HP Customer Network Management Concept Guide Notice The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for any errors contained herein, or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance or use of this material. This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company @Copyright 1992 Hewlett-Packard Company All rights reserved. Hewlett-Packard Company Singapore Networks Operation 1150 Depot Road SINGAPORE 0410 April 1993 Abbreviations API Applications Programmatic Interface BI Basic Integrator CNM Customer Network Management CMISE Common Management Information Services Element CPM Customer Premises Equipment Management CPS Customer Premise Station DCE Distributed Computing Environment DME Distributed Management Environment DRS Data Relationship Store GDMO Guidelines for the Definition of Managed Objects IT Information Technology LAN Local Area Network MDS Meta Data Store MIB Management Information Base MO Managed Object NE Network Element NEP Network Equipment Provider OO Object Oriented OSS Operation Support System OSF Open Software Foundation OSI Open Systems Interconnect PC Personal Computer SMFA Specific Management Functional Areas SMI Structure of Management Information TSP Telecommunications Service Provider TMN Telecommunications Management Network VAI Value Added Integrator W/S Workstation Preface This document is the Concept Guide to the HP CNM Platform. This document is for anyone needing to understand the concept behind the HP CNM Platform. Abstract Corporate organizations are demanding better and more sophisticated telecommunications network services from their telecommunications service providers (commonly known as PTTs, Public Carriers, Telcos, IXC, and RBOCs - In this document, these will be referred to as TSPs). They want better control of their company-wide resources depending on their current business needs. Customer Network Management (CNM) is seen as a means to provide the answers. CNM extends the telecommunications network service information to the customer's premise giving them the flexibility to manage and access their subscribed services more efficiently and effectively resulting in significant cost savings. It enables corporate customers to bridge the management of private and public networks by providing an end-to-end view of their corporate-wide network. This paper outlines the dilemma that many corporate organizations face in the area of corporate-wide network management, current trends in the telecommunications industry, Customer Network Management (CNM) and Hewlett-Packard's involvement and solutions in CNM. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction to CNM 1.1 Telecom Customers Today 5 1.2 Telecom Customers Needs 6 1.3 Industry Trends 7 1.4 TSP Challenges 8 1.5 What is CNM? 9 1.6 CNM Values 11 2.0 The CNM Solution 2.1 CNM Solution Model 11 2.2 CNM Environment 12 3.0 HP CNM Products and Services 3.1 HP OpenView HARMONi Platform 14 3.2 CNM Consulting Services 15 1.0 Introduction to CNM This is an introduction to the telecommunications environment that corporate customers are finding themselves in today and their increasing telecommunications needs for their business. It also outlines some industry trends which will significantly impact the competitiveness of the TSPs and telecommunications equipment providers worldwide. It also describes the concept of CNM which is starting to evolve further and the potential value that CNM can offer to both, corporate customers and telecommunications service providers. 1.1 Telecom Customers Today Every business uses some forms of telecommunication services to complement the day-to-day business activities. This is most true in big corporations where telecommunications is often viewed as the lifeblood of the business. Any failure or inefficiency of these services could mean business losses amounting to a lot money. Telecommunications is therefore considered as a strategic weapon in running a business. Typical examples of telecommunication services offered to customers by TSPs: - Analogue Data Services (dialup or leased lines) - Digital Data Services (leased lines) - Public Packet Switched Network Services (X.25) - ISDN Services - Virtual Private Network (VPN) Services - PABX/Centre Services - Electronic Mail Services, Directory Services (X.400; X.500) - Metropolitan Area Network Services (MAN; IEEE 802.6) - EDI & Electronic Funds Transfer Services The larger the company the more services they will subscribed. Large corporations are spending tens of millions of dollars a year for their telecommunication services using thousands of different services in order to meet the needs of their businesses in terms of voice, video and data communications. It is a large task for these companies to manage all these services. Depending on the changing needs of their businesses the companies telecommunication managers and operators continuously need to perform the following type of functions: - monitor the proper functioning of the services - order new services - cancel unused services - upgrade existing services (increase capacity, speed, quality) - test services and applications - troubleshoot and isolate faulty components/services To be able to manage the variety of these often complex services, highly skilled people are required. They include: - Telecommunications Managers (Voice/Video Communications) - Data communications Manager - Network Engineers - Network Operators Every service is managed in a different manner and therefore continuously increases the demand for more and better skilled people in telecommunications and data communications. This burdens the companies more and more. In recent years, large, reputable corporations have resorted to "Outsourcing". They have realized that the burden of running and managing their network was getting too much and wasn't in line with their business and business objectives. Outsourcing enables these companies to offload the responsibility of running and managing a corporate-wide network to another organization (i.e. TSP) and focus more on primary business objectives. The telecommunication service providers themselves are having more and more difficulty in managing their wide range of telecommunication services effectively and efficiently. 