Optimizing the value of your subscriber dataWhite paper

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Abstract: The expectations of today’s mobile subscriber are driving market trends. Subscribers’ desire for personalized and converged applications and services on any device, with high quality of experience, is changing the way mobile network operators (MNOs) and their subscribers interact.

Whereas, in the past, MNOs attempted to anticipate subscriber interests and needs, now subscribers are directing MNOs on the types of services they want and how they want them delivered. New networks (for example 3G, 4G, and IMS) required for the delivery of these services and applications must co-exist with legacy services causing data complexity to grow exponentially. To provide these services, MNOs must manage a growing amount of data for each subscriber, driving up cost per subscriber and reducing profitability.

Effective management of the subscriber profile in today’s convergent environment has become a key success factor and differentiator for MNOs. Yet MNOs are often prevented from using subscriber data to its full and

useful potential. Cordoned off in inaccessible database silos, the lack of centralized access to or central location of subscriber data increases provisioning and update costs and complexities, which slows the deployment of new personalized services to subscribers. Centralized data access and location can help to simplify provisioning and make adding new services easier and less costly.

MNOs hold a distinct, but by no means permanent, advantage in their ownership of organized and maintained subscriber databases. With the right subscriber management tools, MNOs can manage, enrich, and capitalize on these core assets of subscriber information to better serve their customers’ needs for blended offerings and higher quality of service (QoS), as well as create new value for their business in the long run.

Future outlook for mobile network operatorsToday’s mobile network operators are faced with an ever-changing and evolving landscape that is characterized by converged applications and activities, social networking, targeted broadband product offerings, and technological advancements in device handsets and mobile data services. To keep up with market demands and succeed in the future, mobile network operators must leverage their key corporate asset, subscriber data, to achieve their business goals.

Industry analysts concur. A Light Reading article on managing subscriber data suggests that MNOs need to take a broader view of subscriber profile information. “Network operators need to combine information sitting in the data warehouse behind their operations and business support systems (OSS/BSS) with information generated dynamically in the network. Next-generation subscriber management solutions must match next-generation service goals, including the ability of subscribers to hop between fixed and mobile networks; move from being a business to a personal user on the same device; and transfer services between terminals. The subscriber- and service-aware network is the key to (generating future) revenue.”

Another article also stressed that subscriber data management in the future will be about more than just replacing aging (data) silos, but an opportunity to capture the personalized content information of the subscriber, including contextual data such as location and presence. This data can be dynamically segregated into separate personas, and then used to target personalized services to customers.

Mobile network operator business goalsThe key business goals of MNOs include:

•Fosteringcustomersatisfactionandretentionthroughimproved service offerings and higher QoS

•Containingoperatingandcapitalcostsastheyrelateto subscriber data management and the development and deployment of personalized service offerings

•Creatingnewrevenuestreamsthroughthedeliveryofpersonalized services and third-party involvement

The attainment of these business goals relies on effective access and analysis of the subscriber data currently residing in their networks. Let’s examine each of these goals in a little more detail.

Subscriber satisfaction and retentionSubscribers want services that go beyond traditional mobile network operator offerings of dial-tone, video, and messaging, and expect more reliable and responsive service.

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While MNOs are faced with growing competition from Internet players and social networking sites such as Google and Facebook, MNOs have a significant competitive advantage over other market players. MNOs own and operate an organized and maintained set of subscriber databases that contain information that allows them to offer a degree of personalized services that other providers (such as ISPs) can’t match. If MNOs possess the right tools to access, manage, and analyze the subscriber data in their networks, they can use subscriber service needs, preferences, and usage pattern information to provide subscribers relevant products and promotions as well as improved service levels.

By harnessing this subscriber knowledge and using it to develop a deeper relationship with their subscribers, MNOs stand to benefit from improved customer satisfaction and retention and competitive positioning against other market players.

Containing costs In today’s networks there are many applications accessing and updating data across multiple databases and network infrastructures. As subscriber data complexities grow, MNOs are looking to manage subscriber data in a more efficient and cost-effective way.

Adopting a centralized view of subscriber data —possibly even including the creation of a single unified database for all applications operating across converged, fixed, and mobile networks—will reduce operating and capital costs through simplified subscriber data management operations. This centralized view will simplify provisioning for ordinary network operations as well as reduce the maintenance costs of updating and maintaining multiple disparate databases. A centralized approach will also improve efficiencies in current service delivery and allow MNOs to better organize and use the information they need to offer personalized services to subscribers. The ability to limit the number of queries a new service has to execute to fetch static and dynamic subscriber data to one single query—compared to a meshed point-to-point approach—is more cost effective, reduces time to market, and eliminates unnecessary revenue leakage or operational deficiencies.

Creating new revenue streamsMNOs today feel pressure to create and enable new services that meet their customers’ expectations, which go beyond basic connectivity. This has resulted in a shift to a more product-driven, personalized services approach. While MNOs already possess valuable information in their networks about their subscribers, such as presence, location, status, and spending habits, they need a more efficient way of accessing and analyzing this information in order to deliver the personalized services that subscribers want.

By opening subscriber data to other business units such as marketing and third-party development organizations, mobile network operators can offer subscribers more targeted product offerings and services. New revenue can be generated from value-added third-party or MNO-grown services or premium service packages; more organized billing notifications; a greater ease of sign-up; and targeted advertising campaigns. By leveraging the subscriber data in their networks, MNOs can develop and generate revenue by charging subscribers for these products and services, compared to subscribers receiving similar, but not personalized services, from other providers.

