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TeleManagement Forum Africa Summit 2012

Originally posted on 29Sep12 to IBM Developerworks (13,053 Views)

Last week, I was at the TeleManagement Forum’s (TMF) Africa Summit event in Johannesburg, South Africa. The main reason for me attending was to finish of my TMF certifications (I am level 3 currently) in the process framework (eTOM) – if I have passed the exam, I will be Level 4 certified. It was a really tough exam (75% pass mark) so I don’t know if I did enough to get over the line’.   Regardless, the event was well attended with 200-230 attendees for the two days of the conference. It was interesting to hear the presenter’s thoughts on telco usage within Africa into the future. Many seemed to think that video would drive future traffic for telcos. I am not so sure. I n other markets around the world, video was also projected to drive 3G network adoption, yet this has not happened anywhere. Why do all these people think that Africa will be different?  I see similar usage patterns in parts of Asia, yet Video has not take off there. Skype carries many more voice only calls than video calls. Apple’s Facetime video chat hasn’t taken off like Apple predicted. 3G video calls makes a tiny proportion of all calls made. Personally, I think that voice (despite it’s declining popularity relatively speaking in the developed world) will remain the key application, especially voice over LTE for the foreseeable future in Africa. I also think that social networking (be it Facebook, freindster, MySpace or some other African specific tool) will drive consumer data (LTE) traffic. Humans are social animals, and I think these sorts of social interactions will apply just as much in the African scenario as it has in others.

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High Availability – unbelievable claims

Originally posted on 06Sep12 to IBM Developerworks (15,303 Views)

The other day, I was at a customer proof of concept, where the customer asked for 99.9999% availability within the Proof of Concept environment. Let me explain briefly the environment for the Proof of Concept – we were allocated ONE HP Proliant server, with twelve cores and needed to run the following:

  • IBM BPM Advanced (BPM Adv)
  • WebSphere Operational Decision Management (WODM)
  • WebSphere Services Registry & Repository(WSRR)
  • Oracle DB (not sure what version the customer installed). 

Obviously we needed to use VMWare to deploy the software since installing all of the software on the server (and being able to demonstrate any level of redundancy) would be impossible.  Any of you that understand High Availability as I do would say it can’t be done in a Proof of Concept – and I agree, yet our competitor claims they have demonstrated six nines (99.9999% availability) in this Proof of Concept environment – it was deployed on the customer’s hardware; hardware that did not have any redundancy at all. I call shenanigans on the competitor claims.  Unfortunately for us, the customer swallowed the claim hook line and sinker. I want to explain why their claim of six nines cannot be substantiated and why the customer should be sceptical as soon as a vendor – any vendor makes such claims.  First, lets think about what 99.9999% availability really means.  To quantify that figure, that means 31.5 seconds of unplanned downtime per year! For a start, how could you possibly measure availability for a year over a two week period.  Our POC server VMs didn’t crash for the entire time we had them running – does that entitle us to claim 100% availability? No way. The simple fact is that the Proof of Concept was deployed in a virtualised environment on a single physical machine – without redundant Hard Drives or power supplies – there is no way we or our competition could possibly claim any level of availability given the unknowns of the environment. 
 In order to achieve high levels of availability, there can be no single point of failure. That means no failure points in  the Network, the Hardware or the Software. For example, that means:

  • Hardware
    • Multiple redundant Network Interface Connectors
    • RAID 1+0 drive array,
    • Multiple redundant power supplies,
    • Multiple redundant network switches,
    • Multiple redundant network backbones
  • Software
    • Hardened OS
    • Minimise unused OS services
    • Use Software clustering capabilities (WebSphere n+x clustering *)
    • Active automated management of the software and OS
    • Database replication / clustering (eg Oracle RAC or DB2 HADP)
    • HA on network software elements (eg DNS servers etc)

We need to go back to the Telco and impress upon them that six nines availability depends on all of the above factors (and probably some others!) and not just about measuring the availability of the software over a short (and non-representative) sample period.

