IP MPLS
Offering a cohesive OSS supervisory backdrop to ensure IP/MPLS networks are provisioned properly, secure, private and delivering consistent QoS
If service providers want to have an Internet Protocol/MultiProtocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) network that behaves in a way that preserves customer satisfaction, they must have OSS environments that:
- Orchestrate the provisioning of the network and services
- Monitor the network and services
- Provide accurate capacity utilization data
- Ensure the exclusivity of each customer's domain
Failure to adopt this type of multi-layer, service quality management approach may result in a provider's MPLS investments running aground because they are out of sync with the expected customer experience. What's needed is a supervisory element that helps fine-tune and update the network regularly to better reflect what is being learned along the way. This type of IP/MPLS monitoring can provide VPN service configuration, traffic engineering, Service Level Agreement (SLA) support, customer self-service, IP address management and complex service order orchestration.
To deliver these management capabilities, we equip our modular IP/MPLS solution with three underlying attributes.
- A common workflow engine that enables automation
- A Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach to integration
- A domain management capability to ensure that, in the "shared" IP environment, customers have controlled private views of their services and information.
These attributes are embedded in our solution's components:
- Telcordia® Network Engineer for physical network inventory management
- Telcordia® Granite Inventory for resource management and provisioning
- Telcordia® Expediter for service order orchestration and interfacing to other OSS/BSS including billing
- Telcordia® Service Director for IP/MPLS service quality management
- Telcordia® COMMON LANGUAGE® for facilitating system-to-system communication and providing a nomenclature compatible with other existing systems
And to make implementation more efficient, we have developed the OSS "Express Pack" approach -- pre-populated service- and network-specific templates and models. Similar to online "wizards," the Express Pack approach can be used to solve specific business challenges such as provisioning and activating MPLS VPN service, managing Ethernet LAN services, and automating the configuration of IP/MPLS core network interfaces, routing protocols, QoS policies, and access control lists.