MNOs have an opportunity now to benefit from a deeper subscriber relationship that will enable them to develop and deliver personalized services that meet subscriber needs, resulting in greater subscriber loyalty and increased profitability.

Mobile network operator challengesMNOs today hold within their networks a key asset, subscriber data, which has tremendous potential for their business. Many MNO networks, however, are not taking full advantage of this asset and the opportunity to offer relevant and reliable services to their subscribers. This is caused by the MNOs’ lack of a centralized view of subscriber data in their networks and the inability to collate and use subscriber preference and usage pattern information to inform their marketing activities. MNOs face the following challenges to achieving their business goals:

•Growingsubscriberdissatisfactionandcompetition

•Subscriberdatamanagementandorganizationalcomplexities

•Architecturallimitations

•Cost-containmentchallenges

Growing subscriber dissatisfaction and competitionMNOs are in the midst of a subscriber revolution. Subscribers often cite poor service from their mobile network operator due to the time-consuming process of changing their preferences, the need to input the same information over and over again when subscribing to a new service, and a lack of relevant service offerings. With subscriber growth waning in mobile networks, mobile network operators need to reduce subscriber turnover and increase average revenue per user (ARPU) by improving subscriber satisfaction with current services that provide improved quality of service, new and easy-to-use features, and new targeted offerings that meet their personalized services expectations.

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In today’s market, subscriber retention is critical for business and acutely affected by rising competition from Internet-based companies such as eBay, Facebook, and Google, who are collecting information on the same customers as mobile network operators, and striving to gain control of the customer relationship. Whereas, in the past, subscribers turned to their MNO to meet all their electronic communications needs, today subscribers can choose between a variety of ISPs and mobile network operators for the delivery of voice, video, IM, and other services. MNOs that can differentiate themselves through better and more personalized services will improve retention and increase revenues.

Subscriber data management and organizational complexitiesSubscribers today have many different identities and roles (work, family, social network member, etc.). Increasingly, much of the subscriber’s own current persona data is being created and maintained outside his/her visibility and control. The data associated with these identities is stored and managed in a fragmented and segregated way in multiple application databases and network infrastructures with limited visibility and control for the user. Historically, MNOs have responded to these challenges by investing in network equipment and infrastructure both at the core and access level (2G, GPRS, 3G, HSDPA, and IMS but also VoIP and fixed broadband for convergent operators). In today’s environment, the inability of network operators to incrementally access and act on subscriber data in an efficient and effective way means increased operational costs and limits to market development.

Furthermore, customer expectations for services that bind multiple enablers together to produce new services, such as combining presence, location, group lists, and voice to create a rich voice and IM conferencing capability, have led to a growing demand for rich applications to be launched. These applications, each with its own embedded database, have both traditional and nontraditional data sources (e.g. online social networking sites). This results in increasing use of subscriber data within a single network, duplicated subscriber databases, larger subscriber profiles, and data complexity issues maintaining this data for multiple services.

According to Reed’s law, the use of large networks, particularly social networks, can scale exponentially with the size of the network. As networks are expected to evolve to 3G technology and beyond, and as new IP-based applications continue to enter the market, data complexities will grow exponentially as new services and legacy services co-exist for many years. This will translate into an exponential increase in the amount of data that needs to be provisioned for each subscriber. To cope with this growth, MNOs need to invest in a subscriber data management system that can handle the increased operational load and meet their business needs.

Organizationally, MNOs also face the challenge of knitting together different systems and approaches and many different categories of systems information. Today MNOs don’t have the tools required to bring together their IT and network assets. This requires a big leap for a service provider, going from tracking the subscriber phone number to managing a full social networking, status, location, and preferences profile for their subscribers.

Architectural limitationsMobile networks today possess a wide range of subscriber database architectures. Over time, as MNOs have added vertically oriented services, the result has often been a collection of multiple, disparate customer databases, containing duplicated information, with each database maintaining only the components of the overall customer profile needed to provide the respective service. Figure 1 illustrates how multiple vertical service silos contribute to a fragmented and inconsistent approach to subscriber data management. This architectural framework creates challenges in managing existing services and deploying new ones, and ultimately the ability to remain competitive and capitalize on new revenue opportunities. Subscriber data therefore resides in multiple databases tied to these specific network elements and service applications. Interfaces that are developed to provide coordination or communication between them are brittle and must be expensively reworked as any database model changes. This complex network is not only difficult to maintain and update, it is also a challenging environment in which to deploy new services. New service introductions can exacerbate data complexity, as this new data must synchronize with existing subscriber data. The net results are high costs and delays in the deployment of new applications.

Cost-containment challengesThe difficulty in containing costs for mobile network operators is evident in two areas. First, the cost to perform routine provisioning actions is increasing due to subscriber behaviors such as churning in and out of the network, and subscribers owning multiple SIM cards or multiple mobile subscriber integrated services digital network numbers (MSISDNs). While both churn and multi-numbering can positively impact subscriber-based revenues, this movement drives up operating costs due to the great expense of changing subscriber data across all of the data silos where subscriber data resides. With a subscriber data management solution, subscriber changes and updates are sent only once from a single client compared to many times by multiple clients to multiple databases. Second, data housed in independent domains creates unnecessary revenue leakage.

