enhanced Telecom Operations
MapTM (eTOM)
The Business Process Framework
For The Information and Communications Services Industry
Addendum A
Detailed Process Decompositions and Flows
for Selected Areas of the Business Process
Framework
GB921a
Member Evaluation Version Draft 0.5
 TeleManagement Forum 2002
May 2002
eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page iii
Notice
The TeleManagement Forum (“TM Forum”) has made
every effort to ensure that the contents of this document
are accurate. However, no liability is accepted for any
errors or omissions or for consequences of any use
made of this document.
This document is a draft working document of TM Forum
and is provided to the public solely for comments and
evaluation. It is not a Forum Approved Document and is
solely circulated for the purposes of assisting TM Forum
in the preparation of a final document in furtherance of
the aims and mission of TM Forum. Any use of this
document by the recipient is at its own risk. Under no
circumstances will TM Forum be liable for direct or
indirect damages or any costs or losses resulting from
the use of this document by the recipient.
This document is a copyrighted document of TM Forum.
Without the appropriate permission of the TM Forum,
companies that are not members of TM Forum are not
permitted to make copies (paper or electronic) of this
draft document other than for their internal use for the
sole purpose of making comments thereon directly to TM
Forum.
This document may involve a claim of patent rights by
one or more TM Forum members, pursuant to the
agreement on Intellectual Property Rights between TM
Forum and its members, and by non-members of TM
Forum.
Direct inquiries to the TM Forum office:
1201 Mt. Kemble Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960 USA
Tel No. +1 973 425 1900
Fax No. +1 973 425 1515
TM Forum Web Page: www.tmforum.org
TeleManagement Forum 2002
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page v
Acknowledgements
enhanced Telecom Operations Map
(eTOM)
The Business Process Framework
Addendum A
Release 1.0 Contributors
This release of this Addendum to the enhanced Telecom Operations MapTM
(eTOM) Business Process Framework builds on the combined efforts of a
large group of individuals from companies all over the world, both in this phase
of the work and the previous activity to develop the core eTOM document.
Most noteworthy is the participation of numerous service providers. The
knowledge and commitment in providing contributions and participating in
discussions are greatly appreciated. For those taking a leadership role for
areas of the work, listed below with an asterisk before their names, significant
time and commitment was involved and provided. The main contributors to this
addendum are:
 *Enrico Ronco, Telecom Italia Lab, eTOM Team Leader
 Alfred Anaya, Accenture
 Peter Huckett, Acterna
 David Milham, BT Exact
 Hilary Small, CASEwise
 Ian Best, Comnitel
 *Jane Hall, Fraunhofer Fokus
 Masayoshi Ejiri, Fujitsu Ltd
 *Kiffin Gish, IQUIP
 *Caspar Smits, IQUIP
 *Johan Vandenberghe, Lucent Technologies
 Sarah Blanks, MetaSolv
 Dave Campbell, MetSolv
 Jon Barnes, Popkin
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
 *Helena Pechaver Starc, Siebel
 Brad May, Siebel
 Maywun Wong, Siebel
 Veli Kokkonen, Sonera
 Wayne Floyd, Sprint PCS
 *Michael Richter, Telstra
 Debbie Deland, TM Forum
 Mike Kelly, TM Forum
 *Viviane Cohen, Amdocs
 *Balbinder Dhami, Amdocs
 Martin Huddleston, QinetiQ
 *Pete Stringer, Qinetiq
 Nick Webb, Qinetiq
 *Marta Turnbull, Qwest
 *Jesus Arango, Telefonica Moviles
 Oscar Duenas, Telefonica Moviles
 Raul Megia, Telefonica Moviles
 Daniel Paul, Telefonica Moviles
Valuable input, comments and directional reviews from the following people
are also greatly appreciated:
 Al Vincent, IGS
 John Strassner, Intelliden
 Thomas Tenevall, Ki Consulting
 Keith Willetts, Mandarin Associates
 Kirk Shrewsbury, MCI Worldcom
 John Reilly, MetaSolv
 Jim Warner, TM Forum
Special thanks to Enrico Ronco, Telecom Italia Lab, whose kind and firm
leadership was a key factor in achieving the timely completion of this, and the
companion main eTOM GB921 document.
Note: Acknowledgements for development of the various versions of the core
eTOM document (GB921) are included in that document.
GB921a v1.0
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About TeleManagement Forum
TeleManagement Forum is an international consortium of communications
service providers and their suppliers. Its mission is to help service providers
and network operators automate their business processes in a cost- and timeeffective way. Specifically, the work of the TM Forum includes:
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Establishing operational guidance on the shape of business
processes.
Agreeing on information that needs to flow from one process
activity to another.
Identifying a realistic systems environment to support the
interconnection of operational support systems.
Enabling the development of a market and real products for
integrating and automating telecom operations processes.
The members of TM Forum include service providers, network operators and
suppliers of equipment and software to the communications industry. With that
combination of buyers and suppliers of operational support systems, TM
Forum is able to achieve results in a pragmatic way that leads to product
offerings (from member companies) as well as paper specifications.
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About this document
This is a TM Forum Guidebook. The guidebook format is used, for example,
when the document lays out a ‘core’ part of TM Forum’s approach to
automating business processes.
Important Note:
Despite the extent of the effort involved in producing this document, it should not be considered
as complete. The focus of this release is to provide a view of detailed process decompositions
and process flows in selected areas of the Business Process Framework (also known as the
eTOM Model). This work will be developed further in the future, and additional selected areas of
the Business Process Framework will be addressed and described in a similar fashion to those
included here. The driving consideration is to focus on areas of high priority within the industry,
where the benefits of clearer definition and agreement on business processes can facilitate
planning and development within Service Provides and other enterprises, and can act as a
basis for the realization of automated interworking between enterprises.
Despite the evolutionary nature of the eTOM work, it is already in use by Service Providers.
Significant process work will continue to develop this further, with significant input from TM
Forum members to direct the eTOM work so that they obtain the most from subsequent eTOM
releases.
Document Life Cycle
The eTOM: The Business Process Framework For The Information and
Communications Services Industry Addendum A is being issued as a Release
1.0 for Member Evaluation with a Guidebook Number of 921a. The
TeleManagement Forum ("TM Forum") expects to continue to build the eTOM
based on:
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Further research and alignment with other cross-industry
process work
Significant member comments and input
Joint work with other TM Forum teams, including the System
Team and the Shared Information and Data Team
Additional work to provide additional process decompositions
and flows
The eTOM is a significant undertaking for members. It is crucial that ongoing
feedback is garnered. The eTOM is being driven and used by a significant
number of worldwide service providers. They expect this release, and future
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
releases for eTOM to encourage contribution and participation in eTOM
development by more service providers.
All documents approved by the TM Forum (as well as those previously
approved by NMF) undergo a formal review and approval process. The TM
Forum Strategy Management Team, chaired by the President of TM Forum,
approved this document for release as a Member Evaluation Version.
This document will continue under change control. A document of this type is
a “living document,” capturing and communicating current knowledge, views
and practices.
Further updates will be made because of detailed work
ongoing in the TM Forum and the industry.
Individuals or companies who are not members of the TM Forum are
encouraged to provide comments on this document. However, in order for their
comments to be considered, a signed waiver must be on file with TM Forum
pertaining to intellectual property rights. To obtain this form, please contact the
TM Forum.
Time Stamp
This version of the eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A can be
considered valid until it is updated or replaced.
How to obtain a copy
An electronic copy of the eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Member Evaluation Version 1.0 can be downloaded at the TM Forum Web
Site (http://www.tmforum.org). If anyone would like a paper version of this
document, please order via the TM Forum Web Site or contact the TM Forum
office, +1 973 425-1900.
How to comment on the document
Comments must be in written form and addressed to the contacts below for
review with the project team. Please send your comments and input to:
Enrico Ronco, Telecom Italia Lab
Team Lead of eTOM Team
Enrico.Ronco@tilab.com
Mike Kelly, eTOM Support Manager
mkelly@tmforum.org
GB921a v1.0
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Be specific. Consider that you might be on a team trying to produce a single text through
the process of evaluating numerous comments. We appreciate significant specific input.
We are looking for more input than “word-smith” items, however editing and structural
help are greatly appreciated where better clarity is the result.
Document History
Version
Date
eTOM
Addendum A
Evaluation
Version 1.0
5/02
Purpose
Evaluation Version released to TM Forum
Membership for comment
Summary of Changes in this Version
This version of the eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A is an
initial release.
Expectations for Future Additions
The eTOM Business Process Framework (eTOM) is a living document and
there are high member expectations for continued development of it. eTOM
will be updated and released with further detail during 2002 and beyond. The
updates and additions to the eTOM will include:
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TeleManagement Forum 2002
Continued, significant input, comments and issues from TM
Forum membership.
Linkage to other process work being done in the industry.
Linkage to the TM Forum NGOSS work, particularly that in the
area of the System Team and Shared Information and Data
Team.
Input and process work through implementation experience of
TM Forum teams, especially the Catalyst projects.
Continued work to develop further the process decompositions
Increasing emphasis of use of the eTOM Business Process
Framework as a tool in analyzing process flows, and their
linkage with real-world OSS operation
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Document Template
Not applicable
Use of Fonts
Very few font or style uses are applied in this document. The two keys font
applications used are:

