SDPs get standards treatment

Service delivery platforms have been touted as the be-all-end-all for new service delivery, but even as vendors talk them up, key standards bodies continue to better define what SDPs are — and are not.

The TM Forum has been a leader in helping to define SDP functionality. Earlier this month, the forum's Service Delivery Framework (SDF) program met to finalize the first version of the SDF requirements document (TMF 519), which focused on tracking SDF with operations support/business support systems management requirements, and the second version of the SDF reference model, which added a service oriented architecture (SOA) approach to SDF. Both documents should be publicly available in about a month.

The working group also launched Phase 3 of its work, which will focus on more detailed service descriptions and management interfaces. That work should take about six months.

Overall, the TM Forum continues to try to address the key question of exactly how SDPs fit into existing telco management environments and how such platforms can be leveraged to create services that span multiple operators or software providers, said Dave Milham, distinguished TM Forum fellow.

What is emerging is the idea that well-implemented SDPs adhere to a few core standards and architecture principles but then “evolve rapidly in small incremental steps; you can equate this to biologic systems,” said Milham. “That's a different model of how to innovate when compared to what's been traditionally done in the telecom service provider domain,” where systems tend to be highly specified and at times over-engineered upfront, he added.

“The proposition is to start with a fairly simple model, with a small number of concepts, and evolve quickly and create more complex services from this simple model,” he said.

The TM Forum isn't alone in working on SDPs. The IMS Forum announced plans to open a new working group this year focused on how SDPs can act within the IMS concept of “service enablers” said Michael Khalilian, president and chairman of the IMS Forum. Industry recommendations on how IMS and SDPs can work together are slated by the end of the year, he said.

STANDARDIZING SERVICE CREATION

The TM Forum is working on key new standards efforts to help service providers standardize how they build and manage new services:

TM Forum Service Delivery Framework (SDF):

• SDF requirements document (TMF 519) — completed this month.
• SDF reference model, v2 — completed this month.
• SDF project Phase 3 — work launched this month.

TM Forum Product and Service Assembly Catalyst project

• PSA architecture and APIs — complete.
• PSA-based reference implementation by BT — under way.
• Integrating PSA work into TMF Interface Program (TIPs) — ongoing.