Typically this level of HA is very expensive, indeed every additional ‘9’ increases the cost exponentially – that is: six nines (99.9999% availability) is exponentially more expensive than five nines(99.999% availability).  I found this great diagram that illustrates the cost versus HA level. 

This diagram is actually from a IBM Redbook (See http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247700.pdf ) which has a terrific section on high Availability – it illustrates how there is a compromise point between the level of high availability (aiming for continuous availability) and the cost of the infrastructure to provide that level of availability.  

* Note:

  • n is number of servers needed to handle load requirements
  • x is the number of redundant nodes in the cluster – to achieve six 9’s, this should be in excess of 2)
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Telco standards gone, dead and buried

Originally posted on 22Auc12 to IBM Developerworks (13,006 Views)

Further to my last post, it now looks like the WAC is completely dead and buried. One thing that is creating a lot of chatter at the moment though is TelcoML (Telco Markup Language) – there it a lot of discussions about it on the TeleManagement Forum (TMF) community site and while I don’t intend to get in a big discussion about TelcoML, I do want to talk about Telco standards in general. The Telco standards that seem to take hold are the ones with strong engineering background – I am thinking of networking standards  like SS7, INAP, CAMEL, SigTRAN etc, but the Telco standards focussed on the IT domain (like Parlay, ParlayX, OneAPI, ParlayREST and perhaps TelcoML) seem to struggle to get real penetration – sure standards are good – they make it easier and cheaper for Telcos to integrate and introduce new software; they make it easier for ISVs to build software that can be deployed at any telco. So, why don’t they stick? Why do we see a progression of standards that are well designed, have collaboration of  a core set of telcos around the world (I’m thinking the WAC here) yet nothing comes of it.  It we look at Parlay for example, sure CORBA is hard, so I get why it didn’t take off, but ParlayX with web services is easy – pretty much every IDE in the world can build a SOAP request from the WSDL for that web Service – why didn’t it take off?  I’ve spoken to telcos all around the world about ParlayX, but it’s rare to find one that is truly committed to the standard – sure the RFP’s say must have ParlayX, but then after they implement the software (Telecom Web Services Server in IBM’s case) they either continue to offer their previous in house developed interfaces for those network services and don’t use ParlayX or they just don’t follow through with their plans to expose the services externally: why did we bother? ParlayX stagnated for many years with little real adoption from Telcos. Along comes GSMA with OneAPI with the mantra ‘ParlayX web services are too complicated still, lets simplify them and also provide a REST based interface’.  No new services, just the same ones as ParlayX, but simplified. Yes, I responded to a lot of Requests For Proposal (RFP) asking for OneAPI support, but I have not seen one telco that has actually exposed those OneAPI interfaces to 3rd party developers as they originally intended.  So, now, OneAPI doesn;t really exist any more and we have ParlayREST as a replacement.  Will that get any more take up? I don’t think so. The TMF Frameworx seem to have more adoption, but they are the exception to the rule. I am not really sure why Telco standards efforts have such a tough time of it, but I suspect that it comes down to:

  • Lack of long term thinking within telcos – there are often too many tactical requirements to be fulfilled and the long term strategy never gets going (this is like Governments who have a four year terms not being able to get 20 year projects over the line – they’re too worried about getting the day to day things patched up and then getting re-elected)
  • Senior executives in Telcos that truly don’t appreciate the benefits of standardisation –  I am not sure if this is because executives come from a non-technical background or some other reason.

 What to do? I guess I will keep preaching about standards – it is fundamental to IBM’s strategy and operations after all – and keep up with the new ones as they come along.  Lets hope that Telcos start to understand why they should be using standards as much as possible, after all they will make their life easier and their operations cheaper.

