Index

A Report on the

a) Business Plan for RBEIs entry in Telecom Sector Software

b) Business plan for M-Learningat

M/s. Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Ltd.Submitted by

Sourabh Soni

07030241032

MBA (ITBM)

(07-09)

Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology

(a constituent member of Symbiosis International University (SIU), estd., under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956 by Notification No. F.9-12/2001-U-3 of Govt. of India)

Year of submission 2008AcknowledgementMy Project Internship at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Ltd. has been an excellent learning experience. So, at the very outset of my project report, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Dr. Arup Ray Section head of E-learning services, Mr. Rakesh Poddar my mentor, Roma Tiwari and Mr. Atul Rane, Group Manager for providing me with the opportunity of being associated with RBEI for my summer internship.

I feel greatly indebted to Ms. Jyoti Mani, (Tech lead) and Madhanraj K. (Project manager) for providing me with very useful insights into E-learning processes at every point in my project phase. They consented to guide me inspite of their tight schedule and provided support to the successful completion of the project. I would like to thank them for the crucial insight and exposure which he provided me during my project duration. They helped me to refine my work and pointed out the weaknesses.

I would like to thank internal college Faculty, Symbiosis centre for Information Technology for their constant support and encouragement towards the attainment of project objectives.

Last but not the least, would like to thank the entire E-learning team who provided a conducive environment and helped me refine my work by providing constant support and guidance without which this report would have been a distant reality.

Sourabh Soni MBA-IT Business Management (2007-2009)

Symbiosis centre for Information Technology

Index

Abstract......4Chapter 1: Introduction

About Company.5Project 1: Business plan for Telecom sector software

Challenges...6Technology..7Scope....8Objective..8Background of study8Methodology of research... 9Project 2: Business plan for M-learning

Situation analysis..9Scope...10Objective..11Background of study11Chapter 2: Analysis of Work Done

Project 1 Business plan for Telecom Sector Software

Step 1: Market trend Analysis.12Step 2: Study of technologies and standards14Step 3: Study of Business model of customers in the Telecom Value Chain19Step 4: Competitor Analysis in the Telecom Software domain.22Step 5: Formulating the Business Model.24Step 6: Proposed Capabilities of RBEI in Telecom Software.29Step 7: Functionalities for Telco 2.0..35Step 8: Marketing Plan..38Project 2 Business Plan for M-Learning

Step 1: Situation analysis42Step 2: Trends that fuel m-learning...44Step3: Content development and architecture..47Step 4: Marketing Plan..51Step 5: The Strategic Planning, Implementation, and Control Process..56Step 6: Financial Analysis58Chapter 3: Learnings

Project 1 Business plan for Telecom Sector SoftwareLinking Theory to Practice..62Challenges faced during the study...66Project 2 Business Plan for M-Learning

Key Learnings.68Chapter 4: Conclusion

Project 1 Business plan for Telecom Sector Software

Findings69Suggestions.69Project 2 Business Plan for M-Learning

Findings71Suggestions.72Annexure...76Abstract

Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions limited India, RBEI, has been looking to diversify into 3rd party to generate new and consistent revenue streams; today telecom sector software provides us the opportunity for that. Telecom sector has been growing at a phenomenal rate of 55% per year over the last 5 years and is affected by various phenomenon like convergence, consolidation, next generation services and growth of ON-Demand business model, so at this moment it seems to be an ideal area to get into. Telecom sector requires this software to automate its backend and front-end processes seamlessly. As these solutions can be deployed very effectively throughout the mobile value chain we can have long list of different types of customers which range from telecom service providers, OEMs to content providers. The primary objective is to cater to the most productive segments of this industry through those services which we have already deployed for our parent organisation like business intelligence, migration, trouble ticketing and testing. The methodology undertaken for the project was- a) studying the value chain of the telecom sector b) Study of the business model of the client organisation c) understanding of the technologies and standards d) preparing a business model e) defining the services portfolio and the f) marketing and branding of our services. For each of the above steps thorough research was done and I met with concerned people to know more about the capabilities of our organisation.Finally what I could conclude from my study was a list of services that we can provide to our customers based on our current strengths, who should be our customers, what approach needs to be taken in order to make us more visible in the market, how to create a brand in this niche area. While designing the product portfolio I took into consideration the various new business models like SaaS and WEB 2.0 which are affecting the way the software is being developed and sold today.

In my second project I made a plan for implementing M-learning for e- learning section of RBEI, ESL. Currently this department is looking to enter 3rd party and brand itself as an end to end service provider. For sustained growth the department is trying to diversify its portfolio of services in the area of M-learning to target a market size that is greater than existing one. By implementing M-learning we also intend to incorporate WEB 2.0 functionalities into our learning methodologies. In the longer run our foray into M-learning will also help us in our future endeavours like implementing knowledge management system for client organisations.

There are also signs that people in future would be spending more on data and content than on voice services so this is a huge opportunity for M-learning. Also it would help up capitalize on growing mobile market which is booming with the advent of new technologies like 3G and 4G. Thus, taking this into consideration I formulated a portfolio of services for M-learning by capitalizing upon the existing products of ESL, this was done to reduce the expenditure on creating separate courses for m-learning. During the course of study I did the situation analysis of the training market and found about the various trends that affect the learning today. I also did that mapping of the course development process for M-learning and E-learning and studied the M-learning cycle. The architecture of the M-learning was studied to have and understanding of the technical up gradations required when the client moves from e-learning to m-learning.

Then I did the marketing plan of the project which started with 4 Ps of marketing, after that I did the segmentation of the market which dealt with dividing the market into 3 broad segments namely managers, technical employees and training departments. Then I devised various methods of targeting the identified market segments. While deciding upon the strategies of marketing I took into consideration the initial stage of market life cycle which guided me to determine the sales strategies, cost per customer, competition scenario and pricing methodologies. SWOT analysis gave me the perspective about which areas we need to be looking at more closely.

Finally the project was summed up by showcasing the benefits that we intend to achieve on the financial front by determining the revenue generation models and calculate its ROI.Chapter 1: Introduction

About CompanyRobert Bosch GmbH is the world's largest supplier of automobile components and has business relationships with virtually every automobile company in the world. About 50 percent of Bosch's worldwide annual sales are produced in automotive technology. Bosch invented the anti-lock braking system (ABS), and is a leader in specialized fields as traction control systems (TCS), the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), body electronics (such as central locking, doors, windows and seats). Bosch has over $1billion in annual sales.

Bosch is also an established global brand in industrial automation systems after the acquisition of Rexroth Through this division, Bosch supplies technologies for driving, controlling, and moving machines. These technologies serve Bosch's two core markets factory automation and mobile hydraulics. Bosch also supplies electronic security systems for homes, offices and vehicles. Bosch's packaging technology division plans, designs, manufactures and installs packaging lines for manufacturers of pharmaceutical, confectionery, food, and similar products. Bosch is the largest supplier of packaging technology.

Bosch is a leading player in car stereo systems and in-car navigation systems, which is sold under the Blaupunkt brand name. Bosch caters to the areas of consumer goods and building technology with its power tool, thermo technology, and security systems, as well as with its household appliances business within the BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgerte GmbH joint venture it has become the largest consumer appliance company in Germany and western Europe.

. The company prides itself in constant innovation. It is reported to register 13 patents each working day. Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) is the services wing of Bosch which provides services for the various software related needs of its core and non core business. It is now trying to establish itself in 3rd party by leveraging upon its expertise with Bosch global. Being a Bosch subsidiary it cannot keep more than 10% margin on its offering to its parent company so to grow, entry into 3rd party is inevitable.

E-Learning department (ESL)

Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) offers e-Learning services globally through ESL department. The department ensures competitive and timely solutions for clients learning needs. The customized course development methodology incorporates detailed analysis of customer requirements, development of learner-centric content and integration with appropriate technology tools to service customers in technical and non-technical domains. Their services include high-quality eLearning packages, state-of-the art graphics design including 2D and 3D animations, special effects and animation for films, virtual reality simulations and content services using world-class technology. Their specialisations include developing customized, Multi-lingual e-Learning Course Development by application of Instructional System Design (ISD) Methodology as per User Psychographics, deployment of content as per Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) Standards and integrating new content with Learning Management System (LMS). It also makes 3D engineering modelling, simulation and virtual walkthroughs for various clients

.

