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News
Issue #2002 - 22
(June 2002)
(Updated June
12, 2002)
INFRASTRUCTURE,
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
IBM Discloses Telecommunications
Strategy
IBM has unveiled its plans
to outsource development services to telecommunications carriers.
The company’s new Network Innovation Lab (NIL) in Atlanta will
be devoted to helping service providers introduce and execute
service management processes such as product selection, ordering,
provisioning, activation, CRM, and billing within their existing IT
infrastructure. NIL will leverage IBM’s hardware, middleware and
software as well as technologies from other vendors where
appropriate.
In some cases the company may work with both the service provider
and content provider, for example, a retail outlet wants to place
ads on a carrier’s mobile phones.
At the center of IBM’s strategy is its Service Provider
Delivery Environment (SPDE), an open standards based framework
designed to give wireless and wireline telecommunications service
providers the flexibility to introduce new voice, text and
Internet-based services to their customers faster, easier and at a
lower cost. Other software vendors will be able to write software
adapters to integrate their applications into the SPDE Integration
Hub software and work with other components of the IBM network
infrastructure.
Rich Stomp, vice president of solutions for IBM’s Global
Telecommunications Industry Group, told Computer Weekly that the
initiative is focused on the Linux platform, but not exclusively.
Although Linux has not caught on in the telecom sector, it has the
potential to save carriers money and let them take advantage of the
creativity of the large Linux development community, Stomp said.
IBM recently signed an outsourcing contract with Nextel
Communications to take over much of the carrier’s CRM operations.
For more information: http://www.ibm.com
(Additional source Computer Weekly)
MobileInfo.com’s Comments & Advisory: We
see here an intent by IBM to get into this rather important and
equally-difficult area of provisioning, billing and customer services where
telecom service providers find tremendous turnover. The telecom industry is
in turmoil and needs all the help it can get in putting its house in order.
Integration with current suite of carrier ERP systems is the challenge. IBM
has the resources, expertise and technology to do it and do it right. We
feel that Network Innovation Lab is only a resource center that IBM can and
will use to market its professional and consulting services and more
importantly its Linux-based servers where Sun was the default platform.
There are several other independent efforts to solve the same problem.
Centrata (http://www.centrata.com) is a startup in the Silicon Valley much
further ahead in providing an open solution to the telecom service
providers. If IBM is serious, it might find it attractive to look at
Centrata's solution before it re-invents the wheel. This might be a good
news for Centrata because it validates the market they are after.
MobileInfo is surprised that it has taken one
of the largest industries in the world so long to focus on perhaps the most
fundamental problem that may determine survival of individual telecom
providers in a highly competitive environment of today.
Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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