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As new applications are provided, each comes with new and different data structures for normal operations (provisioning, billing, rating, management). Each new iteration increases the management load, making it more and more unwieldy.

As the size of the networks grows, the value of the user profile within the network also grows because of the amount of user data in that network and the interconnections between the data. While this is true, today’s mobile network operators need to take advantage of the growing amount of subscriber data residing in their networks. MNO investments in network infrastructure and traditional integration services will not solve the problems of operating in today’s environment of rising costs and competition. MNOs need a subscriber data management system and architecture that meet cost challenges and can handle unpredictable market growth.

The HP solutionMNO subscribers are asking for an enriched experience over what is available today, one that is fun, reasonably priced, and tailored to their needs. The HP Unified Profile solution based on the HP OpenCall Profile Manager and HP Virtual Identity and Profile (VIP) Broker is a comprehensive subscriber data management solution that enables MNOs to realize the potential of their subscriber data assets by managing subscriber data more efficiently, controlling costs, and generating new revenue opportunities through personalized

subscriber services. Its increased subscriber data management efficiency and operating cost reductions greatly ease new service introduction efforts by shortening time to market and ultimately increasing MNO profitability. The HP solution is built on these main features: a unified user profile; data management through consolidation, replication, and federation; HP Communications & Media Solutions Support and Services; and flexible implementation.

Unified user profileThe heart of the HP solution lies in the creation of a unified subscriber data profile—the unified user profile—that has a central view of the subscriber data residing in disparate databases across multiple networks and applications. Subscriber data generated from applications in real time can be federated with data from legacy applications into a unified and consolidated view. The creation of such a view enables the building of data-less applications and leverages existing subscriber data to reduce the cost of experimentation and support quick time to market. The end result to the subscriber is a more personal experience at lower total cost of ownership for the MNO, which enhances the MNO position against the new, nontraditional competitors.

Figure 1. Isolated databases create the silo effect.

Data consolidation, replication, and federationThe location of data throughout the network and the data usage requirements demand that different data from different applications requires different treatment or handling. HP offers a flexible approach to data management as the MNO is not limited to one but can implement a solution that includes consolidated data, replicated data, and federated data. This approach allows our offering to unify the entire MNO view of a subscriber across organizational boundaries and extend that unified profile view beyond the traditional mobile network.

Figure 2 illustrates the HP subscriber data management solution, which uses a consolidated and federated data store with a centralized, single point of data access. The advantage of centralizing data access means that applications/features can be introduced into the network without complicated provisioning integration, and feature development and data integration are simplified.

Data consolidation centralizes subscriber data management activities and reduces operating costs for performing basic provisioning tasks such as upgrades, and the maintenance and troubleshooting costs of maintaining multiple subscriber databases.

Data replication updates user data in both the consolidated and legacy databases allowing MNOs to bring real-time read and write capabilities to data residing in a legacy database.

Data federation gives MNOs access to real-time and static subscriber data residing in network and application databases, enabling them to create a comprehensive subscriber profile and identity. Using this enhanced subscriber profile, MNOs can develop and deliver the relevant and personalized services through

third parties, and through their own innovation, that today’s subscribers seek.

Delivery servicesHP believes every MNO network is unique and collaboration is elemental in building and supporting solutions that work for individual networks. HP service professionals are experts in evaluating network issues, designing a plan, integrating applications, and building access to data across multiple technology environments —with a proven, consultative approach. This expertise enables them to address the challenges that are specific for the environment and weighted based on business priorities. The results of the collaboration between the MNO and HP include a data management strategy that best aligns the data management needs of the MNO—tearing down the architectural walls that limit the view of a subscriber in a network today—and provides a strategy for incorporating new data as new services are introduced into the network environment.

Flexible implementation with industry-knowledgeable supportData management done correctly is a process that is implemented gradually as needs are separated from wants and business priorities trump both. The HP data management architecture, access methods, and data storage are designed for maximum flexibility to allow for incremental investment. The design and implementation plans focus on which objectives have the most impact from a cost-containment and revenue-generation perspective. Once implemented, the HP Unified Profile can evolve to address new business challenges or priorities. This flexible implementation is backed by support from HP industry-knowledgeable support technicians available 24x7 as well as premium support offerings that include support staff in region or onsite.

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Figure 2. HP Unified Profile solution

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Key unified user profile elementsWhen HP VIP Broker is combined with HP OpenCall Profile Manager, the HP Unified Profile solution key elements include:

•Thebrokerageofstaticanddynamicinformationfrommultiple disparate back-end data sources as a central virtual profile, a “use in place” approach to subscriber data. Data location, schema, access protocol, and primary identity keys are abstracted from applications.

•Asecure,singlehigh-speedweb-services-based(XML)application interface to retrieve a customer profile assembled dynamically from multiple disparate data sources.

•Real-timeprofilecaching,withtheabilitytocentrallywrite or provision create, update, and delete (CUD) profile data via a common service bus into a central common cache. These changes can also be propagated to other external data sources.

•AnExtensibleMarkupLanguage(XML)-basedenterprise service bus architecture, capable of supportingcreate,read,update,anddeleteviaXMLto a central store. Direct CUD transactions via Java™ Database Connectivity (JDBC) from the original sources (authoritative masters) of data are also available.