Project 1: Business plan for Telecom sector softwareThe telecom industry is focusing on implementing highly complex technology to improve the way they maintain the relationships and the loyalty with their customers in an extremely competitive environment. Integrating with global organizations and their infrastructure is important than ever so that they can work in partnership to deliver mobile and distributed solutions and finally improving the security of information and systems is becomes more complex and greater confidentiality is required for their operations. Also there has been a need for increasing wallet share and helping service providers accelerate product innovation at the same time decreasing product development and support expensesAll these functions can be performed when the telecom companies have state of the art IT solutions and this provides great opportunity to software development firms. Competition and consolidation on the telecom space puts IT in the driver seat because when competitors become partners, there is a huge overhaul in terms of IT, as right from software to hardware, all digital assets have to be seamlessly integrated. The telecom software market grew by 55% during FY '06-07, garnering revenues of Rs 17,871 crore.While studying the market we can segment our customers as- Telecom service providers, Equipment manufacturers and content developers.

Challenges for Handset Vendors

Retaining market share

Building upon brand value

Building up supply chains to reach into all parts across the country

To continue in handset business, one needs to be present in both CDMA and GSM segment

Face price threats from low cost manufacturers

Speed up the integration of latest technology into phones and introduce into the market Time to market Challenges for Network Equipment Vendors

How to increase number of repeat customers?

How to have exclusive customers

Win contracts for network expansion in remote areas

Penetrate equally in CDMA and GSM business

Local R&D is a good idea, how about Local manufacturing?Challenges for Telecom service providers

Reducing customer churn and making new customers

Consolidation of the industry

Falling av. Revenue per user

Increasing operational efficiency

Faster time to market for new services

Integration of new IP enabled services with existing ones.Research revealed that the most profitable portions of this domain are

1. OSS (operation support systems) 2. BSS (Business Support Systems)

3. Network Management Systems4. Equipment and Embedded testingFundamentals Required (Technology and Methods)

The most important aspect of software in telecom is the OSS, itcan be defined as the hardware and software that service providers use to manage their network infrastructure, deploy services and provide connectivity.OSS are generally divided into 3 domains

1. BSS Handles business operations and is customer centric, done by operations team and they report to operations officers

2. OSS - Handles service oriented OSS like Assurance

3. NMS Handles management of network resources, done by network engineers

Refer annexure A-1

The project also requires knowledge of the various industry standards and models like Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) model and the TMFs eTOM model. These are business process model or framework that provides the enterprise processes required for the service provider

Present scenario of technology and methodology

One of the most important components of service differentiator for the telecom service providers is Operation support system and Business support system. Their functions are as follows-

Function #1 OSSs/BSSs enable operators to manage their customers

Manage the customer account

Contact information admin, technical, billing, ...

Track products purchased, contracts

Manage the sales process

Correlate customer requirements with service offering

Service ordering

Service changes, termination, etc.

Manage the billing process

Determine how much a customer owes

Invoicing, apply payments, adjustments

Manage customer expectations

Communication of service performance

Failure resolution

SLA credits

Delivery dates, downtime, and more ...

Function #2 OSSs/BSSs enable operators manage their service offerings

Defines technical, legal and contractual specifications of service (SLA, regulatory)

Catalogs services into product offerings

Pricing, promotions, discounts

Availability, eligibility

Facilitate quote generation

Manage the order process

Configures the network to deliver services purchased

Determines the quality of service (QoS) actually delivered by network

Reconciles the delivered QoS with customer expectation / contract (SLA)

Provides business-oriented reports of resource capacity and utilization

Facilitates resource planningFunction #3 OSSs/BSSs enable operators to manage their network

Ensures proper operations of equipment

Installation

Configuration

Testing

Inventory and assignment

Maintenance

Fault detection and resolution

Security

Usage collection

Fraud detection

Why is the OSS/BSS domain so challenging?

Network services are complicated

Challenging IT problems

Requirements are a constantly moving target

Legacy heritage

Cost tradeoffs difficult to quantify and predict

Difficult to get it right the first time

Multiple generations software and infrastructure

Theory (getting it right) doesn't align with pragmatics (good enough)

.Revenue assurance is one area which saw a high demand as, at the end of the day; this solution is the most important element to the business. To meet the competitive demands of the market and the customers, value added services and billing were the differentiators

Scope

RBEI is eyeing the lucrative segment of telecom software market, but it has no idea about it. So in order to know how to enter a market it requires a detailed analysis of market, available technologies & standards, approaches to enter the market and which services it needs to provide.

The project also included study of competitors and their offerings, then make a business model

which outlines how we will conduct our business.

Objective

To make a business model keeping in mind the technologies and trends of the market. The current capabilities of RBEI have been taken into consideration while making the plan and the current business models that are prevalent in the software market have also been taken into account while making the business model. I have tried to incorporate most profitable services and services for the segments of the value chain that have not yet been targeted by the bigger players. Background of study

From research I found some stats that I would share, like for every new user that the telecom company adds to its customer base it spends nearly Rs 7 for database up gradation, service provisioning and service activation. Seeing the rate at which telecom service providers are adding customers this is a big opportunity for software developers.Methodology of research

The study started with the analysis of the trends in telecom sector software with a detailed view on the market size, growth areas, challenges faced by companies and a market SWOT analysis. Then I did a value chain analysis of the Telecom sector to find which parts of the value chain we can cater to keeping in mind the Gaps in the desired and actual services provisioned. The next logical step was to do a detailed competition analysis to determine how strong are our competitors and what is their existing clientele. This also helps in refining our services offering so that we target those areas where our competitors dont have a strong foot hold.

Next thing to be done was to study the technologies and standards that are involved as this sector being a very technology intensive one requires a deep understanding of present and future technologies and their impact on how the business will be done in future. The standards and regulatory norms for the telcos provide new entrants like us with new opportunities and challenges about how to shape our offerings and create a niche.

With this knowledge I was well equipped to make a business model to clearly identify that our service offerings would be a balanced mix of products and services. The various areas that I covered in this were value proposition, types of services, description of products and services for various elements of value chain, our marketing and sales channel and lastly our pricing model.

After the business model was finalized I designed my service offerings according to the same. Categorising it in 2 broad divisions: first for Large telcos and secondly for small and new telcos.

These offerings were further classified into services for various parts of the value chain namely Original equipment manufacturers, Independent Software vendors and Telecom service providers.

Keeping in mind the recent developments in how software is made and sold I thought it would be useful if we made our offerings in sync with the changing business model brought about by the advent of SaaS, open source and web 2.0.

Lastly in the marketing part I did the 4 P of marketing along with the Branding and studied the buying cycles of the telecom service providers

Project 2: Business plan for m-learning

Introduction to project--R--/ESL is already into e-learning in a big way and currently it is facing stiff competition in acquiring 3rd party projects due to the fact that there are more established players in the market. The solution to this problem may be given by diversification of services portfolio. The next big opportunity seems to be coming from m-learning so it would be wise to get in this sector as it gives us the chance of establishing ourselves as an end to end learning company. Foremost advantage that I see for ESL venturing in m-learning is we will be able to address a larger target audience; this would give us the edge on the economies of scale front and would help us being cost competitive in 3rd party projects.

According to the Law of Distance Education It is not technologies with inherent pedagogical qualities that are successful in distance education, but technologies that are generally available to citizens. Today mobile phones have provided a very viable way to provide the latter.

