Netcracker Case Study

Application of Frameworx for COTS-Based Business Transformation Name of company/ies submitting case study: NetCracker Technology Location: Waltham, Massachusetts, USA Web links to company/ies submitting case studies: http://www.NetCracker.com Contact for further information (to be posted on TM Forum website): Anh Le Director of Telecom Solutions NetCracker Technology 95 Sawyer Rd Waltham, MA 02453, USA Email: anhle@NetCracker.com Tel: +1-781-419-3300 Applicable TM Forum Technical Areas: Frameworx [NGOSS], Business Process Framework [eTOM], Information Framework [SID], Application Framework [TAM], Interface Program [TIP] (OSS/J, MTOSI) Applicable Industry Areas: Viewpoint Business Areas Targeted Service provider perspective X Software vendor perspective Hardware vendor perspective X X Business Process Management Revenue Assurance X System integrator perspective Streamlining of OSS Streamlining of BSS Fraud Management Services Cloud X Service Lifecycle Management X Fulfillment X Fault Management X Video Performance Management X Data Billing Transformation X VoIP X Network Management IPTV X Service Modeling X Voice X Network Inventory Normalization X Other: OTN, ATM, Private Line, Private LAN, IP VPN X Resource Lifecycle Management X Integration X Other: Data migration, New Service introduction TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 1 Table of Contents 1.0 CASE STUDY SUMMARY .........................................................................................................3 2.0 Business Problem To Be Solved...................................................................................................3 3.0 Organizational Division Affected (Marketing, IT, Operations, Network, etc.) ......................4 4.0 Partners Involved (Internal or External)....................................................................................4 5.0 Working Towards a Solution (What was the business / technical problem to solve?) ...........4 6.0 Solution (What were the technical / conceptual / business solutions employed?)...................4 6.1 Architectural Transformation......................................................................................................4 6.2 Business Process and Application Frameworks Alignment .......................................................6 6.3 Use of Information Framework [SID] and Interface Program [MTNM] ...................................6 6.4 Interface Program’s (MTOSI) Application for Inventory and Configuration Management ......7 6.5 Interface Program (OSS/J) for Ticket Data Exchange................................................................8 6.6 OSS/J for Order Orchestration....................................................................................................8 7.0 TM Forum Frameworks, Best Practices, or Guidelines Employed and How They Helped ..................................................................................................................................................9 7.1 TM Forum Business Process Framework [eTOM].....................................................................9 7.2 Information Framework [SID]....................................................................................................9 7.3 Application Framework [TAM]..................................................................................................9 7.4 TM Forum Interface Program [TIP] .........................................................................................10 8.0 Results ..........................................................................................................................................10 TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 2 1.0 CASE STUDY SUMMARY This case study is about the Frameworx [NGOSS]-based solution implemented at a major US federal government organization (hereafter referred to as “the Organization”). The Organization provides telecommunications and network services to many organizations within the government. In other words it plays the role of an internal Telco and provides services on a par with other Tier 1 commercial providers. As part of an organization-wide technology refresh, the Organization chose to update their OSS suite and implement a SOA-based architecture. The result was an enterprise-wide business transformation. This transformation was expressly based on TM Forum and Frameworx [NGOSS] principles. This case study looks at the following aspects of the Organization’s OSS transformation: • Business Motivations • Top-Level Solution Architecture • Application of TM Forum and Frameworx Principles 2.0 Business Problem To Be Solved The Organization’s mission requires it to provide secure communications, rapidly deployed to meet the needs of governmental organizations around the country. Lengthy fulfillment times, a lack of in-flight order visibility, and the introduction of new services sparked a re-evaluation of the Organization’s back office. In the framework of the legacy fulfillment, inventory, and assurance systems update, the Organization’s OSS architects were tasked to support the following top-level business values: • Build a Service Oriented Integration environment where data interfaces are published, selfdescribing, and reusable • Use common, shared information exchange schema for application integration • Support dynamic, on-demand provisioning and activation of voice, video, and data services • Provide end-to-end visualization of the network • Reduce order to fulfillment cycle time • Provide better order tracking transparency and reporting • Automate processes and facilitate ongoing process re-engineering • Create interoperable and interchangeable OSS components using one data interface per application • Provide integrated, real-time situational awareness of the network The Organization’s challenges included eliminating legacy systems, streamlining and automating the order fulfillment process, centralizing inventory data, and finally, improving the customer experience. To address these business needs, the Organization engaged NetCracker and other vendors to help realize the SOA vision. The Organization made a decision to adopt TM Forum constructs like Business Process Framework and Application Framework to provide the solution blueprint. NetCracker’s close adherence to TM Forum standards made it a logical choice to address Network Inventory, Discovery and Reconciliation, Service Inventory, and Service Provisioning and Activation. TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 3 3.0 Organizational Division Affected (Marketing, IT, Operations, Network, etc.) The OSS touches most portions of the Organization’s network. However, the changes most directly affected the divisions responsible for: • Engineering and operations, including global voice, video, messaging, and data networks • Customer service, including CRM and service order management • Installation and implementation • OSS and network management 4.0 Partners Involved (Internal or External) NetCracker played the central role in the Organization’s solution implementation. Apart from that, a number of partners also participated in the project. 