NETeXPERT

NetExpert is a software packages from the OSI (Objective Systems Integrators) company, used by Communications Service Provider

Communications Service Provider

A communications service provider or CSP is a service provider that transports information electronically. The term encompasses public and private companies in the telecom , Internet, cable, satellite, and managed services businesses.The market in which a communication service provider specializes...

s (fixed, broadband, and wireless companies) to manage their networks, services, products, and customers. Utilities, Enterprise and Financial Institutions also use them to manage mission-critical networks and services.

Operational support systems

The telecommunications industry refers to NetExpert and products similar to it as operational support systems (OSS) because they support and maintain the integrity of Network Operation Centers, Service Operation Centers, and customer care organizations. Typically Network Operation Centers require extensive software systems to collect, correlate, and automate events and exceptions from network resources as well as service impacting resources.

Service Operation Centers have been created by Communications Service Provider

Communications Service Provider

(CSP) to focus on key services which are consumer facing. Service Impact and Quality dashboards are also leveraged by Customer Care organizations. OSS for these large service providers need to be mission-critical and run 7x24.

Trademark

NetExpert is a registered trademark throughout the world. "Charting the future of Service Management" is also a registered trademark brand.

Customer assurance

Objective Systems Integrators

- Introduction :OSI is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products which automate the monitoring, control, delivery, and management of services for multinational corporation service providers including:*...

develops NetExpert Neon. A platform for Service Quality and Impact Management across next generation services such as IPTV, SMS, Blackberry, Wireless Broadband, Carrier, and other Service and Customer Health needs. NetExpert Neon is also the foundation for Customer Insight, Experience Analysis, and SLA Management.

NetExpert monitors and controls networks and service impacting resources using object-oriented and expert systems technologies.

NetExpert Neon

NetExpert Neon enabling technologies is focused on services and customers:

Service Health - Service Quality and Impact management leveraging industry standard portal technology for a holistic view of critical customer services.
Customer Health - Customer SLA, Experience Analysis, and Insight of corporations, groups within corporations, and individuals.

History

NetExpert was initially developed as a framework for fault management in 1989. The framework started as an offshoot of combining expert systems technology with network management. It was subsequently enhanced to provide activation and performance collection, and many companies worldwide now use it for those purposes. In the mid-1990s OSI developed over 120 adapters for NetExpert fault, activation, and performance collection for a host of network element manufacturers.

In the second half of the 1990s, OSI started to package applications to help reduce the time it took to develop adapters. These became known as the eXEL series and included FMeXEL, CMeXEL, and PMeXEL. The eXELs were based on the NetExpert rule language and provided application logic out-of-the-box. This helped accelerate the time it took to deploy applications. A policy framework called Distributed Management Policies (DMP) introduced after the year 2000 added automation to the existing NetExpert framework. DMP policies enable deployment without rule writing. New applications based on DMP are now available to provide service assurance and service management for many telecommunications industry domains and services.

In May, 2009, OSI launched NetExpert Neon that provided Service Impact and Service Quality Management solutions.

Background

NetExpert is considered an OSS, used in managing wireline and wireless networks and services.

It consists of a series of coordinated modules that fall into three general groups:

gateways,
object persistence and behavior servers,
user/operator workstation/Web interfaces.

NetExpert is a scalable and distributable architecture that supports flexible configuration while maintaining individual component independence. Its application packages address many areas of communication services management, including fault, performance, reporting, activation, IP services, and others. These can be further tailored to individual customer environments and management requirements.

This framework consists of a set of integrated software modules and graphical user interface

Graphical user interface

In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...

(GUI) development tools to enable the creation and deployment of complex management solutions. The object-oriented architecture of the NetExpert framework provides the building blocks to implement operations support and management systems using high-level tools rather than low-level programming languages.

The NetExpert framework is founded on open systems and object-oriented methodology. NetExpert supports different standards, transmission protocols, and equipment data models. NetExpert is based on the Telecommunications Management Network

Telecommunications Management Network

The Telecommunications Management Network is a protocol model defined by ITU-T for managing open systems in a communications network. It is part of the ITU-T Recommendation series M.3000 and is based on the OSI management specifications in ITU-T Recommendation series X.700.TMN provides a framework...

architecture created by the Telecommunications Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunications Union. It supports the development and deployment of applications for the main TMN management areas—fault, configuration, accounting, performance, and security—and the implementation of layered management architectures. In addition, the NetExpert framework employs expert rules and policies that replace complex programming languages and enable network analysts to model desired system behaviors by using GUI-based rule editors.