•Additionalspecializeddataaccessanddistributioninterfaces, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) (read), and publish/subscribe (Pub/Sub) change notifications.

•Theabilitytosupportphysicalmasterdatamanagement initiatives such as consolidation migration and single-source provisioning of disparate data sources into or via a central data store, as desired.

Solution benefitsAdopting the HP Unified Profile solution affords MNOs wide-ranging benefits, all of which are designed to help MNOs meet their operational and business goals. The flexibility of the HP Unified Profile solution is crucial, as it offers MNOs options to:

•Retainexistingdatabasesandaccessneededdatathrough dynamic federation, including data outside the MNO’s network

•Consolidatedataonanewdatabase

•Migrateexistingdatabasestoacentralstore while maintaining the integrity of current application interfaces

•Centrallycache,synchronize,orreplicatedatafromexisting databases

•Adoptacombinationofallofthesestrategies

This flexibility enables the MNO to avoid the high cost of moving non-critical or non-revenue-generating data and gives MNOs the opportunity to make investment decisions that align with an overall corporate strategy.

Enhancing data management and operational efficienciesData management and operational efficiencies are enhanced by the HP Unified Profile solution via:

•Built-indataintegritysystemstoprovidethatdataupdates are made consistently and safely with proper access and authentication controls

•Ameta-toolthathandlesmultipleversionsofthedatamodel and updates the data model with new columns and attributes

•Atransparentreplicationfacilityforalldataunderits management regardless of platform or database technology to enable high availability

•Geographicredundancythroughdatasynchronizationand replication for all consolidated or federated databases under the HP Unified Profile solution’s control

•Supportforstandardinterfacesanddevelopmentframeworks that facilitate communication between different database types and network infrastructures. Interfaces include JDBC, LDAP, etc. that support multiple database types and platforms (NonStop Enscribe, PostGress, Linux TimesTen, and more) as well as a set of development frameworks, or application programming interfaces (APIs), greatly reducing compatibility issues and enhancing operational efficiencies.

Containing costsThe HP Unified Profile solution reduces costs and simplifies provisioning via:

•Acentralizedprovisioningsystemthatsimultaneouslypropagates changes through existing application programs and provides notification of changes to designated datasets

•Asimultaneousfederationandconsolidationdataarchitecture that allows multiple database technologies to co-exist and work together

•Theabilitytosendtargetednotificationsandinformsubscribing services that unified user profile managed data has changed thus eliminating the need to provision all instances of affected subscriber data several times

•Alogicallycentralizeddatarepositoryanddatamodel that provides a unified view of subscriber data in a coherent and accessible data model

Creating new revenue streamsHelping MNOs create new revenue streams is supported in the HP Unified Profile solution approach via:

•Anetwork-andapplication-independentsubscriberdata profile unit that promotes new product and service innovation in spite of changing environments and complexities

•Aflexibleandtailoredsubscriberdatamanagementthat adjusts to MNO’s needs

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MNOs may choose between federating or replicating subscriber data to a central view or fully migrating data in a consolidation move. Either choice enables MNOs’ central access to existing and real-time data stores, and opens up the subscriber data in their networks to existing or third-party applications in the environment, helping them meet subscriber demands for a wider range of personalized services.

And to speed the development and deployment of new network elements and applications (and also to support the migration of legacy systems, if desired), the unified user profile data architecture provides built-in provisioning, data replication, and data modeling meta-tools.

HP Unified Profile solutions use casesThe advantages of the HP solution are most effectively illustrated when shown in use cases. The following cases demonstrate how the HP solution will help mobile network operators to:

•Managetheirdataassetsmoreeffectivelythroughsimplified provisioning processes

•Enrichtheircustomer’sexperience,throughdatafederation and notification technology, and the ability to self-define/change user preferences when service expectations are not met

•Capitalizeonnewbusinessopportunitieswiththird-party providers, providing turnkey personalized services and applications to end users

Manage: simplified provisioning caseProblem: A voice subscriber who wants to add an interesting data service to his existing set of services would normally first call the mobile network operator’s customer service representative (CSR). To help the subscriber provision this new service, the CSR would navigate through multiple interfaces to enable the new service for the subscriber. This process is both lengthy and costly for the mobile network operator, and inconvenient and frustrating for the customer.

SolutionThe HP Unified Profile solution can help simplify carrying out this new service provisioning task quickly and efficiently. Rather than complete a series of manual, independent actions for each application, HP Unified Profile enables the CSR to launch a single business provisioning request that will automatically be directed to the multiple database stores needed to complete the required provisioning actions. Figure 3 illustrates how many provisioning steps can be combined into one using the HP solution.

Using a single provisioning update command leveraged for multiple applications reduces the per-subscriber provisioning costs by streamlining the provisioning work of the CSR, while also helping to ensure a consistent and predictable set of provisioning actions. The HP Unified Profile solution can also support customer self-provisioning actions to further enhance usefulness and help reduce subscriber provisioning costs. As customers become more involved in selecting their own services, a way to coherently capture these multi-database actions will be possible through use of a unified user profile.

Figure 3. Simplified provisioning use case

1. Provision HLR to enable subscriber data capabilities

2. GPRS HLR provisioning to data-enable subscriber

3. Provision AAA to enable the service

4. Provision the service for the subscriber

5. Provision the business system to ensure subscriber is charged for service, data plan, and minutes used

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HP provisioning architectureThe architecture of the HP Unified Profile solution is flexible and includes a selection of provisioning interfaces to facilitate the new streamlined service subscription process. HP supports and can adapt to multiple provisioning interfaces including LDAP, SOAP/XML,andCORBA-based.TheHPprovisioningarchitecture—highlighting the HP OpenCall Profile Manager—is illustrated in Figure 4.

