Page 401 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

3-192 CRC Handbook of Modern Telecommunications, Second Edition

Requirements for Performance Management and Business Intelligence solutions are increasingly
converging. Given the critical need for managers across the enterprise to align operational decisions
with strategy, now is the right time for Hyperion to combine with a strategic partner like Oracle to
deliver the first, integrated end-to-end Enterprise Performance Management System.
3.7.4.6 Sample of New Vendors on the OSS Market
The OSS marketplace is relatively dynamic, especially with respect to the rapid development of tele-
communication services and technologies. While there has been some stability in terms of established
vendors providing plain old telephone service (POTS) and Sonet/SDH services, many newcomers have
arrived with an explicit focus on new IP-based services. Furthermore, the rapidly changing business
models followed by providers (e.g., one-day provisioning, product bundles, virtual operators), have
opened up opportunities for new vendors to enter with fresh, innovative products.
For example, after being a silent outsider in the telecommunications arena for many years, software
giant Microsoft recently joined the competition with its relatively successful IPTV platform. In their
role as mission-critical residential services, IPTV technologies require special efforts in the areas of
service assurance and fulfillment. The company uses its Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager
(MOM) product for this purpose. This monitoring and operations management system targets end-to-
end service management challenges. A key advantage to Microsoft here is that MOM can natively man-
age the different Windows categories (Server, Client, and CE) used in this system. The appearance of
traditional computer operating systems (Unix, Linux, and now Windows as well) and software solutions
in real-life services has opened up opportunities for new management technologies.
Another typical example of a telecommunications management solution vendor is Alcatel, the French
telecom equipment manufacturer that also acquired NewBridge, once a leading vendor of data com-
munications equipment. Alcatel’s OSS and Network and Service Management (NSM) solutions provide
end-to-end management of multiaccess, multicore technologies and multiple services, thus offering ser-
vice providers rapid service deployment across multiple domains. The company has built on cornerstone
products from its voice (fixed and mobile), optical, and data networking groups, which have been popu-
lar EMS/NMS management systems for many years.
Newly developed regions such as the Far East and Eastern Europe also are making use of the relatively
modern technologies and networks they have built for themselves in recent years. Local companies first
provided innovative management solutions for local providers, but now some of them have also stepped
into the world market with their solutions.
India is already a global hub of software development for off-site, outsourced development efforts,
and recently several self-confident Indian brands have also emerged. A good example is Clarity, whose
single, integrated OSS product covers seventeen eTOM L2 processes. Another Indian company, Subex
Azure, surprised the world by purchasing Syndesis, a well-known American service fulfillment product
vendor. Even if some facets of these products are not yet world-class, their huge internal market has
helped make these companies respectable and potentially successful in the long term as well.
A strong representative from China is Huawei, a manufacturer of network and telecom equipment
with a portfolio strongly resembling that of Cisco in both range and technology. As is often the case with
hardware vendors, Huawei first entered the management application business with a network/element
management system, iManager, which was used for its hardware products. In recent years, the iManager
platform has gradually been extended, with capabilities including unified network management, fast
and visual fault location, real-time performance monitoring, and easy service deployment.
In Eastern Europe, the other region witnessing spectacular modernization in recent years, many
innovative ideas have been implemented by the region’s generally well-educated population. Comarch,
a Polish company, has established itself as a new European vendor of flexible billing and OSS products
that include inventory, fault management, and performance management.
Another exemplary vendor from the new EU countries, NETvisor in Hungary, has established
itself as a vendor of flexible, new-generation solutions in areas including IP/VPN service discovery