Frost & sullivan oss-bss global competitive strategies

January 2009

OSS/BSS Global Competitive Strategies (OSSCS) Volume 10, Number 01

Making the Network Work – Global Network Planning and Engineering Strategies

OSSCS 10-01, January 2009 © Stratecast (a Division of Frost & Sullivan), 2009 Page 2

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 5

Introduction ........................................................................................................ 6

The New Role of Network Planning and Engineering ...................................... 8

Business Requirements ....................................................................................................... 10 Technology Requirements .................................................................................................. 11

Vendor Case Studies ..........................................................................................13

Level 3/Telcordia ................................................................................................................ 13 Cable & Wireless/Oracle..................................................................................................... 15 Tier 1 Wireless CSP/Netformx............................................................................................ 16 Tier 1 Wireless CSP/Amdocs .............................................................................................. 18 British Telecom/VPI Systems ............................................................................................20 Swisscom/Aircom ............................................................................................................... 21

The Last Word .................................................................................................. 24



List of Figures

Figure 1: Communications Services Growth............................................................................6 Figure 2: Example CSP Network Configuration .....................................................................7 Figure 3: CSP Product Delivery Process Sequence..................................................................8 Figure 4: Telcordia Network Engineer Architecture............................................................. 14 Figure 5: Oracle Network Intelligence Modules ................................................................... 16 Figure 6: Netformx DesignXpert Platform ............................................................................ 17 Figure 7: Amdocs Capacity Planning Solution ...................................................................... 19 Figure 8: VPI System Modules............................................................................................... 21 Figure 9: Aircom Network Engineering Suite .......................................................................22



Executive Summary

Network planning and engineering, like most OSS/BSS functions, is being reinvented to support a rapidly evolving and changing infrastructure and service environment. While core networks have largely been converted to run IP/MPLS over fiber, aggregation and access networks are still in transition. Access networks include radio access networks (RANs) for mobile services as well as copper, cable, and fiber distribution networks running a variety of protocols and applications. Designing network infrastructure has always included cable plant, switching/routing, capacity, and redundancy designs but now engineers must also contend with designing service elements and access networks that include variable technologies, protocols, and capacities. In addition, communication service providers (CSPs) that serve business customers must accommodate virtual local area networks (VLANs), high quality unified communications, secure remote data transfer and storage, and other complex offerings in addition to traditional virtual private networks (VPNs).

In response, vendors have developed products to design and optimize individual network segments (e.g. RANs, fiber distribution, IP interconnect) as well as offerings that address both the physical and logical connectivity required. Some are based on geographical information services (GIS) that track the exact location of fibers, routers, and network elements; others are integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that track assets and create a bill-of-materials and purchase orders. However, as networks converge and bandwidth becomes precious, network planning and engineering can no longer be accomplished on a segment by segment basis. CSPs are looking for network planning and engineering tools that accommodate multiple network segments and access, aggregation, and core technologies while maintaining a current view of assets. Beyond that are the workflow issues of ensuring that field personnel have access to current views of the network, understand where infrastructure is installed, determine what changes need to be made, and then accurately track those changes to ensure timely repairs and restoration of service. Integration with finance, marketing, sales, fulfillment, and assurance is also becoming critical both for data input to the planning process and access to the subsequent designs.

This report will outline the need for next generation tools to support network planning and engineering that are inclusive of business and service needs. In addition to profiles of vendor products, Stratecast has documented implementations of these tools that further highlight the strategies of CSPs in specific markets.


Introduction1

Growth in the communications services market continues. There are more users, using more bandwidth, and using more applications than ever before. These seemingly independent axes of growth converge at the network where delivering the right amount of capacity to multiple access platforms has become exceedingly complex and expensive. Figure 1 shows the growth axes in the communications services market.

Figure 1: Communications Services Growth

Source: Stratecast

Traditionally, CSPs have built network infrastructure in overlays. Each service – voice, data, video – had its own network overlay that was designed, constructed, maintained, and managed separately. Now, as CSPs are collapsing the overlays to build a single converged network, there are good reasons to implement a converged design and engineering function, but there are equally as many obstacles. The sheer volume of the workload requires that engineers be assigned design responsibility for only a portion of the network. Within each overlay there are access, aggregation, and core network engineers. More recently, service delivery engineers have been added to the mix.

1 In preparing this report, Stratecast conducted interviews with representatives of the following companies: • iBasis – Ajay Joseph, Chief Technology Officer • Global Crossing – David Cooper, Vice President, Network Architecture • Level 3 – Rob Smallwood, Senior Vice President, IT • Cable & Wireless – Mike Waller, Principal Capacity and Optimization Consultant • Swisscom – Claudio Spena, Wireless Access Technologies Please note that the insights and opinions expressed in this assessment are those of Stratecast and have been developed through the Stratecast research and analysis process. These expressed insights and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the company executives interviewed.