1.2 Telecom Customers Needs Telecommunication customers are demanding more timely, accurate and intelligible telecommunication information and services to help them run their business more effectively and efficiently. They are also asking TSPs to deliver new value-added and enhanced services or risk losing the business. Telecommunication managers in these companies are in fact under tremendous pressure to provide close-to-zero-defect communication services. They are expected to keep the services up and running with minimum or no disruption to the business. They must also be able to project future requirements and plan the communications infrastructure to support the ever-growing business requirements. In addition, they are expected to control their expenditure/costs, keep staffing to the minimum, minimise risks and at the same time keep their internal customers satisfied. Today's telecommunication customers face several major problems ranging from insufficient status information of the subscribed telecommunications services to the inability to provide complete end-to-end network management across their entire corporate-wide network, including the telecom services. Corporate organizations would like to be able to have more control over the subscribed telecommunication services. As an example, they would like to be able to dynamically reconfigure voice, data and video services according to the specific needs of their business. These capabilities should be possible without the need for highly skilled expertise within the corporate organization and without on-site attendance. The aim is to give the users some control of the telecommunication network and services they use. The potential for on-going cost savings and efficient utilisation of their communication links and services are enormous. It was singled out by Andersen Consulting#1, in a study of 250 corporate companies, that the four areas in which customers typically interact with TSPs are: - Service Provisioning - Network Operations Management - Billing - Planning The report also detailed the priority of what the customers want to see implemented by TSPs. In summary, they want better and more accessible information about the subscribed telecommunications services, in particular the network activities. Typical customer requirements which would enhance their capabilities and facilitate their interactions with the TSPs in the four areas above are the ability to: - access accurate traffic/usage information - selectively control subscribed telecommunication services - track subscribed telecommunication services inventory - order or request for services on a "need to" basis- track orders/requests in regard to its timeliness and accuracy - escalate service requests - track service quality levels against service level agreement contracted - track troubles especially during critical outages or chronic periods - receive early and relevant notifications - check on the status of trouble-shooting activities - issue trouble report - access accurate billing information (current & history) - include telecommunications cost within customer's chart of account- reconcile and approve the payments of telecommunication bills - allocate telecommunication costs between internal users for charge-back purposes - minimise on-going costs, once costs are monitored and controlled - demonstrate how a particular configuration would be billed - access to other TSPs' tariff information- integrate with internal communication systems information In addition, the customers expect the following features of the telecommunication services: - user-friendly and easy-to-use menu-driven programs - simple log-on procedures - automatic help facilities - able to download information to their PCs or computer systems for further analysis and reporting - consistent user interface for all telecommunication services - conformance to industry standards 1.3 Industry Trends A number of telecom industry trends are gradually evolving and influencing the directions of the TSPs and their customers' needs. Some of the most noticeable trends are : - de-regulation of the telecom industry - advancement of technology such as Intelligent Networks - emergence of standards such as OSF/DME, OSF/DCE and various CCITT recommendations - more sophisticated and demanding customers The trend towards a deregulated telecommunications industry and increased international competition has opened up the window for TSPs to become global players in the market place. This trend makes it possible to implement the type of telecommunication services that international corporate customers have been asking for. With the advancement of technology, the emergence of standards, the increase in more sophisticated and demanding customers and the move towards a de-regulated industry, most telecommunications service providers are challenged to become more effective, efficient and customer-oriented. The technologies, standards, methodologies and organizations which contributed to make it feasible and viable for the telecommunications service providers to develop and introduce new customer value-added services such as CNM are: - OSF/DME - OSF/DCE - Object Management Group (OMG) Consortium (OO methodology) - CCITT Recommendation TMN (Telecommunications Management Network) - CCITT Recommendation CNM (Customer Network Management) - OSI Management Frame-work (Structured Management Functional Areas) - NMForum (Network Management Forum) Consortium - Integrated Network Management Architectures and Platforms (i.e. HP OpenView DM; IBM NetView; AT&T Accumaster) Key structured management functional areas (SMFA) identified are: - Alarm and Fault Management - Configuration Management - Performance Management - Accounting Management - Security Management 1.4 TSP Challenges The challenge for the TSPs to meet their customers' needs of improved and new services is using a phased approach by which a smooth transition can be achieved. The key areas of integration required in these phases are: * Operation Systems Integration The Operation Systems Integration deals with the accessibility of telecommunications service information to the customer. This can be achieved through a formal integration process. Often, the OS are dispersed throughout the organization and are being controlled by different departments. Each OS is built, as networks are added to the telecommunications network and they may be supplied by the telecommunications equipment providers or developed by the TSPs themselves. Therefore, the integration process can be quite complex and time consuming. * Consistent and Standard Information Format A Consistent and Standard Information Format is required for the information integration. This is to take care of the diversity of the OS and to ease the development efforts. * Network Infrastructure