Relationships Between the Concepts of Domain and Platform R18.0.1 (TR263F)

The purpose of this document is to describe the relationship between the concepts of “platform” and “domain.” The view taken in this document is that the two concepts are complementary and that both are needed.

To be sure, these terms have many definitions, even within the scope of telecommunications. The terminology section that follows covers some of the common usages of these two terms. However, it is emphasized that the definitive TM Forum definitions are provided in the Open Digital Architecture (ODA) terminology.

The TM Forum has done considerable work on platforms. See, for example,

IG1157 Digital Platform Reference Architecture Concepts and Principles R17.5.0
TR262 Management Platform Blueprint and Application to Hybrid Infrastructure R17.5.1
TR263 Design and Implementation Patterns and Best Practices for HIP Suite R17.5.0
TMF070A Hybrid Infrastructure Platform (HIP) Implementation and Deployment Blueprint R17.5.1
TMF070B Advanced Platform Deployment Blueprints R17.5.1.
There is also new work that focused on domains, i.e., TMF909 NaaS API Component Suite.

So, it is now necessary to relate the key concepts (i.e., platform and domain) used in the above documents.