TM Forum’s “Resilient Cloud Catalyst: Maintaining Service in the Face of Developing Threats” project named a Laureate in World Good category; this is second Computerworld Honors Laureate for TM Forum’s Catalyst program

MORRISTOWN, NJ — April 2, 2013: When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the U.S. in October, the storm damaged everything from city infrastructure to homes and businesses; killed 285 people; and was the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history at nearly $75 billion. TM Forum, a global non-profit industry association made up of close to 1,000 companies from across the digital services ecosystem, and its Security Program members used disasters similar to Hurricane Sandy to demonstrate how to maintain critical system resources such as emergency or medical services by monitoring risks and proactively managing the physical resources of a cloud environment. Today, TM Forum announced that IDG Computerworld has recognized the project— “Resilient Cloud Catalyst: Maintaining Service in the Face of Developing Threats”—by naming it a 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate in the World Good category.

For the 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate project, TM Forum’s Resilient Cloud Catalyst used disaster scenarios to simulate a developing threat jeopardizing the operation of several major data centers and endangering the mission critical applications, such as medical or other emergency center applications, hosted in those centers. In addition to this scenario, the team also explored a Distributed Denial of Service Attack and a civil unrest scenario.

In typical threat scenarios, any network is capable of reacting only once service is disrupted. What makes this project unique is the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology which provides an added level of capability to the network monitoring and management system. Using GIS, the system was able to proactively detect and identify a developing threat, and model its potential impact on the network prior to any actual impairment. Such advanced notice provides time to identify critical services that could be disrupted and securely relocate those critical services to safe network resources.

“Cloud technology relies on vulnerable physical resources and as we know from experience with Hurricane Sandy there are many threats that pose risk to these resources today, along with emerging threats that have not been identified, yet our dependency on critical services running in the cloud grows,” said Christy Coffey, Director of Defense and Security Programs, TM Forum. “We are honored to be named a 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate. This award shows the value and strength of the industry collaboration that TM Forum enables, and how the results of this collaboration can be used for the greater world good.”

TM Forum’s member companies involved in the Resilient Cloud Catalyst project include: CA Technologies, ESRI, Layer 7 Technologies, Telstra and Thales. The first phase of the project is complete, and the technologies applied and lessons learned from this project are now being applied to real-world solutions.

This is the second Computerworld Honors Laureate received by TM Forum. Previously, TM Forum’s Secure, Federated Service Management Catalyst received the honor in 2011.

TM Forum’s Catalysts are collaborative, short-term rapid technology innovation projects striving to create solutions for critical industry operational and systems challenges that are defined by end-users such as service providers, MSOs, defense agencies, enterprise IT departments and more. With an accelerated timeline, Catalyst projects develop and enhance TM Forum’s Frameworx suite of best practices and standards and create solutions to pressing issues, ultimately delivering a blueprint for effective, efficient business operations.

At the culmination of these projects, Catalyst teams display their findings through demonstrations at TM Forum’s Management World conferences and events. Currently, there are 12 Catalyst demonstrations planned for TM Forum’s flagship Management World 2013, held May 13-16 in Nice, France.

Don’t miss TM Forum’s award-winning Catalyst program in action at Management World in May. TM Forum’s Management World conferences and expos stand apart by offering expert keynotes, sessions, unrivaled networking opportunities, and TM Forum’s renowned Training and Certification programs. 

About TM Forum

TM Forum is a global, non-profit association focused on enabling service provider agility and innovation. As an established thought-leader in complex service management, the Forum serves as a unifying force across industries, enabling more than 950 member companies to solve critical business issues through access to a wealth of knowledge, practical tools, best practices and standards.

The Forum provides a fair and safe environment for collaboration across the value-chain to overcome the barriers to a vibrant, open digital economy. We help member companies of all sizes gain a competitive edge by enabling efficiency and agility in their IT and operations while protecting competitive differentiation.

Global TM Forum Media Contact
Elizabeth Coyne
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+1 973 641 3247
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