GB921a v1.0
Italics and/or bold are used for emphasis.
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References
Related or Source Documents
The major related document is the core eTOM document (GB921). This
document forms an Addendum to the core eTOM document, extending and
refining the material there in the areas addressed.
The following Reference List provides information on this document and other
documents and books that have contributed to the development of the
TeleManagement Forum eTOM Business Process Framework.
Reference List
1. eTOM: The Business Process Framework For The Information and Communications Services
Industry, GB921, Release 3.0, May 2002.
2. Telecom Operations Map, TMF, GB910, Evaluation Version 2.1
3. ITU-T TMN Recommendation M.3400 (TMN Management Functions, ITU-T, 4/97), M.3010
(Principles for a telecommunication management network, ITU-T), M.3200 (TMN Management
Services, ITU-T, 1996) and Related Recommendations
4. GR-2869-CORE, Telcordia Technologies Generic Requirements for Operations Based
Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) Architecture
5. NGOSS: Development and Integration Methodology, TMF, TR 127
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Table of Contents
NOTICE ................................................................................................................................................................III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................... V
ENHANCED TELECOM OPERATIONS MAP (ETOM) THE BUSINESS PROCESS FRAMEWORK ADDENDUM A RELEASE
1.0 CONTRIBUTORS ............................................................................................................................................... V
ABOUT TELEMANAGEMENT FORUM ....................................................................................................... VII
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ............................................................................................................................... IX
DOCUMENT LIFE CYCLE ....................................................................................................................................... IX
TIME STAMP .......................................................................................................................................................... X
HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY ........................................................................................................................................ X
HOW TO COMMENT ON THE DOCUMENT.................................................................................................................. X
DOCUMENT HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................... XI
SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN THIS VERSION ............................................................................................................. XI
EXPECTATIONS FOR FUTURE ADDITIONS ............................................................................................................... XI
DOCUMENT TEMPLATE ........................................................................................................................................ XII
USE OF FONTS ..................................................................................................................................................... XII
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................. XIII
RELATED OR SOURCE DOCUMENTS ..................................................................................................................... XIII
REFERENCE LIST ................................................................................................................................................ XIII
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................... XV
TABLE OF FIGURES AND TABLES .......................................................................................................... XVIII
PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................................. 21
RELATIONSHIP TO STANDARDIZATION ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................... 21
THE TM FORUM APPROACH: NGOSS .................................................................................................................. 21
ETOM BUSINESS PROCESS FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................. 22
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 23
USING THIS DOCUMENT ...................................................................................................................................... 23
INTENDED AUDIENCE .......................................................................................................................................... 24
METHODOLOGY FOR PROCESS ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 25
CHAPTER 2 - FULFILLMENT .......................................................................................................................... 27
OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 27
FULFILLMENT END-TO-END FLOWS ..................................................................................................................... 28
Assumptions .................................................................................................................................................... 28
Context of Fulfillment within the eTOM Framework ....................................................................................... 28
Fulfillment Level 2 Flows ................................................................................................................................ 29
FULFILLMENT LEVEL 3 FLOWS ............................................................................................................................ 32
Order Handling .............................................................................................................................................. 32
Selling............................................................................................................................................................. 33
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Service Configuration & Activation ................................................................................................................ 33
Customer Interface Management .................................................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER 3 - CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND BILLING ........................................ 36
OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 36
SELLING LEVEL 3 PROCESSES .............................................................................................................................. 37
Prospect Management .................................................................................................................................... 38
Customer Qualification and Education ........................................................................................................... 39
Sales Negotiation ............................................................................................................................................ 40
Customer Data Acquisition ............................................................................................................................. 41
Cross/Up Selling............................................................................................................................................. 41
BILLING & COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT - LEVEL 3 PROCESSES .......................................................................... 42
Customer Bill Inquiries Management.............................................................................................................. 43
Pricing, Discounting & Rebate Application .................................................................................................... 44
Bill Creation & Delivery................................................................................................................................. 46
Customer Billing Management ....................................................................................................................... 48
Collection Management .................................................................................................................................. 49
BILLING END-TO-END FLOWS ............................................................................................................................. 50
Context of Billing within the eTOM Framework .............................................................................................. 51
Billing Level 2 Flows ...................................................................................................................................... 51
CHAPTER 4 - SERVICE MANAGEMENT AND ASSURANCE ..................................................................... 54
OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 54
SERVICE PROBLEM MANAGEMENT LEVEL 3 PROCESSES ...................................................................................... 55
Evaluation & Qualification............................................................................................................................. 58
Diagnosis ....................................................................................................................................................... 58
Resolution Planning and Assignment .............................................................................................................. 58
Resolution Tracking........................................................................................................................................ 58
Closing and Reporting .................................................................................................................................... 58
SERVICE PROBLEM MANAGEMENT LEVEL 3 PROCESS FLOWS .............................................................................. 59
SERVICE QUALITY ANALYSIS, ACTION & REPORTING LEVEL 3 PROCESSES .......................................................... 61
SERVICE QUALITY MONITORING............................................................................................................... 64
USAGE & COST DATA MONITORING ......................................................................................................... 64
SERVICE QUALITY ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................... 65
SERVICE COST ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................ 65
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 65
SERVICE CONSTRAINT IDENTIFICATION & REPORTING ........................................................................ 65
SERVICE QUALITY ANALYSIS, ACTION AND REPORTING LEVEL 3 PROCESS FLOWS .............................................. 65
ASSURANCE END-TO-END FLOWS ....................................................................................................................... 66
CHAPTER 5 - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................. 70
OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 70
WHAT ARE RESOURCES ....................................................................................................................................... 72
Resource Classifications ................................................................................................................................. 74
Integration across Application, Computing and Network components ............................................................. 75
RESOURCES AND THE EBUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................. 75
RESOURCES AND NGOSS .................................................................................................................................... 76
System View Aspects ....................................................................................................................................... 76
Shared Information and Data Model Aspects .................................................................................................. 77
RESOURCES AND TMN ........................................................................................................................................ 77
Terminology ................................................................................................................................................... 77
PRODUCT, SERVICE AND RESOURCE .................................................................................................................... 77
RESOURCES AND SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS .................................................................................................. 78
EXAMPLE PRODUCT ............................................................................................................................................ 79
Product Definition .......................................................................................................................................... 80
Reference Architecture ................................................................................................................................... 80
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Product/Service/Resource Relationship ........................................................................................................... 81
Business Context Model .................................................................................................................................. 83
Resource Ownership ....................................................................................................................................... 83
RM&O PROCESS DECOMPOSITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 83
RELATED STANDARDS ......................................................................................................................................... 83
TMN ............................................................................................................................................................... 83
ITIL ................................................................................................................................................................ 84
OSA/PARLAY ................................................................................................................................................. 84
PAM Forum .................................................................................................................................................... 85
3GPP .............................................................................................................................................................. 85
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Table of Figures and Tables
Figure 2.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 27
Figure 2.2: Fulfillment within the eTOM Framework ........................................................................ 29
Figure 2.3: Fulfillment Process Flows at Level 2 ............................................................................. 30
Figure 2.4: Detailed View of Fulfillment Process Flows at Level 2 ................................................. 31
Figure 2.5: Order Handling Process Flows at Level 3 ..................................................................... 32
Figure 2.6: Selling Process Flows at Level 3 ................................................................................... 33
Figure 2.7: Service Configuration & Activation Process Flows at Level 3 ..................................... 34
Figure 2.8: Service Configuration & Activation – Design Solution Process Flows ........................ 34
Figure 2.9: Customer Interface Management Process Flows at Level 3 ......................................... 35
Figure 3.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 36
Figure 3.2: Customer Relationship Management Level 2 Processes ............................................. 37
Figure 3.3: Selling - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4) Processes .................................................... 38
Figure 3.4: Billing & Collections Management - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4) Processes ....... 43
Figure 3.5: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 50
Figure 3.6: Billing within the eTOM Framework ............................................................................... 51
Figure 3.7: Billing Process Flows at Level 2 .................................................................................... 52
Figure 3.8: Billing & Collections Management Process Flows at Level 2/3 .................................... 53
Figure 4.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 54
Figure 4.2: Service Management & Operations Level 2 Processes ................................................ 55
Figure 4.3: Service Problem Management - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4) Processes .............. 57
Figure 4.4: Service Problem Management - Level 3 Process Flows .............................................. 59
Figure 4.5: Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4)
Processes................................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 4.6: Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting - Level 3 Process Flows .................. 66
Figure 4.7: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 67
Figure 4.8: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: customer
complaint) .................................................................................................................................. 68
Figure 4.9: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: alarm fault) ............... 69
Figure 4.10: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: statistics and
CDR) ........................................................................................................................................... 69
Figure 5.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes ........................................... 70
Figure 5.2: Resource Management & Operations Level 2 Processes ............................................. 72
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Figure 5.3: Resource Development & Management Level 2 Processes ......................................... 72
Figure 5.4: System View Management Domains ............................................................................. 76
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Preface
Relationship to Standardization
Activities
Much of the management infrastructures upon which systems will be built are
expected to be based on standard interfaces. Relating business needs to
available, or necessary standards is a primary goal of the TM Forum in
promoting a standards-based approach to information and communications
services management. Where applicable, the TM Forum uses industry
standards in its work to promote the acceptance of standards and to minimize
redundant work. People active in management standardization (in the
broadest sense) will find the eTOM useful in setting a top down, enterpriselevel, customer-centric context of how management specifications need to
work together.
TM Forum uses existing standards as much as possible. As a result of
implementation experience through Catalyst projects, TM Forum provides
feedback to appropriate standards bodies.
The TM Forum Approach: NGOSS
TM Forum uses a business and customer services driven approach to
achieving end-to-end process automation using integrated Commercial Offthe-Shelf (COTS) software. It enables product availability, together with
development specifications required to produce management systems that
can work together to produce the operational results needed by service
providers and network operators. TM Forum makes use of international and
regional standards when available, and provides input to standards bodies
whenever new technical work is done.
The TM Forum focus is on providing pragmatic solutions to business
problems. Its technical programs, particularly the NGOSS program, approach
process automation from both a business context and a systems context.
Further information on NGOSS can be found in the core eTOM document
(GB921).
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
eTOM Business Process Framework
The eTOM Business Process Framework (GB921) serves as the blueprint for
process direction and the starting point for development and integration of
Business and Operations Support Systems (BSS and OSS respectively) and,
helps to drive TM Forum members work to develop NGOSS solutions. For
service providers, it provides a neutral reference point as they consider
internal process reengineering needs, partnerships, alliances, and general
working agreements with other providers. For suppliers, the eTOM
Framework outlines potential boundaries of software components, and the
required functions, inputs, and outputs that must be supported by products.
This document consists of:
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GB921a v1.0
A description of the role of the eTOM Business Process
Framework
The ebusiness context of service providers and the more
complex Business Relationship Context Model required
A high-level business process framework and explanation
Service Provider enterprise processes and sub-processes
that are top down, customer-centric, and end-to-end focused.
 With this evolution from TOM, the eTOM Business
Process Framework now is a total enterprise
framework for Service Providers
Process Decompositions of all processes from the highest
conceptual view of the framework to the working level of the
eTOM and many selected lower level decompositions in the
Framework
Selected process flows and descriptions of the decomposed
processes that include the process purpose or description,
business rules, high level information and more. For the
remainder of 2001 and 2002, more decompositions and flows
will be developed with the objective for eTOM to develop all
critical process decompositions and process flows in 2002.
How the process framework can be put to use.
Several Annexes and Appendices, including terminology and
glossary, and related guidelines and standards.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
This document is an Addendum to the core eTOM document (GB921), and
consequently should be read in conjunction with that document. Throughout
this document, the reader is assumed to be familiar with the structure and
content of the eTOM Process Business Framework, so that the process
decompositions, descriptions, flows, etc described here, must be understood
in the context of the core eTOM document and model.
In this document, several selected areas of the eTOM Business Process
Framework are developed and refined beyond the level of detail shown in the
core eTOM document. Those addressed at this stage are:
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Customer Relationship Management
Service Management
Resource Management
Fulfillment
Assurance
Billing
In addition an activity has been analyzing the handling of relationships with
suppliers, and particularly of partners, under the Supplier/Partner Relationship
Management area. This work is still underway and will be included in a later
version of this material.
The purpose of the Business Process Framework, including objectives, are
discussed in the core eTOM document (GB921).
The eTOM document (GB921) also provides the definition of common terms
concerning enterprise processes, sub-processes and the activities performed
within each. Common terminology makes it easier for service providers to
negotiate with customers, third party suppliers, and other service providers.
Using This Document
A service provider’s specific process architecture and organization structure
are highly specific and critical aspects of a provider’s competitiveness. The
eTOM provides a common view of service provider enterprise processes that
can easily translate to an individual provider’s internal approaches. The
document is not intended to be prescriptive about how the tasks are carried
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
out, how a provider or operator is organized, or how the tasks are identified in
any one organization.
The eTOM is expected to be the starting point of detailed work that leads to
an integrated set of specifications that will provide real benefit to both
suppliers and procurers in enhancing industry service provider enterprise
management capability. This document is not a specification. It is a
snapshot of industry views expected to continue to evolve based on changes
in the industry. It is not intended to be too detailed, more a directional
statement for the industry.
One of the strengths of the eTOM is that it can be adopted at a high level, at
lower levels or even modularly depending upon a service provider’s needs.
The eTOM can also act as a translator by allowing a service provider to map
their distinct processes to the industry framework. As the process examples
are developed, service providers can use and adapt these examples to their
business environment.
Intended Audience
The Telecom Operations Map, and now the eTOM, aims at a wide audience
of professionals in the Information and Communications Services Industry.
For experienced Telecommunications professionals, the TOM and the eTOM
prove to be intuitive; a strong, common framework of service provider
enterprise processes. Through TM Forum Catalyst projects and other work, it
has been verified that the TOM framework has strong application for IP
Services and Mobile/Wireless Services. This applicability will only be
enhanced by the eTOM.
The eTOM is aimed at service provider and network operator decision
makers who need to know and input to the common business process
framework used to enable enterprise automation in a cost efficient way. It is
also an important framework for specialists across the industry working on
business and operations automation. The document or framework supports,
and is consistent with, many efforts under way in the industry supporting the
need to accelerate business and operations automation in the information
and communications services marketplace.
The eTOM will continue to give providers and suppliers a common framework
for discussing complex business needs in a complex industry with complex
technologies. For both service providers and network operators additional
complexities arise from:
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GB921a v1.0
Moving away from developing their own business and
operations systems software, to a more procurement and
systems integration approach.
New business relationships between service providers and
network operators
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The creation of new business relationships and the move away from
developing internally are a reaction to market forces. These market forces
require service providers and network operators to increase the range of
services they offer, reduce time to market for new services, increase speed of
service, as well as to drive down systems and operational costs.
The eTOM is also aimed at service provider and network operator employees
involved in business process re-engineering, operations, procurement and
other activities for:

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Understanding the common business process framework
being used to drive integration and automation
Getting involved in providing processes, inputs, priorities and
requirements
The eTOM Business Process Framework is also aimed at designers and
integrators of business and operational management systems software and
equipment suppliers. They can benefit from understanding how management
processes and applications need to work together to deliver business benefit
to service providers and network operators.
An equally important and related audience is suppliers of management
applications, management systems, and networking equipment, who need to
understand the deployment environment for their products and solutions.
The eTOM Business Process Framework provides a common framework
useful in supporting the significant amount of merger and acquisition activity.
Common process understanding and a common process framework can
greatly improve integration performance for mergers and acquisitions. eTOM
is applicable for an established service provider or a new entrant, ‘green field’
provider. It is important to note that not all processes defined in the eTOM
are used by all providers. As mentioned earlier, the framework is flexible, so
that the processes the specific service providers require can be selected on a
modular basis and at the appropriate level of detail for their needs.
Methodology for Process Analysis
In carrying out the work documented here, it proved advantageous to evolve further the
methodology for process analysis described in the core eTOM document (GB921) and to extend
this to address the handling of process decompositions and process flows at the lower level of detail
addressed.
To avoid repetition, the methodology is illustrated using the work on Fulfillment (see 0) and
reference is made below to this Chapter.
This methodology involved the following steps:

TeleManagement Forum 2002
STEP 1 (see Figure 2.2) - Map the Process Interactions
between the Level 2 Process Elements by overlaying double-
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A




GB921a v1.0
ended arrows onto the eTOM Diagram to show where there
will be interactions between Level 2 Process Elements.
Visually overlaying Processes onto the eTOM Process
Elements sends the clear message that Processes should be
created by assembling eTOM Process Elements.
STEP 2 (see Figure 2.3) - Use the Level 2 Process
Interactions to document the process flows between the Level
2 Process Elements. This should be shown on a diagram
which retains the same general arrangement and appearance
of eTOM Level 2 Process Elements, but re-arranges them to
suit the process being documented. Note that the names of
Level 2 Process Elements must remain the same as in
eTOM.
STEP 3 (see Figure 2.4) - Start to expand the flow detail by
expanding Level 2s into implied Level 3s by replicating the
processes at the flow sequence points required.
STEP 4 (see Figure 2.5, etc) - Use the process flows
between the Level 2 Process Elements to segment the work
of documenting Level 3 Process Flows.
STEP 5 – In addition, where the focus is on a specific Level 2
process and its decomposition into Level 3 processes, it can
be helpful to depict flow interactions around this particular
Level 2. An example of this is shown for Assurance (see
Figure 4.4). This shows all interactions to other Level 2s and
all Level 3s within this Level 2 under study.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
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Chapter 2 - Fulfillment
Overview
Fulfillment forms a Level 1 process within the eTOM Operations Level 0
process grouping (see Figure 2.1, and GB921 for further details)
Figure 2.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
Within the work program on Fulfillment, attention concentrated on developing
a view of the end-to-end process flows that link the processes involved in the
fulfillment activity. This provides additional insight into the operation of the
processes concerned, and also explains the dynamic behavior of the
processes in terms of event associations, information transfer and the
sequencing of process steps involved in the overall procedures.
The goal of this analysis is to document process flows at Level 3 (and
eventually below), but in examining this area it is useful to show higher-level
interactions as an aid to understanding the context of the process
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
relationships. This work therefore follows the overall methodology described
previously (see Methodology for Process Analysis).
The focus is on Fulfillment for a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service, so as
to allow a realistic scenario to be used in developing the flows concerned.
However, it is intended that the work has general application, not just in the
context of this service, and consequently care has been taken not to make
the flows service-specific.
Cases where resources are provided form within the service provider’s own
domain, as well as where suppliers and partners are involved in this, have
been taken into account.
Fulfillment End-to-End Flows
Assumptions
The Fulfillment process to be documented here is only one scenario out of
many thousands of possible ways of delivering a Fulfillment process.
To scope what we are to document - a typical generic Fulfillment Process,
here are the assumptions used





There is limited pre-provisioning of infrastructure to end-users
(more typical of HDSL than ADSL ?).
Part of the resource needed will be provided internally and
part externally using Supplier-Partner processes e.g. ISP is
the retailer and is buying the Local Loop from the incumbent
carrier.
At Level 2 only the dominant process flow is shown exception cases (e.g. no resource available) may be detailed
in Level 3 Flows
Multiple external suppliers will be considered for external
supply of resources.
The service has moderate complexity and after negotiation
with the customer's Purchasing staff are completed, the SP's
technical contacts will interact with the Customer's
Engineering staff.
Context of Fulfillment within the eTOM Framework
The first step in documenting the end-to-end (E2E) flows is positioning the
Fulfillment flows in their context within the overall eTOM model.
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Figure 2.2 shows this context for Fulfillment. As would be expected, the
majority of the high-level process linkages are within the Level 1 Fulfillment
process grouping, but a number of significant interactions are identified
outside of this vertical process area.
Figure 2.2: Fulfillment within the eTOM Framework
Fulfillment Level 2 Flows
Further insight is developed through a more detailed illustration of the process
interactions among the major Level 2 processes involved. This is shown in
Figure 2.3.
Here the Level 2 processes are shown with relative positioning similar to that
in the eTOM framework, to assist understanding and to make the diagram
more intuitive.
Start points for the Fulfillment process are shown, and the interconnecting
arrows indicate events or information linking the Level 2 processes. These
interactions are developed further within the individual Level 3 flows (below)
that show how the internal Level 3 structure of each Level 3 process supports
the flows.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Figure 2.3: Fulfillment Process Flows at Level 2
This view can be developed further to indicate sequencing, and to imply
involvement by different Level 3 processes within the indicated Level 2
process as shown in Figure 2.4. Here, a given Level 2 process may be shown
several times, to allow the sequencing of its involvement in the flow to be
more clearly seen. Typically, different functionality is involved at each point for
a given Level 2 process, so this is a step towards identification of the specific
Level 3 process or processes, within the Level 2 process which will support
the interactions.
Note that this diagram is derived from the model developed for this E2E flow
within the process modeling tool.
GB921a v1.0
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Enterprise
Management
Supplier/
Partner
Relationship
Management
Resource
Management
& Operations
Service
Management
& Operations
Customer
Relationship
Management
Customer
Marketing
Fulfillment
Response
Customer
Contacts
Retailer
Selling
Sales enquiry
routed to Selling
group
Offer
Customer
Solution
Alternatives
Customer Interface Management
Optional
Flow
Update Customer
Contact History
Supplier/Partner
Buying
Check External
Supplier Solution
Selling
Design &
Technology
Selection Request
Order from External Supplier
Request
Resource
Confirm
External
Availability
Resource
Supplier
Request
Availability
Selection Resource
Provisioning
& Allocation to Sv
Service Configuration & Activation
Order Handling
Supplier/Partner
Buying
Customer Order to Order Handling
Customer
places order
Customer Interface
Management
Confirm Resource
Reservation
Resource Provisioning
& Allocation to Sv
Resource
Reservation
Request
Service Configuration &
Activation
Design&Technology
Selection Request
PreOrder
to Order Order
Handling
Handling
Retention &
Loyalty
Pre Order result
Sales
Proposal
offer to
Customer
Retrieve
Customer
Profile
Customer Interface
Management
Customer
Places Order
Supplier/Partner
Purchase Order
Management
Detailed Design
Detailed Design
Detail Design
Resource
Provisioning &
Allocation to Sv
Internal
Work
Order
Resource
Provisioning &
Allocation to Sv
Service
Configuration &
Activation
Internal
Work
Order
Order Handling
Resource
Activation
Request
Confirm
Resource
Activation
Implement Design
Service
Configuration &
Activation
Order Handling
Request
Detailed
Customer
Confirmation
Accepts
by Engineering Design
Customer Interface
Management
Service
Configuration &
Activation
External Resource
Provisioning
Completed
Supplier/Partner
Purchase Order
Management
Resource
Provisioning &
Allocation to Sv
Internal
Resource
Provisioning
Completed
Service Configuration &
Activation
End-to-End
Service Test
Completed
Order Handling
Order Handling
Service Details
for Assurance
Service
Details for
Billing
Customer
QoS/SLA
Management
Billing &
Collections
Management
eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 31
Figure 2.4: Detailed View of Fulfillment Process Flows at Level 2
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Fulfillment Level 3 Flows
Based on the E2E flows shown above, more detailed flows have been
developed for each of the Level 2 processes to illustrate the role of each of
their constituent Level 3 processes in supporting these flows.
The Level 2 process flows captured in this way include:




Order Handling
Selling
Service Configuration & Activation
Customer Interface Management
Order Handling
Level 3 flows for Order Handling within the overall E2E Fulfillment process
are shown in Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5: Order Handling Process Flows at Level 3
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Selling
Level 3 flows for Selling within the overall E2E Fulfillment process are shown
in Figure 2.6.
Figure 2.6: Selling Process Flows at Level 3
Service Configuration & Activation
Level 3 flows for Service Configuration & Activation within the overall E2E
Fulfillment process are shown in Figure 2.7. Additionally, a further breakdown
within the Design Solution Level 3 process is shown in Figure 2.8 for
information.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Figure 2.7: Service Configuration & Activation Process Flows at Level 3
Figure 2.8: Service Configuration & Activation – Design Solution Process Flows
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Customer Interface Management
Level 3 flows for Customer Interface Management within the overall E2E
Fulfillment process are shown in .
Figure 2.9: Customer Interface Management Process Flows at Level 3
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Chapter 3 - Customer Relationship Management and
Billing
Overview
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) forms a Level 1 process within
the eTOM Operations Level 0 process grouping (see Figure 3.1, and GB921
for further details)
Figure 3.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
Within the work program on CRM, attention concentrated on decomposition
of some of the level 2 processes, and on process flows concerning these.
The chosen areas for analysis are:


GB921a v1.0
Selling: decomposition of CRM level 2 process to level 3
Billing & Collections Management: decomposition of CRM
level 2 process to level 3
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A


