Many stakeholders in the service delivery chain overspend on development and integration from a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) perspective. Rather than concentrate resources on developing new features, companies often are burdened with supporting infrastructure or custom development. Today’s systems/IT environments are structured in such a way that the cost of integration outweighs the value of the project. As a result, non-optimal solutions are becoming the norm.

Why TM Forum?

Today’s complex management systems environment dictates that no software product or solution can stand alone. All components must be capable of integration if service providers and their partners are to reduce TCO.

A TM Forum standards based approach is the most efficient way to drive down cost throughout the development and integration lifecycle.

Within the Forum, service providers and vendors see full lifecycle development costs reduced, as there is no longer a need to maintain a multitude of custom interfaces, or to build new ones every time something in the network or in the management environment changes.

Both service providers and their vendors benefit from the re-use of artifacts across multiple projects.

Software Development — When all suppliers on a project work to the same interfaces, everyone involved saves time and money in development. Vendors invest in a robust, high-quality interface they can deploy multiple times, spreading expenses, and resulting in a better product.

Integration — Common interfaces reduce integration risk, shortening the length of projects and saving money in the process. When multiple suppliers are working to the same standard, the interface is defined from day one of the project. As a result, the interfaces are well understood, and integration and testing scenarios can be completed much earlier in the cycle.

Deployment — Deployment risk is reduced as professional services costs decrease when utilizing tightly integrated systems with well understood interfaces.