Three operators join with five vendors in TM Forum catalyst for rapid service innovation

AT&T, Orange and TIM have partnered up to sponsor a project aimed at developing a framework for rapid service innovation in virtual networks.

The project, which was unveiled at this year’s TM Forum Live, is part of the joint agile development (JAD) catalyst and demonstrates how network functions virtualisation (NFV) and open interfaces enable radically faster service innovation with fewer resources.

It featured a collaboration from Huawei, IBM, Infosys, Spirent Communications and Tech Mahindra. Together, the vendors worked to address the core need for rapid service innovation, streamlining and automating the process by which virtual network functions (VNFs) are enhanced, validated and then deployed to the production network.

Spirent, for example, supports the project by offering fully automated validation of VNF on-boarding and end-to-end service layer performance through its VisionWorks platform.

Sean Yarborough, senior director of marketing for Spirent’s Lifecycle service assurance segment, said: “Working with the JAD team, we have shown how virtualisation and open interfaces can be leveraged to design, validate and deploy service enhancements dramatically faster.

“The VisonWorks service assurance controller extends beyond simple test automation, integrating with workflow management systems to completely automate VNF and end-to-end service validation. With VisionWorks, providers can move past legacy testing processes that last weeks or months to automated validation that takes minutes.”

See more on Global Telecom Business.