Page 468 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

Network Management and Administration 3-259

Service provider support systems—OSS, BSS, CRM—will be interfaced more tightly with each other,
showing a much desired and expected convergence. The most important prerequisite is cleansing of
databases. The starting point is the unification of customer databases. SOA may help considerably in
connecting legacy and new applications. SOA and Web 2.0 may even be combined with each other to
increase effectiveness and efficiency.
The use of open source software is no longer a trend but a presence. It is expected that proprietary
solutions will be seamlessly combined with open source. Although open source software can be con-
sidered as freeware, it is not free of charge. Careful evaluation of technical and legal risks is absolutely
necessary. Open source software is a fresh and new technology that represents an incredible tool with
respect to motivating and retaining IT talents and personnel of service providers.
Service providers will take advantage of collected call detail and performance data and will use them
for various purposes such as mediation for billing, behavior analysis for highlighting security violations,
lawful intercepts for intelligence consolidation, service assurance, and business intelligence.
Many service provider business processes in the areas of service fulfillment, service assurance, bill-
ing, and revenue assurance are moving to the Web, taking advantage of the capabilities of Web 2.0
(Enterprise 2.0). Application performance management for these processes will have a key influence on
customer experience and user satisfaction.
Best-of-suite solutions are becoming very popular with service providers. In addition to leading OSS/
BSS/CRM vendors such as Amdocs, Telcordia, Hewlett-Packard, Convergys, and Subex, enterprise
management platform suppliers such as IBM, BMC, CA, and Oracle are entering this field and want
their market shares with high agility.
In summary, service providers are expected to measure service quality, optimize performance, and
continuously plan for capacity. They will extend their scope of services by measuring and managing the
user experience.