Ericsson has launched an adaptive inventory system at TM Forum Live 2015 in Nice, France.
Ericsson Adaptive Inventory 9.3 is an upgrade to its Graphite Inventory System, providing data on past, present, and future physical and logical configurations of network assets.
It includes an enhanced unified inventory engine, intuitive web interface, component-driven design automation, and system extension kit – covering all aspects required by telcos undergoing a digital transformation and looking for a more agile and simplified IT infrastructure.
Ovum’s 2014 ICT Enterprise Insight survey of top telecoms executives highlighted the business need for better visibility of the network: According to the survey of 400 IT influencers and purchasers, projects related to the upgrade of network-inventory-management systems are the third-most-important project category for the next 12 months.
Over time, telcos have built a highly complex array of network architecture as networks have evolved from 2G to 4G to support the delivery of new services. As a result, network visibility has become a challenge. To save money and remain profitable, it is important to deploy new network assets where they are most relevant.
Current investments in LTE network rollouts (to improve the data experience) and the deployment of cloud technologies such as software-defined networking and network-functions virtualization for service agility can be successful only when an accurate and updated status of all network elements is maintained.
As the move to deploy virtualized network components and IT systems intensifies, an optimized inventory system becomes critical to the orchestration of services and networks within a telco’s hybrid environment.
Physical and logical information about network infrastructure, including backhaul transmission, should be held in a single network inventory. The unified inventory should be regularly synchronized with network-management systems to identify discrepancies as quickly as possible, preferably through automated systems and processes.
The unified inventory should hold the master data for all network design changes and be able to implement temporary workarounds. Automation of such systems is critical for order fulfillment in the BSS. Ericsson’s Adaptive Inventory 9.3 will be expected to deliver these capabilities to ensure that the current demands of telcos are met.
Adaora Okeleke is an analyst for telecom operations and IT at Ovum. For more information, visit www.ovum.com