The TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) announced today the launch of a new consultant certification program designed to accredit specialists in TM Forum technical competencies such as the Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) and NGOSS Shared Information/Data (SID) model.
The accreditation is part of an overall industry consultant effort developed by the TM Forum to ensure industry consultants are delivering high-quality services, are up-to-date on TM Forum standards and have access to assistance when working on TM Forum standards-related projects. According to TM Forum, this program was created as a response to increasing demand for consultants with NGOSS expertise and reflects the growing uptake of NGOSS in the telecom industry.
The certification portion of the program is available beginning this month, with the support/assistance options to be added to the program in the first quarter of 2006.
“The Forum is approached regularly by service providers about referring NGOSS trained consultants. This new program is designed to ensure that any individual who identifies himself as an NGOSS consultant meets certain knowledge requirements,” says Jim Warner, president of the TeleManagement Forum. “The timing of this program couldn’t be more important, as the TM Forum takes positive steps to continue to feed the rapidly increasing reliance on NGOSS to meet the back-office demands in the competitive telecom market.”
Since its initial development, NGOSS has gained widespread acceptance in the telecom industry. Service providers on five continents are using the various parts of the NGOSS framework to build better OSS environments that are efficient and future-ready (see related story, “Case Studies Demonstrate Successful Use of NGOSS Around the World”).
In addition, this year, the Catalyst Showcase at TeleManagement World is twice as large as it was at last year’s North American event, again signaling strong NGOSS uptake in the industry. The TM Forum has developed the certification process in concert with the NGOSS uptake to address the demand in the industry as even more service providers begin to implement the specifications and more suppliers continue to build this into their product structures. (For more details, read “TeleManagement World Hosts Catalyst Showcase”)
As part of the certification process, individuals (not companies) will be required to take an online test in specific areas of NGOSS. Individuals must have participated in TM Forum teams and/or trained in the subject they will be testing for consultant certification, and also have their applications for certification approved by the TM Forum’s technical committee made up of TM Forum staff and members who are leaders of some of the TM Forum’s technical initiatives.
The first certification tests available are for the TM Forum/ITU standard eTOM and the industry’s most comprehensive common information language, the NGOSS SID.
Consultants must be members of the TM Forum to take the test and be certified. Accredited consultants will be able to use a special TM Forum Certified Consultant logo. Those who become certified consultants also will be added to a list of accredited consulting professionals on the TM Forum Web site.
For more information about the program or to become NGOSS certified, visit www.tmforum.org.