Integration The Network Infrastructure Integration takes care of the timely delivery and availability of management information of telecommunication services. A structured integrated telecommunications network has to be in place for this purpose. The benefits for the TSPs will be an infrastructure which enables them to rapidly develop and deploy new services and applications which will be critical for them to remain competitive in the long-term. It also provides them with the flexibility to integrate new services much quicker. Given the industry trends and the TSP customers' needs, TSPs must address the following requirements in order to maintain their competitiveness in the market : - - increase quality of services (QOS) - retain customers who would otherwise use alternative carriers (customer loyalty) - achieve market dominance and control over other TSP's and private service providers - increase revenue by providing more advanced services such as VPN (Virtual Private Networks) service Another important consideration for telecommunications service providers is the fact that CNM services are not only very valuable for their customers but also for their own internal management requirements. The variety of different services of the network can no longer be managed effectively and efficiently if they are managed individually. There is a need for a generic service management strategy and architecture that defines the service and network management solutions in a common fashion. Often, the internal information technology groups of the TSPs face similar challenges as corporate customers and therefore can also easily become a major customer of the CNM services themselves. Today, many network management systems operate at the equipment level (management of individual devices) or at the network level (management of a network) only. However, the provisioning of CNM services requires the coverage of the next higher levels which are the service level (switched and/or leased services as well as LANs, PCs, hosts etc.) and business level (service ordering, billing, accounting, etc.). Without these higher levels of service and business management, the network becomes a barrier to effective network management by the customers. CCITT also defined recommendations for the 'Arrangements for User Access to Management Information of Public Data Networks Relating to User Interface (Draft Recommendation X.cnma/i/s; SGVII; previously X.user). The Recommendation presents the general principles and the framework for providing network users with on-line access to the network for the purpose of management which differs from the conventional method used between customers and the TSP where complaints are submitted by telephone and bills are delivered by mail. This CCITT recommendation specifies mechanisms for these new maintenance and management requirements. 1.5 What is CNM? CNM gives customers the flexibility to access and manage their subscribed services more efficiently and effectively which therefore results in significant cost savings. TSPs around the globe are working towards the introduction of CNM services for their corporate customers as a means of adding more value and differentiating themselves from competitors. The implementation of CNM is becoming more and more popular in the telecommunications industry as it enables corporate customers to bridge the management of private and public networks by providing an end-to-end view of their corporate-wide network. At the customer premises, CNM can be further defined to include the integration and management of the customers' internal communication systems and its management information systems (MIS) and executive information systems (EIS). The management of customer premises equipment such as LANs, PCs, hosts etc. is known as Customer Premises Equipment Management (CPM). In the TSP environment, CNM is built on the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN). TMN, as defined in the CCITT Recommendation M30, provides the framework for the management of the internal telecommunication networks and services of the TSPs. CNM should therefore be viewed as a logical extension of TMN to the customer. However, the presentation of the telecommunications information provided to the customer is at a much higher level. There is no need to extend all the detailed TMN information to the customer and it also wouldn't make any sense to do so. It provides a higher level of abstraction of the network and the network services. 1.6 CNM Values CNM provides significant values to both the TSPs' and their customers' needs such as: * Substantial cost reductions as more customer service tasks are automated through CNM and can be initiated by the end-customers themselves : (a) reduction in cost of maintaining existing customer support systems and/or developing new ones (b) reduction in resources to entertain and track customer requests (eg. service provisioning, call-ins, queries,..etc) (c) reduction in time spent to entertain and track customer requests (with CNM, customer gets information or service almost instantaneously) * Considerable service quality improvements through on-line management of services by the customers themselves * Increase in revenue since CNM should be seen as a means to provide value-added services, such as inventory, accounting, provisioning, fault admin...etc ( retain existing customers and attract new customers who would otherwise use alternative TSPs or establish their own private networks ) * Increase in customer loyalty due to increased satisfaction and dependency * Overall - create market dominance (competitive advantage) Values of CNM to telecom customers * Optimize cost and increase efficiency through better management and utilization of telecom resources and costs. * Provide visibility and control of the subscribed telecom services that relate to the business * Effective management of their network including the telecom services given a true "end-to-end" picture * Overall - create competitive edge through effective and efficient management of the organization network and telecom service resources The implementation of CNM is becoming more and more popular in the telecommunications industry, as it addresses the needs of TSP's and their customers and thus providing a win-win situation for both parties. 