The latest look in systems management

Support of e-services over diverse networks starts with a unified model of network devices and business applications

With state-of-the-art equipment and global networks capable of delivering advanced, revenue-generating services over a converged backbone, one would think that today's e-commerce, broadband and application service providers were more than ready to meet the networking challenges that lay ahead. Right?

Wrong. No one has devised a viable way for service providers to manage these expansive and technologically diverse networks and applications from a single platform. The fact is, service providers must find a way to interconnect embedded operations support systems (OSSs), multivendor equipment, multiple applications and legacy systems before they can hope to add more top-line growth to their businesses.

The problem is that the systems management solutions of today can only provide:

- Limited scalability. Current network management platforms begin to fail at a few thousand network devices and a few hundred concurrent users. The workaround is to deploy more platforms and more equipment, at more cost.

- Fragmented management. Deploying a service requires the use of multiple, disparate management platforms, each with its own interface, training and configuration requirements.

- Inflexible business support. The real-time interaction between business applications and the network is limited - if it occurs at all - depriving the business of automating the deployment of innovation to customers.

Service providers need a solution that moves their view from the network element level to the business level if they are to overcome these limitations. Unfortunately, most network management and point solutions vendors are focused on a particular function in global networking (Figure 1).

A new Internet infrastructure software platform for systems management now is available to help service providers integrate their network elements and equipment with business processes, enterprise applications and end-user devices. This scalable platform enables the development, deployment and administration of ubiquitous services across any type of network or application - regardless of technology or type of vendor equipment used (Figure 2).

Because this type of Internet infrastructure platform for systems management harnesses the power of object modeling, service providers can capture different aspects of a network (objects) in one model. While object-oriented technology isn't unique to the telecommunications world, modeling has not really been incorporated into a scalable management platform of this caliber.

Make it simple

With the right platform for systems management, service providers can deliver e-services over an array of networks and applications - from optical telecom networks to next generation hand-held wireless devices (see sidebar on page 256).

Equally important, they will be able to connect the deployment and management of e-services directly to business applications such as customer care, billing, supply-chain management and trouble ticketing.

An Internet infrastructure platform should consist of integrated products that can be used separately or together to deliver a scalable, flexible software platform for deploying and managing services across an array of applications and network devices. It also should use key industry standards and open, extensible tools and components to facilitate the connection of business and network applications with the physical network.

Another attribute of this type of platform is network resource automation, which models resources in the network and their interaction with applications. By using object-oriented technology, software developers are given tools that mirror real life: A world made of resources, each with their specific behaviors. And service providers are given a modular product that can be distributed across the network to better manage unpredictable network growth (Figure 3).

The adoption of object-oriented technology alone falls short of meeting the needs of telecom providers. Developers also need to create visual depictions of network and business processes - similar to blueprints of machinery - written in language that is used industrywide.

Unified Modeling Language (UML), a notation methodology for describing processes in a form that helps both developers and users, is an integral part of the new Internet infrastructure platform. Developed by the Object Management Group, UML is a critical aspect of designing software infrastructure systems.

Rather than illustrating isolated steps in the process, as is the case with flowcharts or spreadsheets, UML favors top-view diagrams that hide details. This enables developers to start with a high-level view of application and systems design and introduce details and complexity later.

For example, when a service provider wants to introduce a new router into the network, it can use an Internet infrastructure platform to create interfaces to the new devices and to enable those devices to be managed by existing applications. The service provider already has a model that describes the native behaviors of the current system, and adjustments to that model are all that are required to introduce the new equipment.

When the adjusted model is implemented in the Internet infrastructure platform, the routers are brought online and seamlessly deployed into the network. The same process applies to the introduction of any other product, service or application to the network.

Using modeling to integrate systems management:

- Allows the testing of a service before it is deployed

- Allows the creation of a blueprint that knits together the applications and devices in a network

- Allows equipment and applications to be added to the network in days, not months

- Provides a unified view of all devices and applications through a single system

- Provides the scalability required for supporting the unlimited addition of new devices into network - or new applications to the business

- Connects devices in the network to applications other than the typical telecom network management applications

One system fits all

The industry is well on its way to creating a global network, but service providers still are faced with yesterday's solution for managing this new paradigm. They need solutions that will enable them to develop and deploy new services in a multivendor, heterogeneous world where things don't work together. In a world where the flow of traffic on the network is fluid.

The bottom line is that service providers no longer can afford to have networks that are disconnected from each other or business applications that are disconnected from the network. By creating the opportunity for applications to span technologies and services, new Internet infrastructure platforms for systems management enable service providers to deploy the new products their customers are demanding. At the same time, the costs associated with updating, maintaining and operating multidimensional networks is reduced significantly (Figure 4).

In today's competitive marketplace, service providers need the ability to turn up new services across their entire network in weeks, not months. They need to handle surges in traffic on their networks. And, they need to provide a quality of service that is on par - if not better - than traditional dial tone. Because, at any given time, customers are only a "click" away from the competition.

These are the several questions a service provider should ask its vendor to determine if a proposed management platform can develop, deliver and administer next generation e-services across multiple networks and applications.

For example, does the platform:

- Simplify the view of network? A platform is needed that bridges the chasm that exists today between the management of applications and networks. Even within a single domain, it is very common to find multiple management systems whose only connection is via a human interface.

- Protect investments with planetary scalability? Scalability is important, primarily because non-traditional devices will be deployed in the network. When technologies, network elements and applications are represented in the platform as objects, the system can be expanded seamlessly by adding new modules. And, the ability to choose which modules to install (based on application/network requirements) and how they are deployed across the network gives service providers options for supporting network expansion and application integration while maintaining the cost of network management.

- Ensure quality of service by creating "Web-tone" availability? Service providers need a platform that will enable them to deploy services and applications over the Internet - from voice over IP to e-commerce - with the reliability, performance and quality of service consumers expect of traditional dial-tone service.

- Accelerate time to market through network resource automation? When a platform provides the modeling tools necessary to design the interaction between applications and the network, it becomes substantially easier for service providers to expand, enhance and manage their systems.

- Design to a new standard? Developers need flexible infrastructure for creating, customizing and deploying traditional network management applications and business applications. In addition, a software development kit for mediation is necessary to ensure flexibility in integrating next generation networks with stable, deployed networks.