IDC Vendor Spotlight

Improving Network Quality and Customer Experience with Network Element Management

The explosion of Internet services and IP-based devices is driving spending on IT network infrastructure for both service providers and enterprise customers alike. As more networking equipment is added to accommodate the growing number of users and devices accessing and traversing the network, it is becoming painfully clear that the management and configuration of these network devices can no longer be done manually. Depending on the number of devices and administrators on staff, the exact pain threshold for each customer is different, but when the number of network devices runs into the hundreds, the traditional method of manual configuration does not scale. Manual configuration is extremely time consuming―it does not provide a repository of configuration settings, the ability to monitor and enforce policies, or automated remediation in the event of a failed configuration. It also does not create an audit trail. As the networks increase in size, they increase in their complexity and heterogeneity. Change is constant, with moves and new equipment continuously added to the network infrastructure. A single console that can manage configuration changes across devices from multiple vendors, inside the network operations center (NOC), and at remote sites saves time and reduces the chance for configuration errors.

Trends Driving the Need for Better Network Management

Two key trends are driving this push for better network quality and, hence, the need for network element management. They are:

Focus on service development

As communications service providers (CSPs) focus on developing innovative services, the network infrastructure must be a manageable and modular component. For network equipment vendors which deliver element management systems (EMS) and network management systems (NMS) that span their entire product portfolio, they increase buyer confidence of the overall solution value and manageability. Several aspects such as staffing priorities, competitive dynamics for the CSP and network technologies are changing, providing suppliers in the network and element management market with opportunity. Networks have expanded to the point where manual management is not feasible. Service development initiatives require that network assets be highly reliable to suit different kinds of services while also being available as components in a modular way. In addition, manual configuration methods provide limited accountability and are very time consuming. To meet time-to-market requirements, EMS/NMS systems are a key foundation.

Focus on quality management: QoE, SQM and CEM

Investment in infrastructure operations, especially to support automation, is contributing to customer experience management goals for leading CSPs. In the engineering of mobile networks, multiple dimensions of complexity―legal, real estate, topography, radio signal strength, volume, and staffing―drive continued reliance on a broad set of small niche expert suppliers. However, in recent conversations, mobile service providers have suggested that deploying an assurance-based solution was increasingly effective in solving their problems. In a nutshell, what has been often defined as a “provisioning” problem is now being tackled as an assurance problem due to the customer-focus initiatives.

EMS/NMS provides the foundation for a quality experience by delivering foundational information to quality of experience key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards, service quality management and customer experience measurement systems. The EMS/NMS do discovery, create topology maps, provide audit trails, create and enforce policies, automate changes and push them out to the elements, simulate configurations before they are implemented, create baselines, collect and store configuration data, perform rollbacks and remediation, check start-up configurations to running configurations, and keep track of which OS is running on each of the network devices and they do this across multiple platforms from a single console. The EMS/NMS is increasingly a key system underpinning a simplified view of the network infrastructure and helps to organize and tame the complex network maze, freeing up staff to focus on the overall customer engagement.

Benefits of Network Element Management

The network is becoming a key component in the execution of the business model and, in some cases, it is the business model. Network and element management products are one way to rein in the chaos that can exist when changes are made in a manual, ad hoc fashion. Network and element management products provide a framework that gives detailed insight into the network devices, thereby creating greater understanding of the network environment. This greater understanding makes troubleshooting easier and proactive trouble prevention a reality. As companies struggle with emerging compliance mandates, network and element management products do not only provide historic configuration and audit trails but also monitor and enforce policies as the company’s needs dictate.

Role of element and network management

OSS assets, including element and network management, manage the network elements in the infrastructure. In some cases, the proprietary network equipment relies upon proprietary element and network management. As the network is evolving to be IP-based, some standardization has emerged in element and network management principles. However, the latest moves by network equipment providers (NEPs) include adding management capabilities to their product and services portfolios.

Going forward, the role of element and network management from now to 2012 is to help make the network infrastructure more modular. In mobile networks, the profusion of radio frequency (RF) planning tools, customer experience systems and network element monitoring systems continues to be accepted. The current trends of mobile network infrastructure outsourcing and, potentially, network sharing does not suggest near-term changes in the mobile OSS. This means that element and network management will continue to be an important area of investment for CSPs.