Statistics also reveal the support for M-learning in future. According to Ericsson and Nokia tell us there were 1,500,000,000 mobile phones in the world in 2006 for a world population of just over 6 billion. The roll-out of 3G will create pressure for the purchase of 3G compatible handsets.Situation analysisa. Organizational wants- Organizations today want to decrease the time spend on training and improve its effectiveness.

b. Employee goals- Employees want to work for a continuous learning organization.

c. Training department- Wants better ROI for training along with more courses on soft skill and cultural development as more foreign clients are acquired.

d. Top management- Require real time information to accelerate decision making and avoid classroom learning.

e. Knowledge management- Requires collaboration of employees to share information on generic problems in the work place.Trends in marketi. The spending on content and services will dominate the m-learning market in future.

ii. Extraordinary range of new networks like 3G and 4G will facilitate better connectivity

iii. Next generation learning would require location based learning, handheld decision support, identity based learning to personalized learning

iv. There are more smart phones than computers in the world.

v. WEB 2.0 is affecting learning in a great way. The collaborative tools help the learners to contribute to the learning community.Target market identifiedI. Top management, decision makers & sales personnel

II. HR and training department

III. Technical departments

Behavioral factors of the target market

Top management requires ready to use information that they can use in decision making. They also cannot go to classrooms.

Technical departments require solutions that act as a ready reference at site.

Training departments want better ROI and manage learning.

Cost comparison between classroom training and m-learningThe comparative cost analysis between m-learning and traditional classroom training appears straightforward with quantitative variables. The costs involved with classroom training includes facility costs, training materials, teaching aids, instructor costs, travel costs, learner costs and time away from workplace. While for M-learning a substantial cost can be covered if the learners have the required device. Also the course development costs are one time.M-learning advantages for ESL Number of web enabled mobile devices are more than PCs so by the help of m-learning we target a market size that is greater than the existing one. The premium targeted audience for these services is going to be people who are constantly on the move like the top management or the sales personnel. We can extract greater price from these people. Demographics have a vital role to play when we are choosing a target audience. In RBEI the average age of the associate as 25 years, who are most proficient in operating a mobile WEB 2.0 is affecting learning in a great way. The collaborative tools help the learners to contribute to the learning community. M-learning can be very easily integrated to web 2.0 Scope

ESL wants to diversify its portfolio and for that it has chosen M-learning. I am required to study the feasibility of the M-learning market and identify the target markets for ESL. Defining the products portfolio of the M-learning is another responsibility I need to fulfill, as well as determining the ROI of M-learning for ESL and client organizations need to be done. Finally I am supposed to make a marketing plan that encompasses the strategies of our venture in this sector.

Objective

The major goal of the study is mapping our current capabilities in e-learning development to m-learning so that we are able to provide these services to clients without investing too much on the infrastructure and people. Secondly, prescribing the ROI of these initiatives along with an implementation plan.

Background of the study

Our department had been facing difficulties recently regarding penetrating 3rd party as there were many established players in the market, so a need was constantly felt for diversification of our portfolio in such a way that we target a more lucrative segment which is still in the initial stages of growth cycle and has immense opportunities for the future.

MethodologyThe first step involved study of inherent problems of training and how we can solve them by use of M-learning. The situation analysis revealed the Organizational wants, Employee wants and how m-learning can be beneficial to specific departments and employees. Among the benefits realized by the organization the most evident were retaining the employee by providing him with learning opportunities and how the resource can contribute maximum to his working hours by undergoing mobile based training in his leisure hours. I also tried to determine the usefulness of mobile learning to specific departments. In the next step I determined what more investment would be required by our department in terms of people, equipment, skills and tools.

The trends of the market which seem to affect the m-learning market were also studied and research revealed that m-learning opens the gate for us to enter the field of knowledge management in future.

A comparative study of the Content development methodologies was done to map our methods and m-learning development methods. The architecture for M-Learning was also studied in detail to accomplish the above motive. M-Learning cycle and new standards of m learn also gave insight into development process.

Then I prepared the marketing plan for the section regarding m-learning, which included 4 Ps of Marketing, Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning and Product Differentiation strategies. While formulating the marketing plan the stages of the Market life cycle were considered vis--vis the SWOT analysis of ESL for M-learning. I also did the Mapping Customers buying cycle to our sales cycle to effectively align our course to the business strategy of client. Lastly the ROI of m-Learning was determined which seems positive in most cases except when the technology completely changes very regularly. The revenue generation models for various target segments were also determined along with the cost comparisons for each in terms of classroom training and m-learning.Chapter 2: Analysis of Work Done

Project 1 Business plan for Telecom Sector SoftwareStep 1: Market trend Analysis

The first step was to see how the growth of the telecom sector has been over the years and what are the services that IT companies provide to them. Analysis of the role of IT in telecom revealed that software in telecom known as OSS (or Operations Support System) includes all systems used to support the daily operations of a telecommunication service provider. Examples of these systems include billing, provisioning, element management, and network management applications. These support systems that reduce the operating expenses while increasing system performance, productivity and availability.

The telecommunications industry today is experiencing a number of changes and challenges. Deregulation, new services, new technologies, reengineering business processes, mergers and acquisitions are just a few that demand attention. Also, multiple concepts such as service differentiation, quality of service, time-to-market, customer care, return on investment and total cost of ownership request attention on behalf of business managers of service providers. Quality of processes, automation of processes and integration of support and management tools may mean difference between business success and failure thus IT plays a very vital role for these telcos to perform their activities properly.Trends that support the need of OSS

The various industry issues of support systems includeThe market drivers for support systems are

(1) Convergence and telecom consolidation

(2) Developing support systems market

(3) Emergence of complex, multi-platform environments

(4) Emphasis on telecom system integration

(5) Growth of support systems is tied to share-shift among telecom end markets and carriers

(6) Outsourcing

(7) Product based vendor driven solutions

(8) Upgrade cycles in support systems

(1) Growth of the global telecommunications market

(2) Increasing network complexity

(3) Emerging standards for telecommunications providers

(4) Deregulation & Privatization

(5) Communication convergence

(6) Customer orientation

(7) ASP model

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

The telecom software market grew by 55% during FY '06-07, garnering revenues of Rs 17,871 crore. . The OSS/BSS space continues to be hot as it provides companies the opportunity to offer an umbrella of services. Also, this is the space where large telecom players need to efficiently deploy IT for several transactions like online billing and providing value added services. Competition and consolidation on the telecom space puts IT in the driver seat because when competitors become partners, there is a huge overhaul in terms of IT, as right from software to hardware, all digital assets have to be seamlessly integrated.

Market Perspective

The Current traits of the market that drive the need for OSS In developed markets where high-end technologies have been deployed, the need to increase operational efficiency will drive the market. While in developing regions like APAC, the driver is system integration capability amongst open platforms (OPMA- Open platform management architecture).

Revenue assurance is one area which saw a high demand as, at the end of the day; this solution is the most important element to the business. To meet the competitive demands of the market and the customers, value added services and billing were the differentiators.

