Just Back from TM Forum's Management World Americas

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Just came back from the TM Forum’s Management World Americas event in Orlando, Florida held 16-20 November 2008. The theme was Create, Deliver and Monetize Digital Services.

For the past several years, we have talked about how Microsoft technology can help other service providers with Service Enablement and build BSS/OSS applications. At this event, Microsoft revealed how it had truly mastered the service provider business. Microsoft presented how the Azure Services Framework had been built and used to launch the Microsoft On-Line Services business in a mere nine months. Microsoft activities included press announcements, several demos, customer meetings and a number of speaking engagements throughout the conference program.

Highlights

Press releases can be seen at https://tmforum.org/ManagementWorldOrlando/5578/home.html    

Microsoft highlighted a number of products and offerings in the Catalysts and Showcases including:

· SharePoint Server 2007

· Commerce Server

· Dynamics CRM

· Silverlight 2.0

· Windows Mobile

· Vista + Media Center

· Windows Server 2008

· Microsoft IPTV / Mediaroom

· Microsoft Advertising Solutions / Atlas AdServer

· Azure Services Framework

· Microsoft On-Line Services

· Microsoft Live Services

 

Presentations

• Online Services Transformation – Presentations by Alan Griver and Richard Sewell describing how Microsoft used TM Forum NGOSS standards to standup from scratch the Microsoft On-Line Services business on top of the Microsoft Azure Services Framework with a supporting BSS/OSS infrastructure in only nine months.

• Unlocking SDP Potential through Dynamic Product/Service Management – I presented with Ernest Margitta from Tribold on the mechanics of Service Syndication and the usefulness of dynamic service catalogs.

• Realizing Service Marketplaces through SDF, Syndication and B2B Agreements – I participated in a panel discussion about the business impact of Service Delivery Frameworks and the impact on converged services offerings with Ragnar-Miguel Myhrer – Accenture, Jenny Huang - AT&T, Grant Lenahan – Telcordia, Sagrario Alemán - Telefonica I + D, and Michel Burger – Vodafone.

• Service Delivery Frameworks Spotlight - Building new Services Marketplaces with Managed Syndication – A panel discussion with Sagrario Aleman, Telefonica R&D, and Lucia Gradinariu, LGG Solutions looking at the specific use cases explored in the Service Syndication Catalyst project.

Catalysts and Demos

Microsoft was involved with two Catalyst Projects at this event providing a vehicle to showcase thought leadership in collaboration with the industry and partners. The projects are as follows:

• Building Marketplaces with Service Syndication aimed at demonstrated how Microsoft Live Meeting Online could be syndicated to enable another service provider, Telefonica, to create enhanced service offerings. During the transition from Phase I in Nice to Phase II in Orlando, Microsoft Live was transition from the CSF Sandbox to Microsoft Live Online (www.microsoft.com/online). Microsoft and Telefonica sponsored this Catalyst. Other vendors participating included Tribold (a Microsoft partner), NetCracker, Accenture, CA, and Iptivia Inc. For additional information on the Catalysts see: https://tmforum.org/browse.aspx?catid=6193  

• Content Encounter (Phase III) showcased best practices in content creation through to targeted delivery and consumption across multiple devices including IPTV, PC, and Windows Mobile. Matthew Barbour from Microsoft provided portal utilizing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Commerce Server 2007, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4, Windows Media Services, and Silverlight 2, as well as core advertising services, provided by Microsoft Atlas Ad Server. The Microsoft solution was integrated to the Telcordia real-time charging and policy server product to deliver prepaid digital content with embedded targeted advertising. For additional information see: https://www.tmforum.org/LearnaboutotherContent/6578/home.html or https://www.tmforum.org/pages/6595/default.aspx  

Overall the show was a great event. We showcased how Microsoft Business Groups and Microsoft IT are mastering the TM Forum’s NGOSS architecture and using it with great success to build out Azure’s services layer supported by a fully integrated set of Business Support and Operations Support Systems (BSS/OSS). With the release of Azure and the rollout of On Line Services and Live Services, Microsoft has demonstrated its expertise as a service provider, as a builder of Service Delivery Frameworks and BSS/OSS, as a technology provider, and as a systems integrator.