Central provisioning unitIn order to reach multiple databases using a single command, MNOs can use a central provisioning unit that communicates requests via an established enterprise servicebus(ESB),andusestheSOAP/XMLprotocolforprovisioning, as depicted in Figure 5.

While today the provisioning unit sends integrated single provisioning requests to update profile information in multiple HLR/HSS/AAA data stores, in the future, new or existing interfaces will be initialized or migrated to the HP OpenCall Profile Manager solution for support within the integrated provisioning interface. Ultimately, the resulting ESB provisioning requests will reach the HP OpenCall Profile Manager federated data in the HLR, AAA, and/or HSS databases. Additional service or profile data in a more expanded network example can also be provisioned through this central provisioning interface, as depicted in figure 6, which illustrates how asingleSOAP/XMLprovisioningrequestcanupdatemultiple databases.

1. ASOAP/XMLprovisioningrequestisreceivedacross an ESB. This request could originate from either an OSS/BSS system, a web services client, or a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) application.

2. HP Virtual Identity and Profile Broker (HP VIP Broker) translatestheSOAP/XMLrequestintoanHPOpenCall Profile Manager API.

3. HP OpenCall Profile Manager consults its dataset configuration (stored in the HP OpenCall Profile Manager meta definitions) and applies the provisioning request to the appropriate dataset(s).

4. Some data (i.e., HP OpenCall HSS data) can be hosted locally or consolidated into the HP OpenCall Profile Manager locally managed data store.

5. If the data is hosted in the HP OpenCall HLR, HP OpenCall HSS, or AAA, the HP OpenCall Profile Manager applies the request to its respective HLR, HSS, or AAA OC HLR database.

6. Although not shown in the diagram, if an update attempt fails, the HP OpenCall Profile Manager will provide that the request is rolled back, undoing the request’s updates and sending a failure response to the requester.

7. When the HP OpenCall Profile Manager successfully finishes processing the request, the HP OpenCall Profile Manager builds and sends a response to the HP VIP Broker.

8. HPVIPBrokercreatestheSOAP/XMLresponsebased on the response from HP OpenCall Profile Manager and sends it to the requester to complete the request.

Figure 4. HP provisioning architecture

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Benefits For the mobile network operator•Reachmultipledatatableswithasingle,safe

provisioning operation to simplify the job of customer care, reduce network loading, and help ensure data is kept consistent through the update process.

•Reduceoperatingcostsbyspendinglesstimeimplementing provisioning changes for individual customers, and reduce the demand for customer care with the introduction of customer self-provisioning.

•Saveonnewservicerolloutsthatcantakeadvantageof the HP central provisioning interface and the ability to market subscriber data in a controlled fashion.

•Accessintegratedandcomprehensivecustomerdatafor customer care purposes to increase service satisfaction and streamlined provisioning operations.

•Retrievecross-servicesdataandupdatestoincreaseprovisioning accuracy and reduce costly errors.

For the end customer•Moreresponsivecustomercareexperiencewithless

time on the phone waiting for service changes to be provisioned

•Fewercallstocustomercarewithself-provisioningsupport

EnrichThe HP Unified Profile solution is positioned to help content and service enablers achieve quick time to market and develop rich, integrated, personalized customer applications. The following use case is provided to illustrate how MNOs could enrich customer experiences using the HP solution.

Enrich: data-less application creation case (example of how it works)The data-less application creation use case is an example of how a solution can be created building from the 360 degree view of the subscriber that the unified user profile data provides. It illustrates how quickly a new service can be created by focusing on the building of the application layer while leveraging the data available in the integrated profile that results from the unified profile view and leveraging the current provisioning environment. It further demonstrates how easily applications can be modified to use data from other applications as they are incorporated into the HP Unified Profile solution.

In this scenario, the engineering team within the mobile network operator is creating a Safe Zone application—which leverages location data from a variety of elements within the mobile network, as well as presence information to send notifications to the parent based on the physical location of a child’s handset. This application would also allow a parent to virtually monitor the location of his or her child and elect when to receive automatic notifications as well as query the child’s location at any given time. This case shows how a responsive network core can more quickly and easily implement changes to more aggressively compete in the market.

Figure 5. Central provisioning unit

SOAP/XML IP Abstracted view of the HP OpenCall Profile Manager data model presented to northbound clients

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ScenarioThe following event flow illustrates how the data-less application can be conceived, created, and quickly implemented into a network. It also shows how the applications can add value to the end subscriber. In this example, it is assumed that the mobile network operator has a unified user profile that includes the HP OpenCall Home Location Register and HP Unified Profile solution:

1. Determine and design the application that is going to be created.

Engineers must create a new application in order to remain competitive in the market and have a tight deadline. They choose to create an application that provides notification based on the handset location and subscriber-defined presence preferences called the Safe Zone application.

2. Identify which data elements are needed in the application.

Based on the functional feature capabilities, engineers determine which data elements that are currently defined in the unified user profile can be leveraged by the Safe Zone application today.