Page 37
Billing & Collections Management: definition of flows and
linkages between level 3 processes
Billing: definition of flows and linkages to provide an “End-toEnd” view to aid understanding of how these processes can
be used
Figure 3.2 shows the CRM Level 2 processes to provide context for this work.
Customer
Relationship
Management
CRM Operations
Support & Process
Management
Sales & Channel
Management
Marketing
Fulfillment
Response
CRM Operations
Readiness
Selling
Retention &
Loyalty
Problem Handling
Order Handling
Customer
QoS/SLA
Management
Customer Interface
Management
Billing &
Collections
Management
©TeleManagement Forum October, 2001
Figure 3.2: Customer Relationship Management Level 2 Processes
Selling Level 3 Processes
The Selling process is a Level 2 process within the Customer Relationship
Management Level 1 functional process grouping.
This process [maximizes revenue via] by obtaining new customers and
upselling and cross-selling to existing customers. Contacts are transformed
into qualified leads, which are tracked as prospects, then opportunities, and
ultimately customers. The value of the “sales pipeline” is projected in terms of
the probability of closing the sale and its potential revenue at each stage in
the sales cycle. After a customer needs analysis is completed, product
availability is assessed before proposing a solution. Each sales opportunity is
matched against the product portfolio and those solutions that best fit the
customer’s requirements are proposed as alternatives. The sale is closed
with the customer selecting the solution that best addresses his/her needs.
This process is also responsible for the identification of opportunities for the
sale of new or enhanced products to existing customers. Optimally, every
contact with a customer is utilized as an opportunity to further capture
customer information / refine the customer’s needs assessment so that timely
offering of appropriate products may be done.
The Selling process is decomposed into a set of Level 3 processes, shown in
Figure 3.3. This figure also shows candidate Level 4 processes below each of
the Level 3 processes. These are under study.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Se llin g
Pro sp e ct
M anagement
C u sto m e r
Q u a lifica tio n a n d
Ed u ca tio n
Sa le s Ne g o tia tio n
C u sto m e r D a ta
Acq u isitio n
C ro ss / Up Se llin g
Pro sp e ct Ne e d s
An a lysis
Un d e rsta n d
C u sto m e r Ne e d
So lu tio n
D e te rm in a tio n W ith
th e C u sto m e r
C u sto m e r Id e n tity
C a p tu re
Up & C ro ss Sa le
O p p o rtu n itie s
Id e n tifica
Po te n tia l So lu tio n s
Id e n tifica tio n
Q u a lify C u sto m e r
Sa le s Pro p o sa l
D e ve lo p m e n t
R e la tio n sh ip
Esta b lish m e n t
Up & C ro ss Sa le
Pa cka g e s
Ap p lica tio n
Tra ck a n d R e p o rt
Pro sp e ct R e su lt
D e ve lo p So lu tio n
Alte rn a tive s
So lu tio n D e ta ils
Ne g o tia tio n
C u sto m e r Pro file
C a p tu re a n d
R e co rd
C u sto m ize
So lu tio n s to
C u sto m e r
R e q u ire m
Sa le s C lo su re
C u sto m e r
Pre fe re n ce s
C a p tu re a n d
R e co rd
C o n firm So lu tio n
Ava ila b ility
Pro d u ct
D e ve lo p m e n t
In q u iry
Figure 3.3: Selling - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4) Processes
The Selling Level 3 processes are described below (working descriptions for
the candidate Level 4 processes are also included to provide additional
context for the Level 3 processes, but note that these are under study)
Prospect Management
The purpose of this process is to match identified leads with the most
appropriate products and ensure that these prospects are handled
appropriately. These prospects represent a “pipeline” of potential sales, each
of which is expressed in terms of the probability of successful sales closure
and an estimate of the total attainable revenue. The needs of each potential
prospect are analysed. Based on these needs, potential solutions are
identified from the service provider’s product portfolio. Each prospect is
tracked through these processes and the outcome (win or loss) of the each
prospect is reported. Prospects are assigned to the appropriate sales
channel.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
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Prospect Needs Analysis
The needs of each prospective customer are analysed with regard to the
services required. The scope of this activity depends heavily on the
complexity of the services available and the characteristics (e.g. size of
organisation) of the prospect.
Potential Solutions Identification
Based on the prospect’s needs, potential products are selected from the
service provider’s product portfolio.
Track and Report Prospect Result
Various follow up activities are required during a customer’s transition from
“lead” to “customer”, and the amount of attention required depends upon
such variables as potential revenue and likelihood of “win”. Each prospect is
tracked through these activities in order to identify any required remedial
actions, if necessary, and to aid in the projection of the size of the “pipeline”.
Whether or not a customer is won, the outcome of the overall sales process is
reported for improvement opportunities.
Customer Qualification and Education
The purpose of this process is to ensure that the business agreement
between the customer and service provider is based upon mutual
understanding. The customer is qualified in terms of any associated risk, and
the amount of effort required (e.g. response to a Request for Proposal [RFP]).
Alternative solutions may be developed and customized to the specific
customer’s requirements. The solution alternatives must be available (e.g.
capacity) or scheduled on a product roadmap.
Understand Customer Need
The needs and requirements gathered during the analysis of the prospect’s
needs are expanded.
Qualify Customer
Based on the probability of sales closure and the potential revenue, a
decision is made as to whether the estimated amount of work associated with
the sale (e.g. response to RFP) is deemed to be a good investment. Any risks
(e.g. credit worthiness) associated with the customer are analysed and
determination is made as to whether this will be a good customer.
Develop Solution Alternatives
Alternative solutions are developed for the customer based upon the service
provider’s offerings in terms of price and functionality.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Customize Solutions to Customer Requirements
Where necessary, solutions may require tailoring to a customer’s specific
requirements.
Confirm Solution Availability
The capability of the service provider to deliver the various solutions is
ensured (e.g. available capacity). Resources may be reserved if necessary.
Customer should be notified of issues that can cause delay in availability.
Product Development Inquiry
If some of the customer requirements can not be met by current offerings, a
schedule of availability is prepared based on the product roadmap or
development schedules.
Sales Negotiation
The purpose of this process is to close the sale with terms that are mutually
agreeable to both the customer and the service provider. One specific
solution is selected and its details are described in a sales proposal. The sale
is concluded through negotiations of features, service levels, pricing and
discounts, resulting in a formal agreement between the customer and service
provider.
Solution Determination with Customer
The alternative solutions are presented to the customer, from which one is
selected.
Sales Proposal Development
The sales proposal is prepared detailing out the customer and service
provider’s responsibilities in terms of features and services (e.g. training and
support) to be delivered, quality of service and pricing
Solution Details Negotiation
The sales proposal is amended as necessary based on negotiations between
the parties.
Sales Closure
The negotiations conclude with the a formal agreement between the
customer and service provider.
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Customer Data Acquisition
The purpose of this process is to record all pertinent customer data.
Customer Identity Capture (or Capture Customer Details and create unique identity)
Unique identifiers are created for the customer, the account structure and the
agreement structure.
Relationship Establishment
Hand off from the sales to the customer support organization is made and
representatives are assigned.
Customer Profile Capture and Record
Data about individuals, addresses and locations within the customer technical
organization is gathered.
Customer Preferences Capture and Record
The customer’s individual preferences (e.g. billing method, SLAs for QoS) are
captured.
Cross/Up Selling
The purpose of this process is to ensure that the value of the relationship
between the customer and service provider is maximized by selling
additional, or more of the existing, products. The ongoing analysis of
customer trends (e.g. usage, problems, complaints) is used to identify when
the current offerings may no longer be appropriate for the customer, or when
the opportunity for a larger sale arises. Based on the data collected, more
appropriate offerings should be recommended to the customer.
Up & Cross Sell Opportunities Identification
Customer trends and usage patterns are analyzed to identify where the
current customer solution may not be the most appropriate of those within the
service provider’s offerings.
Up & Cross Sell Packages Identification
Standard customer migration paths through the service provider’s offerings
are established to handle changes in customer usage patterns or new
product introduction. When a customer contact is made, more appropriate
solutions are offered.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Billing & Collections Management Level 3 Processes
The Billing & Collections Management process is a Level 2 process within the
Customer Relationship Management Level 1 functional process grouping.
This process encompasses maintaining a customer's billing account, sending
invoices to customers, processing their payments and performing payment
collections; in addition it handles customer inquiries about bills, provides
billing inquiry status and is responsible for resolving billing problems to the
customer's satisfaction.
It also supports the revenue management
components of the service provider's business including receivables
management, treatment, revenue reconciliation, tax management and
providing input into the settlement process. The purpose of this process is to
ensure that the customer's invoice is an appropriate representation of its
relationship to the service provider, that all billing discrepancies are resolved
to the customer's satisfaction and that the billing operations accurately reflect
the business operations of the service provider.
The Billing & Collections Management process is decomposed into a set of
Level 3 processes, shown in Figure 3.4. This figure also shows candidate
Level 4 processes below each of the Level 3 processes. These are under
study.
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 43
B IL L IN G &
C O L L E C T IO N S
M A N AG EM EN T
C US T O M E R
B IL L
IN Q U IR IE S
M A N A G E M E NT
P R IC IN G &
B IL L
C US T O M E R
D IS C O U N T IN G
C R E A T IO N
B IL LIN G
A PP L IC A T IO N
& DE L IV E RY
M A N A G E M E NT
D e s ign & U p da te
M a n a g e Cu sto m e r
R e c eiv e & A p p ly
B illin g P r e s e nta tio n
A cco u nt
P a ym e n ts
A p p ly p r icin g of
F u lfill B ill In q u ir ie s
in d ivid u al
ev e n ts
A n a lys e &
d o cu m e n t
A p p ly s u m m a ry
P ro d uc e C u s to m e r
c harge s
B ill(s)
b illin g issu e s
R e so lv e B illing
A p p ly C u s to m e r
Iss u e s
D isc ou n ts
V e r ify & R e v ie w
C us to m er
Inv o ice Q ua lity
C O L L E CT IO N S
M A N A GE M E N T
M a n a g em e n t of
s er vic es fo r
a c c ur ate b illin g
F r a ud
id e ntifica tio n
M a na g e De p o sits
G a th er b illin g d a ta
fo r
C re d it A s se ssm e n t
A p p ly R e b a te s
C u s to m e r b ill
T r e a t & C o lle ct
& Cr e d its
d is trib u tio n
O ve r d u e Ac co u n ts
A pp ly T ax e s
C u sto m e r fr a ud
& Su rch a rg e s
& cr e d it ab u se
Info r m
g e n e r a l le d g er
Figure 3.4: Billing & Collections Management - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4)
Processes
The Billing & Collections Management Level 3 processes are described
below (working descriptions for the candidate Level 4 processes are also
included to provide additional context for the Level 3 processes, but note that
these are under study)
Customer Bill Inquiries Management
The objective of this process is to ensure the timely and effective fulfillment of
all customer bill inquiries and the resolution of customer / Service Provider
billing issues. This process is responsible for managing customer interaction
as it relates to a customer's billing relationship to a Service Provider. This
includes fulfilling inquiries against the customer's billing account(s), handling
disputes from the customer with regards to its billing records and resolving
billing disputes between the customer and Service Provider. This process
can be view via traditional means, with a service representative managing the
customer or via e-business means. In the latter case, inquiries, issues and
communication of resolution would be handled via electronic media without
the intervention of a representative.
Candidate Level 4 processes within this Level 3 process are described below:
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Fulfil Billing enquiries
This process is responsible for handling an inquiry for a customer on its billing
information and providing the required information for the customer's inquiry.
This process receives a request for billing information from the Customer
Interface Management process. It retrieves appropriate customer billing
information based upon the inquiry's nature. It provides to the customer the
specific billing information requested. It will handoff any required disputes for
documentation and resolution. This process can be considered in an ebusiness context where the transaction is handled completely via electronic
means. In this case, the electronic medium would present the billing
information to the customer and begin the documentation process for any
issues identified by the customer.
Analyse & document billing issues
This process is responsible for documenting billing disputes raised by the
customer. It receives a potential dispute from the Fulfill Billing enquiries
process. The process identifies the specific billing information disputed. It
verifies the customer's dispute against the Service Provider's billing records.
When the dispute concerns a billing information done on behalf of another
Service Provider (partner), the process hands off the dispute to the relevant
Partner process. The process formally documents the nature of the dispute
and notes the discrepancy. It then forwards dispute for resolution as
appropriate.
Resolve Billing Issues
This process is responsible for resolving billing disputes with a customer in a
timely and effective manner. The process receives a documented billing
issue dispute for resolution from the Analyse & Document Billing Issues
process. It identifies root cause of billing issue dispute (incorrect billing of
usage, customer misunderstanding of charges, etc). It determines required
resolution for billing dispute (credit of charge, charges sustained etc),
consistent with established business practices (refund limits, etc). It informs
the customer of resolution. It performs the required resolution for the billing
issue, as consistent w/ defined business policy. It escalates issue as
appropriate within Service Provider. Inform Frauds Identification of any
potentially fraudulent account behavior. The process also documents any
resolution, or attempted resolution, of the billing dispute
Pricing, Discounting & Rebate Application
The purpose of this process is to ensure that the customer receives an
invoice that is reflective of all the billable events delivered by the Service
Provider as per the business relationship between the customer and the
Service Provider. In addition, it ensures that the appropriable taxes, rebates
(i.e. missed customer commitments) and credits are applied to the customer's
invoice(s). This process contains the account and customer specific pricing,
charges, discounting, credits and taxation for services delivered to the
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 45
customer by the Service Provider. It accepts events that have been
collected, translated, correlated, assembled, guided and service rated. It
takes these events and determines the account or customer specific pricing,
charges, discounts, and taxation that should be delivered to the invoice(s) for
the customer. This process can occur real-time as events are service rated,
or can be on a scheduled on a periodic basis at the Service Provider's
discretion.
Candidate Level 4 processes within this Level 3 process are described below:
Apply Pricing of individual events
This process performs the customer and account specific pricing of event
data that has been service rated. It processes the service rated events,
resolves the nature of the billable event (chargeable units) and determines
the appropriate price for that event given the business agreement between
the customer and the Service Provider.
Apply Summary Charges
