HP Showcases Communication Industry’s Most Complete Operations Support System Portfolio

Today at Management World 2008, a global operations and management event, HP showcased some of the more than 400 communications service providers that are deploying its solutions to assure high quality of service for mobile and fixed customers while reducing their own cost and risk.

By using HP Next Generation Operations Support System (NGOSS) solutions to automate complex processes such as network and service management, providers can more effectively manage converged telecom and IT services.

The highlighted companies include Swisscom, Switzerland’s leading telecom provider, which used HP NGOSS solutions to reduce operating costs and improve service. In addition, SFR – the second largest mobile operator in France, with more than 19 million customers – reduced costs by using HP NGOSS solutions to simplify network and service management.

HP also announced a global agreement with ZTE Corporation, one of China’s largest suppliers of telecom equipment. The companies plan to help service providers use NGOSS solutions to streamline network and service management.

“HP is uniquely positioned to help providers reduce total cost of OSS ownership and improve service rollouts,” said Keith Bergeron, director of NGOSS Solutions in the Communications, Media and Entertainment business unit, HP. “No other company has the full range of NGOSS solutions, partners and expertise that providers need to integrate the entire services lifecycle, including deployment, testing, fulfillment, assurance, billing and business support systems.”

To manage convergent telecom and IT services, HP NGOSS solutions are based on standards set by the TeleManagement Forum and best practices for IT infrastructure library as defined by the IT Service Management Forum.

Swisscom taps HP NGOSS

In recent years, HP has helped Swisscom build a robust OSS environment to ensure top service quality for its 5.3 million fixed lines, including 1.6 million broadband access lines.

In late 2007, Swisscom turned again to HP to help streamline order management, the process by which new customers are enrolled, set up in a services plan and prepared for activation on the network. Swisscom selected HP to deploy order handling software and integrate it within the service fulfillment structure.

Swisscom wholesale customers now enjoy a faster, more direct path to their new services, and Swisscom itself benefits from a faster time-to-revenue with reduced operating costs.

“In one stroke, Swisscom has reduced its own costs and provided customers with a better experience,” said Fréderic Ranger, head of Process IT, Network and IT Department, Swisscom Switzerland. “We selected HP because its local team understood our OSS needs and could provide everything we needed – solution consulting, architectural guidance and integration services.”

The new order management solution complements HP NGOSS solutions that were previously deployed throughout Swisscom’s service fulfillment and service assurance systems, as well as its IT management structure. Those solutions include HP TeMIP, the flagship fault management platform; HP Network Node Manager; HP Service Desk; HP Business Availability Center including Business Process Insight; HP Network Operations Manager; and HP Network Automation Services.

SFR teams with HP to streamline OSS

With complex, multi-vendor infrastructures within its network and service operations centers, SFR had to rely on multiple management tools to determine network status and service levels.

With HP NGOSS software, SFR operators are able to identify problems quickly, measure their severity, initiate corrective action, verify resolution at both network and service levels, and ultimately assure a high level of service quality.

For example, the HP Service Quality Manager provides a single view of real-time service status across the SFR network, which is much more efficient than using multiple tools.

HP and ZTE sign OSS agreement

To manage ZTE and third-party networks, HP and ZTE plan to deliver complete NGOSS solutions using consulting and integration services and software from both companies.

In related agreements, the ZTE mobile network management platform ZTE NetNumen™ M31 was already certified with HP TeMIP. Further testing and integration between ZTE network management products and the HP OSS portfolio is planned, and the companies have established a joint OSS testing lab.