TR262 Hybrid Infrastructure Platform Blueprint R17.0.1

There is a growing interest in the use of virtualization and cloud computing approaches for delivering network services (used in a more general sense than the ETSI NFV definition of Network Service).

Some business benefits of virtualization include reduced time to market (RTM) and depend on agility in creation, composition and combining networks services to support a wide range of e2e Network Service requirements, such as those advanced by the NGMN 5G white paper.

Agility requires that network functionality is designed in an agile way, and also that the Operations Support (OSS) for Networks and Service Operations are also designed for agility. Work in ETSI NFV has focused on the network agility aspects and have assumed that the integration will be with current Operations Support Systems (OSS) using the traditional mechanisms and interfacing principles.

It turns out that service providers are thinking in terms of transformation of their current BSS/OSS systems into a more agile IT environment, often based on Cloud Application principles. This requires a re-appraisal of how network and other resource technologies are integrated with the ‘Operations Center of the Future’ ( see IG1144 Operations Center of the Future) using ‘Future Mode of Operations’ (see IG1118 OSS / BSS Futures).

The implementation approach is based on the notion of Platforms described in the next section. The Platform approach has been adopted and implemented by several service providers and demonstrated in numerous TM Forum Catalysts over the last three years to manage the transformation of current BSS / OSS to reduce systems complexity and to improve business agility.

The focus in Hybrid infrastructure Platform(HIP ) is to apply the platform concept and catalysts learning to resource management, thus:

Reducing time to on board new technology
Enabling innovation and differentiation from suppliers.
Whilst reducing integration friction (cost / time) in adopting new technologies.

The use of platforms for Platform based Business Models is described in Appendix A and the Digital Platform Reference Architecture (DPRA) in IG1157 DPRA White Paper.