LOS ANGELES and WASHINGTON, D.C. -- ATIS and MEF are pleased to announce the release of a new, jointly developed specification that defines the process for ordering Carrier Ethernet services on a global basis. This standard, Ethernet Ordering Technical Specification: Business Requirements and Use Cases, is an important step toward creating a worldwide ecosystem of automated and interconnected networks that deliver agile, assured, and orchestrated services. This specification supports requirements defined in the LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) Reference Architecture and Framework (MEF 55) for ordering services over the LSO Sonata interface that relates to inter-provider service orchestration. Information contained in the new specification will be used by both buyer and seller ordering systems for developing automated LSO API systems.

"This new joint specification transforms the Ethernet ordering process globally, thus enabling faster delivery of interconnected networks," said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. "It makes the ordering process easier for customers while also advancing service provider business imperatives in this area. ATIS is proud to deliver another of our contributions from our collaboration with MEF."

"MEF is pleased to work with ATIS to deliver a new ordering specification that will improve inter-provider operational efficiencies, enable service providers to be more responsive to customer demands, and help drive market growth on a worldwide basis," said Kevin Vachon, COO, MEF.

The Ethernet Ordering Technical Specification focuses on business interactions associated with inter-carrier ordering of Access E-Line and Standalone UNI products, including use cases and specific MEF-defined attributes needed to support product ordering for each use case. Implementation details will be published separately in MEF’s LSO Sonata Interface Profile Specification for Ethernet Ordering that is on track to be released later this year.

"Today’s process is very provider-specific, and inter-carrier ordering is done either through spreadsheets or one-off solutions," said Dawn Kaplan, MEF Operations Area Co-Director and Solutions Architect – CoE OSS, Ericsson. "Defining a standardized process for ordering Carrier Ethernet products across service provider partner domains is critical to significantly streamlining the buying/selling process and thus enabling improved delivery time of interconnected networks. This specification is the first step in documenting an international consensus-based process that supports the entire order lifecycle. The joint team will also be publishing additional specifications that provide implementable APIs that align with this specification."

Letty Walker, Senior Lead Analyst, OSS & Technical Support, CenturyLink, ATIS OBF OS Co-Chair and Joint ATIS-MEF Co-Lead added, "It is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a team that is able to collaborate in the development of the Ethernet Ordering Technical Specification. Given that ATIS has such broad ordering experience throughout North America, I feel that partnering with our MEF counterparts has led to a collaboration that will provide the framework for a unified platform defining requirements for Ethernet ordering throughout the entire international telecommunications community."

ATIS and MEF are continuing in their joint efforts to enhance the international Ethernet Ordering process and plan further releases to incorporate additional MEF-defined services.

MEF

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)