Micromuse Inc, the leading provider of real-time business and service assurance software, today announced that Vodacom has extended its implementation of the Netcool suite to provide end-to-end management of its GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) service.
The company first deployed Micromuse`s Netcool suite in 1999 to support its data services, and is now extending its Netcool deployment to ensure the service uptime of Vodacom`s world-class GSM service, which is used by millions of customers in SA, Tanzania, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Vodacom is 50% owned by Telkom South Africa, 15% owned by VenFin, and 35% owned by Vodafone, the world`s largest telecommunications group.
"As Vodacom continually enhances its portfolio of data services, we require a solution that enables proactive service level management by offering a consolidated view of the entire GSM service delivery infrastructure," said Johan Engelbrecht, Director, Engineering and Centralised Operations, Vodacom.
"We selected the Netcool suite the first time because it was quick to deploy and delivered an almost immediate return on our investment. When we re-evaluated Netcool for Vodacom`s GSM infrastructure, again we found that the solution provided a significantly lower total cost of ownership over a five-year period and technical superiority to any of the other products we examined."
Vodacom implemented a comprehensive Netcool-based solution specifically suited to address the needs of wireless providers by allowing proactive management and performance monitoring of existing services. The Netcool suite allows Vodacom to quickly and easily integrate and manage new services as customer requirements and market competition dictate.
The complete Netcool solution includes specialised applications for systems and service monitoring to enable constant service uptime and end-to-end monitoring of Vodacom`s GSM service delivery infrastructure.
The solution helps maintain the availability and reliability of Vodacom`s mobile voice and data communications services. Micromuse`s Netcool software also provides the strategic platform for Vodacom`s network operations centre, consolidating service status data from disparate network elements, systems and applications, including Motorola, Alcatel, Cisco and Siemens equipment, into a single, service-focused view.
"A significant percentage of Micromuse`s annual revenues come from repeat purchases made by satisfied installed base customers who want to extend the benefits of the Netcool technology across their infrastructure," said Richard Lowe, Micromuse`s Senior Vice-President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "This trend is testimony to the Netcool suite`s ability to deploy quickly, deliver immediate return on investment, and continue to provide incremental value to the customer as new services and technologies are added."
Dimension Data, a Micromuse global resale partner, delivered the design and implementation of Vodacom`s GSM network infrastructure.
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Vodacom is a pan-African cellular communications company providing a world-class GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) service to more than 10 million customers in SA, Mozambique, Tanzania, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Vodacom is the market leader in SA, with more than 95% of South Africans now within the coverage area of its impressive 5 000 base station cellular network.
Vodacom`s commitment to rolling-out subsidised community telephones in SA`s underserviced areas has significantly boosted the company`s coverage in rural areas. Vodacom Community Services` mandate is to provide access to telecommunications in areas where there is less than one telephone line per hundred people. This has meant rolling-out community phoneshops in rural areas where even fixed-line infrastructure does not exist and where it would ordinarily not be economical to build a cellular network.
Vodacom recognises that the future of SA is to a great extent intertwined with that of the African continent as a whole. In this respect, Vodacom`s construction of cellular networks throughout Africa is seen as helping to realise the ideal of an African Renaissance.
Vodacom Group`s shareholders include Telkom SA Ltd (50%), VenFin (15%) and Vodafone Group (35%).
Netcool
Micromuse`s Netcool software solutions provide businesses with the assurance that their applications and services are up and operating. By allowing our customers to see what`s happening throughout the infrastructure in real-time, Netcool applications enable them to respond to problems before revenue-supporting services are affected.
Netcool applications install out-of-the-box, deploy rapidly and scale to the largest environments. Micromuse`s flagship, Netcool/OMNIbus application, includes a library of off-the-shelf software modules that allow our customers to collect and consolidate information from more than 1 000 environments spanning applications, systems, voice and IP, cable/broadband, switches and routers, and enterprise management systems.
Micromuse
Micromuse Inc (Nasdaq: MUSEE) is the leading provider of real-time service and business assurance software solutions. The Netcool software suite provides organisations with the assurance that their IT systems are supporting and driving profits 24 hours a day. Unlike traditional infrastructure management systems, Netcool solutions provide real-time end-to-end visibility and accurate troubleshooting from a business perspective. Such business intelligence allows organisations to respond to problems quickly, streamline workflow processes and improve business uptime. Micromuse customers include Cable & Wireless, Charles Schwab, Deutsche Telekom, Digex, EarthLink, GE Appliances, ITC^DeltaCom, J.P. Morgan Chase, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Headquarters are located at 139 Townsend Street, San Francisco, California, 94107; (415) 538 9090. The Web site is at http://www.micromuse.com.
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