More users--subscribers and computers

More time online

More bandwidth per deviceCSP Network


Figure 2 shows a typical CSP network configuration. Multiple types of access networks are currently in operation. There are the traditional switched voice/data networks originally built by telephone and cable CSPs that deliver voice, data, and business bandwidth services. There are also all-IP access networks that deliver primarily business IP services including IP virtual private networks (IPVPNs), storage area networks, and Gigabit Ethernet connections between locations. In addition to traditional data services, there are many other non-IP networks in place, including radio access networks (RANs) for both mobile voice and data and fiber access networks (e.g. Verizon FIOS and AT&T U-verse) that deliver high bandwidth services (including video) to nodes, premises, and even homes. Businesses also purchase fiber connections and in some instances entire wavelengths. Aggregation networks collect the traffic from the access networks and send it along to the core, switch/route it locally, or transfer it to an adjacent aggregation network. Between the access and aggregation networks in some CSP configurations are the service delivery platforms, hosting environments, and data centers that are used to deliver both unique communication service features and functions as well as provide managed services to CSP business customers.

Figure 2: Example CSP Network Configuration

Source: Stratecast

The core network consists of the high bandwidth optical segments that haul all the aggregated traffic from node to node across the country and around the globe using multiple wavelengths, each capable of carrying up to 40Gbits of traffic (OC768). Today the core network is almost exclusively composed of optical dense wavelength division multiplexers (DWDM) that connect optical switches

MPLS Enabled Optical Core

IP Access

Wireless Access

SDP, Hosting,

Data Center

TDM/Cable Access

Regional/Metro Aggregation

Fiber Access


and large core routers. Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is used to connect the devices inside and outside the core regardless of the protocol running on the device. That makes it possible to connect an IP core router to a non-IP voice switch while still maintaining connection quality and delivery speeds.

The goal for many CSPs is to transition to an all-IP infrastructure from the access network to the core that runs over the air, fiber, cable, and copper. However, that transition has been underway for 10 years and will likely still be going on 10 years from now. Stratecast has determined that the United States wireline core network infrastructure is nearly 90% IP, while the aggregation edge network is less than 50% IP-enabled. The access network, including IPTV, is only 30% converted to IP. If mobile access networks - which are almost exclusively non-IP today - are included, that figure drops dramatically. Even 3G networks, which are faster and optimized for data, are not routed and do not implement IP as an access protocol. For network engineers, that means that there will continue to be the requirement to design individual network configurations AND to design ways to integrate those configurations to share new and existing infrastructure and equipment to reduce costs.

The New Role of Network Planning and Engineering

Network planning and engineering groups are responsible for construction of the network, creation of capacity, deployment of infrastructure assets, and configuration of both the logical and physical network as well as the configuration of underlying service elements. Until a basic service component (e.g. voice) is configured across the access, aggregation, and core transport network segments, nothing can be delivered to a customer. Once configured, a basic service can be augmented with features and functions and sold as a product to consumers and businesses. In general, networks are designed, services activated, and products delivered in a sequential manner. As shown in Figure 3, a communication network is built up in stages.

Figure 3: CSP Product Delivery Process Sequence

Source: Stratecast

Once all the underlying network, service, and product components are in place – products can be created and delivered to customers.

Infrastructure Construction

Capacity Creation

Service Creation

Product Delivery

Product Lifecycle

Management

Network Engineering and Planning


Specifically;

• Physical infrastructure is designed, built, and connected

• Capacity is created using a variety of protocols and network equipment to connect end points (homes, businesses, cell sites) together

• Core service components are created (e.g. voice, data, video) that configure the infrastructure for a specific type of service

• Products are created by augmenting a service component with feature components that are typically applications hosted on a server that includes storage and administration

• Products are delivered to customers

Each function cannot occur without the previous and each relies on and shares data with the other. It is that synergy that is responsible for reliably delivering communications products to retail and enterprise customers.

In the “one connection = one product” world that created the telecommunications industry, installing the wire delivered the product. Communication network, capacity, and product changes have made the delivery of communications products infinitely more complex and added many more steps to the process. The role of network engineering and design has steadily expanded from construction to include capacity creation and the logical design aspects of the service and product creation functions.

There are CSPs that are using network planning and engineering tools to support sales, product lifecycle management, and product definition in addition to network design and architecture. In next generation network environments, there are rules and thresholds that have to be defined every step of the way to minimize design and configuration errors. CSPs report definition of 2 million or more design rules to ensure accuracy and optimization of network, capacity, and service component designs. That kind of environment requires automation and sophisticated tools to aid network engineers with their increasingly complex tasks. As network planning and engineering evolves from an annual, time consuming, and largely manual effort to a monthly and sometimes even more frequent activity, CSPs are challenged to keep current. Basic requirements, such as a current “as-built” view of the network, are more difficult to meet when changes and updates to the network, service, and product infrastructure are recorded manually in multiple inventories including network inventory, service inventory, product catalog, and asset management systems.