2.0 The CNM Solution 2.1 CNM Solution Model Hewlett-Packard has worked in partnership with AOTC (Telecom Australia) for over two years towards the development of a open, standards based CNM platform. A prototype CNM platform was delivered at the end of 1991 and is now being enhanced and developed into a product. Some of the development work has resulted in submissions to CCITT . Hewlett-Packard can contribute significantly to the telecommunications industry with its open, state-of-the-art computer system platforms and information systems architecture. These platforms combined with the OSF/DME compliant HP OpenView DM (Distributed Management) platform are the underlying structure of the HP OpenView HARMONi platform developed for the telecom industry. HP OpenView HARMONi platform includes key components of the industry-leading open network management platform, the HP OpenView Distributed Management platform, and enhanced management services and tools. This will enable developers to quickly create value-added CNM applications and services which allows them to achieve the important time-to-market success factor. HP OpenView HARMONi is therefore designed to provide major TSPs and telecommunications equipment providers the ability to offer their customers a strategic value-added service, Customer Network Management. HP OpenView HARMONi is a comprehensive platform enabling corporate organizations and TSPs to: * link and integrate private and public network management solutions * integrate the management of the telecommunications network, the customer premise equipment, the customer internal network and the subscribed telecommunications service information * construct an integrated view of multiple networks by providing the linkages between equipment, network and service management * extend the information of subscribed telecommunication services into the customer premises thus allowing the customers to manage these services effectively, coherently and efficiently * use network management features to help grow the customer's business 2.2 CNM Environment There are two types of CNM systems: (i) Customer Premise Station (CPS) and (ii) Value Added Integrator (VAI). Customer Premise Station (CPS) The Customer Premise Station (CPS) is the CNM system installed at the customer's location. It is intended for the end users to access and exchange CNM information, and integrate the information provided by the TSP with that of the end user's organization. The recommended hardware configuration for the CPS is: * workstation (HP9000 Series 700), 64 MB RAM, 800 MB disk. Value Added Integrator (VAI) The VAI is installed at the telecom organization premise. It is the source of telecom data for end users. Via a Basic Integrator (BI), the VAI interfaces to the TSP's operation support systems, business support systems and network management systems. It makes information available to the CPS via a CMIS-based interface. The Basic Integrator is simply a bridging module that converts information between the proprietary operation systems (OS) and the standards-based VAI. The recommended hardware configuration for the VAI is: * multi-user system (HP9000 Series 800), 64 MB RAM, 2.6GB disc. * supports 30 CPSs Typical CNM applications that can be developed using the HP OpenView HARMONi platform and its associated services and tools are: * Alarm and Fault Management Application - Alarms - Fault Correction or Bypass - Testing - Logging (historical data) * Accounting (and Service Order) Management Application - Charging Information - Quota Control - Real-time Charging Information * Configuration (and Name Management) Application - Changing Configurations - Equipment and Services Information * Performance Management Application - Traffic Information - Quality of Service - Service Testing * Security Management Application - Password Management - Access Management - Encryption The key to success is time-to-market and the HP OpenView HARMONi platform enables the introduction of new services much quicker. Interoperability with services to other TSPs is also warranted due to the adoption of various industry standards covered earlier. The competitiveness and differentiation between the various TSPs is achieved by the type of services being offered and note development platform used to provide these value-added services. 3.0 HP CNM Product and Services 3.1 HP OpenView HARMONi Platform HP provides the HP OpenView HARMONi platform upon which management solutions can be built in the area of Customer Network Management. In the future more components will be added to assist in the development of TMN and CPM solutions. Based on this architecture, the HP OpenView HARMONi platform is the first CNM product developed by HP. It consists of the following components: * Communications and presentation infrastructure comprising the OpenView Windows and OpenView Communications Infrastructure * Object-oriented management services which provide the common management functionality that is required by most management solutions. These include, the DataRelationshipStore, (a data management service), and the Event Management Service * Generic management applications which provide the basic functionality that allows the platform to be usable from day one. These include the DataWalker and the basic Security and Administration applications * A comprehensive set of development tools which assist developers to deliver solutions with minimum effort. These include the object class translator and the MetaDataStore With these functional components, the HP OpenView HARMONi platform has the following characteristics: * Open system based on OSF/DME standards * Modular * Distributed * Extensible applications can be developed incrementally to extend the functionality, without modifying existing capability * Reduce development effort required by developers 3.2 CNM Consulting Services Implementing CNM is a fairly complex task and requires significant integration work with existing operation systems. Hewlett-Packard has developed various consulting services in order to ensure successful implementation of the HP OpenView HARMONi platform and CNM applications. The CNM consulting services are: * CNM Functional Requirements Analysis * CNM Object Modelling * CNM Application Design and Development * CNM System Deployment Planning For more information please refer to the: * HP OpenView HARMONi Platform Product Brochure * HP OpenView HARMONi CMN Consulting Services Brochure * HP OpenView HARMONi Technical Evaluation Guide #1 The Andersen Consulting report on "Telephone Customers Sound Off About Customer Service", Nov. 1990 Information in this document is subject to change without notice. @Copyright 1992 Hewlett-Packard Company Printed in Singapore SNO-3 4/93