Microsoft a Service Provider FINALIST - TM Forum Best Practices Excellence Awards

EASPFinalistMicrosoft Online Services was selected as a Finalist by the TM Forum for this year’s Best Practices Excellence Awards 2009.  The awards were recognized at the TM Forum’s Management World event held in Nice, France from 6-9 May 2009. 

Traditionally one might expect Microsoft to be entered in the category of a supplier rather than the Service Provider category.  But after some debate, it was recognized that the launch of Microsoft Online Services represented a converged services offerings.  Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Live Services and Microsoft Online Services are all part of an evolving story that is repositioning parts of Microsoft into the role of a provider of Next Generation Converged Services. 

Microsoft received the Finalist designation in recognition for its adoption and use of the TM Forum’s NGOSS reference architecture and framework as a basis to model and implement an internal BSS/OSS that supports the Online Services business.  A total of six service provider projects were recognized for their use of TM Forum Best Practices.  A summary of the six finalists and their projects is shown below in a graphic from the TMF Management World Show Guide.

ExcellenceAwardFinalists2009_v2

As can be seen from reading through the project descriptions, the Microsoft Online NGOSS implementation was one of six  impressive projects.  Ultimately, Chunghwa Telecom received the Best Practice Excellence Award in a Service Provider category for 2009 for its multiyear, seventy systems plus NGOSS framework implementation. Congratulations.