Is this the end of best of breed, or point, solutions?
Probably not, says Larry Goldman, RHK Inc.'s OSS global program director, who says, "No one does it all themselves."
As at least two xchange sources note, "there are no more greenfield" deployments. That means all OSS providers are selling into carriers with existing operations support systems in place, so they need to integrate with those products. OSS integration will continue to be an enormous issue for vendors and service providers.
In line with that trend, several companies have recently introduced new tools and product releases to ease integration.
For example, Clear Communications Corp. this fall unveiled a new release of its ClearView product, which now Java-based and Inc.ludes XML interfaces."8.0 is pushing the ease of integration," says Adan Pope, CTO and vice president of engineering at Clear. "There are no more greenfields."
ClearView Inc.ludes CircuitView, which offers graphical visualization of the network; EarlyWarning, which does proactive network management (it also integrates with Micromuse's Netcool); and ReportCard, which offers SLA management and reporting. The product focuses on the SONET transport layer, but can integrate with other products from companies like Granite Systems to address higher layers of networking.
Pope says Clear's multilayer, multitechnology portfolio of tools helps service providers to reduce mean time to repair, effectively deal with network problems despite technician scarcity in light of industry layoffs, lower the cost of technician overtime and help lower or eliminate SLA rebates paid out due to failure to meet SLAs.
Another new development on the OSS integration front is the Telcordia Adapter Toolkit, which provides adapters to network elements and element management systems from various vendors using various protocols to allow those devices to communication with OSSs dealing with issues such as fault, configuration and performance monitoring/management. The toolkit, which comes packaged with in-person certification training, allows developer with knowledge of C++, Java and network elements and element management systems to develop equipment models. The product, which became commercially available this month, sells for $300,000 for three seats. The toolkit is the latest move in Telcordia's Systems Integration-Ready Solutions, which provides developers with APIs to its products and was unveiled at Supercomm this year, says Terry Burroughs, executive director of product management.
In a broader industry initiative, the OSS through Java Initiative continues to move forward to leverage Internet technology in OSS and to address ease of integration. "Service providers are asking us, 'Is this something I should be thinking about,'" says RHK's Goldman. The OSS through Java Initiative says OSS has long been based on Unix and the new wave of Unix is Java and J2EE, he explains.
While there are several middleware companies, Inc.luding Vitria, BEA and TIBCO, that have been successful at selling a middleware "bus" to virtually all large service providers in the world, those solutions still require more one-to-one conversation between OSS applications on the bus, says Goldman, adding that BEA has taken a leadership role in the OSS through Java Initiative. Java efforts, meanwhile, aim to create more generic interfaces to other systems.
Of course, XML is another technology aimed to ease integration among various OSSs, allow third-party applications to be implemented into existing networks more easily and, overall, to give service providers and other companies the agility they need to be successful over time, says Gene Cornfield, global market strategist for network service providers at Microsoft Corp. By employing XML, Verizon was able to build tools in six days to find and assess network problems following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Broadwing used the technology to consolidate multiple OSSs, thus allowing for virtually zero-touch DSL provisioning, he adds.