But rules and automation are only effective if the data being used by the process is accurate. Errors in data, from asset inventory to product catalogs, can propagate across the business and result in order fallout, configuration changes, configuration errors, delays, and cost increases. Where network discovery functions can help keep network and service inventory up-to-date, that typically does little to update asset inventory. For example, adding a blade to a wavelength multiplexer will be discovered by network and service inventory as new ports and capacity. However, only the asset inventory reflects the fact that a new blade with a unique serial number has been added to a chassis in a specific location and that the chassis is now fully populated with no room for expansion. A network engineer starts with the asset inventory and the physical “as-built” view of the network and it is absolutely critical that the view is current and accurate. However, network engineers need both


sets of data and would benefit from the automated correlation of ports and capacity to blades, multiplexers, and locations which are still typically derived manually.

As CSPs roll out fiber in the access network – fiber to the node, fiber to the premises, fiber to the home (FTTx) – they also need better correlation with the services and products that will be delivered over that fiber so they can translate the bandwidth delivered to a home into the sizing of aggregation and core network segments. Likewise, enabling mobile data products requires both updated RAN and backhaul designs. Integration of the asset, network, service, and even product inventories help designers see the design requirements from the customer to the core of the network. Integration with the product management and delivery processes provides important customer, product, and service requirements for the design of network infrastructure, construction, and improvement.

Business Requirements Network planning and engineering is no longer a static process. CSPs are adding more product offerings with more complex bandwidth and connectivity requirements. Wholesale CSPs and CSPs that sell to business customers are the first to begin revamping their network planning and engineering systems. They want to be able to deliver a customer design and proposal in hours, not weeks. Ideally, the sales force can sit with a customer and create the design as the customer shares its requirements. Additional automation and data integration add the ability to price the solution and schedule the delivery – all in real time. But as logical and basic as those capabilities sound, they are extremely difficult to deliver given today’s systems and processes. Acceleration of time-to-market and reduction of costs are the primary CSP business requirements for updated network planning and engineering capabilities. Others include:

• Process acceleration – The design process is currently disjointed with numerous data sources of questionable accuracy. To accelerate the process requires consistent, up-to-date data sources as well as process automation, workflow management, and tools that both field and engineering personnel can use to keep network inventory and design data current and accurate.

• Error reduction – The lack of automation and inconsistent data results in numerous design errors, incorrect budget calculations, configuration errors, delays, and increased costs. Accurate data, strict change management processes, and automated workflow can greatly reduce the number of design errors that are propagated across the business.

• Survivability – Network reliability is always critical to CSPs and consistent with that is survivability of the network and the ability to restore service in the event of a regional disaster or a local fiber cut. Design tools that can overlay network connectivity and areas that are vulnerable to flooding, for example, can help CSPs determine where alternate routes or extra capacity are needed to rapidly restore service.

• Field support – The biggest challenge to network engineering groups is the lack of current data. Field personnel are responsible for recording changes and indicating what actions have been taken to construct, repair, and activate infrastructure. Typically, those changes have been recorded on a form that is collected by an administrator and separately entered into the asset and network inventory systems. Automation that extends to the field helps personnel


find a specific cable, fiber, or network element; see what the current status of that element is; and update the inventories on-line as changes are made.

• Bid support – CSPs that support business and government customers are required to create proposals that include network design details, pricing, availability, and service guarantees. Business customers want this information quickly and often make numerous changes before the deal is completed. If customer engineers have access to design tools, proposals can be quickly generated and modified that contain accurate costs, delivery schedules, and service level agreements.

• Capital efficiency – Network infrastructure is a large capital investment for CSPs and the ability to improve the utilization of existing infrastructure, find under-utilized assets, improve planning efficiency, and maximize the investment is essential. New construction is expensive; however the majority of costs are for right-of-way, digging trenches, and the labor to install the conduit, fiber, and cables. At these times it is critical to understand future demands so that all of the elements necessary to support growth are put in place initially which prevents having to repeat the expense.

Technology Requirements As the number and variety of network equipment continues to grow, network engineers are faced with enormous complexity. Interoperability of devices as well as the compatibility of products, customer devices, and even applications can all impact the design of the access network. Wireless networks that deliver mobile data service have different characteristics than mobile voice networks. Cable networks and network elements that deliver Voice over IP (VoIP), in addition to video channels, require more bandwidth and also more quality management features. Without reliable integrated data about the network, the devices, the services, and often specific product features and functions, the potential for errors is unlimited. Recovering stranded assets and reducing errors are the primary technology requirements for next generation network planning and engineering capabilities, others include:

• Network optimization – Network engineers are under more pressure than ever before to optimize existing infrastructure installations, identify stranded assets, and create a just-in-time capacity delivery capability. The location, configuration, and availability of all network elements (including cable and fiber) has always been critical to delivering reliable designs, but engineers now need to understand the placement and utilization of individual products and services as well.

• Data quality – Data quality is critical to eliminate errors, reduce the time required to design infrastructure, and to determine the correct resources required to deliver new products and services. Multiple inventories, catalogs, and data stores make it necessary for engineers to manually reconcile network, assets, service and even customer data to determine an accurate “as-built” view of the network before design efforts can even begin.

• Rules engine – Rules must be defined that limit configuration, connectivity, interoperability, cost, and deployment of assets based on technological and business considerations. Separate rules exist for construction, logical and physical design, costing, work flow, and configuration but all are intended to reduce errors and result in a valid and deliverable design. Automated application of those rules to the end-to-end design process is critical.


