Sponsored: In the fast-paced world of communications & media, delivering faster speeds and superior online experiences is critical for success
To support their digital lifestyles, customers demand ubiquitous, reliable connectivity regardless of the access technology, be it Fiber to the Premises (FTTP), Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) or satellite connectivity. For CSPs, this requires substantial network investment. Yet to unlock new possibilities and ultimately ensure exceptional online experiences, this isn’t the whole story: engineering and operations must also be optimized with modern, centralized inventory and assurance systems that leverage AI/ML.
Streamlining network design and build
Inventory systems are often fragmented and built on a legacy of technologies, hindering scalability and efficiency. As new technologies are introduced, from access to core, these outdated inventory systems fail to provide the end-to-end, real-time visibility and control required for optimizing network resources and delivering seamless customer experiences.
Inventory modernization is key to enhancing broadband connectivity. By consolidating various technologies such as FTTP, FWA and satellite into a unified inventory system, it becomes possible to gain a holistic view of the infrastructure. This centralized access to network inventory data enables CSPs to efficiently design and build their network with an end-to-end view of the available infrastructure, leading to reduced costs and accelerated rollouts. Such a streamlined approach also increases the efficiency and agility of network expansion, empowering CSPs to respond rapidly to customer demands and quickly deploy networks that meet increasing bandwidth requirements.
Assuring superior customer experience
The centrality of connectivity in daily life, along with customer expectations for always-on, reliable networks, demands a paradigm shift in ensuring quality of service and the underlying network. Specifically, assurance needs to evolve from being primarily reactive, manual and network-centric to proactive, automated and customer-centric. The solution lies in ‘integrated assurance,’ with fault, performance and service quality management capabilities working seamlessly together to provide engineering and operations teams with the capability to predict, identify and quickly resolve service-impacting network outages.
Fig. 1 – Integrated Assurance
Data changes everything
With data playing a critical role in delivering reliable, ubiquitous connectivity, modern inventory and assurance systems jointly provide valuable data required to implement AI/ML techniques that support predictive and reactive analytics. Specifically, a modern inventory system provides a comprehensive view across network domains and layers, from the physical network layer (including both outside and inside plant infrastructure) to the logical, virtual and cloud network layers, as well as the service layer. This enables the inventory data to provide valuable insights into the dependencies between network and service layers for all operational processes.
In parallel, beyond just a collection of alarms and performance measures, modern assurance systems provide observability capabilities that enable holistic management of quality of service. Importantly, real-time data must be stored and combined with historical data to enable the AI/ML analysis that uncovers deep insights, helping operational efficiencies.
Fig. 2 – Inventory and assurance
Together, the data provided by these two systems means that operational processes have access to complete, end-to-end, real-time and accurate data, which is essential to increasing operational efficiency in multiple domains. For example:
- Network design and build – accurate designs based on accurate usage information
- Service fulfillment – zero-touch service fulfillment and reduced fallout
- Service assurance – prediction, detection and automatic resolution of service issues.
Empowerment of a real-time, end-to-end view
To realize the full opportunity of the new era of online experiences, CSPs need an accurate, real-time end-to-end view of the network and services. The key to achieving this lies in breaking down existing silos and embracing modern, intelligent inventory and assurance systems that streamline operations through the power of data and AI/ML insights.
Choosing the right partner is the first step. With a wealth of capabilities, knowledge and experience, Amdocs provides truly integrated, end-to-end solutions encompassing market-leading inventory and assurance products, empowering your business to offer exceptional online experiences.
Learn more about Amdocs Helix Service Assurance here and Amdocs Network Inventory here.