The TM Forum Information Framework (SID) provides the common language for communicating the concerns of the four major groups of constituents represented by the four NGOSS Views. Used in combination with the Business Process Framework (eTOM) and activity descriptions it becomes possible to create a bridge between the business and Information Technology groups thereby providing definitions that are understandable by the business, but are also rigorous enough to be used for software development. In short, The SID provides the NGOSS information model that is a representation of business concepts, their characteristics and relationships, described in an implementation independent manner.
There are many benefits that can be achieved by using the NGOSS SID and its common information language including
- Reducing time to market
- Reducing the cost of integration
- Facilitating the introduction of new technologies
- Reducing management time and cost.
The SID model not only satisfies the NGOSS information and data needs, but also satisfies another need. For many years the TOM and its descendant the eTOM have provided a business process reference model and common process vocabulary. This model and vocabulary have provided the communications and information industry enterprises an effective way to organize their business processes and effectively communicate with each other. The eTOM currently provides a structure for defining and organizing business processes. The SID, as the NGOSS information model, provides an information/data reference model and a common information/data vocabulary from a business as well as a system perspective.
Figure 1: SID Level 1 of SID Business Entity Framework
The SID System View is intended primarily for architects, designers and implementers. As has been explained, the NGOSS Business View makes use of the eTOM and the SID to focus on the concerns of the business: goals, process, entities and interactions. Used together they identify business processes and the information entities needed to support those business processes in achieving the business objectives expressed by Use Cases. In the NGOSS System View the SID, the eTOM, and the NGOSS Architecture are used to focus on the system concerns: objects, behavior and computational interactions. Here, the SID is used to add detail to the artifacts identified in the Business view, as well as to define new artifacts to support the needs of this view. This in turn enables the business processes to be further refined, the contractual interfaces that represent the various business process boundaries can be identified and modeled, which collectively are used to define the inputs needed for the implementation view.
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ITU-T Acceptance of TM Forum Information Framework (SID) Validates Industry Need for Single Common Information Model
MORRISTOWN, NJ—As Service Providers struggle with a growing diversity of information and data models, there is a pressing need for a single common framework to harmonize all information models across the industry. “The acceptance by the ITU-T of the TM Forum Information Framework as that single framework, is a major step forward for the industry,” says TM Forum President Martin Creaner.
The ITU-T Recommendation M.3190 , led by Dave Sidor of Nortel and Knut Johannessen of Telenor, initially encompasses the “Product” and “Service” domains of The TM Forum Information Framework v 7.5, as well as some explanatory addenda. These elements of Recommendation M.3190 will serve as an introduction to the Information Framework “Analysis Model,” which will cover all of the information required to implement use cases based on the TM Forum Business Process Framework (eTOM).
“We’re not stopping here; future submissions to the ITU-T will include other SID domains as well,” said Josh Salomon, co-chair of the TM Forum Information Framework team. For two years, Salomon worked on due diligence with other TM Forum members and staff, including John Reilly, subject matter expert; Paul Levine, standards development consultant, Telcordia (ret.); and John Wilmes, chief technical architect, Progress Software.
“We will continue to ensure the SID analysis model is implementation-independent,” added Wilmes, noting the Information Framework team will continue to focus on information and relationships to enable multiple implementations to be derived from a single common model. |
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