From our IT point of view it simply proves that merging old and new together can achieve the overall objectives if carried out in a controlled, planned and integrated manner. Some things need to be rebuilt but look old or like the original to be accepted, other systems need to be updated and integrated and work alongside completely new systems, all to achieve the overall business objectives. No one has the luxury of a “green field” site these days, and so we need to review the existing infrastructure and plan our strategy in line with the business demands and constraints. Then we need to draw up the designs ready for the new transition to take place, and finally for operations to take control and ensure we keep the “lights on” as and when required to fulfil those Business objectives. Without continuous reviews and improvements being made we would fail, so this element is in no way a luxury, but a necessity in our fast changing world.

If a nation can do all this with a new city (how many new cities do you know of being created in the 21st century?) then we can achieve this success and more within our own organisations, especially if we have a set of guidance in our hands.

But what happens when you’re talking about public roads and the ever increasing traffic. How do you upgrade the infrastructure in a 1,000 year old city, like London? How do you manage capacity? Well “Transport for London” under the leadership of Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, is working on the theory that control can be brought about through changing behaviours through charges. Something we in IT are also familiar with. 5 years ago they introduced “Congestion charging” at £5 per day to enter the square mile (and a bit) of the central “City of London”. Indeed this did reduce traffic in that zone, however, as you can imagine in a capital city, it pushed traffic out to the surrounding area, adding more pressure to that. Sound familiar? So what’s next? Well trying to “join-up” Rail, Underground, bus transport, to ensure people can get into and out of London without a car. However with an old infrastructure, narrow streets etc, this is not working. If you live just a few miles out of central London, like I do (just 15miles out), it’s not easy using public transport. To get into the City, my route would be: Walk to bus stop, bus (using the long route) to the station, train to mainline station, then walk to underground, then underground to another station, change, walk, underground, walk, bus and finally in the City. For those American’s reading this, you’ll appreciate how “unfriendly” that is, and how nice it would be to jump in the car in the driveway and head into the city, in your own space, environment and time. So, as “joined-up” transport is not working, what’s next? Well increase the congestion charge to £10 per day. Still more pressure on the surrounding area, adding more expense to business that need to travel in and the poor commuters. So, now extend the area in February to include the famous “West End” (Shopping, Theatres, etc). More revenue for the Mayor, more pain for the traveller and probably less business for the shops and businesses in this area, mostly retail, as opposed to the city being mostly Financial and commercial.

No-one said capacity management was easy, but it must be looked into and actions taken, yes, charging is one controlling factor, as are other transport methods, but a holistic approach is required, with consideration to the impact and effort of the Business units, processes and users/people. Increasing charges is not the answer in the long term, it may help fund your ultimate goal, but you still must have that goal in mind and work towards it. Maybe you need flyovers to take you across the area without congestion, maybe you need better protection for bike lanes, cheaper taxi’s. relating this to our IT world is much the same. Have you got your strategy?

My solution. Rarely travel into central London, and if I do, ensure I drive outside of the congestion charge time (which will one day be extended to stop me!).

Patrick Wijingaarden from Turing SMI, BMC VAR.

The main challenges are similar to all the others industries, Cut Operating costs, Improve Customer experience, Increase Service Innovation and Increase Business Agility.

Some of the threats VOIP are eroding Telco revenue, so they need to be aile and introduce new services. Most do not have much content, and need to go to content providers to provide it out. They are being squeezed from both sides.

The Average Revenue per subscriber/user is falling at 3% per annum. Many customers like corporates are demanding discounts and refunds. Plus the complexity is increasing in devise and standards the Telco is expected to manage. Greater dependency on partners and suppliers, now with the convergence of IT Technologies.

With this in mind, something must happen to stabilise the delivery and improve service, whilst reducing costs.

The IT Service Maturity model applies just as much to the Telco market as it does to the IT industry. In fact many in the Telco market are even more complex.

The Best practices are eTOM (Enhanced Telcom Operations Map)– a Business process framework (not an IT one), SID (Shared Information and Datamodel)and Enterprise wide information framework, TAM (Telecom Applications Map) – applications framework and TNA(Technology Neutral Architecture) – Systems integration framework.

Telco’s manage Customers problems, Services and network problems, and 3rd party content and service providers problems.

Standards are so important, to stabilise and reduce costs of implementations, integrations and operations.

NGoss is the New generation Operations Systems and Software, which is a comprehensive integrated framework for developing, procuring and deploying operational and business support systems and software. This is a comprehensive set of best practices all relating to the Telco market, created by and for this market. Actually I think that IT service providers should take a look and use some of the content for their own advantages.

4 main areas, Operations Support and readiness, Fulfilment , Assurance and Billing. With come management practices cutting across them in the form of Customer relationship Management, Service Management and Operations, Resource Management and Operations, and Supplier/Partner Relationship Management.

Service Problem Management is similar, but different to the ITIL processes, here it covers Evaluate & Qualify Problem, Diagnose Problem, Plan and Assign Resolution, Track and Manage Resolution and Close and Report.  Within ETom there are 5 levels of detail, so it’s pretty comprehensive.

You really need to look at some of the diagrams to show how all these standards work together, I certainly can’t explain it in mere text! For those who did attend Userworld all the slides are available for the on-line system used to build their agendas. We did video record this session, so once edited we’ll make it available to you on-line.

Just like ITIL, these practices still need interpretation for the individual organisation deploying. Obviously a start-up will have different conditions and capabilities than the more mature Telco’s who have legacy of process, people and operations.

Turing have an application suite specific to the Telco’s called OS3 and has been built on BMCRemedy ARS, which incorpates SID extenstions and now included into the BMC Atrium CMDB, allowing the integration of ITIL services to your eTOM services, allowing you to service Internal and External clients. Often a customer problem as a root cause back in the internal infrastructure, not just the externally focussed infrastructure.

Are you in the Telco market? Would you like to ensure you can manage your internal and external clients using the best of standards? If so, let us know and we can get in touch directly or through our partner Turning SMI.

This is the last of my live blogs from Userworld, it’s been a busy, but rewarding week. The Best Practices track has been well received and many sessions well attended, next year it’ll be even better. Back home over the weekend to catch up on bills I suppose!!