The focus, both international and domestic, has been on application development and management. There has been an increased focus on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) implementation and systems integration. In India the focus primarily has been on SI covering all aspects of OSS and BSS

The telecom industry is focusing on implementing highly complex technology to:

Improve the way they maintain the relationships and the loyalty with their customers in a extremely competitive environment

Integrate with global organizations and their infrastructure so that they can work in partnership to deliver mobile and distributed solutions

Improve the security of information and systems as this becomes more complex and greater confidentiality is required

Competition and consolidation on the telecom space puts IT in the driver seat because when competitors become partners, there is a huge overhaul in terms of IT, as right from software to hardware, all digital assets have to be seamlessly integrated. As consolidation escalates both from an operator and vendor perspective, telecom software providers are bound to get new avenues for growth in the ongoing year. The major share of revenues still remain global centric with domestic opportunity coming from players like Airtel and others

CURRENT CHALLENGES IN VARIOUS SEGMENTS

1. EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS

Current ChallengesWhat WE NEED TO PROVIDE:

Faster development and release of devices and equipment to support new technologies and keep pace with growing customer expectations as networks evolve from GSM/GPRS to 3G and beyondSolutions that shorten product development time, product testing solutions, and strategies for manufacturers to aid faster release of more functional, flexible, and reliable equipment

2.REGULATORY BODIES

Current ChallengesWhat WE NEED TO PROVIDE:

Keeping abreast of evolving technology and industry developments, and monitoring policies in the best interests of the industry and its consumersEfficiency-increasing strategies including deploying integrated systems and creating repositories that store information on policies and standards

3.ENTERPRISES

Current ChallengesWhat WE NEED TO PROVIDE:

Transforming operations, re-engineering business processes, and deploying flexible technology architecture to easily accommodate business and regulatory demands Comprehensive strategies to automate and streamline business processes to increase efficiency, and enhance relationships with customers and partners

4.SERVICE PROVIDERS

Current ChallengesWhat WE NEED TO PROVIDE:

Building in network flexibility, rapid service development, and operational efficiency to meet growing customers demandsStrategies for robust and flexible operation support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS), including assessing frameworks, re-engineering, upgrades, migration and support, as well as solutions for managing networks, next generation applications, and voice and data services

Therefore based on my research I concluded that

The major sources of revenue in telecom sector software would be 5. OSS (operation support systems)

6. BSS (Business Support Systems)

7. Network Management Systems

8. Equipment and Embedded testing

Step 2: Study of technologies and standards

Operations Support Systems (OSS) includes all systems used to support the daily operations of a telecommunication service provider. Examples of these systems include billing, provisioning, element management, and network management applications.

OSS are generally divided into 3 domains

4. BSS Handles business operations and is customer centric, done by operations team and they report to operations officers

Business Support System (BSS)

The business support systems (BSS) domain encompasses the systems designed to support business processes including billing, CRM, marketing/sales support, partner management, and more.

Billing masters account, invoicing, payment processing, taxes, bill calc, rating, discounts, cycles (if any), adjustments, ERP interface, recurring charges, credit management, ...

Customer relationship management (CRM) masters customer record, product catalog, order entry, contract, trouble management, SLA violations, service order, order status, ...

Sales force automation (SFA) manage the sales process, product configuration, eligibility, custom contract negotiation, RFI/RFP processes, SLA negotiation, upsell

Decision support (DSS) market analysis tools, pricing analysis, data warehouse

Refer Appendix B-15. Service OSS - Handles service oriented OSS like Assurance

The "service" OSSs are used to bridge together the BSS and NMS domains enabling seamless, flow-through integration of each.

6. NMS Handles management of network resources, done by network engineers. Network Management OSSs (NMS) are designed to manage specific hardware elements deployed by the operator. For example, broadband deliver services that are based on data transport equipment / technologies. Hence, their NMS are optimized for broadband infrastructure such as DSL, IP, ATM, and Frame Relay equipment.Refer Appendix B-2Industry standards / models

1. Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) model

The Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) model was defined by the ITU to help operators formalize the structure of their OSSs.

TMN ModelTMNs Service Management / Network Management layers

The TMF has expanded the TMN's service management / network management layers, in the telecommunications operations map (the so-called TOM model).

2. The TMF Model

From an operations perspective, the TMF model is commonly divided into three core functional areas, namely: fulfillment, assurance and billing (FAB).

TMF eTOM model

eTOM is

Business process model or framework that provides the enterprise processes required for the service provider

Based on the Telecom Operations Map (TOM)

Most service providers are working with eTOM since they need an industry standard framework for procuring software and equipment as well as to interface with other service providers in an increasingly complex network of business relationships

Refer Appendix B-3eTOM for Telco business processes

Highest conceptual view of the business process framework

Differentiates strategy and lifecycle processes from Operations processes

Differentiates the key functional areas in five horizontal layers

At the overall conceptual level eTOM can be viewed as having 3 major areas of process-

Strategy Infrastructure and Product Management ( Covering Planning and Life Cycle Management)

Operations ( Covering the core of operational management)

Enterprise Management ( Covering corporate or business support management)

The four supporting functional process areas are-

Marketing, Product and Customer processes( sales and channel management, marketing management, product and offer management)

Service (Service development, configuration, problem management and rating)

Resource( Development and management of firms infrastructure)

Supplier Partner( Dealing with the firms interaction with its suppliers and partners)

Refer Appendix B-4Operations

FAB is still the core of the Operations area

Operations Support & Readiness is separated from FAB

OPS also supports functional process groupings shown as horizontal layers

Strategy, Infrastructure & Product

SIP encompasses strategy and lifecycle management processes in support of operations

Strategy & Commit

Infrastructure Lifecycle Management

Product Lifecycle Management

SIP also has functional groupings, aligned with those in OPS

High level functionalities of the various FAB (Fulfillment, Assurance and Billing) components Order Management

Uses GUI which guides order takers or customer-care representatives through the ordering process for any number of services.

Services range from basic telephony lines to complex services such as ISDN, ADSL etc.

Incorporate some default data common to each service a provider offers to ease the keystroke burden

Also perform a certain amount of error checking

Integrates with other systems like Work Force Management etc.

The system generates specific tasks for other systems that must be completed to activate service on the network

Provisioning (Service Configuration, Network Provisioning and Activation)

Involves specifying which pieces of equipment and network routes a given service will utilize

The activation system activates service on the proper network elements (any piece of network hardware, such as a switch, multiplexer, or cross-connect system)

The Network Provisioning System encompasses the configuration of network resources, and logical resource provisioning for individual customer instances.

Current network elements are generally designed with an intelligent element manager built in that can receive and execute commands sent by activation systems.

Element managers also can feed equipment status data back to upstream systems for network-and trouble-management functions.

Element managers use protocols such as SNMP for traditional data equipment to communicate with activation and other systems. Todays service providers are working toward enabling flow-through provisioning and activation, combining provisioning and activation systems to allow order and design-and-assign systems to issue commands to an activation system. Inventory Management Maintains the status of communication equipment. Gives an in-use view of the Inventory

Helps you identify the different equipment details, how and where it is being used. The inventory items includes Switches, Routers Ports, Hubs, CPE, Servers, Back bone circuits(includes cabling), Third-party access circuits, Location, Building, Floor space (routers, Access Points, reference to CPE data),Cards, Dish Antenna, Equipment Code, Relay Rack, Shelves, Slot, Circuit Name, Phone number and IP address ranges, bandwidth capacity etc.

The inventory data includes serial number ,warranty dates ,acquisition dates, whether they are owned or leased, item cost , location of equipment ,date assigned ,maintenance cost ,one-time and/or recurring charges

Maintenance of information on Vendor, Manufacturer of various equipment. Inventory management of items in geographical warehouses

Capacity Planning and Performance Monitoring

Generation of various Inventory Reports for Management review.

Trouble Ticket Management

Interfaces with Fault Management modules & other OSS for the acquisition of network faults and trouble-tickets.

Trouble-ticket generation, distribution, log, and resolution management capabilities to improve service quality and response time.

Reports to illustrate staff efficiency in clearing problems

Support for reduced response times and increased service quality

Network Fault monitoring capabilities Workflow

Brings all the pieces together, enabling work to flow electronically across your organization

Key tools in Work Management are provisioning plans. Provisioning plans help you organize the flow of tasks and resources that are critical to your success. Provisioning plans include information such as task assignments, dependencies between tasks, and expected completion intervals.

A service request triggers the correct provisioning plan to be applied and generates tasks for the respective employee(s) involved.

Workforce management

Suggesting technicians based on skill sets/location.

Assigning resources to appointments

Optimizing Appointments based on location, change in customer orders, order cancellations.

Billing

Call detail Records (CDR) are generated by the switch for each call made. One CDR can have more than one call record. CDR contains information on the source number, destination number, call duration etc.