Overall in CSP networks, very large-scale networks are now emerging. CSPs see large-scale networks in the future, either as part of roadmaps of 4G mobile distributed architectures or as a result of supporting machine-to-machine (M2M) initiatives. Others which are already seeing very large-scale networks today often have flat network architectures or are advancing on the path of converging their networks onto IP, or both.

Role of ZTE NetNumen

Today’s CSPs continue to look for ways to simplify the network operations and maintenance, improve network performance, integrate and normalize element management data, and sometimes also network management data. ZTE’s NetNumen solution is part of a growing trend in the industry to better integrate element and network management with the overall infrastructure management strategies. ZTE is working hard to make its element and network management system the best choice for its customers.

ZTE’s NetNumen solution is designed to be a comprehensive management for all types of network equipment including services, core network, bearer network, access network and terminals. It provides an operations and maintenance system that manages different types of devices. It does batch configurations of network elements intended to improve the network maintenance efficiency. Device status for devices involved in an end-to-end service flow over the network are the basic data for guaranteeing QoE and SQM to help ensure the secure, reliable running of the network. It includes batch configuration through templates, customized KPI data, perfect logs and security management, timely alarms and NE status information, integration with some OSS vendor solutions and associated systems. The solution features include the end-to-end service status is visible and manageable; the solution allows the managed networks to grow in scale.

NetNumen solution architecture

The architecture of ZTE NetNumen U31 is illustrated in Figure 1. As an EMS, NetNumen can manage different types of device within a telecom network and provide a variety of device management functions and basic data.

Opportunities

■   Convergence of mobile and fixed networks

Convergence of mobile and fixed networks onto a common IP network platform requires common tools such as EMS/NMS. Convergence also increases the importance of effective network management, especially as a building block. As voice services shift from being an explicit network infrastructure-based service to becoming a service based on an application (on IP networks), competition for CSPs with traditional and over-the-top providers is only set to increase, making strong network quality and reliability a key point of differentiation.

■   Work with ZTE managed services

With greater focus on the end-to-end customer experience, combined with the rise of network outsourcing options, CSPs are embracing monitoring-based approaches and a services approach. The growth of professional services for network equipment vendors reflects this trend. Top CSPs are turning to NEPs for extensive professional services are a key indicator.

Challenges

■   Integrating with other OSS and IT management systems

Integration with other OSS and IT management systems in each service provider’s own particular network and operations environment needs to be an ongoing priority for ZTE. Network equipment and the operations of that equipment are tightly linked. Installed and new systems require real integration work. However, in the telecom infrastructure, the network team, which drives network gear, and the IT team, which drives operational process systems, remain separated―organizationally and politically. Likewise the core network is the source of significant large investments in OSS and network management investment, but the management of access networks can often be a blind spot for centralized operations staff. Integration of EMS/NMS with central IT systems for provisioning and assurance of customers is a key step that requires often challenging cross-company cooperation.

■   Showing value of EMS/NMS

ZTE must work hard to demonstrate the value of their EMS/NMS solutions to prospects and customers, and also show their commitment to the solutions. The internal staff of NEPs and a number of their customers understand that the core assets of their systems (e.g., routers and switches) are software. Some within those groups understand OSS and network management as ways to optimize the use of those systems. More often, OSS and network management, when coming from a NEP, are perceived by customers as table stakes and by NEP salespeople as easy up-sell.

For established systems, the OSS costs can be relatively low while newer stage activity is higher. There are many examples of network equipment vendors which view network management as an external rather than internal or native expertise. Some play in network management solutions offerings or a broader OSS position but primarily from a services-driven perspective rather than pure software. Without a doubt, the product portfolios and service portfolios of NEPs will continue to focus on the network equipment but cyclically include network management and OSS capabilities as suited to their broader market play.

Conclusion

Element and network management is important to uptime of the network and the service. ZTE’s work with many CSPs helps it to understand the challenges of mobile and fixed line network operators, especially in emerging markets.

IDC believes that the growth and complexity of network infrastructures are forcing IT departments to move away from traditional manual methods of configuration and seek standardized solutions to automate and perform network discovery, change and configuration tasks.

In the end, this is about the use case for technologies: Service providers have a greater need to ensure the network performance than they do for structuring systems to serve network and service organization/set up processes. Service-level monitoring tools and reports can be monetized as add-ons to business customers. To do this, network and element management is an important foundation.