtualization of IT infrastructure for internal and external busi- ness applications may be helpful to avoid 