Mediation device picks up the call records from different switches and converts them into format that is understood by the billing and rating systems

Rating Engine applies the tariff plan on the call along with discounts etc as applicable and then the rated record is stored in the database

When Billing is run at the end of each month( the period is variable and is decided by the service provider ), the rated records are aggregated, discounts, taxes and other fixed prices as applicable are added and sent to the invoicing system to generate an invoice

Step 3: Study of Business model of customers in the Telecom Value ChainMobile value chain Analysis

There exist different types of pricing models between the various players in the value chain. For example the relation ship between the content developers and operators may be based on the revenue sharing model while that between the operators & end users would be based on the usage or subscription.

Revenue Sharing Model Revenue sharing is the sharing of profits and losses between the general partner(s) and limited partners in a limited partnership. More generally, it refers to the practice of sharing profits between companies in a business alliance.In this pricing model the customer company doesnt really buy the product but agrees on sharing a part of revenues with vendor.Study of GSM business model

The billing relationship in India exists exclusively between the operator and the consumer. All the other contributors (value added service providers, ASPs, TV channels and movie production houses maintain revenue sharing or profit sharing relationship only with the operator. Operators in India get to keep a major share of the revenues coming from all the other services besides voice. When a consumer downloads a ringtone or a logo from a website, operator gets to keep 60% of the earnings, similarly;

Almost 60-70% of the revenues for services hosted by ASP

80% of the revenues for SMS based TV opinion polls

75% incase of downloading a movie clip or a movie ringtone

M ticketing is missing in India, however, one can request for a ticket for an event through an SMS but one cannot actually complete a transaction over his mobile phone

Refer Appendix B-5Study of CDMA business modelCDMA service providers from the very beginning provided features like streaming media options and always ON internet connectivity @ 114 kbps. These helped them to capture a huge market.Due to spectrum availability it is feasible for the operators to introduce enhanced data services over their networks. This includes streaming media, JAVA games etc.

The possibility for offering enhanced data services has proved to be a catalyst in promoting CDMA services in India.

Refer Appendix B-6Content Business Overview

Indian content market is mainly SMS driven. The various service providers experience traffic of almost 2.5 billion SMS per month. Even today most of the downloads and service requests are oriented through SMS service. Services like M-banking also available by SMS. The GPRS penetration still remains low at 8-10%. The global market for mobile phone premium content will exceed US$43 billion by 2010, according to a new study by iSuppli. This compares to the figure in 2004 which barely reached US$5.2 billion. Over the last four years, the market for such extra mobile services as music, gaming and video has expanded at an annual rate of 42%. SMS and MMS account for 18% of operator ARPU. Today downloadable content is available through content providers portals & operator portals.

M-ticketing (i.e payments made through mobile)is still very new in India and is expected to grow in the future.

Refer Appendix B-7Market and Sales Strategy

Our customers can be categorized into 3 broad categories namely

1. Retail large customer base, few contract options, small volume each, large-scale customization.

Customers here include network service providersCurrent Challenges: Building in network flexibility, rapid service development, and operational efficiency to meet growing customers demands

What is required: Strategies for robust and flexible operation support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS), including assessing frameworks, re-engineering, upgrades, migration and support, as well as solutions for managing networks, next generation applications, and voice and data services

2. Wholesale small customer base, large volume, custom deals, reconciliation is key

Customers here are Equipment ManufacturersCurrent Challenges: Faster development and release of devices and equipment to support new technologies and keep pace with growing customer expectations as networks evolve from GSM/GPRS to 3G and beyond

What is required: Solutions that shorten product development time, product testing solutions, and strategies for manufacturers to aid faster release of more functional, flexible, and reliable equipment

3. Enterprise small customer base, custom deals, SFA, performance feedback / account-management style interfaces

Current Challenges: Transforming operations, re-engineering business processes, and deploying flexible technology architecture to easily accommodate business and regulatory demands

What is required: Comprehensive strategies to automate and streamline business processes to increase efficiency, and enhance relationships with customers and partners

Refer Appendix B-8Market SWOT Analysis

Strenghts

Huge wireless subscriber potential

Fastest growing mobile market in the world

Consumers are ready to pay for cutting edge services

Government proposes to hike FDI limit in Telecom to 74%

Unified license regimeWeaknesses

Lowest call tariffs in the world

Market strongly regulated by Govrenment body

Governing both ISP and Telecom sectors

Too many authorities ruling the sector

Huge potential for low end and cheap handsets

Wide scale Consumer churn in Telecom and ISP

Wide spread VAS deployment is restricted due to language and literacy problems

Primarily a voice based market

Opportunities

To offer value added services on GSM, CDMA and IP

Language independent services

Mobile Marketing concepts

Content influenced by local culture and Global sucess stories

M-Commerce

Unified messaging platforms

Foreign investment in form of equity or technology

Threats

Low cost service providers no possibility of breaking even in short term

Weak IPR protection

Software and digital content Piracy

Political instability

Regulatory interference

Effect of mergers and acquisition

Consolidation has been and will continue to be a vital part of the telecommunications. The U.S. telecommunications industry has seen several mega-mergers both announced and completed.

The OSS systems will be at the crux of the ability of the enterprises to be combined, the synergies realized and the future profits earned. These mergers will generate a flow of new orders to BSS/OSS vendors. Mergers are compelling events that drive strategic investments. The two transformation models shown in the chart below are:

(1) Choose and go--then transform;

and (2)Freeze and transform.

Refer Appendix B-9a) In Chose and go then transform we have 2 OSS of the firms that have merged. The most suitable of the two will be used until a Next generation OSS is not implemented. This integration service is a huge opportunity for the vendors.

b) In freeze and transform we continue using both the OSS until the NG OSS is not finalized.Step 4: Competitor Analysis in the Telecom Software domain

Pure play telecom software providers or IT companies like Wipro or Infosys, telecom has emerged as a leading practice with solutions cutting across OSS/BSS to building custom specific applications. The telecom software market grew by 55% during FY '06-07, garnering revenues of Rs 17,871 crore. As usual, the front line IT companies took a major chunk of the revenues with TCS topping the charts. Another star performer was Tech Mahindra, which saw revenues soaring by 136% compared to the previous year.

Analysis of top 5 Players in telecom sector software

Refer Appendix B-10Pest Analysis of Sector

Refer Appendix B-11Market Risk AnalysisRefer Appendix B-12Porters 5 force modelFive Force Analysis assumes that there are five important forces that determine competitive power in a situation. These are:

1. Supplier Power: Here you assess how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This is driven by the number of suppliers of each key input, the uniqueness of their product or service, their strength and control over you, the cost of switching from one to another, and so on. The fewer the supplier choices you have, and the more you need suppliers' help, the more powerful your suppliers are.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

In general Low

2. Buyer Power: Here you ask yourself how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. Again, this is driven by the number of buyers, the importance of each individual buyer to your business, the cost to them of switching from your products and services to those of someone else, and so on. If you deal with few, powerful buyers, they are often able to dictate terms to you.

Bargaining Power of Buyers Risks

Large or concentrated buyers High

Purchased products represent a significant fraction of

buyers costs Low

Standard or undifferentiated products Low

Low switching costs Low

Low profit buyer Medium

Buyers pose a creditable threat of backward

integration Low

Product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers

products or services Medium

Buyer has full information Medium

3. Competitive Rivalry: What is important here is the number and capability of your competitors if you have many competitors, and they offer equally attractive products and services, then youll most likely have little power in the situation. If suppliers and buyers dont get a good deal from you, theyll go elsewhere. On the other hand, if no-one else can do what you do, then you can often have tremendous strength.

Existing Competitors Risk

Numerous or equally balanced competitors Medium

Slow industry growth Medium

High fixed or storage costs Medium

Lack of differentiation or switching costs Medium

Capacity augmented in large increments High

Diverse competitors Medium

High strategic stakes High

High exit barriers High

4. Threat of Substitution: This is affected by the ability of your customers to find a different way of doing what you do for example, if you supply a unique software product that automates an important process, people may substitute by doing the process manually or by outsourcing it. If substitution is easy and substitution is viable, then this weakens your power.