Functional areas and applications

NetExpert operates in these related management functional areas and applications as defined by ITIL

Itil

Itil may mean:*Atil or Itil, the ancient capital of Khazaria*Itil , also Idel, Atil, Atal, the ancient and modern Turkic name of the river Volga.ITIL can stand for:*Information Technology Infrastructure Library...

, eTOM

ETOM

The eTOM , published by the TM Forum, is a guidebook that defines the most widely used and accepted standard for business processes in the telecommunications industry...

, FCAPS

FCAPS

FCAPS is the ISO Telecommunications Management Network model and framework for network management. FCAPS is an acronym for fault, configuration, accounting, performance, security, the management categories into which the ISO model defines network management tasks...

, and other Wikipedia sources.

Service level management
Service management
Service management
Service management is integrated into supply chain management as the joint between the actual sales and the customer. The aim of high performance service management is to optimize the service-intensive supply chains, which are usually more complex than the typical finished-goods supply chain...
- Exception management
  Exception management
  Exceptions are special cases that deviate from the normal behaviour in a business process and need to be cared for exceptionally, normally by human intervention. Their cause might include: process deviation, malformed data, infrastructure or connectivity issues, poor quality business rules, etc...
- Quality of service
  Quality of service
  The quality of service refers to several related aspects of telephony and computer networks that allow the transport of traffic with special requirements...
- Key performance indicators
  Key performance indicators
  A performance indicator or key performance indicator is an industry jargon for a type of performance measurement.. KPIs are commonly used by an organization to evaluate its success or the success of a particular activity in which it is engaged...
  
  (KPI) are essential parts of a measurable objective, which is made up of a direction, KPIs, benchmark, target, and time frame.
Performance management
Performance management
Performance management includes activities that ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many...
- Network performance
  Network performance
  Network performance refers to the service quality of a telecommunications product as seen by the customer. It should not be seen merely as an attempt to get "more through" the network....
- Network performance management
  Network performance management
  - Factors affecting network performance :Not all networks are the same. As data is broken into component parts for transmission, several factors can affect their delivery....
Fault management
Fault management
In network management, fault management is the set of functions that detect, isolate, and correct malfunctions in a telecommunications network, compensate for environmental changes, and include maintaining and examining error logs, accepting and acting on error detection notifications, tracing and...
- Event correlation is a technique for making sense of a large number of events and pinpointing the few events that are really important in that mass of information. Event correlation usually takes place inside the management platform.
- Root cause analysis
  Root cause analysis
  Root cause analysis is a class of problem solving methods aimed at identifying the root causes of problems or events.Root Cause Analysis is any structured approach to identifying the factors that resulted in the nature, the magnitude, the location, and the timing of the harmful outcomes of one...
  
  (RCA) is rooted in the practice of failure analysis
  Failure analysis
  Failure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure. It is an important discipline in many branches of manufacturing industry, such as the electronics industry, where it is a vital tool used in the development of new products and for the improvement...
  
  as employed in operations.
Network management
Network management
Network management refers to the activities, methods, procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networked systems....
System management
Configuration management
Configuration management
Configuration management is a field of management that focuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a system or product's performance and its functional and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life.For information assurance, CM...
Common Information Model
Common Information Model (computing)
The Common Information Model is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them...

(CIM) is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them. This is intended to allow consistent management of these managed elements, independent of their manufacturer or provider.

Solution domains

NetExpert solutions have addressed these domains (legacy, IP, and next generation networks, resources, and services):

SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
SONET
Sonet
Sonet may refer to:* Sonet Records, European record label* Synchronous optical networking * Saab Sonett...

/SDH
2G
2G
2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...

wireless
3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...

wireless
Digital subscriber line
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...

(DSL)
IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
IP Multimedia Subsystem
IP Multimedia Subsystem
The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem is an architectural framework for delivering Internet Protocol multimedia services. It was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project , as a part of the vision for evolving mobile...
WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...

NetExpert system integration tools

NetExpert gateways and APIs support resource management, data collection, monitoring, and control.
NetExpert communication protocols and APIs:

Application layer

Simple Network Management Protocol
Simple Network Management Protocol
Simple Network Management Protocol is an "Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. Devices that typically support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, modem racks, and more." It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor...

(SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol
Simple Network Management Protocol is an "Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. Devices that typically support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, modem racks, and more." It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor...

)
Common management information protocol
Common management information protocol
The Common Management Information Protocol is the OSI specified network management protocol.Defined in . It provides an implementation for the services defined by the Common Management Information Service specified in , allowing communication between network management applications and...

(CMIP)
Common Object Request Broker Architecture
Common Object Request Broker Architecture
The Common Object Request Broker Architecture is a standard defined by the Object Management Group that enables software components written in multiple computer languages and running on multiple computers to work together .- Overview:CORBA enables separate pieces of software written in different...

(Corba
Çorba
Chorba , ciorbă , shurpa , shorpo , or sorpa is one of various kinds of soup or stew found in national cuisines across Middle East...

)
Extensible Markup Language
Extensible Markup Language
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

(XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

)
OSS/J
TELNET
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
FTP
HTTP
Web Services
X.25
X.25
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for packet switched wide area network communication. An X.25 WAN consists of packet-switching exchange nodes as the networking hardware, and leased lines, Plain old telephone service connections or ISDN connections as physical links...
SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
Transaction Language 1
Transaction Language 1
Transaction Language 1 is a widely used management protocol in telecommunications. It is a cross-vendor, cross-technology man-machine language, and is widely used to manage optical and broadband access infrastructure in North America. TL1 is used in the input and output messages that pass between...

(TL1)
FIFO
FIFO
FIFO is an acronym for First In, First Out, an abstraction related to ways of organizing and manipulation of data relative to time and prioritization...
Secure Shell
Secure Shell
Secure Shell is a network protocol for secure data communication, remote shell services or command execution and other secure network services between two networked computers that it connects via a secure channel over an insecure network: a server and a client...

, Shell (computing)
Shell (computing)
A shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users of an operating system which provides access to the services of a kernel. However, the term is also applied very loosely to applications and may include any software that is "built around" a particular component, such as web...

NetExpert vendor-specific adapters

NetExpert has managed operational support systems, element management systems, and network elements from the following companies:

ADVA Optical Networking
ADVA Optical Networking
ADVA Optical Networking is a telecommunications vendor that provides network equipment for data, storage, voice and video services. ADVA Optical Networking has a global workforce of over 1,000 employees and its Fiber Service Platform has been deployed in more than 250 carriers and 10,000...
Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies , or Agilent, is a company that designs and manufactures electronic and bio-analytical measurement instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation...
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
Aldiscon
Aldiscon
Aldiscon was a telecommunications software company founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1988. The company was an innovator in supplying software products to the mobile sector and became a market leader in the supply of Short Message Service Centre's to mobile operators globally.Aldiscon invented SMPP,...
BREW
Centigram
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
CMG
CMG (company)
CMG was a consulting company focused on telecommunications and computing and based in London, United Kingdom. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Logica in 2002.-History:...
Compaq
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
Comverse Technology
Comverse Technology
Comverse Technology, Inc. , originally founded in Israel, is a technology company located in Woodbury, New York in the United States, that develops and markets telecommunications software. The company focuses on providing value-added services to telecommunication service providers, in particular to...
Cramer
Cramer
Cramer is a surname. It is a variation of the German surname Krämer which is an old term for the profession of traveling merchants in the Late Middle Ages. The meaning later changed to "merchants trading with different, rather small things". See also: Kramer....
CRBT
Critical Path, Inc.
Critical Path, Inc.
Critical Path is a provider of messaging services, working in partnerships with mobile operators, telecommunications companies, ISPs, and enterprises.-History:...
DMC
DMC
-Computer Science or IT:*Diffusion Monte Carlo, a method that utilizes a Green function to solve the Schrödinger equation*Dynamic Markov Compression, a general purpose statistical data compression algorithm...
DPS
DPS
-Schools:* Dearborn Public Schools, the public school district in Dearborn, Michigan, United States* Delhi Public Schools, a large number of private schools mostly in India and few in other countries run by the Delhi Public School Society...
DSC
DSC
-in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...
ECI
ECI
The three letter acronym ECI can refer to:* East Central Indiana, a region in Indiana east of Indianapolis, Indiana, and borders the Ohio state line.* Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, a public high school in Ontario, Ontario, Canada...
Enavis
Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
Extreme Networks
Extreme Networks
Extreme Networks, founded in 1996, is a publicly listed company that designs, builds, and installs Ethernet network solutions for enterprise and Carrier Class networks.-Corporate History:Extreme Networks is located in Santa Clara, California...
FibCom
Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
Hughes
IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Ineoquest
Jatayu
Jatayu
Jatayu could mean:*Jatayu , the bird in the Hindu epic Ramayana.*Jatayu Airlines, an Indonesian airline company.*Jatayu , a character in the Feluda stories by Satyajit Ray....
Logica
Marconi
Marconi Company
The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...
Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Nabla
Nabla
Nabla may refer to one of the following:* the nabla symbol, which is used to denote the mathematical del operator where tensor is formal.* Nabla , a Hebrew stringed instrument after which that symbol was named, see harp....
Navis
Navis
Navis is a municipality in the district Innsbruck-Land and is located 19 km southeast of Innsbruck in a valley with the same name which is a side valley of the Wipptal. The extensive territory of this municipality runs from the Sill up to the 2,359 m high Klammjoch saddle and the 2,886 m high...
NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Nortel
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
OpenWave
Openwave
Openwave is a software company. Based in Redwood City, California, USA, Openwave is historically significant in its introduction of the Mobile Internet and its expansion into a large successful mobile software supplier in the mobile telecom sector...
PSA
PSA
PSA may refer to:* PSA International , world's second largest port operator* PSA Peugeot Citroën, French vehicle manufacturer...
Remedy
Remedy Corp
Remedy Corp was a software company that produced the Action Request System and various applications therein. Remedy is now the Service Management Business Unit of BMC Software.-History:...
Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
Spatial
SS8
Tejas
Tejas
Tejas may refer to:* Tejas, a Sanskrit synonym for fire; light; brightness; sharp; brilliance; lord of speed; name meaning- People with this name tend to be natural leaders, self-sufficient, and ambitious. They generally want to make their own decisions in life and are not afraid to take charge or...
Tekelec
Tekelec
Tekelec, Inc. is a US company , founded 1971 in California, but now headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina. Tekelec produces hardware and software solutions for telecoms - land line, mobile and data.-Jean-Claude Asscher:...
Telcordia
Tellabs
Tellabs
Tellabs, Inc. is a telecommunications company that designs and manufactures equipment for service providers.Ranked among the BusinessWeek InfoTech 100, Tellabs is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index, NASDAQ Global Select Market, Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index and the S&P 500...
Tivoli
Tivoli Software
Tivoli Software is the service management brand of the IBM Software Group. IBM purchased Austin-based Tivoli Systems, Inc. on March 4, 1996 and allowed existing executive management to operate Tivoli as a wholly owned subsidiary in the IBM Software Group...
TruePosition
UTStarcom
UTStarcom
UTStarcom is a Fortune 1000 company that specializes in IP-based networking products for telecommunications companies and service providers. Its core markets are multimedia communications and broadband, including IP and entertainment , next generation broadband networks and optical network solutions...
ZTE
ZTE
ZTE Corporation formerly Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation is a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, China...

Advantages

Open architecture allows service providers to access the managed information, events, KPI's, and object information for additional use. NetExpert leverages Oracle for its information base.
Flexibility, through gateways, object models, rule language, policies, and graphical clients, enables NetExpert solutions to be extended by customers and system integrators.
Adaptibility permits interoperability with various network elements, management systems, and other Operational Support Systems through various protocols and through bi-directional collection, command, and control.

Challenges

In the past the pure NetExpert framework has been leveraged as a toolset which required rule-based customization.
Predeveloped policy applications helped with time to market and usability.
The latest NetExpert Neon solution offers more out-of-the-box features, such as service model templates and wizards for increased usability, reducing the challenges of rule-based customization.

Applications

Applications on the NetExpert framework include fault, performance, IP, and activation.
NetExpert Neon is applied to service management: Service Quality Management and Service Impact Management and functions are provided out-of-the-box.

External links

Reference books

Plunkett, J (1996). Plunkett's Infotech Industry Almanac - Page 75 Google Books

Minoli, D, Golway, T, and Smith, N (1996) Planning and Managing ATM Networks - Google Books New York: Manning, 1997. ISBN 132621894.

Terplan, K (1998). Telecom Operations Management Solutions with NetExpert Amazon, Google Books CRC Press LLC

Terplan, K (1999). Web-Based Systems & Network Management - Page 185 Google Books

Terplan, K (1999). Applications for Distributed Systems and Network Management - Page 101 Google Books
Van Nostrand Reinhold