• Knowledge base – A knowledge base can include design rules, but is frequently being extended to include network equipment specifications that can be used to develop a bill of materials and statement of work for deployment or to include in a proposal. The knowledge base can also be a repository for configuration details that pertain to how an individual product is configured and activated across the network. While many CSPs keep product data separate, it is closely tied to the network design and the configuration of individual network elements.

• Geographic/location information – At the heart of any physical design is the location of network elements, nodes, linear assets, poles, towers, servers, power, HVA/C, and field personnel. Beyond seeing this data on a map, it is important for both field staff and network engineers to understand the relationships between the multiple layers of routers, switches, edge devices, cable/fiber, and customers to optimize designs, construction, and work force deployment. An added benefit of geographical/location-based information is the support that can be provided to customer care (e.g. customers affected by an outage) and the community (e.g. call-before-you-dig).

• Change management – The accurate and timely recording of changes is critical to maintaining a reliable design and ensuring that subsequent designs are valid. A rigorous change management process and a system that tracks and validates changes are both necessary to ensuring availability of timely and reliable data. Field personnel that have the ability to enter changes as they are made, rather than relying on separate data entry at a later date, can make updated information immediately available to engineers and support personnel.

CSPs that have implemented network planning and engineering tools have implemented them to support either product silos or specific network segments (e.g. core, aggregation, or access). There are often separate tools and data for network asset inventory, network inventory, service inventory/catalog, and product catalog. While use of these tools in isolation worked in the past, the need to design a product from end-to-end across multiple network segments is becoming more common and more difficult. While there are still unique aspects to the design of each network segment, the burden of integration and compatibility is becoming greater. The access network design can no longer meet the aggregation network at a switch or router without considering the services, products, and even customers that will be activated onto it. The hand-off points in the network have to be carefully engineered to consider quality of service, traffic priorities, diversity, and destination.

These new network planning and engineering challenges are becoming urgent for wholesale and business CSPs. Business and wholesale products are typically designed individually each time that a customer proposal is generated. Those CSPs, more so than retail CSPs, require tools that have a current view of the network, existing customers, and planned product offerings. Several of the CSPs interviewed for this research indicated that up to 50% of designs for wholesale or business customers cannot be delivered as sold. Mistakes or incomplete designs require large amounts of rework and can result in proposals that are overpriced, unprofitable, or otherwise inaccurate.


Vendor Case Studies

Each vendor profiled by Stratecast in this report has shared a customer deployment case study. Some are wholesale or business implementations and others are for retail CSPs. The CSPs each have specific network, capacity, and service creation requirements and each uses its design tools in specific ways. Some are purely for logical design of services and products that can be activated over existing infrastructure. Others are used to design the infrastructure itself with separate modules for the design of the logical/services portion of the network. Of the vendors included in this section, only Telcordia has built its tools to include a geographical network asset inventory. The other products rely on the availability and accuracy of physical infrastructure data from existing OSS and CSP asset inventories.

Level 3/Telcordia Level 3 Communications is an international provider of fiber-based communications products to enterprise, content, wholesale and government customers. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services over an end-to-end fiber network including transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice. As the result of mergers and acquisitions combined with customized OSS/BSS development early on, Level 3 made a strategic decision to update its OSS/BSS with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. Level 3 was focused on improving its provisioning time, which drove the need for transparency between its Outside Plant (OSP) and Logical Provisioning System (LPS). Telcordia’s Integrated Inventory solution, which utilizes Telcordia Network Engineer for the physical inventory (OSP) and Telcordia Granite Inventory for the logical inventory (LPS), was able meet Level 3’s critical business requirements. Systems were implemented for order management and workflow orchestration, however Level 3 had determined that network engineering, planning, and inventory would be the most complex update effort and left that for last. Definition and implementation efforts got underway in 2006 to replace existing custom and duplicate inventory and engineering capabilities with Telcordia Network Engineer and Telcordia Granite Inventory. The transition to the new design and inventory capability for Level 3 now processes more than two-thirds of the core network services revenue across the company.

Requirements

Rob Smallwood, senior vice president of Information Technology at Level 3, indicated that the company wants horizontal supply chain integration such that it can rapidly deliver products to its business and wholesale customers across networks and geographies. Specifically, Level 3 described the following requirements:

• Integration between physical and logical network inventory – Present a single view of assets, locations, capacity, connectivity, and customer configurations. Implement one inventory across all properties, both legacy and acquired, and all assets from linear to customer.

• Automatic correlation of underlying physical activity – When a change is made in the field it is entered directly into the system. No manual recording or entry of changes.

• Seamless integration with provisioning/fulfillment system – The final design layout record is sufficiently detailed and accurate so neither provisioners nor field personnel spend time doing manual correlation or activation. Orders, whether initiated by the customer or


network engineers, are automatically activated based on pre-defined business rules and policies.