Pressure from Substitute Products

In general Low

5. Threat of New Entry: Power is also affected by the ability of people to enter your market. If it costs little in time or money to enter your market and compete effectively, if there are few economies of scale in place, or if you have little protection for your key technologies, then new competitors can quickly enter your market and weaken your position. If you have strong and durable barriers to entry, then you can preserve a favorable position and take fair advantage of it.

Threat of New Entrants Risk

Economics of scale High

Product differentiation High

Capital requirements High

Switching costs High

Access to distribution channels High

Cost disadvantages independent of scale High

Government policy Low

Step 5: Formulating the Business Model

Our portfolio would be a balanced mix of Products and Services.

The things to be kept in mind while deciding on whether we want to be a services company or a product company are-Refer Appendix B-13Key issueSoftware product companiesSoftware service companies

Intellectual

property rightsVery importantLess Important

Product complementaritiesVery importantLess Important

Returns from

scaleA fixed-cost structure allows for

higher returns from scaleA variable-cost structure makes

increased returns from scale rare

Abstracting

knowledge and

integrating

technology

Gather and leverage generic

product knowledge.

Architecture level technology

integration is important .

Customer-specific knowledge more

important than generic domain

knowledge.

Integration based on standards:

emphasize development efficiency

Connections

with usersCompanies have long-term

relationships: typically the users

are technologically sophisticatedCompanies have project-driven

relationships: typically, the users are

technologically unsophisticated

Business Model TemplateRefer Appendix B-141. Business Model: Customer and value proposition

Customers and

Value PropositionTSP: Helping mgrs. Through a DSS. Tackling issues like convergence, reduce customer churn, Accelerating time to market, increase ARPU & reliability of service

ISV: Providing consultancy for platform migration & handling non core activities.

OEM: Providing equipment and embedded testing and reduced time to market for new products.

2. Business Model: Description of Products and Services

Tailor madeComponent basedCustomised ParameterizedStandard

solutiontailored solutionProductproductProduct

General1. Interoperability1. Business1. Network Design1. Data quality mgmt.1. Migration

servicesservice practicesIntelligence& engineeringcapability

2. Consultancy2. Business Proc.2. Technology

services Mgmt. Practiceenablement services

3. Mobility Solution

Name Of4. Trouble

ServicesTicket Management

HandsetPlatform servicesLocalisationTesting

domain

OSS/BSS1. Fault Mgmt.RevenueCustomerMediationBilling Solution

servicesAssurancecare solution(COTS)

2. EAI

3. Business Model: Services

Types of services offered

Customization: services to customize the product

Integration: services to integrat4e the product into customers systems

Deployment: services to help in deploying the system into use

Training: services to train customers personnel

Helpdesk: services to provide helpdesk support to customers

Degree of standardization in services

Customized services: time and materials costing

Competence-based services: services offered based on specific personnel competencies

Standard services: services are based on standard processes and templates

Productized services: services are partially automated

Role of partnerships in services

In-house: services are provided by in-house resources

Outsourced: services are provided by partners

TypesProvisioning Degree of Standardisation

ofInOut-CustomisedcompetenceStandardizedProductised

ServicesServiceHousesourcedbased

CustomisationYY

IntegrationYY

DeploymentYY

TrainingY

HelpdeskYY

4. Business Model: Marketing and sales channel

Who is responsible for the marketing and sales activities

May vary between different market segments, e.g:

Direct in the domestic market (direct sales to customers)

Partner in specific vertical segments (sales to key accounts in Europe through a partner)

Network-based in the horizontal segment (horizontal version offered through the web)

Software Sales

Software is a complex experience. Good Sales process needs to provide sufficient information for the buying decision. Complexity and integration needs increase sales lead time

Basic steps of sales:

1) Opening/Qualifying

Obtain access to decision makers

Referrals, contacts

Cold-calls are harder with complex products

2) Information Gathering/Interviewing

Understanding customers needs allows better formulation and communication of the value proposal

3) Proposal/Plan

Make a concrete proposal

4) The Close

The most critical part of the sales process

Sales process needs to be measured and managed:

Number of visits

Cost and duration of the sales process

Hit rate of bids

Prioritization of leads is critical

5. Business Model: Distribution Channel

The distribution channel is often linked to the sales channel:

Distribution is usually done by the seller

Can be different when

Delivery involves services and they form a substantial part of the added value

Sales process is labor-intensive while delivery is simple

6. Business Model: The Revenue Model Pricing model and strategy

Cost-based pricing: price based on time and materials used

Fixed price: price based on a fixed sum

Use-based pricing: prices based on number CPUs, users or

transactions

Value-based pricing: price based on the value created

Revenue sharing model

Determines how revenues are shared between various partners in the

value network, e.g:

Royalties of software licences

Compensation of service charges

Main strategies

Fixed rates: revenue sharing based on fixed rates

Cost-based: revenue sharing based on costs incurred

Risk-sharing: revenue sharing based on the sharing of risk

Advantages of SaaS pricing

Refer Appendix B-15

Software PricingAs our business model is a mix of service and product we can use a pricing model that is a mix of

SaaS (S/W as a service) and License Pricing model.

Traditional licensing with its up-front payments more easily supports heavy investments because the revenue payoff is concentrated at the front-end of the customer relationship. On the other hand, SaaS applications require smaller initial outlays from the customer, removing a big hurdle to new customer acquisition. The vendor is provided with a smaller, but continuing, revenue stream and encourages a closer relationship between vendor and customer that may lead to better long-term retention.

Factors influencing software pricing

Refer Appendix B-16

Step 6: Proposed Capabilities of RBEI in Telecom Software

We would provide end-to-end service capability spanning the entire value chain consisting of

1. Original Equipment manufacturers

2. Independent Software Vendors (Content Developers)3. Telecom Service Providers.4. Network Infrastructure providersThe value chain can be described as-

Our various capabilities would include-

Service offerings to Telecom Service Providers

1. Business Intelligence

Managers need access to factual information on a real time basis in order to anticipate changes and make proactive decisions. Business Intelligence and Data Management help business managers make their decisions better by converting data into useful information. We can provide consultancy to clients to implement BI & DW solutions so that the organizations would implement ETL (Extract, transform & load) design ETL is important, as it is the way data actually gets loaded into the warehouse. ETL can also be used for the integration with legacy systems.

An ETL Process may be shown as

Refer Appendix B-17These solutions will ultimately help in the following capability development in the client organization-

1. OLAP Reporting (online analytical processing) - is an approach to quickly provide answers to analytical queries that are multi-dimensional in nature. OLAP is part of the broader category business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining.Refer Appendix B-182. Data Mining - Data mining is the process of sorting through large amounts of data and picking out relevant information.Refer Appendix B-192. Interoperability Service Practice

Interoperability Practice encompasses all functions related with the inter-working between partners, suppliers, customers and employees through various e-channels. Using the portal framework, CMS and B2B systems, the Delivery Unit provides a transaction platform by which the various stakeholders/partners can interact or transact amongst themselves.The interoperability services would include

1. Development

2. Testing

3. Consulting

3. Mobility Solutions

With Value Added Services (VAS) being viewed as the main source of service differentiation, Telecom Service Providers (TSP) are facing a number of challenges-1. Integration of new service delivery platforms with existing infrastructure frameworks

Service delivery platform provides the core services required to integrate diverse hardware platforms, third party tools and equipment makers proprietary software applications

2. Rolling out new applications and content

3. Delivering enhanced user experiences.

The growth and ubiquity of telecom networks coupled with advances in bandwidth capabilities has led to the creation of new market opportunities for media and content businesses. Our Mobility solutions enable customers to monetize assets by implementing innovative value added services.