3. Create new data values as needed and incorporate them into the data model.

Any new data values can be incorporated into the current data model so that they can be leveraged by new applications—or even trigger an action from an existing application.

4. Write the application with data reads and writes referencing the unified user profile.

The application is written considering multiple scenarios across technologies such as Safe Zone, which will use cross-technology information from the unified user profile view of the 2G, 3G, and 4G world.

5. Create the provisioning interfaces leveraging the existing provisioning infrastructure.

Because there is a defined data model and predefined data structure, the engineering team only needs to create new screens in order to provision the new application.

6. Leverage Safe Zone data in new follow-on applications.

Services can leverage Safe Zone information with data aggregation software provided in the unified user profile’s HP Virtual Identity and Profile Broker application that federates a view of the unified user profile data to external access entities.

Solution (value of what it brings)The HP Unified Profile solution allows application developers to quickly develop access to the valuable network data that it manages (HLR, HSS, PDE, etc.). Additionally, the HP Unified Profile provides the new application with mechanisms to add new data to the solution data model and immediately be able to provision that new data. Data managed by the HP Unified Profile also enjoys a built-in replication mechanism so that the Safe Zone application will never be brought down by back-end database failure.

The HP Unified Profile is flexible in how it can work with a new application—allowing it to either consolidate all of its data in the unified user profile or allowing it to maintain a hybrid solution in which some data is shared with and maintained by the unified user profile and some data is kept local to the application. The HP Unified Profile can also provide a fully replicated system where the data is mastered by the application and a near-real-time copy of the application data is kept in the unified user profile central data view.

These three approaches allow an application builder to flexibly implement his data design according to the unique combination of requirements levied by the application in a customer’s specific core network.

Figure 6.Withthecentralprovisioninginterface,asingleSOAP/XMLprovisioningrequest can update multiple databases.

1. SOAP/XML request

OSS/BSS Web service SDP Service OC AAAOC HSSOC HLROC PMHP VIP BrokerESB

8. SOAP/XML response

2. Data request

7. Data response

4. If data is local, process locally.

5. If data hosted on HSS, process against HSS data.

6. If update fails, OC PM provides that request is rolled back.

5. If data hosted on HLR, process against HLR data.

5. If data hosted on AAA, process against AAA data.

3.

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The ability of HP Unified Profile to provide a centralized view of subscriber data in multiple core databases (HLR, HSS, and AAA) represents a significant advance in opening up the core network subscriber data silos. At the same time, the HP Unified Profile solution offers toolkits and documentation to allow a new application to consolidate its data with the unified user profile core data. This allows for centralized provisioning to all of these key databases and provides an environment in which data safety is assured and maintained with centralized tools and software components. This simplifies the creation of data-less applications such as the Safe Zone application described in the example.

Data-less application architectureFigure 7 illustrates the architectural elements that participate and support creation of data-less applications with the HP Unified Profile solution.

1. During the design stage, an application’s data requirements are defined to support the needs of the application. The HP Unified Profile solution provides data modeling creation, reporting, and update tools that allow an application developer to easily map the application’s data requirements to those already existent in the HP Unified Profile data model. This allows for rapid access to existing data enabling the developer to concentrate on the unique and new data the application requires.

Being able to leverage existing data in the network reduces the effort of implementing a provisioning interface since the existing data has a working interface already. Additionally, any data columns added to the HP Unified Profile data model can easily be accommodated by that existing provisioning interface.

Another work reduction factor is that when an application uses the HP Unified Profile for its database, it automatically gains the built-in capabilities the unified user profile data enjoys such as data replication and failover, and data update notification capabilities.

2. If an application must incorporate a specific database type that is not currently operating in the HP Unified Profile solution, that new database can easily be added into the operational schema. For instance, if a prototype application was working off the shelf with MySQL, that database could easily be added to the unified user profile by taking advantage of the HP Unified Profile solution’s data layer abstractions that allow for disparate database technologies to heterogeneously exist in the same core. Essentially, an object can be created that chains the HP Unified Profile data tasks to the specific calls used by the MySQL database. The data management layer then employs these abstraction techniques to maintain a single look and feel between data elements.

3. As more applications are added to the network, the HP Unified Profile solution offers multiple choices to access data. Access to the unified user profile is facilitated by several different interfaces that allow read and write capability into the core. The HP Unified Profile solution’s data management layer provides multiple access points into its unified or federated data scheme.

Figure 7. Distributed data model

Consolidate data from new applications.

Replicate legacy data.

Federate data from independent databases.

Choose data access option.

Provision all applications with one interface.

Data accessoptions

Datamanagementlayer

Databaseoptions

HP OpenCall Profile ManagerHP VIP Broker

Data modelMaps central view to the real data below

OA&MStatistics, tracing, and licensing

ADRData copied to mated system for disaster protection

Data accessRules to map requests to the right database

Centralized provisioning rulesRouting and rules checks for provisioning

Real-time query and data aggregation

Enscribe TimesTen Other Independent databases

C++ CORBA JDBC LDAP SOAP

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The data management layer also includes active intelligent agent technology providing data-initiated notifications. This approach mitigates hot-polling by providing a publish/subscribe mechanism between requesters and actors. An application may interface with the HP Unified Profile solution by requesting notification of key data changes and receiving asynchronous notifications of those data changes.