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WAC Whacked: Telecom-Backed Alliance Merges Into GSMA, Assets Acquired By API Management Service Apigee | TechCrunch

Originally posted on 17Jul12 to IBM Developerworks (9,830 Views)

“Apigee, the API management company that was most recently spotted powering that new “print to Walgreens” feature in half a dozen or so mobile applications, is now acquiring the technology assets of WAC, aka the Wholesale Applications Community. WAC, an alliance of global telecom companies, like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Deutsche Telecom, China Mobile, Orange, and others (and pegged by TechCrunch writer Jason Kincaid back in 2010 as “a disaster in the making“) was intent on building a platform that would allow mobile developers to build an application once, then run it on any carrier, OS or device. The group also developed network API technology, which is another key piece to today’s acquisition.”

TechCrunch – techcrunch.com/2012/07/17/wac-whacked-telecom-backed-alliance-merges-into-gsma-assets-acquired-by-api-management-service-apigee/

I think this is a really interesting development.  The Wholesale Application Community (WAC) was supposed to give Telcos a way of minimizing the revenue losses to the likes of Apple’s App Store and Google Play.  IBM’s Telecom Solution Lab in France built a demonstration that was shown at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in 2011 demonstration how a Telco’s own app store could incorporate applications from the WAC App store  as well as other app stores within their own combined app store.  I’ve demonstrated this a number of times around the world and the thing that always seemed odd to me is that applications in the WAC App Store could not be native applications (for Android, Blackberry, WinMob or Symbian) but rather, they could ONLY be HTML5 based apps.  That was always going to limit the number of apps that would be in the WAC App store, but since the WAC was announced at WMC 2010, the number of apps in the store has never really taken off.

I’m not sure if this is effectively the end of the road for the WAC, or if it’s just a stop on their journey.   Certainly, the Telcos that I have dealt with that form the core WAC Telco members remain dedicated to the WAC. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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This Is Not a Test: The Emergency Alert System Is Worthless Without Social Networks

Originally posted on 17Nov11 to IBM Developerworks (11,306 Views)

This makes for an interesting comparison to the National Emergency Warning System (NEWS) that was implemented in Australia last year as a result of the Black Saturday  bushfires.
Here is the URL for this bookmark: gizmodo.com/5857897/this-is-not-a-test-the-emergency-alert-system-is-worthless-without-social-networks
This makes for an interesting comparison to the National Emergency Warning System (NEWS) that was implemented in Australia last year as a result of the Black Saturday  bushfires.  Of particular interest is that the USA have avoided the SMS channel when in Australia, that has been the primary channel – alternates like TV and Radio are seen as not as pervasive and thus a lower priority.  I don’t think that NEWS here in Oz is connected to twitter, facebook, foursquare or any other social networking site either, but that could be an extension to NEWS – the problem is getting everyone to “friend” the NEWS system so that they see updates and warnings!

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TelecomTV | News | News Alert: HP drops WebOS and plans to sell its PC business

Originally posted on 29Aug11 to IBM Developerworks (10,011 Views)

Here is the URL for this bookmark: www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=47960


Wow!  HP getting out of PCs and abandoning their very recent and very significant investment in Palm – then on top of that, they’re looking to buy Autonomy!
 
While I can understand HP getting out of the PC business – it’s a very competitive marketplace with low margins – after all, that is why IBM sold it’s PC division to Lenovo.  What surprises me is the timing.  Only 18 months after buying Palm for US$1.2 Billion, they’re cutting their losses and shedding it.
 
Since I don’t live in the US, I can’t comment on the marketing push that HP put behind the Pre and the TouchPad, but I’ve never seen any marketing for it.  When your competitor is Apple, the only way to make any dent is the push and push hard.  They needed to out market Apple and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how difficult and expensive that would be!

