PDF of this tutorialCommonly deployed OSS structures and services are typically network-centric because they are oriented around the tasks required to manage network elements. A typical network service provider will deploy a variety of edge and core network gear from a range of vendors, depending on the type of service to be delivered. And most network management and service management systems are multiple, vertically oriented tools focusing on network management tasks.
These discrete systems can be highly effective at a narrow range of tasks. However, because of the disconnected nature of the typical OSS structure, these systems have very little visibility into specific customer information. Customer-facing systems, such as billing and customer care, are largely disconnected from the systems managing the network and services.
Service activation and assurance eventually becomes an unwieldy process, as the service provider’s staff must use a variety of highly specialized, discrete applications to accomplish tasks associated with establishing and monitoring services.
Figure 1. Fragmented, Network-Centric OSS
Overall, network-centric systems cannot answer questions such as the following:
- How has an individual customer’s service performed over time, and how has this performance compared to the SLA?
- Which customers are regularly hitting the upper end of their designated performance threshold, and might they be candidates for service upgrades?
- Which customers are served by specific network elements, and how overbooked are those elements? How does this affect performance against those customers’ SLAs?
The service management process is further complicated by the variety of element management systems that network equipment vendors often use to manage their gear. This approach can require a provider to turn to a variety of different systems to handle configuration of various elements. As a result, the level of complexity and the risk of provisioning failure rise.
In summary, service providers typically rely on three types of management systems, often in combination:
- Vendor-specific element managers—a system that controls the configuration of switches, routers, and edge devices
- Vertical management applications—typically executes single application of service-oriented tasks such as service provisioning, performance monitoring, and fault management
- Third-party customer-oriented applications—used for order tracking, billing, SLA monitoring, and similar customer-oriented tasks
