eTOM

Practical Experience Using the TeleManagement Forum’s NGOSS eTOM Service providers and their operations support system (OSS) suppliers require a common vocabulary that will allow clear and accurate analysis of service-provider OSS needs and a supplier’s ability to deliver a solution. Given the complexity of today’s telecommunications environment, this fact cannot be overstated. The enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM), an integral part of the TeleManagement Forum’s New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) framework, provides a map and language for describing the business processes that are used in telecommunication service-provider operations. As the industry adopts NGOSS guidelines, use of the eTOM will promote a common understanding of telecom business- and OSS-related terms. This paper discusses how Agilent Technologies, a leading provider of OSS to the telecom industry, is using the eTOM as a strategic tool for functional and market analysis and for improved customer communication. This use of the eTOM helps Agilent ensure that OSS products are properly targeted at customers’ real needs. Business need and solution No OSS supplier can survive without a clear understanding of the business and operational processes of its customers. This is a prerequisite to providing appropriate and profitable OSS solutions. At Agilent, we determined that the eTOM could give us the necessary language to understand our customers’ needs and to articulate the capabilities, benefits, and limitations of our offerings. This language would be effective in communicating with customers and within our own organization by our development, marketing, and sales teams. By establishing a common understanding of telecom processes, the eTOM also provides a basis for analyzing our existing product coverage and comparing it to that of other OSS suppliers, thus helping us assess our relative strengths and weaknesses in the market. Action taken Service providers, in their RFIs and RFPs, typically ask for specific types of functionality. The eTOM, however, describes telecommunication processes. Therefore, to use the eTOM as a tool for working with Agilent customers, we first had to associate each eTOM process of interest with the set of functions that would be required to successfully deliver that process. After looking at industry standards such as M.3400, GR-2869, and TMF GB910 as well as the eTOM documentation in the GB921 documentation set, we identified more than 200 operational functions. These were mapped onto the eTOM processes, providing us with a reference table of OSS functions supporting each process (Figure 1).

Figure 1. OSS functions mapped to eTOM operations processes

Using the reference table as a blueprint, we next matched the features and capabilities of Agilent’s OSS products to the eTOM processes and functions. This gave us a consistent and verifiable way to map our product families onto the eTOM segments and to see which eTOM processes our products supported. Moreover, since each eTOM process had been associated with individual OSS functions, we could also determine the extent to which our products enabled these functions. We then summarized our findings at a higher level by projecting the results of the product mapping onto the eTOM graphic. Figure 2 shows the result of this exercise for Agilent’s OSS products that address IP and NGN assurance. It identifies which eTOM processes are supported by this product line. A tool such as this helps us better communicate the real value of our solutions.

Retrieve network topology data to resolve dependenciesIdentify chronic service failuresRequest testing for further problem localizationDetermine root cause faults and supporting/dependent indicationsDetermine impacted service performanceIdentify affected service(s) and customer(s)Provide service instance quality reportsNotify Problem Handling (troubles and status reports)Notify appropriate external domain(s)Send root cause info to Problem HandlingIdentify and prioritize corrective action(s)Request/invoke corrective action(s) (restoration, workarounds, etc.)Set service class QoS goalsLifecycle management of service / product portfolioMonitor overall delivered quality of service classMonitor available capacity / usage, cost data against forcasted salesAnalyze service class qualityIdentify chronic service class problemsProvide service class quality reportsPropose/initiate service improvementsInform sales & marketing of constraintsReceive network/resource faults, events, & data (autonomous & requested)Alter fault/event collection dynamically, based on analysis/rulesCorrelate, consolidate, filter, threshold, suppress & escalate alarmsFault localization: request tests and analyze resultsCorrelate alarms & events/data to service/physical/resource topology Determine root cause faults and supporting/dependent indicationsIdentify cronic resource failuresLog alarms and event dataProvide real-time alarm/event display and indications (e.g. audible, page)Manage alarm/event severity and state changesMaintain historic data of network/resource failuresProvide historic network/resource fault and outage reportsForward trouble indications for TT creation and further analysisFault restoration: identify and request/initiate corrective actions

