New problems are emerging in the outer reaches of the network as well. Similar to what we see in the deeper layers, CSPs’ reliance on an increasingly elaborate product mix is clouding visibility. When multiple legacy data silos and patched-together OSS/BSS software from numerous vendors are added to the equation, you can imagine why seeing anything network related in its totality is a lot harder than it might seem. Preventative CEM requires a visibility that’s becoming harder to achieve.

Focus on enablers

This isn’t another article about the fabled mobile-data tsunami, at least not in the way you might imagine. That’s because the source of most high-profile outages isn’t massive amounts of session data clogging pipes and breaking mains. In fact, it can be traced to the signaling that flows in the control plane.

This type of information is distinct from session packets (the data plane), which make up about 90 percent of traffic on the mobile airwaves. Control-plane traffic, on the other hand, is what tells the network how it should function, who’s connected, who’s allowed to use which services, and more. And when these “enabler” messages and processes go haywire it will take down an entire network.

Global CSPs like Orange, T-Mobile, O2, and Verizon have all experienced protracted outages as a result of control-plane signaling errors. In other words, enablers were the cause — not the radio networks, not bandwidth bumps, not a capacity crunch. In Verizon’s case the problem was in the IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) core, which failed to recognize the company’s subscribers and therefore is about as far from personalization, another crucial component of CEM, as an operator can get.

Preventative medicine

To prevent outages from occurring and lay the groundwork for an effective CEM platform, CSPs need to see what’s happening in their networks in real time. Just as odd sounds precede mechanical failures in cars, spikes in control-plane signaling activity presage network problems. Unison visibility into session data is also required to see a network from a customer’s perspective; operators would then be capable of aggregating and contextualizing mountains of network data to make operational decisions as well as guide and report on the effectiveness of additional CEM strategies.

NetScout, a communications technology provider that Pipeline highlighted in its February issue, is a prime example of a company that offers the kind of tools that can help CSPs achieve preventative CEM. It’s already made a name for itself with its wireless service assurance and innovative packet-flow solutions, which are delivering real-time visibility and service-delivery management across five LTE networks. NetScout’s solutions are delivering real-time visibility used for service delivery management in five LTE networks in North America, and many others worldwide. NetScout is deployed in more than 20,000 enterprise environments and 148 service providers worldwide, including every major mobile operator in North America.

This pervasive, end-to-end visibility enables CSPs to model, monitor and maximize their convoluted network topography. In a nutshell, NetScout’s technology sees everything: network, application, user, control plane. “In a service provider’s environment we look at a service from the point it is created all the way to the point of consumption” on a user’s mobile device, explains Steven Shalita, VP of marketing for NetScout. “Wireless service providers are more aligned with a service-delivery architecture as opposed to a traditional transport network. There is a big difference in how you manage and assure services in IP versus traditional TDM-based networks.”

As you can see in figure 1, combining real-time, deep views of the control and data planes grants service providers total network visibility from the customer’s perspective.

Figure 1

This is essential for mobile service assurance, and a critical component of preventative CEM. However, NetScout has added further proficiencies by contextualizing the wealth of data its appliances collect.