The Client
Based in Malaysia, the client is one of the most innovative and data-centric mobile data service companies. As the youngest telecom company, it leverages the most modern network infrastructure to scale efficiently based on demand. In its quest to become Malaysia’s preferred digital telecom firm, it has introduced many first-of-its-kind digital services, such as Telco assurance products, setting a benchmark for the industry.
The Challenge
The client’s extensive wireless network consists of equipment from multiple vendors, with over 20 Element Management Systems (EMS) covering various domains and technologies, including Radio Access Network (RAN), Mobile Core, and Transmission. This made it challenging for the Central Network Operation Center (NOC) to operate and monitor various EMS and silo tools to identify and resolve issues within the required Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Handling each EMS was resource-intensive for the NOC team due to the lack of correlation between each EMS’s User Interface (UI) and information. In short, it negatively impacted their operational efficiency.
Consequently, there was a pressing need for a centralized monitoring solution to correlate information, automate analysis, and facilitate faster resolution to network-related issues.
The Solution
Recognizing the severity of their operational challenge, the wireless network service provider turned to Persistent Systems as their trusted partner. This decision was a testament to Persistent’s expertise and their ability to deliver solutions that meet the unique needs of their clients.
Persistent leverages various best-of-breed, off-the-shelf products to create a unified, vendor neutral, technology-agnostic service assurance platform that scales with growth and stands the test of time. The objective was to enable the NOC team to monitor the wireless network with a single and sufficient context that includes events, metrics, topology, and other operational-critical data. It also implemented IBM’s Telco Network Cloud Manager to help the client with a comprehensive and cohesive view of performance metrics and other operation-critical data to identify issues for faster root cause analysis to improve customer service capabilities.
Automating event grouping and correlation, along with identifying potential root causes, reduces manual workloads for NOC. For selected use cases, the Service Assurance Platform automatically creates trouble tickets, assigns them to relevant field personnel with pertinent information, and helps reduce overall MTR. Moreover, the company developed and implemented a mobile app for field operation personnel to efficiently track and convert operational information into a knowledge base. This has improved the overall efficacy of network operation personnel in responding to trouble tickets and ensuring swift and effective resolution of network-related issues.
The Outcomes
The implementation of a multi-domain/multi-vendor network monitoring system on a single platform has provided significant business benefits for the network service provider. The NOC team can monitor the entire wireless network with a single view by consolidating data from various sources onto a centralized business dashboard. It has resulted in improved operational efficiency and streamlined monitoring processes.
The automation implemented by Persistent Systems has been particularly impactful, with more than 350,000 events per day automatically grouped into 60,000 events. It represents an impressive 83% reduction in the need to focus on events, allowing the NOC team to prioritize their efforts and resources effectively.
Additionally, more than 30% of trouble tickets are now automated and assigned to field personnel, enabling swift and efficient resolution of network-related issues. This has not only improved customer service capabilities but also reassured the customers about the reliability of the network, resulting in an estimated 50% reduction in workload for the NOC team.
Furthermore, the automation has enabled the NOC team to handle three times the number of events compared to manual processes. This increased capacity to handle events has translated into faster root cause analysis and issue resolution, ultimately enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the wireless network.
