We talk to Infovista’s Thibaut Becherel about how the two product lines will be integrated to deliver the seamless experience operators want
Infovista and CSG have formed a strategic partnership to deliver integrated Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) solutions for communication service providers (CSPs). This collaboration combines Infovista’s Ativa automated assurance suite with CSG’s Converged Mediation & Activation platform. One key question for operators is how compatible these two product lines are so we took a look.
The companies said the integration of CSG’s BSS capabilities with Infovista’s Ativa, its automated assurance suite, enables CSPs to unify policy management, charging and customer data with network management and operations data. They claim the combination unlocks “powerful use cases”.
The integration of these platforms allows CSPs to harness real-time insights from both network operations and customer data. It means operators can deliver dynamic, quality-based promotions and location-specific service updates tailored to individual customer profiles. It also means executing slice-specific monetisation for IoT devices and event-based API charging for enterprise applications.
To understand the combined capability it is worth a brief explanation of what each vendor brings to the table. Infovista’s Ativa suite is cloud-native, automated assurance solution that provides advanced analytics for network and service management. Ativa focuses on real-time monitoring, SLA management, and automation of processes like root cause analysis and incident management. CSG’s Converged Mediation & Activation Platform is a BSS solution that unifies policy management, charging and customer data.
“Telecommunications providers face increasing demands to innovate faster while controlling costs and maintaining service quality,” said Infovista VP partnerships and alliances Thibaut Becherel. “Our partnership with CSG delivers an integrated OSS/BSS framework that not only modernises legacy systems but also enables cutting-edge business use cases, from 5G monetisation to real-time customer engagement.”
“Our collaboration with Infovista exemplifies CSG’s mission to empower CSPs with robust solutions for scalable growth in the future,” said CSG VP network solutions Mayoor Mahendra. “Combining our CSG Converged Mediation & Activation platform with Infovista’s Ativa gives CSPs the tools they need to accelerate their digital transformation and confidently deliver customer experiences that set them apart.”
Seamless data flow
Becherel told Mobile Europe the platforms can be architecturally integrated to ensure seamless data flow and interoperability. “Ativa and CSG Converged Mediation & Activation (CMA) are integrated at acquisition layer via file based interfaces and at fulfilment layer via open APIs. Data to be mediated and/or activated will be based on customer specific use cases,” he said.
“The network management data based and analysis of service/network experiences is continuously being done via Ativa stack, which generates real time triggers at right events to the CSG system,” he said. “The CSG solution which has data from BSS systems (BI, OCS , subscriber profile, etc.) and usage data from the network (policy, quota consumption, etc.) executes real-time business logic and rules when such events occur using key data.”
He added: “This ensures that subscribers get the right notifications/promotions or corrective action on network is taken in real time – giving customers the feeling that their operator is responsive to their needs and their network/service experience.”
Becherel emphasised the integrated solution will scale to support large-scale deployments. “Both solutions are cloud native which enables scalability with a distributed and containerised architecture,” he said. “The solution’s mediation and activation capabilities are field proven over 3 decades in the most demanding networks across the globe (in TIER 1 CSP and group operators’ deployments), handling tens of billions of pieces of usage data, and executing over 20 million+ activation requests per day on a single deployment.”
He said the solution offers a range of customisation options and can be tailored to fit the customers’ requirements. “The solution already supports multiple technologies (2G-5G), domains (mobile wireless, fixed networks etc.), and with an open architecture enables support for future technologies as well,” he said.
In terms of protecting customer and network data, Becherel said the combined system will have the requisite security measures in place from the outset. “Ativa complies with local data security laws, and the information security regulations as stipulated by the GDPR, for example, obfuscation of sensitive customer information,” he said. “As the solution handles data at scale, various sophisticated mechanisms are in place towards protecting sensitive data in line with industry standards and local regulations.”
“The system performs data normalisation as required by various standards, does encryption prior to transmission to the destination ensuring the security of the data and compliances to regulations,” he added.