Enterprise Mobility solutions for public services, BFSi, telecom, utility and FMCG businesses

Field force / sales force automation

Field data collection

Unified messaging and collaboration tools

Mobile banking solutionsRefer Appendix B-204. Customer Grievance Addressing (Trouble Ticket Lifecycle Mgmt.)Trouble to resolve is an area that has high financial and competitive impact for communication service providers. Ticket life cycle management helps the company to track the customer grievances, assign those problems to respective individuals and give relevant feed back to customer to solve their problemsThis includes the following-

First call resolution- is properly addressing the customer's need the first time they call, thereby eliminating the need for the customer to follow up with a second call. Proactive monitoring - Adaptive Management strategy seeks to make infrastructure monitoring more proactive thereby tracking the failures before they occur Remediation coming up with viable alternatives to deal with failuresService Offerings in the Handset or Device Manufacturers domainPlatform EngineeringPlatform Engineering includes development of device drivers, operating systems, speech and multimedia, wireless and supplementary protocols, connectivity protocols and mobile application. Development of proprietary frameworks and components will help manufacturers accelerate product development.

Application DevelopmentWe need to work in following domains like SIP, RTP/RTSP/RTCP, UDP-TCP/IP, Bluetooth, H.324M, Pict Bridge and work for the development of new features, like assisted GPS for location services, video messaging, digital viewfinder, voice recorder and FM receiver.

Localisation The company needs to work with handset manufacturers and mobile operators to provide applications and services in local languages reflecting the local preferences.

TestingTo meet the ever increasing quality expectations of mobile users, and achieve targeted market penetration, Original Equipment Manufacturers / Device Manufacturers and network operators need to engage in ongoing specialized testing of mobile handsets for interoperability with networks and content, compliance testing with standards body, user experience testing on multiple phone models. This human resource intensive activity demands quick ramp up and ramp down of skilled resources to address the peak and lean periods of the handset product life cycle and respond to markets in an effective way.

Operator testing primarily includes user acceptance and interoperability from the perspective of the network operators infrastructure.

Service Offerings in the OEM domainVoIP Product Design and Development

Product design and development services can be offered by RBEI for VoIP vendors which would include protocol and application development on top of protocol stacks like the Session Initiation Protocol (which is a signaling protocol, widely used for setting up and tearing down multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over the Internet). For VoIP vendors, these services will translate into substantial gains in time-to-market and cost.

We should try to extend our services and expertise in all relevant technologies in convergence spectrum. This would enable us to offer a variety of services. Our VoIP repertoire would include reusable components that should enable VoIP vendors to fast-forward their product development efforts.

Testing services for telecom software and services

1. Broadband-IP testing

2. IP-Multimedia Carrier & Enterprise Networks (ICEN) Testing

3. Wireless Testing Services

4. Wi-Fi Pre-Certification and Certification & WLAN Testing

5. Handset / Application Testing Network Testing

6. OSS-BSS Testing

Full spectrum testing services for the following OSS-BSS areas:

Mediation, provisioning, network management, element management

Enterprise App. Integration(EAI), data warehousing, CRM & ERP

Billing, customer case, interconnect billing, revenue assurance, order management and fraud management

Description of the functions of the OSS

1. Our OSS Functionalities at the network level include:

Network Planning and Engineering (NPE): NPE functions deal with dimensioning the network based on projected market forecasts. It involves selection of best access technology taking into account geographical and economic factors. The inputs required for this exercise include geographical maps, demographic analysis, customer locations and others. The output of NPE is a network map that contains service types supported, maximum traffic volume supported, customer classes, network infrastructure costs and operating expenses.

Fault Management (FM): Also known as s Service Assurance, FM functions detect, isolate, debug and troubleshoot network errors and malfunctions. Network alarm monitoring and handling is the most commonly employed FM approach. Tools that are used for error troubleshooting are root cause analysis, event traces and event log analysis.

Performance Management (PM): PM, as the name suggests, is related to the handling of network operations. Specific functions that fall in the purview of PM are Network Element (NE) discovery, event reporting, resource availability monitoring, Service Level Agreement (SLA) management, QoS monitoring, identifying performance bottlenecks and similar others. Most telecom operators have an integrated Network Operations Center (NOC) to manage these functions.

Provisioning and Service Activation (PSA): Provisioning process begins with order intake and ends with service activation. Service requests are commonly delivered in the form of Work Order, which is a series of actions that need to be performed to complete the provisioning process. Order templates are created by the telecom operators and activities are assigned to individuals and groups. After the order intake, the order is validated, followed by planning the service implementation. After this the concerned NE is configured appropriately to activate the service.

Inventory Management (IM): Inventory management tracks and manages telecom assets such as equipment, services, financial records, contracts, locations and other data. A database of these assets is maintained, reported and analyzed periodically to ensure optimal allocation of resources.

2.Our OSS Functionalities at Business Support level include the following:

Billing and Customer Care (B&CC): Telecom retail or subscriber billing functions include generation of call records, processing the call records in a real-time or batch mode based on pre-defined rules (rating), rendering the rated record into the bill and presenting the rendered bill in the prescribed format. Billing processes vary based on type of data recorded, type of access network, whether the subscriber is pre-paid or post paid and the rules of rating the record. Interconnect or wholesale billing deals with the revenue reconciliation among interconnected telecom operators. The processes for wholesale billing remain similar to that of retail apart from the differences in the volume and rating rules. Customer care involves resolution of customer queries and requests, generally through a contact center. Many telecom operators also provide for a web-based customer self-care application wherein the customer where bill presentation, payment and limited service activation can be carried out. Settlement functions reconcile accounts between the telecom operators and the content provider partners. The settlement process is driven by revenue sharing agreements and the computation is based on transaction value, relationship value, volume, service, region, delivery mode and regulatory standards.

Mediation (MD): Mediation deals with conversion of raw call data to a format understandable by the billing and accounting systems. Steps involved in mediation are data collection, archiving, normalization, filtering, enrichment, aggregation, correlation, buffering, format mapping and reconciliation.

Refer Appendix B-21

Revenue Assurance (RA): Revenue assurance functions enable the telecom operator to address the issue of revenue leakage. This achieved by advanced analytical processes that start with customer verification, credit balance checks, usage monitoring through appropriate control points and interfaces for data extraction, dashboards to present results and workflow based processes to take appropriate corrective actions.

On a broader level, the demands posed by NGN over OSS and BSS are: Ability to support wide array of rich end-user applications and services: Quicker roll-out of the above services and applications; Flexible provisioning of services in order to support variations as required by the market; Increased efficiency and effectiveness of existing OSS and BSS processes; Closer working with multiple business partners; Consistent revenue assurance achieved by lower cost of ownership and investment protection; Matching the challenging QoS requirements of end-customers; Transparent and seamless inter-process handshake; Greater visibility into customer usage patterns and data; Ability to support diverse charging and reconciliation mechanismsOur solution for revenue assurance would be-The revenue assurance system would include solution template which is ready-to-use and includes:

A set of appropriate health checks for monitoring

Control points & interfaces to extract data

Reports & dashboards to present results, and

Workflow to monitor, action & close casesFraud Management

Fraud Management System delivers on a 3-step philosophy of Detect-Investigate-Protect. Fraud Management System detects known fraud types and patterns of unusual behavior; helps investigate these unusual patterns for potential fraud and uses the knowledge generated to upgrade and protect against future intrusions.

Fraud Management System is differentiated by its unique architecture that harnesses the power of proven rules-based alarms and pattern matching driven by advanced statistical techniques. Adding power to this hybrid detection system is a set of strong case management tools. These tools provide all relevant case data which are made easily accessible through a single window in a fast web-based GUI.

Fraud Management Systems high flexibility allows operators of different sizes to customize rules to suit unique network and business requirements. Moreover, seamless visual alarm linking using 3rd party visualization software reduces investigation efforts, thus decreasing case turnover time. Fraud Management System has the ability to detect fraud types in all telecom environments - Wire line (PSTN, ISP, VoIP), Wireless (2G, 2.5G, 3G) and across all services - postpaid, prepaid, VAS, MMS, M-commerce.