Solution

Level 3 selected Telcordia Network Engineer and Granite Inventory to create a single source for inventory and ensure that inventory data is consistent from the physical implementation through the logical definition and fulfillment of capacity and products. The strategy is to redefine the Level 3 architecture layer by layer such that the complexity of data and logic is built, quite literally, from the ground up. Shown in Figure 4, Telcordia Network Engineer is built on the ESRI ArcGIS Server for location data correlation. There are tools available to network engineers, field personnel, and downstream operations groups for remote dynamic access to the data. Field personnel can correct drawings and note changes directly into the system rather than use paper or manual processes. The Network Engineer database is fully integrated with Telcordia Granite Inventory and fulfillment at Level 3, although Network Engineer can be integrated with non-Granite Inventory or fulfillment systems

Figure 4: Telcordia Network Engineer Architecture

Source: Telcordia

Prior to implementation, Level 3 recognized that some of the data being migrated to the new system would be inaccurate. Level 3 chose to migrate the data as-is and then support audit and clean-up once it was all in one inventory repository. Level 3 indicated that immediate process improvement was realized because underlying physical changes to the network are now fully correlated. Technicians no longer have to manually fill in gaps in the data or sort through changes, resulting in improved quality and reduced time to provision.

Database

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SchematicAssistantSchematicAssistant

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DesignAssistant

IntegrationAssistant

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WebServices

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ModelBuilderModel

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Wizard- and catalog-based modeling and configuration

View work prints and redline records

from the field

Automated information sharing across systems

Read-only view of projects for efficient decision-analysis

and work approval

Automated schematics

ESRI®ArcGISServer

ESRI®ArcGISServer

Automated design

Browser-based access


Cable & Wireless/Oracle Cable & Wireless serves 3000 business customers in 152 nations. Mike Waller, Principal Capacity and Optimization Consultant at Cable & Wireless, indicated that for most Tier 1 CSPs there is a large and continuous capital investment in core, aggregation, and access network infrastructure. Expenditures on physical plant and equipment must be continuously optimized and leveraged in order to remain competitive. As a result of the acquisition of Energis, Cable & Wireless was faced with systems from multiple OSS/BSS providers including Amdocs CRM, Amdocs (Cramer) inventory, Granite inventory, Ericsson, and Nortel. Network planners were forced to be reactive and create capacity quickly to meet utilization thresholds. The result was network inefficiencies and over-planning of capacity because there was no way to determine what was actually needed and where. In addition, with 800 network sites and 18,000 km of fiber, there was a need to optimize routing, equipment placement, and connectivity.

Requirements

• Consolidated and current network information – Network infrastructure data is stored in numerous locations and updated from many more. A single view across assets enables multiple users to use the same, consistent, current set of data.

• Threshold and rule management – The ability to define utilization thresholds for capacity planning and design. Also, the ability to define rules for routing, interconnection, and cost based on both network inventory and external systems including ERP.

• Scenario and disaster planning – The need to create scenarios for adding new customers and capacity, or to determine under-utilized routes or potential “hot spots”. The ability to develop disaster recovery plans to ensure that customers remain connected in the event of facility, equipment, or other failure.

Solution

Cable & Wireless implemented the Oracle Network Intelligence (ONI) product to federate disparate network data and keep it current as network changes are made or failures are discovered. In addition to federated network infrastructure growth/migration planning data, ONI enables integrated bid support, disaster planning, network optimization, and product planning. Figure 5, below, shows the modules in Oracle’s Network Intelligence solution. The solution is positioned between the OSS and BSS layers to federate data both into and out of the modules to ensure consistency and relevancy.


Figure 5: Oracle Network Intelligence Modules

Source: Oracle

Cable & Wireless has used ONI to identify $1.5 million in redundant or unnecessary circuits and most recently to optimize and win a competitive customer bid by eliminating $200,000 in overdesign costs. In daily operational use, Cable & Wireless has determined that its design costs have been reduced from $500,000 to $150,000 per design because network planners no longer have to perform manual reconciliation of network and asset data. The system is configured to ensure that the network runs at 85% utilization based on a six month build window for new capacity. ONI notifies engineers when additional capacity needs to be designed and enforces design rules to ensure that capacity is provided correctly.

Tier 1 Wireless CSP/Netformx This CSP has more than 4000 people in sales and sales support roles for its business and wholesale customers. To support its sales force the CSP is enabling rapid design of unique customer networks using a common process that relies on reusable components and accurate infrastructure information. Inevitably, customers make changes both during and after the sale and there is a need to accommodate those changes while providing accurate information for pricing and delivery schedules.

Requirements

• Logical design tool – To insulate the sales force from back end systems, a tool is needed that can be used when meeting with customers to rapidly plan and design a solution using real-time inputs and “what if?” scenarios.

OSS

Other Inventory systems & OSS data

UIM (and legacy)

OSS Connection Layer

BSS Connection Layer

BSS LayerFinancials, CRM,BRM and ERP

Service Demand

Forecasting and

Network Planning

ForecastManager

Service Demand

Forecasting and

Network Planning

ForecastManager

CoreVisualisation, Trending and Utilisations of Network Entities

Optimal Least Cost

CircuitRouting

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Circuit Routing Manager

Optimal Least Cost

CircuitRouting

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Circuit Routing Manager

Network Technology/

Traffic Migration Planning

MigrationManager

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Traffic Migration Planning

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MonitorManager

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with Email and

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MonitorManager

Network OutageService

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OutageManager

Network OutageService

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OutageManager

(Northbound)

(Southbound)


• On-demand network and CPE data – As the design progresses it is critical that solution engineers understand what network equipment is affected, what additions or changes need to made, and what CPE is required and/or affected. Having the make, model, revision, and technical information in addition to the current status and utilization of the equipment saves time spent searching through catalogs or trading calls with vendors.

