Project Overview

The “Delivering an Industry Information Infrastructure” Catalyst project will highlight the power of implementing parts of the SID Resource models using Master Data Management and a managed information service to implement an information taxonomy, data governance and workflow across the service provider environment and telecommunications industry. Such an approach promises to enable the acceleration of new systems & technology deployment and the introduction of new services.

The project will use commercial software products spanning the BSS and OSS spaces as well as a commercial industry information services model based on globally hosted registries, with content from global equipment vendors and service providers. Specifically, software products to be used in this catalyst will include: ERP (Material Management), Master Data Management, and OSS inventory products.

What the project will achieve

This project will demonstrate how BSS, OSS, Network Element vendors and systems integrators can collaborate to enable service providers to reduce integration costs, improve time to market and improve communications across their own systems and organizations as well as with trading partners by adopting the SID model.

The project will focus on equipment related information and will provide demonstrable examples of how ERP applications can be integrated with traditional OSS and even Network Elements and EMS’ through the use of commercial Master Data Management technology, middleware and a globally managed industry information infrastructure based on one, clear, meaningful and consistently applied language.

Why it needs to be done

Convergent technologies and market liberalization are creating a new competitive environment where efficiency, flexibility and time to market are key to success. These market realities are driving the industry to develop standard, yet flexible approaches to the implementation of processes and information as described in standardized models like the Tele Management Forum’s eTOM and the SID. Local service provider implementations simply can not meet the needs of the industry. Only a single, well coordinated and managed effort can provide the necessary benefits across the boundaries of individual organizations, 3^rd party software products, service providers, equipment vendors and software vendors.

The potential benefit to the industry

This project will illustrate and quantify value propositions that can be delivered across the industry. These value propositions include (but are not limited to) up to:

• Reduced systems integration costs by as much as 35%
• Reduction effort in equipment definition up to 90%
• A savings of up to 5 million US Dollars for every billion Dollars in network investment
• Improvements in card substitution / interchangeability up to 15%
• Improved procurement accuracy - P.O. accepted & wrong equipment shipped up to 25%
• Improve time to inventory by as much as 12 to 1.
• Reduce inventory errors by a factor of 3,000 to 1.
• Improve ability to implement financial reporting for shareholders and regulators in a manner than can assure consistency even across service providers.

Timescale

We will present the details of such a solution and illustrate many of these value propositions in Nice, France in May, 2008