This process is responsible for applying the recurring and non-recurring
charges (non-event based) to an account (installation charges, Basic Monthly
Service charges). The process retrieves the account's billing information,
determines the appropriate recurring and non-recurring charges for services
delivered in the billing period. It then posts these charges to the customer's
account to be rendered on the current invoice
Apply Customer Discounts
This process is responsible for providing summary discounts to an account
given the customer's business agreement with the Service Provider. The
process reviews the usage information for the customer's account for the
given period. The process ensures that the customer has qualified for any
tiers, thresholds or volumes required for the discounting. Customer discounts
can also be applied to an overall customer's account (rather than just usage)
such as 10% off for the first month. It then posts the appropriate discounts to
the customer's account to be rendered on the current invoice
Apply Rebates & Credits
This process is responsible for posting un-invoiced rebates and credits to a
customer's account. Examples of these transactions would be out-of-service
credits provided to the customer (e.g. where agreed upon SLA's by the
Service Provider to the Customer) have been missed, special rebates
provided to the customer, etc. The process reviews the customer's account
to determine if any un-invoiced transactions have been associated to the
customer in the current period. It then posts these transactions to the
customer's account to be rendered on the current invoice.
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Apply Taxes & Surcharges
This process is responsible for imposing the necessary taxes and surcharges
to a customer's account given the services provided to the customer for the
current billing period. The process reviews the charges and credits posted to
the account for the current period. It establishes the appropriate jurisdiction
for the charges and credits given the account's billing location, service
location and usage information. It calculates and applies the appropriate
taxes and surcharges based on that jurisdiction. The processes then posts
these line items to the customer's account to be rendered on the current
invoice.
Bill Creation & Delivery
The primary purpose of this process is the production of a timely and
accurate invoice reflective of the charges for services delivered to the
customer by the Service Provider and respective trading partners. This
process contains the invoicing components of the Service Provider's
business. This includes the design and development of the Service
Provider's invoicing process, the rendering of an invoice, the delivery of an
invoice to customers and the processes that verify invoice quality prior to
customer distribution. The flow of this process can be viewed as an
extension of the company's e-business strategy. In this case, the Service
Provider would render an invoice electronically, via the Internet for example,
and potentially trigger a payment from the customer's credit card
electronically.
Furthermore, This process provides specifications for the formatting of
invoices in different ways and to achieve different publishing possibilities and
supports the creation of different invoice formats for different publication
media.
Candidate Level 4 processes within this Level 3 process are described below:
Design & Update Billing Presentation
This process is responsible for managing the creation, updates and one-time
changes to the Service Provider's invoice format. The process creates the
initial invoice format for Service Provider's customers, based upon marketing,
etc, requirements. It updates the invoice format to support deployment of
new services, as appropriate. Finally, it manages bill run specific changes to
invoicing process (marketing messages, promotional inserts, etc.)
Produce Customer Bill(s)
This process is responsible for delivering the regular production of customer
invoices. It receives customer usage charges,, surcharges and taxes for
service rendered and products delivered during a given billing period from the
Rating and Discounting process, calculates discounts or credits in usage
charges, recurrent charges (prorate charges), non-recurring charges
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(activation quotes, installation quotes), applies adjustments, and calculates
additional discounts (to the different charges). It retrieves an account's open
balance and payment information to be included on invoice. It retrieves
customer account information, including billing address, invoice specific
information, etc. The process also determines specific billing arrangements
required by the customer's business agreement for the provider. This would
include, for example, the collation of different invoices for an account (mobile,
fixed wire, internet) into a single invoice or the managing hierarchical rules for
a customer's account structure (for example, customer receives a summary
statement and subsidiary accounts receive detailed invoice for payment).
The process formats and renders the appropriate customer bill(s).
Verify and Review Customer Invoice Quality
The goal of this process is to ensure that the invoices delivered to the
customer meet the company's quality assurance standards. The process
receives a sample of invoices from a given billing run from the Customer
Invoice Production process. It reconciles open balance, charges, credits and
payment information against independent data (finance and accounting, etc.).
The process verifies physical image and appearance of sample invoices. It
reviews the billing run's quality with stakeholders. The process then
continues to invoice distribution or rectifies quality issues, as appropriate.
Furthermore, This process focuses on monitoring the billing quality, by
sampling and holding bills and reviewing their content, verifying if they comply
with a pre determined set of rules. If they do, the bill is released and the
related bills are sent to invoice formatting, otherwise, the previous processes
will have to be repeated.
Customer bill distribution
This process is responsible for taking a rendered invoice and delivering it to
the customer via the appropriate media and method. This could include not
only a physical invoice but potentially the electronic presentment of an invoice
and its details via electronic means, the Internet for example. It receives the
rendered customer invoice, after a billing run's quality has been established
and approved. It determines the delivery media (electronic, paper, etc) and
method (email, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), CDROM, fax, etc.)
appropriate for the customer. The process prepares invoice for distribution,
along with any accompanying material (bill inserts, etc). The process delivers
the invoice to the customer, in the case of electronic transactions, or submits
the invoice for delivery, in the case of mail transactions. Finally, it performs
any required electronic invoicing actions (i.e. Electronic Funds Transfer, credit
card, etc).
In summary, this process produces and distributes invoices, reports and
notices on the required media. Formatted invoicing information is grouped by
media to enable more efficient final production and distribution.
The usual media will be paper, however different format invoices can be
offered such as web based, e-mail based or other media.
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Customer Billing Management
The primary purpose of this process pertains to effective management of the
customer's billing account as it relates to the products purchased and
consumed throughout the appropriate billing cycle. This process focuses on
managing changes to the customer's billing account (such as change of
address, etc.) as well as managing the customer's service portfolio, such as
ensuring that the correct products are assigned to the customer's account for
accurate billing.
Candidate Level 4 processes within this Level 3 process are described below:
Manage Customer Account
This process ensures that the customer's account is an accurate reflection of
its relationship to the Service Provider. In the case of new accounts, the
process will create the appropriate billing entities for the account. Going
forward, it will process changes to a customer's billing account (billing
address changes, etc). Included within these activities is the establishment of
tax/surcharge jurisdiction. The process will confirm with the customer any
changes made to billing account information. Included within this process
would be the management of the account hierarchical structure requested by
the customer entity as well as definition of the billing entity within that
hierarchy. Any sponsored services will also be defined upon account creation
(e.g. a certain service such as e-mail may be sponsored by an employer).
Management of services for accurate billing
This process ensures that the customer's purchased services are accurately
reflected in terms of billing components. In the case of new services, the
process creates the appropriate service entities for the customer's account
that will be billed against (e.g. usage, # of hits, etc.). As it receives updates
(upgrade / addition / termination of services, promotional pricing or rebate,
etc) to the customer's services it will modify the service entities as
appropriate. The process will confirm with the customer any changes made
to the service information for the account and the service changes should be
reflected on the customer's bill.
Fraud Identification
The goal of this process is to minimize the fraudulent use of the services
provided to the customer by the company. The process accepts reports of
fraudulent service use by the customer or other service Provider processes.
It notifies the customer and appropriate authorities of the fraud and rectifies
billing information as appropriate (credit, etc).
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Collection Management
The objective of this process is to collect payments done by the customer.
Furthermore this process is meant to match these payments with the services
/ invoices delivered to this customer. This process is also meant to manage
the amount due of the customer, i.e. check whether the payments are done in
time. If not so, this might result in putting the customer on hold.
Candidate Level 4 processes within this Level 3 process are described below:
Receive and apply payments
This process is responsible for receiving and applying payments for service.
It receives payments for billed services from the customer, either from the
customer directly, through a clearinghouse (lockbox, credit card transactions,
etc) or via other electronic means (Internet bill payment). The process
determines the appropriate payment hierarchy for application based on
applicable business rules and jurisdictional law (bucketized payment
structure). The process applies the payments to appropriate outstanding
balances for customer's account.
Manage Deposits
This process is responsible for managing deposits posted to a customer's
account with the Service Provider. It receives deposits for services from
either the customer directly or through a clearinghouse. The process applies
and stores the deposits against the customer's account. It remits interest
earned, as required by business policy or regulations, to the customer's
account. Finally, it refunds the deposit, as appropriate, to the customer's
account.
Gather Billing Data for Credit Assessment
This process takes responsibility for collecting all data from billing records to
allow the management of credit scoring by Retention and Loyalty. The
process receives a request for a customer and/or account's billing
information. It retrieves the appropriate billing information for the request
(account balance, payment history, treatment history). It returns the billing
information to Retention and Loyalty to determine the credit score.
Treat & Collect Overdue Accounts
This goal of this process is to manage the collections and treatment of a
customer's open balances. It establishes the policy (treatment steps and
thresholds) required for past due accounts. On a regular basis, usually based
on the completion of a billing cycle, the process reviews aged open balances.
Based on that review, it determines accounts requiring treatment and the
stage of treatment process required. It performs the appropriate treatment
step given balance's age and past credit history. The process attempts to
collect on overdue balances in treatment. Finally, the process will hand off
accounts for suspension and/or termination, as appropriate.
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Another goal of this process is to provide other parties with information, in
order to enable these parties to collect payments from past due accounts.
Customer Fraud & Credit Abuse
This process researches the fraud report and identifies actual cases of fraud.
When appropriate, the process also performs action (e.g. notification of credit
department) or requests termination of service based upon fraud.
Inform general ledger
This process is responsible for interfacing with the general ledger. On a
regular base (weekly, monthly, quarterly) it informs the general ledger about
the amount of payments received and about the payments not to be received
(e.g. due to a customer's bankruptcy)
Billing End-to-End Flows
Billing forms a Level 1 process within the eTOM Operations Level 0 process
grouping (see Figure 3.5, and GB921 for further details)
Figure 3.5: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
As with Fulfillment, a view has been developed of the end-to-end process
flows that link the processes involved in the billing activity. This provides
additional insight into the operation of the processes concerned, and also
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explains the dynamic behavior of the processes in terms of event
associations, information transfer and the sequencing of process steps
involved in the overall procedures.
The goal of this analysis is to document process flows at Level 3 (and
eventually below), but in examining this area it is useful to show higher-level
interactions as an aid to understanding the context of the process
relationships. This work therefore follows the overall methodology described
previously (see Methodology for Process Analysis).
Context of Billing within the eTOM Framework
Figure 3.6 shows the context of Billing within the overall eTOM. As would be
expected, the majority of the high-level process linkages are within the Level
1 Billing process grouping, but a number of significant interactions are
identified outside of this vertical process area.
Figure 3.6: Billing within the eTOM Framework
Billing Level 2 Flows
A more detailed illustration of the process interactions among the major Level
2 processes involved. is shown in Figure 3.7.
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Here the Level 2 processes are shown with relative positioning similar to that
in the eTOM framework, to assist understanding and to make the diagram
more intuitive. These interactions are developed further within the individual
Level 3 flows (below) that show how the internal Level 3 structure of each
Level 3 process supports the flows.
Figure 3.7: Billing Process Flows at Level 2
Work is ongoing to develop this further to indicate sequencing, and to imply
involvement by different Level 3 processes within the indicated Level 2
processes.
To illustrate this work, Figure 3.8 shows how the Billing & Collections
Management Level 2 process interacts with the billing environment, and
indicates the involvement of Level 3 processes in this. This area is under
study.
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S/PARTNERS
CUSTOMER
Invoice
Telemanagement Report
Collection Notice
Customer Information Notice
Payments - Refunds/Rebates
Usage transaction - rated
Usage transaction - invalid
Ad-hoc bill request (delayed usage)
RM&O
RM&O
Data
Data
Collection
Collection
SM&O
SM&O
Service &
Service &
Instance Rating
Instance Rating
Billing transaction - priced
Billing transaction - corrected
Possible Customer Savings
Pricing &
Pricing &
Discounting
Discounting
Usage transaction - corrected
Usage transactions
THIRD PARTY
SERVICE
PROVIDER
Billing transaction - invalid
On-demand rated information
Real-time rated information
Customer
Payment
Advice
Customer
Payment
Customer
Payment
Invoice
Billing transaction invoiced
Billing
Billing
Management
Management
Collections
Collections
Management
Management
Customer Payment Advice
Account Adjustment
Refund Information
Rebate Information
Collection Action Request - Automated
Final Bill Request
Ad-hoc Bill Request
Customer Deposit Information
Customer
Payment
EXTERNAL
AGENCY
Bank
Deposit
Information
Bank
Deposit
BANK
Collection
Action
Request Collection
Agency
COLLECTION
AGENCY
Figure 3.8: Billing & Collections Management Process Flows at Level 2/3
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Chapter 4 - Service Management and Assurance
Overview
Service Management & Operations (SM&O) forms a Level 1 process within
the eTOM Operations Level 0 process grouping (see Figure 4.1, and GB921
for further details)
Figure 4.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
Within the work program on SM&O, attention concentrated on decomposition
of some of the level 2 processes, and on process flows concerning these.
The chosen areas for analysis are:


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Service Problem Management: decomposition of SM&O level
2 process to level 3
Service Quality Analysis, Action & Reporting: decomposition
of SM&O level 2 process to level 3
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

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Service Problem Management: definition of flows and
linkages between level 3 processes
Assurance: definition of flows and linkages to provide an
“End-to-End” view to aid understanding of how these
processes can be used
Figure 4.2 shows the CRM Level 2 processes to provide context for this work.
S e rv ic e
M a n agem ent &
O p e r a tio n s
S M & O S up p o rt &
P rocess
M a n a g e m e nt
S M & O R e a d ine s s
S e rvic e
C o n f i g ura tio n &
A c t i va tio n
S e r v i c e P ro b le m
M a n a g e m e nt
S e r v i c e Q ua lity
A n a ly s is , A c tio n &
R e p o rting
S e r vic e & S p e c ific
In s t a n c e R a ting
© Te l e M a n a g e m e n t F o ru m O c t o b e r, 2 0 0 1
Figure 4.2: Service Management & Operations Level 2 Processes
Service Problem Management Level
3 Processes
The Service Problem Management process is a Level 2 process within the
Service Management & Operations Level 1 functional process grouping.
Description:
This process responds immediately to customer affecting service problems or
failures in order to minimize their effects on customers, and invoke the
restoration of the service as soon as possible. Service Problem Management
encompasses the reporting of problems, making a temporary fix or
workaround, isolating the root cause and acting to resolve it.
Purpose:
To guarantee fast response to QoS violations under a predefined threshold
(i.e. Service breakdowns or functional degradations)
Starts with (pre-condition):
Any trouble notification that affects service performance and needs short-term
analysis and resolution, coming from customers (Problem Handling) or from
resource management. (network and IT infrastructure)
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Input/From:
Problem Handling: info on customer complaints about QoS drops that need
immediate response.
Customer QoS/SLA Management: for information about particular customer
SLAs that would imply special actions or priorities. (i.e. strategic customers...)
Service Management & Operations Readiness: for notification of the new
service classes and details of quality level thresholds and restoration
procedures and operations.
Service Configuration & Activation: for info on resources activated for a
customer which need to be known in order to correlate resource problems
with service problems.
Resource Restoration: for info on resource problem restorations.
S/P Problem Reporting and Management: for S/P problem notifications that
should affect service performance (S/P problems that affect service own
services). Also notifications about S/P problem resolutions.
Service Quality Analysis, Action & Reporting: For info on service quality
degradations that need short-term responses.
Output/To
Problem Handling: Info and updates on estimated time to restore. Also
notification of problem resolution.
Customer QoS/SLA Management: info on impact on service performance
levels, in order to assess the impact on the customer SLA.
Service Quality, Analysis Action & Reporting: info on service problem records
for quality analysis and improvement recomendations.
S/P Problem Reporting & management: Inquiries and Requests to Restore, if
there is an S/P Problem that affects Service Performance.
Resource Restoration: Inquiries and Request to Restore, in case there is a
resource problem in the root causes of a service problem
Ends/With (post-condition):
Service Problem finished and reports made.
Process activities or steps:
Assess the impact of a S/P or resource problem on the service delivery.
Diagnosis of the root cause of customer complaints
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Establish Planning and monitoring of restoration actions
Generates records and reports about service problems.
Information required:
Procedures and operations for restoration
The resources an S/P involved in the service
The Service Problem Management process is decomposed into a set of
Level 3 processes, shown in Figure 4.3. This figure also shows candidate
Level 4 processes below each of the Level 3 processes. These are under
study.
Service
Problem
Management
Evaluation and
Qualification
Diagnosis
Resolution
Planning
and
Assignment
Problem Request
Receipt
Diagnosis of
Problem
Identification of
Resolution
Responsibility
Monitoring of
Fault Resolution
Service Testing
Problem Testing
Performance
Problem
Escalation
Resolution Option
Investigation and
Recommendation
Progress
Reporting
Repair and
Reconfiguration
Checking
Problem
Qualification
Scheduled
Task
Resolution
Tracking
Closing
and
Reporting
Issue of cleared
Problem
Report
Specific Activity
Assignment
Figure 4.3: Service Problem Management - Level 3 (and candidate Level 4) Processes
The Service Problem Management Level 3 processes are described below.
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Evaluation & Qualification
Upon a customer complaint, this process will determine the nature of the
problem and if the customer is using the service properly. There will be
testing to fit or translate customer information into service information for
diagnosis. In case there is a S/P or resource problem notification (alarms, etc)
this process will analyze this information and translates these problems into
impact for customers, making the necessary reports towards the Problem
Handling (to inform about estimated time to restore) and QoS/SLA
management process to inform of the problem's impact on the service
performance.
Diagnosis
Performs the search of the root cause by means of the appropriate testing
and/or quires for information.
Resolution Planning and Assignment
According to the information provided by the Diagnosis process, this process
will prepare the plan for the resolution, splitting the resolution work into tasks,
and establish the appropriate task execution sequence, identifying other
parties responsible if necessary.
Resolution Tracking
This process also perform the necessary tracking of the execution progress in
order to assure that the whole resolution completed, according with the plan
established. Trouble reports will be made for the responsible parties, and this
process will coordinate all the actions necessary, in order to guarantee that all
tasks are finished at the appropriate time.
Closing and Reporting
This process will perform the necessary testing in order to certify the
recovering of the normal service performance, and make the necessary
reports about the problem occurred, the root cause and the works carried out
for restoration. It also will issue the trouble clearance report to inform the
CRM layer.
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Service Problem Management Level
3 Process Flows
Service Problem Management Level 3 Process Flows provide insight into the
process interactions around the Service Problem Management Level 2
process, and how these interactions map into the internal structure of this
process, to/from the contained level 3 processes (see above for
decomposition).
Figure 4.4 shows the Service Problem Management structure and the
process interactions involved.
Figure 4.4: Service Problem Management - Level 3 Process Flows
These process interactions can be characterized as follows:
INPUTS:
Trouble Ticket: Request to Resolve abnormal service performance perceived
by customers
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QoS Violations: This info is provided as a result of Impacted Service
Performance information passed to this process, in order to determine SPM
priorities.
New Service Instances: Information about the new customers and/or service
instances created by the Service Configuration and Activation Process
New Service Info, training and Ops: Details about new service classes in
order to manage their eventual problems.
Planned Maintenance: Information about scheduled works carried on by other
processes/providers, that can affect service performance, and/or generate
later service problems
Chronic Problems: Feedback about problems not correctly resolved in order
to modify the problem resolution process.
Reconfigurations: Information on changes made to service instance
configurations
Service Affecting Notification: Information about problems detected by other
processes/providers that con affect service performance. (e.g. network
alarms, resource failures, service problems in other providers.)
Restoration completion: Information about restoration works, as a result to
request to restore output.
TT Closed: Information about previous Trouble Tickets opened to other
Service Providers/Partners.
OUTPUTS:
Impacted service performance: Information passed to Customer QoS/SLQ
Mgmt in order to analyze whether there is a QoS violation, and/or the impact
on business caused by a service problem detected or planned maintenance.
Estimated time to Repair: Updates about problem resolution progress in order
to keep the customer informed by Problem Handling.
Request to reconfigure: In case of the problem caused by a service instance
(problem in customer premises, bad instance data...), this request will be
generated.
Trouble ticket: If the problem is caused by another S/P, a Trouble Ticket will
be generated.
Request to Restore: In case of problem is caused by a resource failure, this
request will be passed to Resource Restoration Process.
Trouble ticket closed: notification of the resolution of a trouble ticket, towards
Problem Handling
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Service Problem Report: Record about service problem for Service Quality
Analysis.
Service Quality Analysis, Action &
Reporting Level 3 Processes
The Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting process is a Level 2
process within the Service Management & Operations Level 1 functional
process grouping.
DESCRIPTION:
This process encompasses monitoring, analyzing and controlling the
performance of a service perceived by all customer of a service class The
Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting process is responsible for
restoring the service performance to a level specified in a SLA or other
service descriptions as soon as possible. It is also responsible for responding
to inquiries and reporting on service performance.
PURPOSE:
To provide effective monitoring and control to ensure that the service levels
specified for each service class are maintained and to provide real-time
information on the service levels achieved.
BUSINESS RULES:
Valid and complete service level parameters with their values and thresholds.
STARTS WITH (pre-condition):
Notification of a new service class ready to sell and deliver to customers
together with the service level parameters and values and thresholds that
need to be maintained to provide the service levels required.
INPUT/FROM:
Service Development & Retirement (for notification of the new service class
and details of the service level specification against which to compare service
performance, also notification of service withdrawal)
Resource Quality Analysis, Action & Reporting (resource performance levels,
resource degradation, faults)
S/P Performance Management (service performance information from the
S/Ps involved in providing part of a service for the SP – including
degradations, S/P inquiries/complaints about service quality)
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Customer QoS/SLA Management (customer inquiries, complaints, reports,
etc. about service quality that Customer QoS/SLA Management cannot solve
plus any performance degradations against SLAs that are picked up by the
Customer QoS/SLA Management process)
Service Configuration & Activation (information on resources activated for a
customer which should be included in the performance monitoring for the
service and also on all resource modifications during the service lifetime)
Service Problem Management (information about problems that are being
dealt with)
OUTPUT/TO:
SM&O - Service Quality Management (service performance levels for
statistical and other long-term analyses)
Resource Quality Analysis, Action & Reporting (requests for performance
data, notification of performance problems)
Customer QoS/SLA Management (information on service performance
levels, responses to inquiries)
Service Problem Management (notification of performance degradation that
needs to be dealt with and KQI violations for root cause analysis)
S/P Performance Management (information on service performance levels,
responses to inquiries, notification of performance degradation that needs to
be restored)
ENDS/WITH (post-condition):
The service is withdrawn
PROCESS ACTIVITIES OR STEPS:
- Sets up and maintains monitoring of the resources involved in providing a
service
- Establishes whether the service performance levels are meeting the service
level specification
- Initiates procedures to counter service performance degradation
- Tracks a service performance degradation until it is resolved
- Responds to inquiries and provides reports on service performance
FUNCTIONS:
See decompositions and flows
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INFORMATION REQUIRED:
The performance level attributes, their values and the thresholds (hard and
soft) for every service class
The resources involved in providing the service (both internally and from
suppliers and partners)
The performance data to be analyzed
REQUIREMENTS:
Automated performance monitoring and threshold violation notification
procedures
Security
HINTS:
None at this level
REFERENCED/SOURCE:
TOM 2.1 (GB910)
eTOM 2.5 (GB921)
SLA Management Handbook (GB917)
WSMT team
ACCOUNTABLE:
Not applicable
The Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting process is decomposed
into a set of Level 3 processes, shown in Figure 4.5. This figure also shows
candidate Level 4 processes below each of the Level 3 processes. These are
under study.
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Service Quality
Analysis, Action &
Repor
Service Quality
Monitoring
Usage & Cost
Data Monitoring
Service Quality
Analysis
Service Cost
Analysis
Service
Improvement
Service Constraint
Identification &
Reporting
Performance Data
Collection
Service Usage
Monitoring
Alarm Analysis
Service Usage
Cost Analysis
Service Quality
Improvement
Technical
Constraint
Identification
Alarm Logging
Service Cost
Monitoring
Abnormal Usage
Analysis
Service Provision
Cost Analysis
Service Cost
Improvement
Operational
Constraint
Identification
Performance Data
Analysis
Costing
Correlation
Resource
Improvement
Service
Performance
Shortfall Reporting
Abnormal Usage
Monitoring
Service
Performance
Inquiry Response
Figure 4.5: Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting - Level 3 (and candidate
Level 4) Processes
The Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting Level 3 processes are
described below.
SERVICE QUALITY MONITORING
This process collects and stores all quality indicators in relation with the
service, such as congestion events, resource alarm events. It also performs
automated testing using simulated calls or simulating standard user
behaviour, and collects data and identify abnormal usage by the service
users, i.e. bad passwords, terminal configurations.
USAGE & COST DATA MONITORING
Collects usage data (such as number of customers, peak hour traffic, etc) and
compiles service associated costs, such as infrastructure costs and process
(invoicing, provisioning...) costs.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
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SERVICE QUALITY ANALYSIS
Using the raw data coming from S. Quality Monitoring, this process will
correlate the events in order to filteri repetitive alarms, or failure events that do
not affect the quality delivered, and will calculate service quality indicators,
(such as Mean Time Between Fails, chronic problems) in order to assess the
effectiveness of the service and identify the actual quality level perceived by
the customers against forecasted quality levels.
SERVICE COST ANALYSIS
From the raw data collected by Usage & Cost Data Monitoring, this process
will calculate service efficiency indicators (such as Answer to Send Ratio,
percentage of resources used, etc) in order to assess the efficiency of the
service against resource and process costs.
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
Assess and recommends improvements using the information coming from
Service Quality Analysis and Service Cost Analysis in order to improve and/or
correct deviations from the forecasted quality and costs standards. This
recommendation will be passed to customer layer, resource layer or Service
Configuration Process.
SERVICE CONSTRAINT IDENTIFICATION & REPORTING
This process identifies the constraints than can affect service quality
standards, (i.e resource failures, capacity shortages due to unexpected
demand peaks, ) and passes this information to the CRM layer in order to
keep customers informed.
Service Quality Analysis, Action and
Reporting Level 3 Process Flows
Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting Level 3 Process Flows
provide insight into the process interactions around the Service Quality
Analysis, Action and Reporting Level 2 process, and how these interactions
map into the internal structure of this process, to/from the contained level 3
processes (see above for decomposition).
Figure 4.6 shows the Service Problem Management structure and the
process interactions involved.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Figure 4.6: Service Quality Analysis, Action and Reporting - Level 3 Process Flows
Assurance End-to-End Flows
Assurance forms a Level 1 process within the eTOM Operations Level 0
process grouping (see Figure 4.7, and GB921 for further details)
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 67
Figure 4.7: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
Within the work program on Assurance, attention concentrated on developing
a view of the end-to-end process flows that link the processes involved in the
assurance activity. This provides additional insight into the operation of the
processes concerned, and also explains the dynamic behavior of the
processes in terms of event associations, information transfer and the
sequencing of process steps involved in the overall procedures.
The goal of this analysis is to document process flows at Level 3 (and
eventually below), but in examining this area it is useful to show higher-level
interactions as an aid to understanding the context of the process
relationships. This work therefore follows the overall methodology described
previously (see Methodology for Process Analysis).
The focus is on Assurance for a Mobile VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Transmission Affected Customer Corporate service, so as to allow a realistic
scenario to be used in developing the flows concerned. However, it is
intended that the work has general application, not just in the context of this
service, and consequently care has been taken not to make the flows
service-specific.
Cases where resources are provided form within the service provider’s own
domain, as well as where suppliers and partners are involved in this, have
been taken into account.
At this point, the views that have been developed indicate sequencing, and
imply involvement by different Level 3 processes within the indicated Level 2
TeleManagement Forum 2002
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
process as shown in Figure 4.8, Figure 4.9 and Figure 4.10. Here, a given
Level 2 process may be shown several times, to allow the sequencing of its
involvement in the flow to be more clearly seen. Typically, different
functionality is involved at each point for a given Level 2 process, so this is a
step towards identification of the specific Level 3 process or processes, within
the Level 2 process which will support the interactions.
Note that these diagrams are derived from the model developed for this E2E
flow within the process modeling tool.
Customer
Customer
complaint
Customer
Notification
Customer
Relationship
Management
Problem
Problem
Handling
Handling
Service
Management
and
Operations
Trouble
Ticket
(SPM)
(SPM)
Evaluation
Evaluation
and
and
Qualification
Qualification
Problem
Problem
Handling
Handling
Problem
Problem
Handling
Handling
Estimated Time
of Repair
Service
Problem
Description
(SPM)
(SPM)
Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Root
Cause
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Planning
Planningand
and
Assignment
Assignment
Restoration
Update
Action
Plan
Plan
Finished
Restoration
Request
Customer
Customer
QoS/SLA
QoS/SLA
Management
Management
Problem
Cleaned
Problem
Persist
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Tracking
Tracking
Problem
Report
Restoration
Finished
(SPM)
(SPM)
Closing
Closingand
and
Reporting
Reporting
Problem
Report
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Quality
Quality
Analysis
Analysis
Bad Quality
Indicator
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Improvement
Improvement
Improvement
proposal
Service
Service
Configuration
Configuration
and
and
Activation
Activation
Resource
Management
and
Resource
Resource
Restoration
Restoration
Operations
Supplier/Part
ner
Relationship
Management
Level 2 Process
Level 3 Process
Figure 4.8: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: customer
complaint)
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 69
Customer
Customer
Relationship
Management
Customer
Customer
QoS/SLA
QoS/SLA
Management
Management
Service
Management
and
Operations
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Quality
Quality
Analysis
Analysis
Key Performance
Indicators
Service Problem
Notification
(SPM)
(SPM)
Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Problem
Report
Root
Cause
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Planning
Planningand
and
Assignment
Assignment
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Quality
Quality
Monitoring
Monitoring
Resource
Management
and
Operations
Action
Plan
Problem
Persist
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Tracking
Tracking
(SPM)
(SPM)
Closing
Closingand
and
Reporting
Reporting
Problem
Report
Plan
Finished
Restoration
Request
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Quality
Quality
Analysis
Analysis
Bad Quality
Indicator
Improvement
proposal
Service
Service
Configuration
Configuration
and
and
Activation
Activation
Restoration
Finished
Alarm
Fault
Resource
Resource
Problem
Problem
management
management
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Improvement
Improvement
Resource
Resource
Restoration
Restoration
Supplier/Part
ner
Relationship
Management
Level 2 Process
Alarm Fault
Level 3 Process
Figure 4.9: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: alarm fault)
Customer
Customer
Relationship
Management
Customer
Customer
QoS/SLA
QoS/SLA
Management
Management
Service
Management
and
Operations
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Cost
Cost
Analysis
Analysis
Key Performance
Indicators
Service Problem
Notification
(SPM)
(SPM)
Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Problem
Report
Root
Cause
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Usage
Usage&&Cost
Cost
Data
Data
Monitoring
Monitoring
Resource
Management
and
Operations
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Planning
Planningand
and
Assignment
Assignment
Action
Plan
Problem
Persist
(SPM)
(SPM)
Resolution
Resolution
Tracking
Tracking
Plan
Finished
Restoration
Request
Restoration
Finished
(SPM)
(SPM)
Closing
Closingand
and
Reporting
Reporting
Problem
Report
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Quality
Quality
Analysis
Analysis
Bad Quality
Indicator
(SQAAR)
(SQAAR)
Service
Service
Improvement
Improvement
Improvement
proposal
Service
Service
Configuration
Configuration
and
and
Activation
Activation
Statistics
Resource
Resource
Problem
Problem
management
management
Resource
Resource
Restoration
Restoration
Supplier/Part
ner
Relationship
Management
Statistics
CDR
Level 2 Process
Level 3 Process
Figure 4.10: Detailed View of Assurance Process Flows at Level 2 (source: statistics and
CDR)
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GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Chapter 5 - Resource Management
Overview
Resource Management & Operations (RM&O) forms a Level 1 process within
the eTOM Operations Level 0 process grouping (see Figure 5.1, and GB921
for further details). Resource Development & Management (RD&M) forms a
corresponding Level 1 process within the eTOM Strategy, Infrastructure &
product Level 0 process grouping (see Figure 5.1). Together, RM&O and
RD&M constitute a Resource Management layer spanning both of these
Level 0 process groupings.
Figure 5.1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes
The work program on Resource Management is proceeding initially in a
different way from some of the other areas discussed in this document. The
focus at this stage is to present information more in the form of an application
note, to allow discussion on some of the themes and issues which are
significant for development of Resource Management. With this in mind, a
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 71
number of areas of interest have been included below, with the intention that
the ongoing consideration of these is used as a basis for developing process
decompositions, flows, etc, that are relevant to the Resource Management
domain. The initial focus is on the Operations domain, i.e., on RM&O rather
than RD&M, but this will develop over time.
The current areas of interest are:









What are Resources - definition of the resources relevant to
the Resource Management domain, and how these interact
Resources and the eBusiness Environment – analysis of
additional or modified requirements on Resource
Management for ebusiness
Resources and NGOSS – analysis of the linkage from
Resource Management through to system and
information/data within NGOSS.
Resources and TMN – analysis of the impact of interaction
with and support for TMN-based networks and other
resources.
Product, Service and Resource – definition of the
entities/artifacts involved in support for Resource information,
and the link with Service information and eventually Product
information.
Resources and Service Level Agreements – analysis of the
link between resource performance and support to the
eventual customer SLA.
Example Product – description and analysis of the use of
Resource Management in a non-traditional, multi-service
product scenario, to allow exploration of the implications of
this area of eTOM development on a management solution
RM&O Process Decompositions – specific proposals on
process decompositions within RM&O to Level 3 and beyond,
together with appropriate related process flow definitions
Related Standards – description of significant related work in
other bodies which is relevant to the evolution of this domain
Each of these topics is developed within the individual sections below.
Figure 5.2 shows the RM&O Level 2 processes, and Figure 5.3 shows the RD&M level 2 processes,
to provide context for this work.
TeleManagement Forum 2002
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Resource
Management &
Operations
RM&O Support &
Process
Management
RM&O Operations
Readiness
Resource
Provisioning &
Allocation to
Service Instance
Resource Problem
Management
Resource Quality
Analysis, Action &
Reporting
Resource Data
Collection,
Analysis & Control
©TeleManagement Forum October, 2002
Figure 5.2: Resource Management & Operations Level 2 Processes
R e s o urc e
D e v e lo p m e nt &
M a n a g e m e nt
R e s o urc e &
Te c h n o lo g y
S t r a t e g y & P o lic y
R e s o urc e &
Te c h n o lo g y
P la n ning &
C o m m i tm e nt
R e s o urc e &
O p e r a tio ns
C a p a b i lity D e live ry
R e s o urc e
D e v e lo p m e nt
R e s o urc e
P e r f o rm a nc e
A s s e s s m e nt
© Te l e M a n a g e m e n t F o ru m O c t o b e r, 2 0 0 1
Figure 5.3: Resource Development & Management Level 2 Processes
What are Resources
The starting point for consideration of Resource Management is what is
meant by “resource”. In the past, most attention in this area was focused on
the telecommunications network itself, with its Network Elements, their
differing role within the communications infrastructure, and the functionality
and data which they supported. Nowadays, a broader view of resource is
needed, including not just the network, but the IT infrastructure, the
information and content carried, and even the human resources involved
with the hardware, software and systems.
One of the objectives of the Resource Management subteam is therefore to
contribute to the understanding of what resources are:
Resources are part of an enterprise's infrastructure utilized by a
Service or a good procured by the market. They are drawn
from the Application, Computing and Network domains, and
include, for example, Network Elements, software, IT systems,
and technology components.
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 73
One of the other objectives is to explore and document how Resource
Management integrates across the different types of resources: Application,
Computing and Network.
For example, the Element and Network
Management
Systems
(EMS/NMS)
also
considered
as
Computing/Application Resources. Even the Network Elements belong to
that category.
It should be noted that, since eTOM is a Business Process Framework, the
Resource Management subteam will maintain a Business View, rather than a
Technology or Systems View.
The eTOM Process Framework defines two horizontal process groupings:
Resource Development and Management in the Lifecycle Management
domain and Resource Management and Operations in the FulfillmentAssurance-Billing domain.
Follows some initial Resource definitions which form the basis for the
Resource Model development in the SID team. This can be used as
background information while developing the Resource Management
understanding.
An "element" (device) is a logical resource entity that consists of physical
"equipment" (hardware), software and data. They can be of type:

"network element" such as a router.

"information content element" such as a web server.

