Service Provisioning of IP Services is a key activity within the Deployment Management process within the telecommunication industry. The nature of these activities can be very dynamic but process driven. Often there are many components and systems involved. Besides that, depending on the type of customers you’re serving, there might be a lot of non-standard involved, tailored per customer. But still, you want to manage this in a controlled way.
A European telecommunications company was tasked with manually provisioning IP devices on a monthly basis. The process involved core configurations, shipping to the site, activating the service, and performing a handover to the customer. To ensure seamless operations, all related backend systems, such as the CRM, CMDB, and additional applications, had to be accurately updated. The company required a solution that offered a high level of customization for their configurations and closely mirrored their existing processes. With the need for backend system integration, the solution had to integrate seamlessly with the existing infrastructure and be implemented as a workflow on top of the current systems.
Base Configuration: The ability to create a base configuration for different types of devices based on various access methods and providers. The system should also be able to automatically assign IP addresses from the CMDB. PE Configuration: The ability to prepare the core network for a new customer device to be connected, involving changes to the core configuration on a line-item basis, which is a delicate operation that must be done accurately to avoid network incidents. Service Monitoring: The solution should automatically detect when a valid device is ready to be connected to the network, triggering the next step in the process without human intervention. Final Configuration: The ability to create a final customer configuration based on specific requirements, store it in multiple locations, and automatically push the configuration to the device once the base service becomes available.
Integration with key systems: The process was managed through a CRM solution and involved tasks assigned to different teams to perform various actions, such as ordering hardware, preparing configurations, and activating the service. The solution needed to be able to retrieve and update the CRM system based on the steps in the workflow, and all KPI reporting was based on this CRM system. Integration with the Configuration Management Database (CMDB): The CMDB played a critical role in managing the technical allocation of specific configuration items, such as VRF and IP address allocation, and in structuring the service and monitoring. The solution needed to seamlessly integrate with the CMDB. Security Integration: The provisioning solution needed to integrate with a central security solution for any encryption requirements or to automatically protect devices using a password tool, without risking any damage to the device.
The solution covered
Base configuration: The ability to prepare a base configuration for different type of devices based on different access methodologies and providers. PE configuration: The ability to prepare the core network for the new customer device to be connedcted. This involves changes to the core configuration on a line item basis, a very sensitive operations that in case it would fail, could case a major network incident. Service monitoring: The solution had to automatically detect any valid device to be connected to the network, triggering automatically the next steps in the process without any human intervention.
Result
With this solution the final configuration is possible:
The ability to first create a final customer configuration based on the customer specific requirements, store the configuration in multiple places and when the base service would become avaiable, automatically push the final configuration to the devices.
Process cost
70%
reduction
Saving
30%
of time
Eliminates
99%
errors
Enchanced
100%
satisfaction
Robot ICT was instrumental to our program to transform the quote into a 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 was operational in 4 months. The systems and processes developed by Robot ICT contributed to a lead time reduction of 38% and an efficiency improvement of 30%
Service provisioning automates the process of provisioning new services, reducing the time it takes to bring new products and services to market.
Service provisioning improves the customer experience by reducing the time it takes to receive new services and providing a more consistent level of service quality.
Service provisioning reduces operational costs by automating manual tasks and reducing the need for manual intervention.
Service provisioning enables providers to easily scale their service offerings to meet changing customer needs and demand.
The provisioning process is monitored and maintained through a combination of automated and manual processes, including real-time monitoring and performance tracking, to ensure reliability.
The available services for provisioning vary depending on the provider, but they may include broadband, voice, cloud, data center, and other managed IT services.
COO