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New version of SPDE announced at TeleManagement World 2011

Originally posted on 26May11 to IBM Developerworks (12,948 Views)

Yesterday, IBM launched the latest iteration of the Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE), a software framework for Telecom that has been around since 2000.  Over the years, it has evolved with change sin market requirements and architecture maturity.  The link below is for the launch:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/industry/communications/framework/index.html

The following enhancements are part of the new SPDE 4.0 Framework:

1. CSP Business Function Domains –  a clear articulation of “communications service provider business domains” that describe the business functions that are common to any service provider across the world.  These business domains offer us a simpler way to introduce the SPDE capabilities to a LOB audience, as well as to other client and partner constituents that are new to SPDE:

  • Customer Management
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Operations Support
  • Subscriber Services
  • Corporate Management
  • Information Technology
  • Network Technology

2. New Capabilities – In the areas of cloud, B2B commerce, enterprise marketing management, business analytics, and service delivery.

3. Introduction of the SPDE Enabled Business Projects –  that deliver solutions to address common business and IT needs for the LOB (CIO/CTO/CMO) and represent repeatable solutions and patterns harvested from client engagements.

4. Improved alignment with Telemanagment Forum (TMF) Industry Standards  – a clearly defined depiction of the areas of alignment to TMF Frameworx – key industry standards that underpin much of the communications industry investment.

5. Simplified Graphics and Messaging – to improve ease of adoption and consumability by a broader LOB audience.

Built on best practices and patterns from client engagements with CSPs around the world, IBM SPDE 4.0 is the blueprint that enables Smarter Communications by helping deliver value-added services that launch smarter services, drive smarter operations and build smarter networks. IBM is leading a conversation in the marketplace about how our world is becoming smarter, and software is at the very heart of this change.  IBM’s Industry Frameworks play a critical role in our ability to deliver smarter planet solutions by pulling together deep industry expertise, technology and a dynamic infrastructure from across the company to provide clients with offerings targeted to their industry-specific needs.

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TeleManagement World 2011

Originally posted on 25May11 to IBM Developerworks (12,766 Views)

 I am in Dublin at the moment for TeleManagement World 2011  which has changed locations from Nice, France last year. it looks to be a very interesting conference.  I’ve already done two days of 

training and now, we’re beginning the sessions. the keynote  session has the Irish Minister for Communications, Mr Rabitte who is talking about the challenges that CSPs face all the world around.  He is also talking about an innovation programme that the Irish Government have started called ‘Examplar‘ which is part of their NGN Trial network. i’ll see if I can get some more info over the next few days… 

Steven Shurrock, CEO at O2  Ireland

Steven Shurrock, the new CEO at O2  Ireland  who has been in the role for just six months is very bullish about the opportunities in Ireland for data services. After Steven, we saw a host of Keynote speakers who have been focused on a number of themes, but many common presenters included:

  • Standards compliance – including certification against standards.  Particularly with the TMF Frameworx standards
  • Horizontal platforms and moving away from silos is their IT strategy
  • SOA is the basis for all of the new IT initiatives

I have recorded a number of keynote speakers as video, but for the time being, those files are very large.  Once I have had a chance to transcode them to a smaller size, I’ll add them to the blog as well – while not particularly technical, they’re very interesting for a Telecom perspective.

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AFP:Blackberry group RIM spot potential profits in UAE

Originally posted on 20Oct10 to IBM Developerworks (11,266 Views)

Interesting – looks like RIM dodged a bullet in the UAE.

Here is the URL for this news: www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iMtJnqeRckjmlWVOoB1KWqtYmbLw?docId=CNG.aec298041bd87d0d6ae2ef88e13bcbcd.6a1

The threatened ban was narrowly averted and the ban in India looks as if it will avoid a ban after all.  I wonder if RIM installed (as it promised to) a Network Operations Centre in the UAE (which is what I saw a possible way of appeasing the authorities) or if they have come up wit some other way to give the UAE authorities access to the encrypted traffic.

In the meantime, India has hinted (per my previous post) that they will be going after private VPN traffic in addition to the Blackberry traffic.  We’ll see where that ends up soon I guess.