1. A network element (NE) comprising: a receiver configured to couple to a cloud network; and a multi-core central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the receiver and configured to: receive a first partition configuration from an orchestration element; partition a plurality of processor cores into a plurality of processor core partitions according to the first partition configuration; and initiate a plurality of virtual basic input/output systems (vBIOSs) such that each vBIOS manages a processor core partition.