A Unified NMS?

By Oded Harniv, ECI Telecom

Implementing a unified network management system (NMS). This topic is coming up again with the increased concern to manage costs savings – capex and opex. As carrier networks become more complex with added layers and new technologies, what’s the best approach to manage various layers along with an alphabet soup of protocols and technologies? A unified network management system makes sense, but which NMS is the best choice for you? And do you know all the facts to make that decision?

A unified management system presents advantages of lower TCO to service providers by reducing capex, including the amount of servers and software applications, and opex by enabling more efficient use of staff and reducing the maintenance of less equipment.

In addition, a consolidated NMS better suits many service providers’ plans to evolve from SONET/SDH over DWDM to Carrier Ethernet over DWDM. Service providers that own a converged NMS can use its SONET/SDH and DWDM capabilities immediately, and simultaneously activate the Carrier Ethernet capabilities according to market pace.

A consolidated system allows service providers to use their operational teams more efficiently, as it is easier for the same people to manage all technologies. A user of a consolidated NMS can quickly switch from one technology to another.

The converged approach often removes the need to invest in upper-level OSS in order to provide a unified management system. If, however, integration between an NMS and an OSS is required, a unified NMS makes the integration easier. A converged system needs only one single northbound interface to provide all the requirements for integration with upper-level management systems.

In short, service providers who choose implementation of Carrier Ethernet as an extension of the existing equipment while managing all the equipment by the same NMS would enjoy several benefits, including lower TCO, shorter implementation time, efficient use of operational staff, and lower integration risks.

Another factor to consider is the type of NMS user interfaces. GUI-based Ethernet management provides several advantages over CLI-based user interfaces; operations are faster to complete and staff can use the GUI to easily perform complex tasks. The bottom line for service providers is significant opex savings.

Management applications that have a consistent look and feel, regardless of the underlying technology, can help service providers introduce new services more quickly and save on training. Automation tools are also critical in Carrier Ethernet networks because of the large number of objects that need to be created and maintained.

A truly converged and GUI-based NMS and a rich set of automation tools delivers a consistent look and feel for Ethernet, DWDM, and SONET/SDH, which helps service providers achieve further capex and opex savings and ultimately drive new services to users.

Now you are equipped with a few more basic facts about a unified network management system to help in determining the best NMS solution for your network needs.

Oded Harniv heads the Advanced Software Services department at ECI Telecom. In this role, Harniv oversees the company's offering for customers seeking advanced system integration and network design and optimization solutions. Previously, he served as associate vice president, responsible for ECI's network management and planning systems product lines. Harniv also brings a decade-long experience in R&D, specializing in network management platforms. He holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Israeli Interdisciplinary Centre.