Auspice signs Comcast and Cox to operations software license

Process automation for network operations processes became a bigger part of the cable lexicon this week as Framingham, Mass.-based Auspice signed Comcast Communications to extended licensing agreements for the enterprise-wide use of its development environment for operations solutions. Auspice landed Cox Communications last month.

Auspice signed a multiyear licensing agreement with Comcast Cable Communications this week for their Auspice TLX and TLX-based OpsLogic software. The agreement enables Comcast network operations, customer support and field service staffs to develop their own solutions using Auspice’s operations automation software development tools and applications.

This new agreement is the evolution of a relationship that began between Auspice and ATT Broadband in 2000, which resulted in the deployment of surveillance and trouble ticketing system for AT&T’s telephony operations. Auspice began providing management solutions for Comcast’s high-speed data capabilities when it acquired AT&T Broadband.

The terms of the agreement enable Comcast to deploy the Auspice TLX Real-Time Operations Automation Platform and TLX-based OpsLogic Broadband Solution Suite across all of its markets and markets across all broadband services. The TLX-based solutions support multiple operational functions, such as network operations centers, customer care support and call centers, and mobile field operations. It also allows for future solution development, extensions and deployment.

"Our customers like to have this platform in their own hands because they have found it to be less costly and easier to maintain than other OSS solutions. And it is easier for them to extend their own functionality," said David Hayward, director of marketing for Auspice.

The OpsLogic Broadband Solution Suite includes applications such as: Cross-Service HFC Plant Health Management, a proactive performance and outage monitoring solution for HFC plant devices, nodes and transponders; Cable Modem Exception Monitor, a proactive cable modem and cable modem termination system performance and outage monitoring solution; Voice Service Manager, a comprehensive voice service management solution for the entire infrastructure; Service Visibility Portal, a broadband service performance and outage monitoring system that integrates status of network devices with status of billing, provisioning and IP servers; and an IP Address Management System that automates IP address provisioning and auditing.

"Typical monitoring and management tools tend to look at a device status or at the network level and its problems. Our application automates the manual processes a support staff would need to do to look at the true status of a service," Hayward said.

Cox signed a comprehensive software solution site license in October that enables it to utilize Auspice’s TLX Real-Time Systems Integration and Operations Automation Platform to develop and deploy network operations automation solutions for its broadband services. Cox can develop and deploy its own solutions in support of voice, video and data network operations initiatives or have Auspice or third-party developers do so using the platform.

Applications for intelligent device monitoring, event correlation, root cause analysis, ticketing, provisioning and auditing and customer service have already been written and deployed using the Auspice platform, Hayward said. He added that while Auspice got its start in the cable sector, its platform can be used across industries including telecom and power utilities.

Cox already is using an Auspice TLX-based hybrid fiber coax (HFC) plant cross-service management solution (CSNP), which it started to deploy nationwide last year. With this contract Cox will expand that deployment. Cox’ network planning, engineering and operations group plans to use the TLX platform to develop and deploy operations automation solutions, such as HFC plant monitoring, network surveillance and network performance and availability testing, for VoIP, high speed Internet access and digital video services.

"The VoIP product, which is part of the license, is a strategic part of their future," Hayward said.

According to the agreement, the group will use the Auspice TLX MetaScript Development Environment (MDE) for developing and testing operations automation solutions. Cox will use the TLX Global Execution Environment (GEE) to deploy the solutions across its operations. Both the TLX MDE and the TLX GEE are fully distributable, linearly scalable environments that enable collaboration among distributed developers as well as operations automation across an unlimited number of network devices, servers, databases and applications.

The Auspice TLX solutions will help Cox automate and reduce manual processes that operations support and network support staffs do to access, aggregate, correlate network health and service status and intelligently respond to conditions.