IBM Software Provides Foundation for New Nortel Management Solutions for Service Providers

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Nortel (NYSE: NT) (TSX: NT) today announced a new way to help service providers control network operations, reduce costs and deliver new high-bandwidth services, such as video and streaming media, across their networks. To help service providers achieve this competitive edge, IBM software is being embedded as an essential building block for a new network management platform from Nortel.

Nortel is embedding IBM’s Tivoli Netcool software as the foundation of its new Common Management Platform, designed to deliver greater network control capabilities with a common feature set across the entire family of Nortel’s Service Provider solutions. This new platform provides critical capabilities essential for provider network operations, including a hardened security framework, a common set of network management applications, and a common service assurance suite.

Nortel’s Common Management Platform, built upon IBM Tivoli Netcool technology, will provide consistency and a standard operational model across Nortel’s Carrier Networks and Metro Ethernet Networks portfolios.

The first Nortel service provider solution to launch with the IBM-powered, enhanced management platform is Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Manager, the network and service management system created for Nortel’s Metro Ethernet solution based on the innovative Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) technology. The newly enhanced Metro Ethernet Manager, in combination with PBT technology, delivers a powerful solution that will allow providers to effectively operate their networks while meeting strict Service Level Agreements and maximizing service availability.

“We are enabling significant operational expense savings for our service provider customers as they migrate to Ethernet, while bringing the best of the circuit-based operational model they are accustomed to with Nortel management solutions,” said Scott McFeely, Metro Ethernet Networks business leader for Nortel. “The selection of Netcool as the foundation of the Common Management Platform provides customers access to leading fault and event management, as well as service assurance capabilities -- essential to meeting Service Level Agreements end customers are demanding today.”

Independent analyst firm OSS Observer recently ranked IBM as the worldwide leader for Fault and Event Management for operations support systems which include fixed, mobile and broadband segments(1).

Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Manager delivers the essential fault, configuration, and performance management capabilities required by service provider network operations teams, yet simplifies the job of managing a large-scale carrier grade Ethernet network, to help service providers capitalize on the performance, bandwidth, and cost benefits Ethernet affords.

“Nortel’s enhanced management platform brings a new approach to delivering network management solutions for service providers,” said Craig Farrell, CTO of Tivoli Netcool for IBM. “We are excited to see customers embrace Nortel’s first carrier solution of many that will include the new IBM-powered management platform.”

Metro Ethernet Manager, with integrated Netcool base security and application framework, will be demonstrated next week in Orlando at the IBM booth at the Nortel Inform Users Group Conference.