The objective of the order-to-install process is to configure and deliver a product to the end customer, preferably in an automated fashion. For CSPs, the order stage involves a high degree of configuration. The product based on options it makes available to customers to specify the offer they want, the service features they want with that offer, the devices they will use and whether they are replacing an existing offer they already have.

The multiplicity of product and feature choices, the product bundles and complex pricing policies mean that there are a number of determinant steps required to configure and price the order. All the while, the technical dependencies and business relationships must be preserved amongst the items in the order – and with the products previously purchased. Thus, there must be both the awareness of the product characteristics selected and the ability to dynamically enforce the rules that the specification of those characteristics trigger so that the order is properly validated prior to fulfillment.

Once the order has been “personalized”, or configured, and validated for the customer, it then requires decomposition into a level of data that the OSS and the network will understand, thereby kicking off the install stage. There is a strong dependency between the characteristics specified in the order and the set of steps involved in orchestrating the provisioning and activation of an order.

Critical to automating the order-to-install process and making it error resilient is having a common source of reference data (centralized product/service/resource Master Data Management) that can inform the process from the commercial layer down to the technical layer and add contextual rules enforcement capability (configure-price-quote rules execution) that can inform, immediately act upon and validate the selections being made.

The net result is systemic, automated enforcement across the BSS and OSS. The offer defined within the catalog matches the offer the customer selected and personalized, which matches the order that was then fulfilled, which matches the type and level of service the customer is then using and, ultimately, what the customer is paying for.

Create-Sell-Deliver…The Agile Way

Being able to create, sell and deliver new services on top of a catalog-driven infrastructure, with very little net new IT development or testing. That’s agile.

BSS and OSS products that have been architected in the pursuit of agility share some key characteristics:

Best-of Breed. Each application is best-in-class in and of itself. All capabilities are designed to be catalog-driven.

Modularity. It is not an “all or nothing” or “rip and replace” paradigm. We expect customers to leverage significant portions of their BSS/OSS, whilst incrementally modernizing critical systems in the Idea-to-Install path. Applications can be implemented singularly or as pre-integrated components, depending on the core needs of the customer.

Interoperability. Our interface architecture is standards based, with common integration protocols, such as HTTPS, SOAP, REST, and Web Services. Each application is designed for open interoperability (inbound & outbound) within a diverse/heterogeneous application landscape.

Cloud & Mobility. Applications are deployable in the cloud or on premise. User interfaces are multi-device compatible, using the latest front end technologies.

Operators need no longer be crippled by legacy systems; many of the traditional systems (e.g., CRM, Rating, Billing, ERP) can be left in place to do what they do best. We advocate an iterative approach to re-orientating the architecture to be catalog-driven/catalog-aware, whilst deploying best-of-breed capability to overhaul critical processing around Catalog, Order Capture, Order Management and Provisioning.

Service providers now have the tools to evolve into the quick and agile business the market demands. They have the flexibility to react speedily and securely to fast moving markets and customer needs and can adopt agile capability incrementally, without the disruption and cost of replacing legacy immediately.  

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Sigma Systems is the pioneer in catalog-driven Idea-to-Install products for communications, media and high tech companies. From the initial product idea through to the actual service install, Sigma helps our customers to Master What's Next and to make it easier for their customers to buy from them. The company’s BSS/OSS product portfolio spans enterprise catalog, configure price quote, order management, service provisioning, service inventory, cloud brokerage and device management – each of which can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

For more information about Sigma Systems, visit www.sigma-systems.com and follow @SigmaSystems on Twitter.