"security element" such as an AAA server.

others ?
Collections of "network elements" along with "policies", "protocols", and
"profiles" can form "networks".
Collections of "elements" may also comprise "systems", such as a system of
web servers which load share, or provide redundancy.
"services" are performed for customers by "elements", "systems", and
"networks".
"service access points" are provided by "elements".
An "application" is a software package used by a customer, which resides on
customer equipment.
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GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Resource Classifications
Follows a description of how resources can be classified, which can be used
as a basis for brainstorming on this topic. This should also be validated with
the Resource Model being developped by the SID team.
Resources can be classified in several ways. The first way is to categorise
them by technology (e.g. telecom equipment, applications etc.). However, this
may lead to the fact that processes are divided according to technology at too
high level. The other way is to start from physical and logical components.
Logical resources are non-tangible characteristics of an element impelmented
using physical resources (computing).
IC Service
Resource
Logical
Resource
Logical
address
Virtual
Path/Trail
Process
Parameter
Radio
frequency
?
Connection
point
Cable
Duct
Manhole
Cabinet
Physical
Resource
Processing
hardware
Systems
software
Application
software
Power
unit
NOTE: The problem here may be, that technological differences may appear
at too low level. The figure above represents only a very drafty version of the
resource classification. How does one classify hard disk space or memory
space! Can this classification never be normalised?
From management point of view the main difference between physical and
logical resource are, that physical resources cannot be fully managed without
physical contact (either directly by humans or using robotics or other
telemechanics). Logical resources can be managed using OSS functions.
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
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Integration across Application, Computing and Network components
Since Network Management and Systems Management (Computing and
Application) are quite different problem spaces (from a scale, security and
history, … point of view), it was suggested that until we have further
developed the model, we would keep Resources as an integration entity at
the highest layer, but then split the specifics of Network and Systems
Management at the lower level. This means that for the time being we will
handle the Application and Computing resources separately, and only focus
on Network Resources. However while we further develop the Resource
Management & Operations and Resource Development and Management,
we should be open and alert for area’s where specifics of these resource
types are applicable.
It is expected that a number of standardization activities might give us a good
insight in this:

ITIL (defines how to run IT in a company, but in
particular, it is also used by ISP’s and ASP’s)

MS Operations Framework (set of applications, ITIL
compliant)
Note: Current (new) release of ITIL includes only Service Delivery and
Service Support. The books under construction are ICT Infrastructure
Management (which in the coming release includes Systems Management
for the first time) and Applications Management. These are of course the
most important ones concerning resource management.
While looking at the above standards, we will do this from a Resource
Management point of view, but should be aware of potential relevance to
other areas of eTOM.
Resources and the eBusiness
Environment
The eBusiness model requires infrastructure, a delivery platform and also the
content to be delivered. We plan to further study the dynamics of the
eBusiness environment, in order to better understand what resources are,
their relationship to the Products and Services, and how resources are
owned.
To be developed in the future
TeleManagement Forum 2002
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Resources and NGOSS
Resource Management, due to its direct association with real-world entities in
the network, the computing infrastructure, etc, is the area of eTOM where
linkage with the system and data application is most apparent. With eTOM’s
role as the business drive into the rest of the NGOSS environment, Resource
Management has a special significance in supporting this linkage.
System View Aspects
The NGOSS System View defines a number of Management domains as
shown in Figure 5.4. The Technology and Equipment Management Domains
represent Resources.
e
ris nt
rp e
te em
En nag
a
M
le
c
y t
c
fe en
i
L em Portfolio
P ag
&
SI Man
Operations
Business
Equipment
Product
Mkt/Sales
Enterprise
Technology
Workforce
Service
Supplier/
Partner
er
m
sto
Cu
Customer
Invoice/
Payment
r
e
tn
r
a
P
/
er
li
p
p
u
S
Figure 5.4: System View Management Domains
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 77
Further study of how Resource Management is mapping to these
Management Domains is expected to be performed.
Shared Information and Data Model Aspects
The NGOSS Shared Information and Data Model has similar Management
Domain as defined within the Systems View. SIDM is very relevant for the
activities of the Resource Management subteam, as SIDM defines Business
Entities such as Resource, Service and Product.
Resources and TMN
Many existing environments employ TMN principles in their management
strategies, and – as with the relationship with NGOSS discussed above –
Resource Management is a key area in linking with this
This will be the subject of future work.
Terminology
One of the issues to get closure upon is whether we need to current eTOM
terminology, or go for an alignment with the TMN terminology:

Resource Provisioning -> Resource Configuration

Resource Problem Management -> Resource Fault

Resource
Quality
Analysis
->
Resource
PerformanceResource Data Collection - > Resource
Usage
Product, Service and Resource
Product, Service and Resource are key concepts in the structuring of eTOM .
They are also central to definition of common information and data used in
developing a solution around the eTOM approach. To support the modeling
work, it is not only important to understand what Resources are, but also to
get a grasp of how Resources related to Services and Products.
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
The following definition is a good starting point for the work which is currently
still ongoing.
This should be further addressed in a larger audience,
including the eTOM, SID and System Teams.
“A Product is an externally facing representation of a service and/or resource
procured by the market. For example, a real-time broadcast of a football
match. A Service is an intangible realization of a Product or something
provided in support of a Product. For example, a video streaming connection
used to transmit the football match to a customer's PDA; an installation
service provided for a cable modem. A Resource is part of an enterprise's
infrastructure utilized by a Service or a good procured by the market. For
example, a wireless network is utilized by the video streaming connection; an
inventory of cable modems offered to the market.”
Since there is such a wide variety of technologies which enable an even
wider range of services, that on turn can be packaged in a large number of
products to offer to the customers, it is a challenge to represent that
relationship in simple terms. However we will continue working this. In the
next section, we will provide an example of this relationship for a specific
service.
Resources and Service Level
Agreements
The Resource Management area is focused “down” towards the managed
environment, rather than “up” towards the Customer (to use the orientation
shown in eTOM). Nevertheless, Resource Management must support
customer interaction, and in particular the customer’s Service Level
Agreement (SLA) through gathering of all the necessary information about
resource operation to allow SLA provisions to be assessed and a decision to
be made on whether the SLA has been adequately met. This aspect of
Resource Management is linked with the interaction among Resource,
Service and Product discussed previously
Thus, while we will continue detailing the Resource Management &
Operations, we need to be aware of which are the main resources for SLA
Information.
When talking about SLA, people typically do not distinguish between
Communications Services (technology related) and Operations Services
(everything around the technology such as for example the responsiveness of
customer agents). When referring to resources, we should talk specifically
about Communications Service Level Agreement (i.e. QoS, COS, TOS,
GOS...).
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
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Communications SLA’s can be "easily" negotiated automatically (machine-tomachine), whereas Operations SLA’s are more complicated (e.g. how
expensive it is to gurantee 2 hour TTRS any time instead of 4 hour TTRS
during normal working hours).
Whether sources of information for OSLA or CSLA are more important
depends on the type of the service (e.g. availability more important than
guaranteed bitrate).
The SLA handbook will be used to guide the work in this context.
Example Product
As will be seen from the previous material, there are many aspects to
Resource Management to be considered. To assist in linking these together,
and to translate the analysis into a practical description of how Resource
Management works, we apply these ideas to an “example product”
demonstrating the implications for a real-world application scenario.
For an example product, we will provide the following:

Product Definition

Reference Architecture

Product/Service/Resource Relationship

Business Context Model

Resource Ownership
The example which is described hereafter is based on the current
understanding of how Products, Services and Resources relate to one
another, and will be further tuned as models are being developed.
First a few definitions:
TeleManagement Forum 2002

A Product Offering is what is offered to the customers

A Producdt is an instance of a Producdt Offering, what
is owned by the customer

Applications run on Customer Equipment as well as on
servers
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Product Definition
From your Service Provider, you bought a Relax-n-Enjoy Product, which is an
extension on the basic UMTS product you already bought a while ago. It
provides a number of Personalized and location based product offerings such
as:

MusiScope

MovieScope

Restaurant Assist

Pub Locator
Subscribers to the Pub Locator product offering can obtain the location of the
nearest pub in their neighborhood. A customer can browse the entire beer
list, the list of Belgian beers on tab or just query whether they serve your
favorite beer.
In addition to locating the nearest pub, the customer can also look for pubs
that serve a favorite beer, based on the customer’s personal preferences.
The product can also display the route to the pub from the customer’s current
location.
Reference Architecture
We will use the OSA/PARLAY Reference Architecture to support the
elaboration of the example product offering.
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 81
The OSA/Parlay Gateway, is a so called Service Capability Server. It offers the API
interfaces and hence can be found at the edge of the Service Network and the Core
Network.
Applications access network capabilities through the API's and get accessed via the
OSA/Parlay API's.
Product/Service/Resource Relationship
Product Offerings
Relax-n-Enjoy:

set of Personalized and Location Based Product
Offerings

pre-requisite: basic UMTS service

monthly subscription fee

Charges incurred on per “click”-based cost unit
Relax-n-Enjoy consists of following product offerings:
TeleManagement Forum 2002
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A

MusiScope

MovieScope

RestaurantGuide

Pub Locator
We will further detail the Pub Locator Product Offering
Services
The Pub Locator Offering is realized by the following service

Access to pub locater application

Maps to pubs
Applications
The Pub Locator Offering makes use of following applications:

Map Display

Pub Locator

User Location

Authentication, Authorization and Accounting

User Profile
Computing Resources
The Pub Locator Offering makes use of following computing resources:

Application Servers

AAA Server
We should make a distinction between Network Provider and other
resources.
Network Resources
The Pub Locator Offering makes use of following network resources:
GB921a v1.0
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eTOM Business Process Framework Addendum A
Page 83

3G Network Resources

Core Network Resources

Service Capability Network Resources
Business Context Model
This will be subject of future work.
Resource Ownership
This will be subject of future work.
RM&O Process Decompositions
To date, preliminary process decomposition work was initiated for:

Resource Provisioning and Allocation to Service
Instance

Resource Problem Management

Resource Data Collection, Analysis and Control
Related Standards
A good deal of work has been already taken place, or is ongoing, in formal
standards bodies, industry groups, etc which relates to consideration of
Resource Management. This current work draws particularly on the following:
TMN
TMN (Telecommunications Management Network) standardization activities
are a part of the ITU-T (previously CCITT)
The TMN architecture M.3010* Principles for a Telecommunications
Management Network, provides general principles for planning, operating
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and maintaining a telecommunications management network. It provides a
physical and information architecture based on the manager - agent concepts
from (X.701*), OSI Systems Management Overview. X.701 supports
transaction-oriented TMN applications. The TMN functional architecture
introduces layering of TMN management functionality.
Recommendation M.3400 provides specifications of TMN management
functions and TMN management function sets. A TMN management function
is a cooperative interaction between application processes in managing and
managed systems for the management of telecommunications resources,
and is the smallest functional part of a TMN management service as
perceived by the TMN users.
See: www.itu.int/TMN/Getstart.html
ITIL
Originally established in the early 1980s by the UK govt Central Computer
and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a set of guidance for best
practice management of Information Technology and Telecommunications
operations. It has matured to provide a standard approach to the processes
and functions of technology infrastructure service management.
The ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) standard for Service Management is;
Public domain; business focussed; has a quality approach; is the defacto
standard for service management.
The ITIL Service Management Process Maturity Model has nine "Levels”:
Level 5
Level 4.5
Level 4
Level 3.5
Level 3
Level 2.5
Level 2
Level 1.5
Level 1
Customer Interface
External integration
Management Information
Quality Control
Products
Internal integration
Process Capability
Management Intent
Prerequisites
See www.itil.co.uk
OSA/PARLAY
The Parlay Group has been created in 1998 to promote open Application
Programming Interfaces (API) that links IT applications with the capabilities of
the networks. It is an open, multi-vendor forum organized to create open,
technology independent APIs enabling the development of applications
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across multiple networks. It is a group that includes nearly 50 companies with
most of the largest telco operators, network equipment vendors and IT
companies.
The Parlay Group has defined a set of APIs to enable a new generation of
off-the-shelf network applications/components (e.g. messaging, mobility, endto-end quality of service, etc.) to be developed by application providers
(ISV/ASP) independent of the underlying voice/multimedia network.
Most of the Parlay Group specifications are used as a baseline for
3GPP/OSA (Open Service Access) in the context of mobile networks.
See www.parlay .org
PAM Forum
The PAM Forum is an independent nonprofit consortium dedicated to
establishing and promoting Presence and Availability Management (PAM) as
an ad hoc industry standard. The focus of the PAM Forum is to develop and
promote a presence and availability interface specification that enables
software vendors and service providers to bring personalized, interoperable
communications services to market. PAM-based services enable customer
control of communications choices and privacy options across multiple
devices and networks.
See www.pamforum.org
3GPP
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration agreement
that was established in December 1998. The collaboration agreement brings
together a number of telecommunications standards bodies which are known
as “Organizational Partners”. The current Organizational Partners are ARIB,
CWTS, ETSI, T1, TTA, and TTC. The establishment of 3GPP was
formalized in December 1998 by the signing of the “The 3rd Generation
Partnership Project Agreement”.
The original scope of 3GPP was to produce globally applicable Technical
Specifications and Technical Reports for a 3rd Generation Mobile System
based on evolved GSM core networks and the radio access technologies that
they support (i.e., Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) both Frequency
Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes). The scope
was subsequently amended to include the maintenance and development of
the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) Technical Specifications
and Technical Reports including evolved radio access technologies (e.g.
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM
Evolution (EDGE)).
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A permanent project support group called the “Mobile Competence Centre
(MCC)“ has been established to ensure the efficient day to day running of
3GPP. The MCC is based at the ETSI headquarters in Sophia Antipolis,
France.
See www.3gpp.org
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