4. The data management abilities of the HP Unified Profile solution additionally provide several other general benefits in the safe management of your subscriber data. The first of these is rules-based processing to correlate data access with specific (and configurable) rules to provide that the data integrity is maintained. The HP Unified Profile data model employs version management to provide that fresh content, based upon the capabilities of the requester and the availability of the physical data, is always supplied. Finally, access to the unified user profile is governed by multiple methods to enable security and privacy attributes for differing data components while access control enables safe access from outside the boundary of the HP Unified Profile physical data store.

BenefitsFor the mobile network operator•Abilitytogeneratenewrevenuesbyofferingpremium

services to the user

– Target subscribers according to their needs regardless of the need to span multiple subscriber data sources.

•Quicklyprovidenewapplicationsthatspanmultipledomains allowing a great deal of flexibility in user devices and roaming capability.

For the end customer•Improvedaccesstoapplicationsthatmeetsubscriber

needs for personalized services

•Compatibilityforapplicationswithmultiple device types

CapitalizeMobile network operators need a flexible profile data management solution in order to capitalize on new business opportunities with third-party providers or to provide turnkey personalized services and applications to end users. Many of these new services will be introduced as IMS-based applications, in the form of value-added services (VAS), or through a service delivery platform (SDP). These new services could conceivably require both new profile attributes to be added to the data model, and also a view of existing profile data already specified in the network data model. An MNO’s ability to quickly deploy these services will rely on the HP Unified Profile solution’s

ability to securely utilize existing data in the subscriber’s profile, and the flexibility with which new required attributes are introduced into the working data model.

Capitalize: leveraging subscriber data to create valueThere is no question that the Internet and a greater dependence on mobile communications are changing the way MNOs interact with their subscribers, giving digital identity ever-greater importance to both individuals and companies. Individuals benefit from access to a larger array of highly personalized services that have been built to leverage user-centric information. Companies benefit with fast and seamless access to virtualized, aggregated identity that improves company productivity and enables easier and more efficient collaboration across the enterprise and throughout the digital content and services ecosystem.

The broad spectrum of information that people have associated with them may be fairly static—as in the subscriber’s home address and marital status—or dynamic—such as their current location and availability. Information may even be created outside of the MNO’s domain, such as data from online banking or medical data, Snapfish, Myspace, Google, and Yahoo. Together, these “virtual personas,” made up of an individual’s physical location, online interactions, subscriber information, can be used to build a virtual identity or profile. In the ever-changing world of user content and user-centric applications, the creation, management, and use of these digital personas is critical to a successful user experience and to MNOs who want to serve these complex needs.

While competitive advantage can be gained through the fulfillment of such needs, because better business outcomes can only be achieved by keeping customers loyal, virtual identity works to improve the total customer experience by eliminating the need for people to track multiple personas and aliases and to continually re-enter personal profile information as they work, shop, and play online.

To illustrate how an MNO might leverage the use of digital identity, let’s set a backdrop: social networking. One phenomenon that has emerged in recent years has been the rise of social networking sites to publish and exchange data about oneself and one’s experiences. Information created in these contexts is potentially useful for “mash-ups” with other applications or elements of an online experience. But value for the mainstream mobile user has been limited and has been made more complex by the self-proliferation of personal data, a point that can be readily illustrated:

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•Asubscribermayhavesixtotencontactlists:amobilephone, a home-based IP phone, home and work e-mail, multiple photo sites, multiple social network sites, and even contact lists specific to a given application such as Push-to-Talk. Family contact lists, which are often useful across a family group, cannot be jointly created or maintained.

•Asubscribermayusemultiplesitestopublishthesame or similar data: several photo sites, Myspace, Twitter, and YouTube entries as well as personal URLs.

Seamless linkages of these social sites with one another, or with more traditional MNO devices, environments, and mobile communications services, have been elusive. For example, it is estimated that upwards of 90 percent of photos taken with a mobile phone never leave the phone, and only 30 percent of mobile subscribers ever download an application. To mainstream the application, natural inertias like these must be overcome.

To address these needs, the HP Unified Profile solution leverages the HP VIP Broker. The HP VIP Broker provides single-point, single-protocol, single-transaction access to user-centric data from multiple independent data stores within or across service provider networks, enterprises, and silo services. HP VIP Broker provides a user-centric data service to support services development, enabling third-party applications to consume subscriber data from a single interface. The use cases below illustrate how ready availability of profile data through HP VIP Broker adds value to both the MNO and the subscriber.

Increase productivity, loyalty, and revenue use cases.MNOs want to achieve greater customer satisfaction and loyalty while simultaneously looking for opportunities to increase revenue-sharing opportunities. The value proposition of this first use case is as follows: any photo taken by a new mobile subscriber is automatically available to that subscriber on the HP Snapfish photo-sharing and printing site “out of the box,” without any intervention or “technical” measures taken on the part of the subscriber to achieve this. This easy photo upload and sharing capability enables subscribers to have instant communication with their business or social networks—and the resulting instant gratification or improved productivity. Simple Web 2.0 applications,workinginXMLviatheHPVIPBrokerinterface, can leverage the following HP VIP Broker-based services to provide further richness within this context:

•Secureauthorization:Userscanreceiveanautomatically generated SMS to authorize the creation of a Snapfish account, securely authenticated by their mobile password, and then created and provisioned usingXML-basedsubscriberprofiledataavailablevia HP VIP Broker.

