Service Activation of IP Services is a key activity within the Release Management process within the telecommunication industry. The nature of these activities should be very predictable and standard, where someone (the engineer onsite or end customer) plugs in the device with a basic configuration into in to the network after which the final end client configuration needs to be configured and fully tested to confirm the service is fully functional.
The client was on a monthly based manually provisioning over 3000 IP devices and for all of these provisionings a local engineer had to go to site to configure the device individually, sometimes with the help of the Network Operations Center. The main challenge with the activation of the service was that the engineer going to site could be anything from Senior to Junior with the risk that any issue during the activation of the service onside had to be resolved by the central team. They wanted to have the ability to ship a device to the location, without the need for an engineer to go on site. The customer onsite would be able to simply connect the device and once basic connection was setup, the automation would take care of the rest of the provisioning. This would save both costs and the need for engineers centrally to be scheduled to activate a service.
The required solution needed to cover at least the following key stages of the provisioning: Detection: The ability to recognize that a valid device is connected to the network once plugged in by the end customer or engineer which would trigger automatically the next step in the process without any human intervention. Customer Portal: The ability for the end customer to activate the service online via the customer portal when ever the customer is ready to switch on the service. This could include the notification to the billing system to start the contract period.
Health Check: The solution had to include a workflow that would take care of performing basic checks and performance testing to ensure the service is working as expected. CMDB & CRM integration: Updating the CMDB and CRM with the relevant information based on customer requirements, e.g. updating orders, tickets and configuration items. Customer Communication: One of the key benefits the customer wanted to achieve with providing an automated and orchestrated provisioning solution was also the customer communication. The ability to guide the customer close to real time along the way based on every step taken. This through a combination of sms, email and portal driven updates.
Solution Provided
Robot ICT provides a reliable, innovative and scalable solution using their own DNA framework. The generic solution can be deployed in a short period of time and is using industry standard backend systems. With DNA any workflow can be created based on the specific needs based on existing modules in the catelog. At the same time new modules can be created that are more customer specific. The workflows can represent a part of the activation process, where for example ports are being opened or healthcheck workflows run. These workflows can be trigger based on a part through the API or it can be triggered because of on event, for example the device is connected to the network. DNA also comes with a portal for internal usage where workflows can be trigger manually and information can be provided to show the state of the network. Any planned or running activity can be seen in real time.
Backend
Very high performing backend using open source technology, making it easy to build complex and high demanding algorithms and processes, without the potential that a high amount of transactions would slow down the application for the user. An easy scalable solution is used to ensure that any specific network can easily be included as part of the application, while it would still have its own syndic to execute network commands. Integration with other platforms such as CRM, CMDB, CMS, etc. The ability to easily extend this using API’s and where not possible RPA.
Frontend
The frontend provides a next-generation bidirectional communication technology providing a real-time web application thanks to the Web-Sockets ability. Customer specific requirements are easy to build. The potential to use the frontend also on mobile devices.
Agile Development
Using an agile development strategy, the customer requesting the application can easily list the features and prioritize them as part of the build plan.
Implemented in
4
months
Time savings
750
hours / month
Customer Self Help
100%
Time to Market
38%
less
Efficiency
30%
increase
Quality
25%
Improvement
Robot ICT was instrumental to our programme to transform the quote to cash process, with a significant emphasis on streamlining the Service Delivery and Service Activation activities. Robot quickly understood our issues and rapidly created prototypes and demonstration environments whilst working closely with our internal developers and architects. Using Agile development the first production system was live in less than a month, and a full Low Touch Provisioning system operational in 4 months. The systems and processes developed by Robot ICT contributed to a lead time reduction of 38% and efficiency improvement of 30%
Steve Roberts
VP Connectivity Services, owner of the P&L for the MPLS, IP and SD-WAN portfolios Global telco with revenues of $1Bn.
to perform basic activities like activating a service and performing some standard tests
there are less mistakes made during the process because it’s using a standard workflow
which makes everything else you do a lot easier
by giving them more self help and control over their network
Yes, any infrastructure service could use the same activation process
Often when people are involved in the process mistakes are made. Replace the humans with automated process typically improves the quality of standard tasks.