Service Quality Management

Resource Trouble Management

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……Level 2 Processes

OSS FunctionsLevel 1 Process Groupings

eTOM Operations Area

Figure 2a. Operations process areas included in the eTOM

Figure 2b. The eTOM operations processes addressed by Agilent IP/NGN products

eTOM Operations Processes TMF GB921 v4.0

Fulfillment Assurance BillingOperations Support& Readiness

Customer RelationshipManagement

Service Management & Operations

Resource Management & Operations

Supplier/Partner Relationship Management

Customer Interface Management

CRMSupport &Readiness

Selling

MarketingFulfillmentResponse

OrderHandling

Retention & Loyalty

ProblemHandling

CustomerQoS / SLA

Management

Billing & CollectionsManagement

SM&OSupport &Readiness

RM&OSupport &Readiness

S/PRMSupport &Readiness

Service & SpecificInstance Rating

Resource Data Collection & Processing

S/P Settlements &Billing Management

ServiceConfiguration &

Activation

ResourceProvisioning

ServiceProblem

Management

Service QualityManagement

S/P RequisitionManagement

S/P ProblemReporting &

Management

S/P PerformanceManagement

Supplier / Partner Interface Management

ResourceTrouble

Management

ResourcePerformanceManagement









Selling


OrderHandling

Retention & Loyalty

ProblemHandling

CustomerQoS / SLA

Management









Activation


ServiceProblem

Management




Management



ResourceTrouble

Management


Agents, Probes, Gateways, Test Equip (VQT, TNA)Agents, Probes, Gateways, Test Equip (VQT, TNA)

NgN RevenueAssurance


NgN AnalysisSystem

NgN AnalysisSystem

NetworkDiscovery &

Topology

NetworkDiscovery &

Topology

NTCNTC

VoIP QoSManager

•SLAmonitoring

•VoIP servicemeas.

•IP/ MPLSperformance

VoIP QoSManager

•SLAmonitoring



•NE alarms

As an OSS supplier, it is imperative that Agilent’s products fully and efficiently support the eTOM processes that we target. Therefore, we used the results of our eTOM mapping to identify (1) areas of overlap in our product lines that could be streamlined through additional integration or reuse of functionality and (2) gaps in coverage where we might benefit from additional development or strategic partnerships with other suppliers. Using market research data we were able to map the functional coverage of other suppliers in the markets of interest to Agilent, as illustrated in Figure 3. The sometimes surprising results gave us a clearer picture of who our actual competitors are and how we match them in terms of coverage. We also have better information for driving product strategies and for identifying suppliers with complementary strengths.

Figure 3. Partner and competitor products

Results Agilent has derived an effective and reusable set of tools to help drive product development by applying the eTOM matrix in a number of areas: Functional analysis

Creating a table of eTOM processes and associated functions provided a blueprint that we can reuse to clarify what eTOM processes our products support and how well they support them. Having a consistent method of describing product capabilities that matches the industry understanding will ultimately provide support for product claims.

Market analysis

By similarly mapping and analyzing the market coverage of other OSS suppliers, we now have a consistent method of not only identifying suppliers who play in the same markets, but whose products complement ours and can fill the gaps in our product coverage. We can better understand the









Selling


OrderHandling

Retention & Loyalty

ProblemHandling

CustomerQoS / SLA

Management









Activation


ServiceProblem

Management




Management



ResourceTrouble

Management


Agents, Probes, Gateways, Test Equip (VQT, TNA)Agents, Probes, Gateways, Test Equip (VQT, TNA)



NgN AnalysisSystem

NgN AnalysisSystem

NetworkDiscovery &

Topology

NetworkDiscovery &

Topology

NTCNTC

VoIP QoSManager

•SLAmonitoring



VoIP QoSManager

•SLAmonitoring



•NE alarms

PartnerPartnerPartnerPartner CompetitorCompetitor

CompetitorCompetitor

PartnerPartner

competitive picture as well—who we are really competing against, in what markets, and in what areas of expertise.

Communication

Through the use of the eTOM-derived tables and graphics, we have been able to meet our original goal of developing a better way to communicate with customers and our internal organization. The eTOM tools allow us to identify and articulate customer needs and match them with our products and services. Customers benefit by having a more standard method of comparing Agilent’s solutions to those of other OSS suppliers.

Conclusion Today, elements of the NGOSS guidelines such as the eTOM provide the basis for useful analysis tools that can drive product development and purchase decisions. As these guidelines become more widely recognized and accepted in the industry, their value will increase by fostering a common language and understanding among telecom businesses and suppliers. This in turn will contribute to the TM Forum’s stated goal for NGOSS, which is to build a more effective OSS framework.

eTOM

Documents

Transcript of eTOM