•PublicationtriggerswithinHPVIPBrokerpluggablecontrol logic: An application can register, and be notified, when new subscribers have been created and the subscriber has authenticated and authorized the service via SMS.

•XMLrequest/response:ThevirtualprofileoftheuseristhenavailabletoaprovisioningapplicationinanXMLdocument from HP VIP Broker. HP VIP Broker presents to the application on request an aggregation of all necessary information from any number of systems within the MNO’s domain regardless of protocol and access key. This data is presented in a web-friendly XMLdocument(LDAPisalsoavailable),therebyenabling the provisioning of the Snapfish account.

•Securepublicationandrelease:Thefine-grainedaccess controls of HP VIP Broker will secure the release of photos to only those specified individuals, or self-defined groups, that the user allows. A simple user portal enables the subscriber to define group names, group membership, and individual and group permissions under the control of HP VIP Broker. Alternatively, subscribers could use the portal interface of the Snapfish site to define these permissions on their newly created account.

•Dynamicvirtualview:HPVIPBrokerleveragescapabilitiesofXMLtosupportdynamicconfigurationof a virtual profile, enabling data from external websites (in this case, photos or photo links from Snapfish) to become part of the subscriber’s virtual profile “tree” for the consumption of other applications, if they are authorized access. One can readily see how information within a virtual profile could be “propagated” to other applications readily because of its availability within the virtual aggregated profile itself.

•Publication/subscription:Anapplicationcansubscribe,and be notified, when new photo content has been made available in the profile, enabling consumption, propagation, publication, replication, and more. With regard to propagation and replication, some social network brokers are already selling services to a tech-savvy subscriber base to publish the same information to multiple social sites. HP believes MNOs are well positioned to cannibalize such a market acting as a profile broker, given their unique relationship with mobile subscribers.

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This second use case focuses on several key abilities of HP VIP Broker to improve productivity and increase subscriber satisfaction by solving and creating more value from what is currently a difficult problem for all well-connected users: redundant and disjointed contact lists.

Each platform or environment a subscriber uses may contain different information about that user, which may contribute to his or her virtual persona. Some elements may have overlapping purposes or information, such as buddy or group lists. Each data source has its own operational need for the data it houses, and must retain unfettered and undisturbed access to that data in whatever form it currently exists. While this data is potentially useful to other applications, without a brokered solution, the MNO has no way to maintain or link that data on the user’s behalf, especially if that data exists outside the MNO domain.

The ability of HP VIP Broker to dynamically aggregate, into a single virtual profile, information from many data sources without disturbing the use of that data within its current silo, enables HP VIP Broker to create an aggregate of contact lists from any number of sources. For example, a typical user will have at least a mobile contact list, work and home e-mail contact lists, and may also have routine interest in or use for the contact lists of their family unit. Other specialized applications—such as a home-based IP phone, Push-to-Talk phone, or any number of social networking and photo-sharing sites to which the subscriber may belong—may have their own specialized contact lists, including the use of “groups” to aggregate and manage these contacts.

Usingnativeinterfaces—suchasXCAP(toanXDMS),MAPI (to Exchange), or specialized JARS interfaces—the HP VIP Broker can aggregate (virtually and dynamically) any number of contact lists into a single virtual profile of a subscriber. Moreover, the use of “associations” within the HP VIP Broker could be used to enable family members to share such contact lists “across the boundary” of an individual’s identity and into the family unit. Many applications of this approach can be envisioned, from automatically synchronizing contacts across applications and users, to making home repair service contacts widely available, to parents monitoring the contacts of children.

Through the use of Identity Aliasing within HP VIP Broker, multiple subscriber identities can be provisioned, tracked, and used to access data from multiple data silos, including those identities outside the direct control of the MNO, e.g., identities created by the user on social networking sites.

The ability of the HP VIP Broker to leverage a broad spectrum of specialized protocols on the “back end,” whilepresentingXMLorLDAPonthefrontendtoanapplication, gives the HP VIP Broker an important ability to virtually aggregate and present this data, using it “in place” without affecting or disturbing its ongoing use within the data silo. Since HP VIP Broker can use the native identities created for that silo to access the data, no requirement exists to physically aggregate or consolidate this data into a central location before the MNO can leverage its use to create a richer user experience. Given this capability, seamless linkages between traditional MNO strengths—such as location, availability, mobile contacts, SMS, MMS—and social networking sites can be readily envisioned and realized to provide richer user experiences and higher customer satisfaction.

ConclusionMobile network operators currently are not exploiting the full value of their most valuable asset—the information they hold about their subscribers. While mobile network operators may be sitting on a gold mine of subscriber data, they do not have the tools they need to exploit it. With subscriber data massively dispersed in hundreds of different silos, mobile network operators need to make the right technological investments and process improvements to release subscriber data and make it available to the right areas of their business. Through a unified view of subscribers and services, mobile network operators can leverage subscriber data into an important competitive advantage. Mobile network operators have a window of opportunity now to put in place a strategy and architecture for the management of their subscriber data and use this information to capitalize on current market developments. The HP Unified Profile solution from HP Communications & Media Solutions can support MNOs with a full range of software, integration, and consulting services to help MNOs achieve maximum value from their subscriber data management opportunities.

Technology for better business outcomes

To learn more, visit www.hp.com© Copyright 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Linux is a U.S. registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Java is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

4AA1-5016ENW, July 2009

This is an HP Indigo print.