This chapter contains a testimonial and point of view from the supplier and systems integrator. Ascom implemented the TT/WO system and the Change Management system and later the ARSoverOSS/J product.

History

In 1998 Ascom delivered a trouble ticket and work order system for Vodafone Germany (formerly Mannesman Mobilfunk). The system was introduced to support the processes in and around network operations to optimize the fault management process and to improve customer satisfaction by fast and high quality responses. Over the years this ARS-based system was extended and modified to match changed requirements by a high increase of users and to connect to other important systems (like TeMIP fault management etc.). Ascom also delivered a Change Management system that needed to interact with the TT/WO system.

Problems to solve

TT/WO systems usually require a lot of interfaces either outgoing to access foreign data or incoming from applications that need to submit or track tickets. In the past all TT interfaces were implemented using conventional techniques (OSS/J initiative was founded later in 2000). With ongoing internationalization and implementation of processes beyond a local subsidiary the amount of required interfaces between the different systems and subsidiaries increased. Nearly each of the international subsidiaries has local fault management and TT/WO systems. The mostly used products here are TeMIP and BMC-ARS, but all of them differ in the local implementation and customization. The requirements changed to include the possibility for international ticket exchange (while keeping the local TT systems) and to solve similar problems in different subsidiaries (like ARS-TeMIP-interface) in a similar manner based on standards and products to reduce cost.

Strategy

In general Vodafone decided to go with OSS/J as a long term strategy. The approach is run in several stages and the first major goal (which is subject of this solution package) was to implement OSS/J TT-API for the existing TT/WO systems and to move towards a situation where most of the surrounding systems (including other TT systems in international subsidiaries) use OSS/J TT for ticket exchange.

The very first step was to run a proof of concept to prove that standardized interfaces based on OSS/J can really be implemented and can be used in a productive environment.

During the PoC a lot of issues were identified that an OSS/J TT-implementation needs to deal with, mainly security, authentication, personalization and especially additional requirements from network operations that were not or not sufficiently covered by the basic OSS/J API like specific attributes/cases or file attachments etc. At that point the steps described in chapter 3.1.1 started.

Ascom decided to implement a generic and configurable OSS/J TT server and client implementation as a product that can be used to enable OSS/J compliant communications with nearly any BMC-ARS based implementation. This allowed Vodafone to reuse the integration approach in several of their international subsidiaries which run BMC-ARS based TT-systems.

One major step during that implementation was to define and harmonize the international processes. Each of the TT systems had its own status model, menus, ticket types and meanings of specific attributes and it was necessary to produce a specification that defines the different cases, two layer extensions to OSS/J and especially the usage and meaning of attributes and values. The majority of subsidiaries agreed to that specification which is the major organizational achievement beyond the technical questions and it forms something like an intellectual base for the Vodafone TT strategy in general. Finally the users in the subsidiaries should be able to use their existing systems and work as usual but should be able to deal with international tickets.

Parallel to the international ticketing the OSS/J based connection to other internal systems continued. HP now delivers an OSS/J-TT client implementation for their TeMIP fault management product and also other clients (Change Management submitting work orders etc.) are available which can also be used by other subsidiaries.

Status

Currently several of the international subsidiaries can exchange tickets based on the Vodafone extensions. Some of them use the Ascom product ARSoverOSS/J and a few have built own OSS/J TT implementations for their TT systems based on other platforms than BMC-ARS. The OSSJ/TT fault management interface to the TT/WO system is working at Vodafone Germany and the approach will also be re-used by other subsidiaries. Change management can create work orders via OSS/J TT (with extensions) and also other systems (service management etc.) are connected to the TT system via OSS/J clients. JVT and XVT profiles are currently used and multiple JMS paths (internal and external/international) are possible.

Implementation experience

After Ascom started to work with OSS/J there were some lessons learned. The major lesson is, that OSS/J (with all of it’s complexity) is a technology that can be mastered but building a solution needs a lot of work until a server implementation in a complex international environment like Vodafone is really usable. The main issues during implementation were a) the high configurability of the product to allow re-use in other existing systems and b) solving the problem of translating the system behaviour of a legacy application like BMC-ARS into the OSS/J-TT world.

The implementation started with an old RI which required a lot of clean up and modifications to be able to run on the target platform. In the mean time these are fixed, but during the development phase this was a severe issue.

Conclusion

From Ascom’s point of view the OSS/J approach was the right choice for Vodafone and can be the same for other complex service providers. Re-using of interface technologies not only in one local subsidiary but internationally is a significant step forward to reduce cost for interface implementations. With the upcoming availability of OSS/J API’s by product vendors in the telecom arena, a carrier can gain real advantage from using OSS/J, even when they do not implement (e.g. code) them on their own. With existing and supported solutions in place, a very smooth migration to OSS/J is possible; even a strategy with “only” OSS/J TT can be useful and reduce cost, if at least two interfaces to the TT system are implemented.

From a suppliers point of view a commercial success of the product is yet unclear; the marketing started and we received a lot of positive feedback, but we see that for suppliers it will take some more time until more companies adopt OSS/J technology and implement larger solutions beyond proof of concepts.

About Ascom

Ascom is a Swiss based company with about 3000 employees worldwide. The company is listed at the Swiss stock exchange and runs international business in several areas. Ascom’s business unit “Systems & Solutions” has a strong background in developing turnkey solutions in the Telco market for more than 15 years. Together with our partners we address the complete chain from business analysis, ROI studies, project management, development, maintenance up to operations of delivered systems. The headquarter of this business area is located in Germany and all major carriers in Germany and Switzerland are satisfied Ascom-customers. Beside the known reference projects for Vodafone, Ascom delivers a wide range of customer specific software solutions, e.g. Workforce Management, Leased Line Management, Inter Carrier Billing, Routing Management, Fraud Management, Computer Telephony Solutions, Change Management and SLA Management.

Contact details:
Ascom Deutschland GmbH
Gerd Höckelmann
Charlottenburger Allee 61
D-52068 Aachen, Germany
eMail: Gerd.Hoeckelmann@ascom-ac.de
Phone: +49 (0)241 – 96806 - 0