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By using an automated, structured and rules-based approach for capturing design information, service providers can benefit from a “one-click” analysis that highlights errors for missing information or conflicting definitions. With an automated solution, flags for non-standard components in the design can be immediately highlighted. Any approach for automating the solution management process should include the following:
- Design diagrams should be automatically generated, and they should provide a diagrammatic description of the solution and network topology.
- A bill of materials report should provide a list of CPE standard and non-standard elements included in the solution, while addressing both new and existing equipment.
- A design summary report should describe the highlights of the solution.
- A detailed design document should provide an internal technical document that describes the solution details.
- A customer design document should provide a customer-facing presentation that illustrates the final list of services to be sold to the customer along with a diagram of the proposed solution.
The benefits of this automated approach include streamlining design, sales and fulfilment processes as well as accelerating the introduction of lower-cost, higher-quality solutions for customers.
Additionally, the benefits of automated solution management in the VPC and other cloud environments include shortened time-to-market, increased efficiencies and
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An automated approach to solution management also lowers costs for personnel. |
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improved profitability. A shorter sales cycle allows faster deployment of larger, more complex, next-generation solutions and services. Quick re-designs are possible because staff can begin the process from a known and documented “as built” state.
Automation results in the enforcement of design rules that enable current products and pricing to be presented to the customer with 99 percent accuracy for a deployable solution design. The designed system is also better positioned for the successful provisioning of add-on services. Additionally, using an automated approach to solution management lowers costs for personnel because staff with less technical expertise can be utilized to achieve outstanding results.
In a recent study that compared Tier 1 communications service providers in North America using manual and automated processes, statistics reveal the advantage of applying automation to service design, sales and deployment processes. The “manual” sample in the study included 88 service bids while the “automated” sample included 128 service bids.
The results show that the average design time, including customer changes, was 48.75 hours using manual processes and 27.00 hours using automated processes, a large advantage for providers using automated processes. Additionally, the average time to make a design change was 9.0 hours using manual processes versus 3.5 hours using automated processes, another significant advantage. Results such as these are illustrative of the exceptional value that automation can bring to the design, sales and provision of cloud services.
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