5.0 Working Towards a Solution (What was the business / technical problem to solve?) The legacy architecture was a collection of systems specifically built for the Organization’s use, the legacy CRM portal being a customized GOTS (Government Off The Shelf) system. The service fulfillment process thus caused inconvenience and was endangered by slow service delivery times, high risks of data inconsistency, and human factor interferences. The legacy inventory system was a collection of COTS and GOTS products used for network documentation. It had basic workflow capabilities, but lacked automated fulfillment. 6.0 Solution (What were the technical / conceptual / business solutions employed?) The details of the NetCracker solution for the Organization are given in the following six subsections. 6.1 Architectural Transformation As stated, the Organization’s OSS architects chose to base the architecture on Frameworx [NGOSS] principles and SOA technologies. A Common Communications Vehicle (CCV) is used to integrate systems. Systems without SOA-style interfaces integrate directly into the CCV on native APIs. The CCV then converts these integrations into web services where inventory, fault, ticketing, and order data is published / consumed by other SOA-capable systems. TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 4 The Customer Relationship Management Layer: The Order Entry Portal replaced the legacy application with an SOA-capable back end (NetCracker Order Management module), while product definitions are held in a product catalog. OSS/J order definitions are carried over web services to the Order Management system. The Service Management and Operations Layer: The Order Management System (NetCracker Service Inventory and Service Provisioning & Activation modules) receives orders from the Order Entry Portal. Manual decomposition is replaced with advanced workflow which carries the order through to fulfillment. Service order definitions may be reused to aid the rollout of new services or changes to existing ones. Workflow notifies network engineers to plan and design the needed resource allocations. All designs are made in the Network Inventory System. The Resource Management and Operations Layer: The Network Inventory System uses NetCracker Resource Inventory, Design & Planning, and Discovery & Reconciliation modules. Network discovery occurs across the CCV to EMSs. The CCV publishes web services with MTOSI definitions for device and circuit inventory. All inventory and capacity is automatically tracked. Assurance: The Service Quality System exposes the service portfolio for a given customer on the Service Portal. The Service Portal is outside the secured OSS enclave. Data is pushed to a replication instance where JSR-268 portlets feed the service portal inventory, status, and order data. TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 5 6.2 Business Process and Application Frameworks Alignment A mapping of NetCracker modules to TM Forum Application Framework and Business Framework components is shown in the following diagram: 6.3 Use of Information Framework [SID] and Interface Program [MTNM] The following table describes the elements of the Information Framework which were used in the underlying data architecture: Function Information Framework [SID]’s Domain Interface Program [TIP]’s Specification Java XML/JMS WS Trouble Ticket Common OSS/J TT Yes Yes Yes Event Mgmt Resource OSS/J FM Yes Yes Yes MTOSI No Yes Yes MTNM (CORBA) No No No QoS Yes Yes No Service Inventory Service OSS/J Yes Yes Yes Resource Inventory Resource MTOSI No Yes Yes Resource Usage Resource IPDR Yes No No Order Mgmt Service OSS/J Yes Yes Yes Service Activation Service OSS/J Serv Act Yes Yes No QoS Service OSS/J QoS Yes Yes No TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 6 6.4 Interface Program’s (MTOSI) Application for Inventory and Configuration Management NetCracker used web services to expose resource inventory to the CCV environment. In this case, NetCracker was communicating with Element Management Systems to: • Upload inventory from the EMS • Create an inventory database from multiple EMSs • Represent state changes in inventory as reported by the EMSs • Upload circuit information The following diagram shows the implementation environment: • In this case, an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) was used as the CCV. The CCV provided significant message and protocol conversion. The subtending EMSs were connected to the CCV via CORBA. CORBA is a legacy standard that was used for system integration in OSS environments. The CCV provided object mapping from the various vendor artifacts back to the standard MTOSI objects. MTOSI 1.1 is used as the standard for network event and alarm messaging integration: TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 7 6.5 Interface Program (OSS/J) for Ticket Data Exchange OSS/J has been identified as the standard to use for trouble ticket messaging integration. The SQM module generates associated resource and service trouble tickets and exchanges the tickets with the Trouble Ticket Management system. Tickets that are processed in the TT Management module may carry updated information about services and resources via tickets in the Service Management System module: When a trouble ticket message is received, the fields populated in the OSS/J xml message are stored in the Service Quality System DB. 6.6 OSS/J for Order Orchestration In order for NetCracker’s Service Provisioning & Activation (SP&A) module to communicate with the customer order management system (i.e. to receive orders and return fulfillment results), such operations as order creation and order updates are executed in OSS/J OM: Customer’s Order Entry and Management Web Service Call 1 Web Service Response 1 CCV Web Service Call 2 Web Service Response 2 Call Web Service Interface Exception 1 Order Creation Module Call No Exception Order Provisioning Module NetCracker Service Provisioning & Activation TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 8 7.0 TM Forum Frameworks, Best Practices, or Guidelines Employed and How They Helped 7.1 TM Forum Business Process Framework [eTOM] The Organization’s OSS architecture reflects major elements of the operations side of the Business Process Framework. A siloed inventory and design system was replaced with a true Resource Management Layer. The Resource Layer includes modules for Resource Inventory, Design and Planning, Discovery and Reconciliation, and Outside Plant. The most sweeping change was the addition of a true Service Management Layer. A technically outdated system was replaced with modules for Service Inventory and Service Provisioning and Activation. At the center of the Service Layer is a Services Catalog with specific constructs for Customer-Facing and Resource-Facing service templates. 7.2 Information Framework [SID] NetCracker makes use of TM Forum’s Information Framework common language to accurately describe various business entities engaged in the process of end-to-end service delivery. NetCracker physical and logical data models are Information Framework compliant and cover both the standard objects and relationships. NetCracker’s adherence to the Framework’s common language proves crucial for multiple interface integration and facilitated data modeling, and in the long run, proves crucial for cost-effective business transformation. The Organization has leveraged this native alignment with the Information Framework within NetCracker to make their CCV implementation more closely aligned with industry data models. Examples of this are the inventory and fault artifacts in MTOSI format. 7.3 Application Framework [TAM] The Organization’s general application of Business Framework [eTOM] in its business transformation lends itself to implementing elements of Application Framework [TAM]. Since the Organization is not a commercial Telco, there are several areas where the Application Framework does not apply. However, certain of its constructs are evident in the current architecture: • Service Order Management as part of Fulfillment • Customer Quality of Service Management as part of Assurance • Resource Process Management (across OS&R, Fulfillment, and Assurance) under workflow control • Resource Inventory Management (across OS&R, Fulfillment, and Assurance) The utilization of TM Forum’s Applications Framework allowed for effective classification of hundreds of legacy applications by mapping their roles to Application Framework’s components. It also facilitated design migration and integration strategy development. TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 9 7.4 TM Forum Interface Program [TIP] A series of TM Forum Interface Program standards-based integrations was realized in the OSS transformation project: • MTOSI: the Organization makes use of MTOSI over web services across a CCV for inventory discovery and reconciliation. It also uses MTOSI for fault information collection. The integration was later enhanced through notification capability and external systems connection via web service. • OSS/J FM over web service is used for ticket data interchange. The Service Quality Management module uses OSS/J ticketing objects to implement customer-facing service portals showing ticket data, order data, and other assurance information. • OSS/J OM is used for service and order data communication between the Service Layer and the Customer Layer (NetCracker Service Provisioning & Activation to integrate with an Order Management system) 8.0 Results Industry-standard specifications bundled with COTS solutions reduced delivery times, enabled fast service introduction, and consequent integration cost reductions. To date, the Organization has reduced the system count in the fulfillment chain. Now a unified Resource Layer holds all as-built and to-be inventory data. In addition, this also eliminates several GOTS systems, which was also a key goal. This has driven down costs and updated the underlying technology. The Organization has also received the capability to report on exact order statuses. Future plans include self-service portals where secured users can get instant status and order tracking information. Other benefits of the solution include: • Centralized, integrated, and granular security control: The solution also provided for greater security control and allowed the Organization to parse inventory visibility among various users and groups. • Avoid vendor lock-in: The use of TMF constructs over a web services infrastructure reduced the Organization’s dependency on vendors. Since all integrations use standard object definitions and standard protocols, the organization can now replace any system with reduced impact on the overall operation, thus minimizing integration risks. • Flexible, change-proof solution: Standard Telco practices need to be flexible enough to incorporate the Organization’s special requirements. The greater flexibility enabled by the solution promotes interchangeable component integration, while greater scalability ensures minimal impact to existing systems. • Knowledge sharing and training cost reduction: The opportunity to re-use data interface specifications across multiple systems helped to maximize the knowledge pool and lower training costs. Finally, better information dissemination provided for on-time information exchange. Moreover, the openness of the standard helps the customer to own the solution themselves. Relying on the TM Forum-based consolidated solution and using TM Forum specifications, the customer gets a clear understanding of what to look at when deciding to introduce a new service or new network equipment. TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 10 Permissions May we re-print the case study in outside publications? Anything that will go outside the TM Forum will first require permission from the authors. Yes TM Forum Case Study February 2010 © 2010 NetCracker Technology Corp. Page 11