Gradiant, new member of the TM Forum
By Iria Rodríguez Cruz & Alexandre Pellitero Rivero
Telecommunication service providers handle millions of events every day, which are tracked and managed by means of sophisticated BSS/OSS systems. Those are software components that allow operators to internally perform the management tasks needed for them to work correctly. However, the general tendency is to rely on few departmental closed applications (that only focus on automating specific problems), but completely unable of following the customer service process as a whole. For this reason, communication among heterogeneous processes (billing management, resources and infrastructures administration, subscription and unsubscription mananagement, etc.) becomes a critical factor throughout management systems automation.
Solutions
For this communication to be feasible, a series of specifications standardizing univocally the way these systems interact are needed.TM Forum was created with the aim of solving those standardizing and interoperability problems. It is a global, non-profit industry association that proposes the definition and development of a series of communication standards for the operators to manage heterogeneous processes and services efficiently: Frameworx.
The organization has over 900 members that include 230 of the world’s leading service providers. Obviously, operators such as Vodafone, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom o Telefónica, and big companies such as Microsoft, Nokia, HP, IBM o Huawei are members of TM Forum. The organization represents over 85% of the global communications market.
Now, Gradiant is there and collaborates with other galician company Optare Solutions, an OSS systems consulting and integration company, which has been participating in definition and development of the Frameworx initiative since 2005.
Being a member of TM Forum, will allow Gradiant to work with potential clients in a neutral environment, as well as being aware of their needs first-hand. Possibilities of establishing relationships and alliances with other service providers or integrators will be increased and, in short, we will have the opportunity to position ourselves competitively in the operator services market.
