Accenture, Axiata, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, CSG, Etiya, Globe Telecom, MyRepublic, Openet, Orange, SigScale and Vodafone sign TM Forum’s Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto; commit to new standards-based, plug-and-play IT and business network guidelines

Digital Transformation Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — November 12, 2019 — TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, announced today that 13 top telcos and vendors are supporting a new Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto focused on enabling a plug-and-play IT and business architecture. These 13 companies – Accenture, Axiata, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, CSG, Etiya, Globe Telecom, MyRepublic, Openet, Orange, SigScale and Vodafone – agreed to endorse and drive the industry towards a radical uplift in IT agility and software architecture, and stand behind zero-touch interoperability and partnering.

The Forum’s Open Digital Architecture replaces traditional operational and business support systems (OSS/BSS) architectures with an industry-agreed, architectural blueprint for zero-touch, software-defined operations and a de facto standard for open digital platforms. The architecture is enabled by TM Forum’s suite of over 50 REST-based Open APIs enable end-to-end seamless connectivity, interoperability and portability across complex ecosystem-based services.

The new manifesto builds on TM Forum’s Open API Manifesto launched in 2016, a public demonstration of commitment to using the Forum’s Open APIs in products or requiring them in RFP processes, which has been signed by 53 companies including seven out of the 10 largest operators in the world. This new manifesto asks signatories to contribute to the continuous evolution of the Open Digital Architecture, Open APIs and roadmap, and support development of an open source Open Digital Architecture integration platform.

Open Digital Architecture advocates

“We’ve been a strong advocate of and a contributor to TM Forum’s Open APIs,” said Laurent Leboucher, Vice President, Customer Relation Solutions and Leading Global Architecture from Orange, one of the guiding companies behind the new manifesto. “From this effort, we expect interoperable, modular, innovative and cloud-native solutions. We also expect to drastically reduce IT transformation costs and the time needed to configure and launch new offers on all channels.”

Added Leboucher, “So far, we’ve learned from past experiences that poor architecture design can lead to huge costs in the long run. When we leverage sound and concrete frameworks such as the Open Digital Architecture and Open APIs, we can save a lot of money.” (Read a Q&A on the Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto with Leboucher here.)

Open Digital Architecture benefits

Axiata’s Prasanta Roy, Vice President, Group Head of IT Strategy & Architecture, says the CSP’s IT transformation is totally driven by TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture and Open APIs. “Having opened over 3,000 APIs across our group, it is now enabling our digital services and IT stack transformation,” he said. “We are enjoying faster time-to-market and a drastic cost reduction related to change requests on the core systems, while our Open API play in the external marketplace is contributing to the top-line.”

The world’s largest telecom operators and their partners have been collaborating to enable end-to-end seamless connectivity, interoperability and portability according to George Glass, Vice President of Architecture and APIs, TM Forum. “Creating value and delivering growth in the digital economy demands radical business transformation,” he said. “With the Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto, TM Forum provides a platform for our members to change and align with the vision of the industry agreed standards.”

Tony Gillick, Global Vice President, Product Management, Openet, said his company signed because it is already adept at integrating its BSS-focused solutions into multi-vendor environments. “This comes of age as existing BSS stacks go digital, and 5G networks are rolled out and need to be more accessible to each other,” he noted. “Central to this is the ability to anticipate change, and reliably and flexibly control and monetize new revenue opportunities through rapid integration.”

Added Lester Thomas, Chief IT Systems Architect, Vodafone Group, “I believe the telecom industry is at a critical junction in its history, with fantastic opportunities to drive the next wave of services that will improve lives around the world and have a positive impact on some of society’s greatest challenges. Software vendors and service providers alike need to apply our collective skills to drive the industry forward. Open standards and collaboration are critical to making this happen.”

Open Digital Architecture and Open APIs Training & Advisory Services

Separately today, TM Forum announced the results of ongoing surveys of TM Forum Open API adoption by communications service providers (CSPs) and software vendors. While the survey results confirm that both sides of the industry are making progress in using Open APIs, they also reveal vendors’ native Open API support lags behind demand from CSPs.

In addition to the Open API Adoption Assessment Report, Open API Manifesto, Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto, the Forum supports Open API use through several other efforts. By completing Open API Conformance certification, companies can demonstrate that they have successfully implemented Open APIs so that partners, clients and suppliers can validate conformance. The Forum also supports companies undergoing digital transformation through training courses and advisory services focused on Open Digital Architecture and Open APIs.

To learn more about TM Forum’s Open APIs, the Open API Manifesto, Open API & Open Digital Architecture Manifesto or the Open API Adoption Assessment Report, contact [email protected].

Digital Transformation Asia

TM Forum’s Digital Transformation Asia is happening November 12-14 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

About TM Forum

TM Forum is an association of over 850-member companies’ customers across 180 countries. We drive collaboration and collective problem-solving to maximize the business success of communication and digital service providers and their ecosystem of suppliers around the world. Today, our focus is on supporting members as they navigate their unique digital transformation journeys, providing practical and proven assets and tools to accelerate execution and platforms to facilitate collaborative problem solving and innovation. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Learn more at www.tmforum.org.

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Coyne
Vice President, Communications
TM Forum
[email protected]