• Integration with other organizations and OSS/BSS – As the sales force finalizes the logical design, the engineers working on the physical design must have access to the logical design data and customer information. Keeping that data current, incorporating changes, and notifying other work groups of changes keeps the design and delivery process on schedule.

Solution

The CSP is working with Netformx to implement a design tool that supports the service/product design lifecycle. By providing the sales force with views of what is in production on the network, in addition to what has been sold, the designs are more accurate. There are policies and rules that are enforced to ensure that the logical design created by sales is not rejected later due to incompatibilities. The solution also connects customer data with network data and makes it available to all the users in the process. Maintaining the current as-is view of the network and the customer, combined with changes, ensures compatibility throughout the design and delivery process. The CSP chose the SalesXpert and DesignCentral modules that are built upon the DesignXpert platform as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Netformx DesignXpert Platform

Source: Netformx

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The foundation of the Netformx solution is the public KnowledgeBase that includes make, model, specification details, and configuration rules for nearly 150,000 network and customer elements, and 1.9 million rules regarding how they are interconnected and configured. Among the vendors represented in the NetformxPublic KnowledgeBase are Cisco, Juniper, Nortel, Avaya, and Alcatel-Lucent. The Custom KnowledgeBase is configured to include CSP-specific design parameters, pricing, least cost routing rules, CPE, and other parameters that apply to the design process. The combination of the two knowledge bases ensures accuracy of the design and subsequent provisioning order, and can be used to generate work orders that include the bill-of-material and specific component and configuration details for the affected network elements.

The CSP expects to realize both time savings and improved accuracy in the design process as optimized using the Netformx solution. By simplifying the process and ensuring consistency of the data presented to other OSS/BSS, the CSP expects to design more accurate and effective customer solutions while reducing the level of effort required to deliver them.

Tier 1 Wireless CSP/Amdocs A Tier 1 wireless CSP in North America had a need to manage migration to a new IP/MPLS network infrastructure. The existing in-house system provided reporting functions for only legacy network configurations and, as a result, correlation of utilization data and determination of future capacity requirements was typically a highly manual process. The need to review multiple reports in order to find problems frequently resulted in costly “last minute” adjustments, fluctuating workloads for engineers and technicians, and compromised ability to support the addition of new products. The cost of enhancing the system to support IP/MPLS was also an issue.

Requirements

• End-to-end visibility – The ability to understand and view utilization and capacity requirements from multiple systems and data stores. Correlation of utilization, demand, and existing capacity data from multiple systems to create a consolidated view of both utilization and the rate at which capacity is being used must be readily available and regularly updated.

• Lower cost of ownership and updates – Last minute changes due to insufficient or inaccurate data are costly and require that an already extended workforce rapidly adjust, resulting in additional expense and delay. A system that allows network engineers to plan ahead for increased capacity utilization and network technology upgrades helps keep costs under control.

• Automated integration with ordering and supply chain systems – Manual ordering adds delays and the potential for errors. Whether constructed or leased, the need for new capacity should be identified and planned for in advance with orders automatically generated, wherever possible, based on design and schedule information. As capacity is added it must also be reflected in inventory and asset management systems.

Solution

The CSP chose a solution from Amdocs, deployed using a two-phased approach to deliver first, an integrated view of the network using Resource Manager, plus integrated capacity reporting using Planning Engine; and second, adding the advanced capacity forecasting and proactive thresholding


features of Trend Planner, part of the Amdocs Planning product suite, shown in Figure 7, that includes the following integrated applications:

Figure 7: Amdocs Capacity Planning Solution

Source: Amdocs

• Resource Planner automates the collection of network utilization data by enforcing capacity thresholds and build templates that manage the capacity delivery lifecycle.

• Site Planner extends the network resource inventory to include asset and facility infrastructure constraints such as space, power, and cooling.

• Planning Engine creates and maintains a time-lined repository of network capacity consumption based on consolidated capacity and utilization snapshots determined by Resource Planner and Site Planner.

• Trend Planner generates capacity usage projections based on the rate of utilization increase/decrease and dynamic thresholds that predict future network under- or over-utilization.

• Capacity Planning Packs are network-specific implementations of the toolset using the Aria Networks AI engine (OEM by Amdocs since 2008) to optimize the network design based on capacity, capability, and configuration to meet projected demand.

