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Next-Generation Service Assurance Improves Operational Efficiency

Vodafone D2’s Next Generation Service Assurance program is the largest transformation project ever undertaken by the company as it moved from resource to customer-centric fault and service management. It involved more than 12 sub-projects, over 1,000 project steps and a huge number of challenging dependencies. TM Forum’s Frameworx and Interface Program were crucial to the success of the project, which delivered savings of 47 percent in capital expenditure and 68 percent in operating expenditure.

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Camila Conde
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36 views2 pages

Next-Generation Service Assurance Improves Operational Efficiency

Vodafone D2’s Next Generation Service Assurance program is the largest transformation project ever undertaken by the company as it moved from resource to customer-centric fault and service management. It involved more than 12 sub-projects, over 1,000 project steps and a huge number of challenging dependencies. TM Forum’s Frameworx and Interface Program were crucial to the success of the project, which delivered savings of 47 percent in capital expenditure and 68 percent in operating expenditure.

Uploaded by

Camila Conde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FRAMEWORX

Next-generation service assurance


improves operational efficiency
Summary: Vodafone D2’s Next Generation Service Assurance program is the largest transformation
project ever undertaken by the company as it moved from resource to customer-centric fault and service
management. It involved more than 12 sub-projects, over 1,000 project steps and a huge number of
challenging dependencies. TM Forum’s Frameworx and Interface Program were crucial to the success
of the project, which delivered savings of 47 percent in capital expenditure and 68 percent in operating
expenditure. The biggest contribution to cost reduction was using the Forum’s Information Framework to
calculate network alarms’ impact on customers, which yielded 40 percent savings. This has inspired the
company to take part in the TM Forum Interface Program’s Resource Alarm Management development. In
future, the company expects to save 30 percent in integration and customization costs, and is embarking
on an even larger transformation project, building on the success of the original project.

Against the bigger picture goals of wanting to move fault and Q allowing Vodafone D2 to standardize its service assurance;
service management from being resource-centric to customer- Q enabling the introduction of best practices and new
focused, the more detailed aims of Vodafone D2’s Next operational models as part of its service assurance strategy;
Generation Service Assurance (NGSA) were to renew Vodafone Q implementing a new customer management solution;
D2’s service assurance tool chain and to improve the efficiency Q making substantial savings compared with migrating the fault
of related operational processes. This was a huge undertaking, and service management systems separately;
including more than 12 sub-projects, over 1,000 project steps Q costing less both in terms of capital and operational
and a massive number of challenging dependencies – it is the expenditure (CapEx and OpEx);
largest transformation project ever undertaken by Vodafone D2. Q needing fewer staff for the service assurance process
Not only was supporting many legacy fault and service (project and lifecycle);
management systems becoming too difficult, time-consuming Q supporting greater use of automation in the interests of
and expensive, it became clear that a simple upgrade to efficiency and customer satisfaction.
these systems would not be enough to make them effective
in the evolving, key areas of customer, fault and services Putting theory into practice
management. Vodafone D2 used the TM Forum Business Process Framework
Renewing the entire service assurance tool chain was the (eTOM) as the main guidance to ensure a smooth transition
only way it could support future requirements and processes. from resource-centric fault performance management to
Vodafone D2 took the approach of a combined solution for the service assurance combined with service quality management.
three key areas (One-View) and a redesign of the surrounding More specifically, it used the Framework’s definition of
solutions. This approach also gave the company the opportunity assurance and how it spans the main areas that definition
to achieve a number of other improvements at the same time. covers – including Resource Management & Operations, and
They included: Service Management & Operations. In particular, the integration
of the trouble ticketing system was guided by this breaking
Q a means of standardizing and harmonizing the OSS tools down (decomposition) of processes into their components.
it had already for fault and services management across its The Forum’s Information Framework (SID) was used
operating companies; in parallel, to identify Products-Customer Facing Service-
Q reducing the total cost of ownership through a more Resource Facing Service-Resource entities (from which
economic licensing model due to economies of scale; the P-CFS-RFS-R Model was built). This Model was run in

30 CASE STUDY HANDBOOK www.tmforum.org


a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) module, service model in the CMDB should reduce time-to-market for
which supported the transition of resource-centric alarms into new services. Put another way, the CMDB’s common service
customer service alarms. resource model can support the entire
Extending the Information Framework in this way, with service lifecycle.
so-called alarm propagation rules defined in the P-CFS-RFS-R
Model, enabled Vodafone D2 to calculate the impact of Future plans
resource problems on a customer. Vodafone D2 plans to merge its fixed and mobile networks into
The Application Framework (TAM) was used for service and a converged infrastructure, and to develop its business with
resource management within assurance. The architecture of enterprise customers. To achieve these goals, the company
the NGSA project used the following elements: has initiated a Converged-NGSA Project – an extension of its
successful NGSA project. Its key objectives are to achieve
Q service specification management, service inventory operational savings by means of flexible process automation,
management and resource inventory management grouped the reduction of OSS integration costs and to increase
in Vodafone D2’s CMDB; operational excellence in service and customer management.
Q service quality monitoring and impact analysis; It plans to achieve this by building a common platform
Q service performance management; for fault, service and customer management to put in place
Q resource assurance management. efficient network, service and customer operations, and reduce
CapEx and OpEx at the same time. The aim is to build a future-
Standard interfaces enable new models proof, flexible service and customer assurance platform for the
Vodafone D2 used the TM Forum Interface Program’s ‘Technical-Organization’.
Resource Alarm Management (RAM) interface as a way From the enterprise customers’ point of view, this will mean
to reduce integration costs by a big margin. As a result of a consistent approach for fixed and mobile services, and many
achieving a 40 percent cut in costs, it decided to participate aspects of the services they buy from Vodafone D2 will be
in the RAM project and was the service provider champion automated to give them more control and increase customer
for the Alarm management for converged networks Catalyst satisfaction. It will also provide customers with instant
project at TM Forum Management World 2011 in Dublin – information in the event of incidents. The increased visibility
(see http://www.tmforum.org/AlarmManagementfor/10554/ of services that will underpin these offerings will also enable
home.html for more details about that Catalyst project and for Vodafone D2 to fix problems faster, reducing revenue loss and
more information about our Catalyst program, see page 18) to avoiding contractual penalties.
promote that standard and provide feedback to the industry,
which is expected to help shape the interface based on lessons
learned from the Vodafone D2 NGSA project.
Deploying the Information Framework-based P-CFS-RFS-R
Model to calculate the impact of network-related alarms on
customers (including the automation of service impact analyses
and centralizing service management information in the CMDB)
achieved an overall cost reduction of 40 percent. Vodafone
estimates that after the TM Forum Interface Program’s RAM
interface is adopted by the industry, it will save up to 68
percent in integration costs compared with vendor-specific
integration.
The employment of SID P-CFS-RFS-R model in CMDB "Vodafone estimates that after the TM Forum Interface
product is perceived as a way to achieve further cost reduction Program’s RAM interface is adopted by the industry,
due to the common service-resource model: this model can
be used to support service assurance and service fulfillment
it will save up to 68 percent in integration costs
processes. Apart from cost reduction, having a common compared with vendor-specific integration.”

www.tmforum.org CASE STUDY HANDBOOK 31

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