Why A Shift To Service-Centric Operations Is Key To CSP Business Transformation

As digital transformation sweeps through virtually every industry, communications service providers (CSPs) must navigate a double challenge: They not only need to digitize their own businesses, but they must do so while also managing the rapidly increasing complexity and scale of their network and service operations driven in part by their customers’ own business transformations.

This means CSPs must rethink traditional paradigms in both their network and service operations. Otherwise, they risk being unable to reap the full business value of 5G and the full range of mobile innovations 5G unlocks. Even worse, they risk being able to meet their customers’ dynamic expectations.

The solution, in brief: forward-thinking CSPs must evolve from network-centric operations to a more service-centric approach, as a bridge to more fully automated and intelligent operations in the future.

That’s the fundamental premise of a comprehensive new industry whitepaper, “New-generation Intelligent Operations: The Service-Centric Transformation Path.” Published jointly by Huawei, TM Forum and five progressive CSPs, the whitepaper offers a detailed look at the journey CSPs should take to ensure they’re offering dynamic customer experiences, enabled by a shift away from network-focused operations to a service-centric strategy that leverages intelligent automation to handle the complexity and scale of modern networks.

The paper essentially gives progressive CSPs a roadmap for their own transformation from a legacy organization that runs on network-centric operations to a modern CSP positioned to realize the full potential of 5G and next-gen technologies – all while better meeting the needs of the current and future customers. It includes case studies that ground that route in the real challenges CSPs face.

The foundation of that journey lies in a mindset shift: Traditionally, CSPs have taken a siloed approach that separates their network operations center (NOC) and service operations center (SOC). The wall separating those silos must come down, enabling tighter collaboration between NOC and SOC that will eventually lead to a broader service-centric operational model.

The paper acknowledges that this path may seem daunting for most CSPs, especially given that they must keep their day-to-day business running smoothly while also looking to the future. Moving from the “as is” NOC/SOC to a more service-centric model and eventually to full-blown intelligent operations is hard. It’s best to undertake this change incrementally, in attainable steps, rather than trying to evolve all at once.

There are several starting use cases, for example, that can help CSPs get going and build momentum for future efforts. The paper shares detailed breakdowns of how a CSP can shift from a reactive approach to customer complaint resolution to a more proactive strategy as a beginning use case for service-centric transformation. Similar use cases include improving service quality assurance through new data modeling based on tighter integration between SOC and NOC, as well as better service restoration via algorithmic fault handling also enabled by tighter SOC-NOC data flows.

President of Huawei ICT Assurance and Operation Services Domain Lucas Lu stated at the whitepaper launch event: today’s network-centric operations model is no longer viable to meet the fast-changing business demands for service quality and agility in the 5G and digital era. Well-rounded transformations in New Process, New Platform, New Technology, and New People are essential to build service-centric new-generation intelligent operations, which is becoming imperative for CSPs.

More ambitious transitions can also be approached incrementally: A key facet of the paper offers a robust framework and technical solutions for both transitional and future-state phases of a complete shift to service-centric intelligent operations.

New Generation Intelligent Operation Whitepaper official download link：https://inform.tmforum.org/research-and-analysis/reports/new-generation-intelligent-operations-the-service-centric-transformation-path

Lucas Lu Highlights The Path To Intelligent Operations

Also at DTW23, Lu sat down for an extensive interview on the new whitepaper, the importance of the shift to service-centric operations, and the role Huawei will play in helping to drive intelligent operations transformations throughout the industry.

Lu noted that the question of “how” is critical for many CSPs – how do we get from “as is” operations to new-generation intelligent operations? He emphasized the importance of a holistic approach that does not focus solely on technology, but also on transforming people, process, and platform.

Lu also shared the importance of starting with trial projects to prove business value and gain momentum for the broader journey, something Huawei is building proven experience with as the largest MSP in the world. In Indonesia, for example, where Huawei handles daily network operations for major CPSs, Huawei deployed its AUTIN iEM platform to facilitate CSP operation transformation by focusing specifically on traffic loss reduction as the first phase.

The ongoing success of that trial is helping to make the case for expanding the operational transformation – as well as inspiring other CSPs to undertake similar projects to begin their own journey to service-centric intelligent operations.

Huawei AUTIN solutions successfully received TM Forum “Ready for ODA” certification

TM Forum also announced at DTW23 that Huawei’s AUTIN solutions have successfully certified for “Ready for Open Digital Architecture” at its first batch, which fully demonstrates AUTIN’s industry standard compliance and product leadership throughout solution design, development and implementation.

Huawei stressed the importance of interoperability and openness of its AUTIN solution to helping CSPs better connect and accelerate their service-oriented transformations.

The company also expects ODA to grow as a standard reference architecture for CSPs’ digital transformations that will help the entire industry grow and evolve.

Huawei and China Mobile Receive 2023 TM Forum Excellence Award

Huawei also received, together with China Mobile, the 2023 TM Forum Excellence Award in Market Innovation, presented at DTW23 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The companies received the award for its joint project with China Mobile Zhejiang, "Value First Network as a Service for Sustainable Business Development,” as recognition of their efforts to solve some extraordinary challenges in the vertical industry 5GtoB solutions by adopting Huawei’s intelligent connectivity integration and AUTIN solutions.

Those challenges include addressing significant differences in vertical industry requirements, mitigating difficulties in solution implementation and deployment, and finding better ways to measure business and social value.