The Amdocs planning solution can be built on a Cramer Resource Manager implementation or integrated with third party inventories and systems by adding all or some of the individual modules

Strategic Capacity Management & Planning

Resource ManagementClient

Cramer Client Framework &

SSOPlanning Client

Planning Engine

Trend Planner Planning Packs

FutureTrends

Scenario Planning

His toric Tre nds

Resource Manager Site Planner

Space, Power, Cooling

As Built Network Resource Planner

Standard Builds

R outing, Topology &Analysis Algorithmse.g. for MPLS

CommittedP lans

Consolidation

Planning D ata ModelPMSystems

Cap. & Uti l.Snapshots

Cap. & Util .Snapshots

Capacity& UtilizationSnapshotsCap. & Uti l.Snapshots

Cap. & Util .Snapshots

Capacity& UtilizationSnapshots

ThresholdManagement

ThresholdBreaches

Resource ManagementCapacity ManagementResource Planning


described above. It is intended to enable a continuous capacity planning lifecycle and deliver just-in-time capacity to CSPs and partners.

British Telecom/VPI Systems As the British Telecom 21st Century Network (BT 21CN) deployment got underway, the company realized that the ad-hoc approach to network design, using spreadsheets and many engineering hours, was insufficient to plan and manage its new infrastructure. One of the biggest issues was that 21CN design requirements are continuously changing and rather than implement an annual or quarterly design process, BT needed a dynamic continuous design process. Beyond geographical representation of assets and logical design, BT wanted market demand modeling and forecasting to be included in the process to produce reliable and profitable designs with predictable costs.

Requirements

• Network design optimization – Support designs that rely on a variety of network topologies and infrastructure (including legacy) using rules and policies for interconnection, performance, and utilization. Designs include outside plant, in-building, and device configuration parameters.

• Economic analysis – Using scenarios and cost-based modeling to calculate network costs and generate forecasts based on customer predictions, traffic demands, and tariffs. Estimate revenues and offer alternative designs that optimize costs.

• Reduce operational costs – As the access network is rebuilt to deliver more and complex products, the design process becomes more difficult and time consuming. Beyond addressing multiple technology deployments and costs, the system must reduce the time spent on design by maintaining the data and automating the process.

Solution

BT selected the VPI Systems OnePlan solution to better understand both the technological and economic variables associated with the physical and logical network designs. The process begins with trend data and forecast data. While trend data is important, designs must include future aspects so that the impact on the network of new products can be understood. “What if…” analysis and disaster scenarios also contribute to design requirements for resiliency and disaster recovery. These can be done based on geographic location or specific customer needs. Each of the modules shown in Figure 8, below, includes the ability to perform techno-economic design analysis.


Figure 8: VPI System Modules

Source: VPI Systems

Techno-economic analysis includes project-based financial calculations such as potential revenues as a result of implementing this design, cost structure to deliver, cash-flows, and net present value. The scenario analysis presents a full geographic visualization of the business case, the ability to compare scenarios based on economic factors, and the data is exportable to Excel for further analysis.

The individual planning modules allow segment design engineers to focus on the portion of the network that is their responsibility, with the benefit of understanding the end-to-end view and rules that prevent configuration and interconnection problems. The logical design can be optimized to include quality of service parameters and priorities and those requirements can be extended to the transport network. Survivability design scenarios can be augmented with meteorological and disaster propensity data to help engineers understand which infrastructure and locations are most at risk in the event of simultaneous failures.

Swisscom/Aircom Managing an increase in the number of mobile subscribers and an increase in mobile data traffic, Swisscom needed to provide its radio access network (RAN) planners with tools that allowed them to quickly design new RF infrastructure while optimizing existing RF and backhaul network investments. Based on traffic and usage data, the planners are being asked to optimize regional designs that include multiple cell sites. These larger, interconnected designs require more detailed data input, filtering, and analysis. This in turn required planners to spend more time collecting and sorting data and resulted in overdesign in some areas and underdesign in others.

Requirements

• RAN design optimization – The RAN is a random utilization access point that is required to support any number of users and products at any given time and those users may or may not be customers. RAN designs must take into account multiple utilization scenarios based on existing traffic, performance, and customer figures as well as predicted figures.

ServerAuto

Discovery Automator DREDistribution

Legacy

Ethernet

SS7ATM

Switch

Access TransportIP/MPLS

ServerServerAuto

Discovery Automator DREDistribution

Legacy

EthernetEthernet

SS7ATM

Switch

AccessAccess TransportTransportIP/MPLSIP/MPLS


• Integration with physical and logical network inventory – The RAN design must interoperate seamlessly with the backhaul, aggregation, and core network designs. In order to align the network from cell site to the core, the design must be integrated with the physical and logical network inventory as well as fulfillment and assurance OSS.

• Leverage existing infrastructure – Capital costs and the time required to construct new cell sites are high. As customers are added and traffic and performance data trends become more apparent, the ability to adjust and augment existing sites is critical to reducing costs and making more capacity available quicker.

Solution

Swisscom selected the Asset Multi-Technology Radio Planning and the DataSafe configuration design management tools from Aircom. The full suite of tools is called Aircom Enterprise, shown in Figure 9, and provides RAN, backhaul, configuration, assurance, and integration tools. The flagship tool, Asset, is a pc-based RF planning tool that is built on an Oracle platform to maintain consistent and current RAN design data that can be shared and/or integrated with external OSS/BSS. Enhancements to the Asset tool extend the platform to support backhaul and core network planning, OSS/BSS integration to aggregate data inputs to the planning process, evaluate performance and usage data against network designs, and expose the results of the planning process to other CSP business functions.