Functionalities of Fraud Management System

1. Future Proof Detection Techniques

2. Guard against Repeat Offenders

3. Ensure Pre-paid Service is truly Risk-free

4. Launch Profitable IP-based Services

Trouble Ticket Management

Trouble ticket management consists of the following steps-

1. Capturing Customer Complaints Call Logging to keep a track of all the calls made by the customers tio the customer care of the operator Web interface for Call Logging makes the data available to customer care executive about calls made to them on a web platform. 2. Call Flow Management Log Calls according to the problems and methods of resolution Multiple Assignments would be made per call with reference to the technician allocation. Call Closure or resolving the problem 3. Call Monitoring Track complaints from start to closure4. Reporting- includes making the relevant entries regarding the processes undertaken for the resolution of problem List of tickets based on status of call Ticket Register containing ticket details and actions undertaken Action Register containing date-wise log of actions undertaken. Query facilityWorkforce management

By the use of Workforce Management System, the operating company canmaintain a service call-logging environment that supports interaction with customer service applications and can be integrated with other help desk functions suchas trouble management. Response to service requirements can be driven by customer entitlement, with those parameters accessed through the integration with the customer service applications and used to calculate required task completion deadlines. The system then supports monitoring of task progress and can indicate the need for escalation procedures when necessary. To select the best professional to carry out a required activity, Workforce Management System can assess each technician's skill level and experience with specific systems and equipment. All of an operating company's workforce can be managed from a central database with local scheduling authorized as appropriate. Technicians can be divided into teams based on their complimentary skills, and individuals or teams can be designated as responsible for performing repair and maintenance activities in specific technological and/or geographic areas. Maintenance companies and contractors can also be included in the resource pool with rule-based parameters established to control when those resources are considered for assignment.

When a work order is issued, Workforce Management automatically chooses the available team or technician most capable to perform the activity. An intelligent scheduling engine sequences task assignments according to task or location criticality, customer priorities or process driven timelines. Workforce Management can also evaluate each technician's schedule to minimize workload imbalance by avoiding such conditions as unnecessary travel or extended overtime

EAI (Enterprise application integration)Enterprise application integration (EAI) is the process of linking diverse applications within a single organization together in order to simplify and automate business processes to the greatest extent possible, while at the same time avoiding having to make sweeping changes to the existing applications or data structures. EAI is the unrestricted sharing of data and business processes among any connected application or data sources in the enterprise.

The primary challenge faced by organizations today is of integrating different applications and database systems across various functions and departments. EAI enables an enterprise to integrate its existing applications and systems and also makes it possible to add new technologies and applications to the mix so that an enterprise can model and automate its business processes. EAI Framework enables Telecom Service Providers to achieve seamless business and process level integration among their BSS and OSS applications

EAI service focuses on integrating new software modules or applications with the existing system in a companys IT department.

Refer Appendix B-22Step 7: Functionalities for Telco 2.0

Over the last decade, convergence has been the buzz word for the industry. Today, we see convergence entering a new phase - often referred to as Telco 2.0 - where conventional telecommunications offerings merge with technologies from the Web 2.0 community to form a virtually endless array of innovative new services and mashups. Not only has convergence finally entered the mainstream, the communication business models that were once effective are becoming outdated and need to be changed fast.

Need for Telco 2.0 strategy Telecom (including mobile) is one of the worst-performing sectors in most stock markets in recent years.

The vertically integrated business model is under attack from all sides: tougher regulation, new technology (most notably VoIP and open spectrum), arbitrage, new entrants, and advancing customer expectations.

P/E ratios suggest little investor belief in this improving. They have low confidence in converged or triple/quadruple-play bundles providing high returns.

Refer Appendix B-23SaaS advantages to telecom software1) Market PotentialSaaS has enormous market potential. An IDC study predicts the SaaS market will reach $8 billion by next year. OK, this is peanuts compared to telecoms $1 trillion in revenue. But IDC further predicts that by 2010 more than 70 percent of worldwide software licensing could evolve to a subscription service model.

2) Network AssetsBy definition, the SaaS business model requires network connectivity. Since the application and data are hosted, the SaaS model cannot succeed without a network. So telcos have a strategic asset that is a fundamental enabler of the SaaS architecture.

The important question here would be, what type of network support will the software need?

3) Service AssuranceSaaS benefits from enhanced telecom services such as security, service assurance, QoS transport and more. One of the main reasons for the failure of ASPsan outsourced software business model similar to the SaaS modelwas that network performance was unpredictable and service quality was low. Also, data security was (and still is) the No. 1 concern for most enterprises. Telcos can help mitigate these risks for SaaS providers.

4) Bundling StrategySaaS aligns with a carriers bundle strategy. Operators want to put as many services on their bill as possible, because bundles have proven to lower churn and drive ARPU via uptake of incremental value-added services and products. SaaS aligns perfectly with this bundling strategy, because software is sticky. Once users are familiar with a software package, have their data loaded and make it part of their routine, they dont switch. It is simply too painful. Also, software packages are defined by features, performance and other characteristics that can be sold incrementally. Again, this aligns perfectly with an operators bundling strategy.

From the SaaS perspective, if software becomes a network-based service, then telcos are a natural channel, because telcos have a billing and care relationship in place; consumers generally trust their telecom providers, and hence have a propensity to buy recurring services from them.

5) On-Demand ServicesSaaS is on-demand. It is an on-demand world according to IBMs commercials. Telecom devicescell phones, set-top boxes, game devices, etc.are essentially multimedia computers that can support a range of applications. They should have every conceivable application ever written for that device available, and ready to use on demand. Telcos can make that happen in the wireless and cable space, because for the most part they control what the device can and cant do. That is the essence of on-demand services, and it is very appealing to consumers.

6) MarketingSaaS needs marketing channels. Many of the SaaS offerings will target a niche audiencethe so-called long tail. The trouble with the long tail is the difficulty in finding and targeting that audience. SaaS providers will need a try it, buy it and put it in front of the right consumers face marketing mechanism.

The telcos are in the best position to make this happen. Only the telcos have insight into user profiles, preferences, buying patterns, interests and so on. And, as in the previous point, operators often controls the device and the customer relationship, so they have a natural way to promote SaaS offeringseither on a cell phones deck, the customer bill, at the call center, online or otherwise.

7) The IMS ModelSaaS and IMS perfectly complement each other. Telecom operators, particularly mobile operators, are committed to deploying IMS. IMS is about simplifying service creation, monetizing IP assets and consolidating OSS/BSS stacks. SaaS aligns perfectly with the IMS model. IMS offers real-time charging, real-time authorization, QoS provisioning, standard application APIs, service profiles and more. These are exactly the OSS primitives SaaS will need. IMS is also about converged accessmobile, broadband, and so on. As such, it is a natural solution for fixed-mobile voice convergence. But it is also a natural solution for SaaS convergencethat is, any software, on any device, at any time. Mobility and home-office are not only a huge driver behind voice communications, but also what you can do with IP devices beyond voice (namely software).

SaaS based services portfolio

We can position ourselves in the market as a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider for Telecom Management services to operators and enterprises. We can provide our customers with

1. Online Telecom Management (OTM) service [ for operators ]

2. Telecom Expense Management (TEM) services [ for enterprises ]

OTM would be a commercial Electronic Bill Presentment Service offered in a SaaS model enabling operators to deliver web-based bill presentment, advanced analysis, split billing, cost allocation, and fleet management services to enterprises.

Our service would boast as a service differentiator for operators as it supports the enterprise requirement for advanced telecom management tools that enable them to gain control over telecom spend through a web-based user-friendly service. OTM offers all the benefits of SaaS; low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), managed service with strong Service Level Agreement (SLA), and continuous improvement of functionality and performance through customer insight. Additionally OTM can be operational within days and offers seamless integration with the operator's infrastructure.

OTM would allow operators to generate new revenue streams by offering advanced cost and service management services to enterprises, while reducing operational cost by eliminating the paper bill and making the Internet the first point of contact for bill enquiries.

TEM services provide insight and telecom cost control, and simplifies the administration process by means of end user self-service. OTM services allow operators to offer electronic bill presentment, analysis, split billing, and fleet management to customers, leading to higher customer retention and lower operational cost.

Online Telecom Management

Refer Appendix B-24