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(Authors’ note: The IDC
observation is not completely accurate,
especially across North America,
where it is certainly the case
today that consumers can indeed
plug in their phones immediately – if
they move into a home that is pre-wired
and jacked.)
It is quite possible that FMC
and its use as a platform for Advanced
Services may be too complex to
manage via centralized systems.
One clear necessity is the mobile
phone resident management agent
specified as an option in 3GPP
release 7. The rapid and dynamic
way in which devices will switch
networks and services means that
new methods will be needed to know
what is the state of a device and
what services are active. It certainly
puts another nail in the coffin
for network-based stovepipe management
architectures.
Even NGOSS ESB technology may
be insufficient for knitting together
this, although the TMF’s
Service Delivery Platform may become
a key enabler. Bottom line – OSS/BSS
applications and the different
operational processes associated
with mobile, land voice, and internet
data may be the single biggest
obstacle to realizing and successfully
marketing FMC!
This all makes FMC a strong example
of our notion that a new management
paradigm is needed. Key to this
new approach will be grid-based
network, application infrastructures
and distributed smart management
agents. These agents will move
through the network following and
watching their assigned users and
devices. They will form a virtualized
model of the state and connectivity
of the FMC devices. But more than
just watch and mange, these agents
are likely to evolve to become
service gateways to SaaS and Web
Services needed by the devices.
The bottom line
Our ability to see the future
is limited, but our past experience
suggests that the idealistic view
of FMC as saving the operator is
not a likely outcome. At fault,
in principle, is the failure of
Service Providers to build a New
Product Introduction (NPI) strategy
which meets this vision of the
future, will excite consumers,
and be delivered at costs low enough
to generate profit. This includes
understanding and making the changes
to the OSS/BSS applications and
processes to support dynamically
convergent devices and services
(keeping in mind that all FMC terminals
are always in a state of dynamic
discovery). “Who’s
your Daddy?” becomes
the first question any management
application must ask of a device – or
a service.
Instead of service providers leveraging
network resident, centralized IMS
and multi-modal network devices
for access (that are still locked
to a specific provider) to keep