Figure 9: Aircom Network Engineering Suite

Source: Aircom

The DataSafe product provides the integration point with other inventory systems and data stores. DataSafe maintains the design and configuration data created and used by Asset and ensures that the inputs to the design process are automatically aggregated, correlated, and formatted for use by the system. That relieves the network planners from having to manually collect and correlate design


input data from multiple sources in multiple formats before they can even start planning the network. Asset, combined with DataSafe, supplies critical automation of cell planning and frequency planning that enables network engineers to optimize existing infrastructure while determining where new facilities are needed.

Swisscom reports that existing cell sites have been optimized to handle 8% more traffic and generate 8% more revenue without additional investment in infrastructure. Additional savings have been realized in the number of planners required to continuously maintain and update RAN designs. The amount of time to complete new or optimized designs has been reduced and the accuracy of completed designs has improved.

In this new era of global austerity, CSPs are anxious to leverage existing investments in costly network infrastructure. The legacy model of continuously adding additional capacity is no longer valid, since new infrastructure can not be directly correlated with new customers and new revenue as it was in the past. Mobile CSPs, especially in Europe and Asia/Pacific, are struggling to deliver data products that generate double, triple and more traffic without spending on extensive construction projects to increase capacity. The revenue generated by mobile data products is higher than voice and messaging, however that revenue is insufficient to justify massive capital expenditures. The key lies in optimizing existing architectures and better utilizing existing infrastructure. Results of these efforts include increased traffic handling and the identification of new service levels based on utilization, time-of-day, and quality guarantees.


Nancee Ruzicka

Sr. Research Analyst – OSS/BSS Global Competitive Strategies Stratecast (a Division of Frost & Sullivan) [email protected]

Stratecast The Last Word

Digging down into the design of the physical and logical network infrastructure is always a challenge. Each CSP has its own approach and obstacles to “getting it right.” There are numerous tools and a multitude of data sources that are required to be correlated even before the design process can begin. When network planning and engineering was an annual event and the goal of network planning was to expand the capacity of the network, manual efforts worked. However, manual efforts are no longer sufficient to embrace the kind of dynamic network planning and optimization that CSPs need to cost-effectively deliver next generation communication services and products.

Network planning and engineering is no longer just about “speeds and feeds”. The plumbing that makes up today’s CSP networks is intelligent and has to be constructed and configured in such a manner that it can dynamically adjust to changes in usage, bandwidth requirements, applications, and customers. As basic offerings become commoditized and bandwidth becomes inexpensive, construction remains costly. CSPs are looking for ways to optimize existing infrastructure and design “just-in-time” capacity. That means reducing the time it takes to plan new segments or cell sites by reducing the time it takes to collect and correlate information and increasing automation.

Critical information includes more metrics from beyond the physical network to include logical designs, product/service data, and even customer data. Market forecasts are notoriously poor, but if the network planners can provide marketing with accurate and current design data, the process can become iterative and more complete. Designs can move from planning to delivery faster, with fewer errors and rework, if there is a way to manage the data and control the changes.

Like so many other OSS/BSS functions, network planning and engineering can no longer exist in a vacuum. This is a primary operating process for CSPs that is responsible for billions in annual capital expenditures and, if optimized, can greatly contribute to the profitability of new products. There are too many data sources and too much value to be derived from collecting data from multiple sources and using it to optimize designs. Likewise, making both the designs and correlated supporting data available to operations functions, such as sales or provisioning, reduces time and improves accuracy. Procurement and accounting benefit when the planning solution can deliver a bill-of-materials or is integrated with ERP and asset management systems.

As the transformation of CSP operations continues, there will be more opportunities to benefit from the integration and optimization of planning and engineering functions. Over-engineering of facilities is a solution that has become too expensive and time consuming for CSPs to continue. The quality of the network must be ensured by careful designs that make the network work faster, cheaper, and more efficiently.

About Stratecast

Stratecast assists clients in achieving their strategic and growth objectives by providing critical, objective and accurate strategic insight on the global communications industry. As a division of Frost & Sullivan, Stratecast’s strategic consulting and analysis services complement Frost & Sullivan's Market Engineering and Growth Partnership services. Stratecast's product line includes subscription-based recurring analysis programs focused on Business Communication Services (BCS), Consumer Communication Services (CCS), Communications Infrastructure and Convergence (CIC), OSS and BSS Global Competitive Strategies (OSSCS), and our weekly opinion editorial, Stratecast Perspectives and Insight for Executives (SPIE). Stratecast also produces research modules focused on a single research theme or technology area such as IMS and Service Delivery Platforms (IMS&SDP), Managed and Professional Services (M&PS), Mobility and Wireless (M&W), Multi-Channel Video Programming Distribution (MVPD), and Secure Networking (SN). Custom consulting engagements are available. Contact your Stratecast Account Executive for advice on the best collection of services for your growth needs.

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