The Analyst's Corner: Next-generation services platforms--It’s just software

Part 2 of two parts
Last month, we talked about the business reasons for service providers to bundle their services, and we asserted that bundling and Internet Protocol networks go hand in hand. This month, we’ll explain how some of the different service platforms actually work. First, we need to sort out what some of the different service platforms actually do.

Traditionally, telephony services have been associated with a physical network delivered from a “port” on a circuit switch. The user of a particular port is assigned a unique set of local calling and long-distance services. Users must be able to physically access the network (a telephone) to access these services.

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The Internet is different. Users do not have to physically access any particular portion of the network to access services that exist on the network. Access to the Internet brings along with it access to all of the services on it. Separate software platforms deliver services such as e-mail, file transfer, Web browsing—from a wide range of service providers.

The way the Internet accomplishes this is through directories, which are databases that provide open access to network and user information. Services can be defined according to IP address, user name or e-mail address, and directories provide a common way for each service to identify a user—and to deliver a unique set of services.

Internet services represent a shift from the physical delivery of services to the virtual delivery of services. A variety of communications services are now getting delivered in a more virtual environment. As our premise states, service bundling is imperative—and virtual services are easy to bundle.

Network Services

Network services have long been associated with physical networks. Networking technologies ATM and frame relay were the first departure from physical circuits, developing the use of “virtual circuits” as a way to mimic the physical nature of the network. Software has long been a limiting factor for fast packet networks, and a large majority of virtual circuits are “nailed-up” instead of delivered on an as-needed basis.

Where ATM and frame relay have fallen short, Internet Protocol (IP) networks have taken up the slack, with early IP-based virtual private networks (VPN) emerging in 1998. The miracle of the VPN is that a service provider can define logically separate networks for its customers—all using a common infrastructure.

Still, many VPNs are still provisioned manually. Only today are we seeing service platforms that sit at the edge of IP and fast packet networks. These service platforms—from companies like Ennovate Networks (www.ennovatenetworks.com)—use LDAP compliant directories to manage the creation and provision of network services.

Higher Level Services

While network services are a critical component to any service bundle, higher level services provide the value-add that customers expect. These services are also based on directories that authenticate users and define service sets that can vary by quality, bandwidth and time-of-day.

Ellacoya Networks (www.ellacoya.com) has such a platform that provides the underlying security and user access for a wide range of Internet, commerce and applications services. The ultimate goal of the Ellacoya platform is to automate service provision and to ultimately allow users to define service bundles and order them on-line.

In addition to traditional voice switches, the “softswitch” market has emerged, offering voice services that are effectively decoupled from the underlying call control of the network. There are more vendors in this market than we care to list.

OSS & BSS Redux

Web architectures and directories have appeared everywhere, even in the OSS/BSS space. CEON (www.ceon.com) has built a provisioning system that uses an application server/directory model. This approach takes advantage of the inherent elegance of IP networks—the integration of front-office and back-office services.

This means that a single directory can be used for a variety of functions, including:

• Service activation and provisioning

• User authentication

• Billing

• Service management

• User self-service

Instead of using many separate databases for separate front- and back-office services, a single directory can provide consistent user and service information—enabling new services to be delivered virtually, rather than physically.

Telcos have long used the model of bundling as a way to withstand competition. In the past, telco marketing has been hamstrung by the back-office integration costs of creating new bundles. Telco IT managers are adopting a number of technologies that promise the ability to bundle. Directories offer these service providers the ability to put together a wide set of services—that include networks, applications, messaging and telephony—into bundles that fit their market imperative.
Dan Taylor and Barton Taylor are Analysts at Giotto Perspectives, Boston, MA.
This column originally appeared on the internetTelephony.com website.

Visit the Giotto Perspectives website.

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