Network Management

Network management systems can be a critical driver of business value in the telecom industry, facilitating improved customer experience, optimised infrastructure operations and management of threats

Network management refers to the process of configuring, monitoring, maintaining and managing the performance of a network. A Telecom network management system (NMS) is the platform used to complete these tasks—incorporating tools, applications and services.

Systems collect data from connected network devices to identify performance issues and facilitate troubleshooting; enable interactivity and transmission of information across different operating systems and telecom networks; and encompass management of network addresses, security, traffic, hardware, software, load balancing, data backup and recovery.

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Whether a high-speed fibre optic network or satellite-based wireless infrastructure communications, network management architecture is a critical function. Over the past decade, the global market for such services has skyrocketed due to a number of factors including significant growth in the sector; the increased need for in-depth visibility at a time of network densification; widespread adoption of Quality of Experience and Quality of Service SLAs; and the emergence of 5G and the Internet of Things with the associated rise of latency-critical devices and services.

Network management systems can be a critical driver of business value in the telecom industry amid technological advancements, facilitating improved customer experience, optimised infrastructure operations and management of threats. Open, extensible and software-driven NMS’ can deliver automation and assurance across an entire network, and lower costs while delivering improved visibility and insight.

The move towards automation raises interesting questions around regulation, while decentralised networks in the blockchain, where there is no central authority, provide an alternative approach for communication service providers. Decentralised networks strive to reduce the level of trust that participants must place in one another and deter their ability to exert control over one another in ways that degrade the functionality of the network. Full transparency is achieved because each member in the network has a copy of the same data in the form of a distributed ledger, eliminating the need for trust.

Blockchain may provide a number of opportunities to the telecoms sector, some related to revenue generation, such as micropayments for over-the-top services, but also network management architecture including improved data reconciliation that can be achieved through decentralised data storage in real-time. By optimising the distribution of resources services can also be provided with better performance and consistency, minimising systemic failures; the lack of centralised control, however, can make tasks like maintenance more challenging, while the focus on security can be at the detriment of network performance.

Expert working group

As Chair of the Network Management Expert Working Group, I will lead collaboration to: improve customer experience through major technological change; reduce the cost to serve all customers; accelerate the go-to-market of vendor agnostic, interoperable solutions; and improve the upgrade path from legacy access technologies to 4G and 5G.
Our ultimate challenge is to manage a seamless service for end customers, regardless of who owns the connectivity solution and radio plan.”

TOM BENNETT

CTO, Freshwave

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