i-Boss puts next-generation telcos in driver`s seat

Speed to market with new services; ensuring the quality of those services; providing customers with single, integrated access to new and existing service offerings... these are just some of the challenges facing traditional and new telco service providers in the Digital Age.

This is according to Paul Diepenbroek, general manager, Sales: Service Provider Solutions at Dimension Data. Speaking at the Cisco Expo Africa 2001 conference last week, he said technology developments like IP (Internet Protocol), coupled with worldwide deregulation of the telco industry and growing consumer sophistication, marked the end of the era of focused `right of way` carrier telcos.

"Service providers that were `right of way` or carriers` carriers, realised some time ago that the only way to increase their margins was to open their bandwidth to all. But this has proved unsustainable, given the level of competition across the industry. Indeed, the result of this has been a bandwidth glut.

"So now telcos are looking to vertically integrate up the value chain and move closer to the consumer. They recognise that service and loyalty have become vital for retaining customers who have become more technology astute. These customers want the benefits that technologies like IP can deliver and they want to receive data via traditional voice channels. So carriers are evolving from circuit switched to packet mode and this is impacting their operations.

"At the same time, intense competition in the telco sector is resulting in significant consolidation. This raises a whole new set of challenges, including how to quickly integrate two or more disparate sets of business and operation support systems (BSS/OSS) systems without adversely impacting on service delivery," he explained.

"Telcos - both new and `old` - need a way to align their systems with the market expectations. They need new generation OSS/BSS systems which will enable them to do this quickly and cost-effectively."

According to Diepenbroek, Dimension Data developed i-Boss (integrated Business and Operations Support Systems), pre-integrated, plug-and-play architecture tailored to meet the needs of service providers deploying advanced IP-based networks and services, including those based on the Cisco platform, to meet these needs

The i-Boss solution addresses four key areas: customer relationship management (CRM), service fulfilment, service assurance and billing.

The CRM component guarantees service providers a consistent customer interface, resulting in integrated, accurate customer information while offering customer self-care.

In the service fulfilment arena, i-Boss enables customers to create and manage their own services across multiple technologies and network vendors. This capability helps service providers manage the explosive growth of their diverse data-centric networks.

Service assurance enables network problems to be resolved proactively, before they affect customer service. With i-Boss, service providers can maintain service levels through timely response and resolution of problems, thereby achieving enhanced quality of service.

In the billing environment, i-Boss allows service providers to bill and rate in a real time fashion to accommodate the frequent pricing and promotion changes necessary to be competitive.

"Because i-Boss is based on a highly flexible and adaptable architecture which includes world-leading software applications, it can be seamlessly integrated into IP networks to help them finely hone their competitive advantage.

"Numerous telcos have already implemented, or are implementing, i-Boss modules which address those aspects of their business they consider most strategic. I-Boss plug-and-play architecture makes it possible for them to add other modules as required," concludes Diepenbroek.