Current Catalyst Submissions
Catalysts provide a unique opportunity to work with partners and customers alike in a non commercial environment. A fantastic melting pot in which some really good ideas are being cooked up."
- Greg Scullard, Director, CTO Office, Comptel
The TM Forum organization support and logistics were excellent and the positive feedback we got from attendees regarding the potential of our Service Delivery Broker Catalyst Project to Service Providers during and afterwards the event exceeded our expectations. It was truly a pleasure being able to participate and we thank the TM Forum for giving us that opportunity."
- Antonio Cruz, Software Architect, SAPO (PT Comunicacoes)
Call for Catalysts for Management World Americas 2012
What is the TM Forum Catalyst Program?
TM Forum’s Catalyst program takes an innovative approach to creating leading-edge solutions through short-term projects. It provides a neutral collaborative environment and process for working together to solve common, critical industry challenges that culminate in live demonstrations at TM Forum’s Management World events and contributions to improving TM Forum best practices and standards.
Championed by end users (service providers, MSOs, defense agencies or enterprise IT departments), and executed in collaboration with solutions providers, Catalyst projects deliver prototype solutions, ensuring meaningful standards that add value to your business.
What do you get for participating?
Catalyst participants gain intimate knowledge of the industry and TM Forum standards, work with customers and partners in a collaborative fashion, and gain significant marketing benefit. Here is just a snapshot of some of the companies that have participated in past Catalyst projects:
TM Forum's Management World Americas 2012 (December 4-6, Orlando, Florida) is the premier communications event for the industry, where Catalyst solutions will be on display for more than 1,500 decisions makers and industry leaders from around the globe.
What types of projects will be considered for Management World Americas 2012?
We are seeking Catalyst projects addressing critical service provider business issues in the following areas:
- Security, demonstrating defense industry standards in commercial products in the areas of network security, cyber, clouds, identity, information assurance and data loss prevention.
- Customer Experience Management, using or extending TM Forum Best Practices to transform customer management practices from being reactive to proactive to improved customer churn rates.
- Infrastructure Management, demonstrating use of standardized interfaces to facilitate new revenue opportunities through Cloud, eHealth, M2M or SmartGrid network environments.
- Business Assurance/Revenue Management, demonstrating quantifiable increases in gross profit lines though revenue assurance improvements focused in the areas of supplier/partner, customer management, service and network management business scenarios.
- Product/Services Lifecycle Management, improving or enabling highly automated new products and services from concept through to billing and decommissioning, including onboarding, using real world scenarios as deployed by service providers.
- Big Data/Analytics, Management and integration of huge volumes of cloud based data and transforming this using best practices into meaningful analytical information to help service providers run their business and resolve complex business issues.
- Partner Management, ensuring seamless execution of complex business exchanges between different partners in a value chain. These scenarios should use or extend respective standardized interfaces as well as demonstrate automated service level agreements, policy and revenue exchanges.
Preference will be given to Catalyst proposals with the following qualities:
- Projects which help address challenges of new digital services such as M2M, mobile payments and digital content in an extended value-chain.
- Projects which demonstrate the importance and application of TM Forum’s Frameworx suite of standards to new challenges and which will deliver valuable improvements to those standards.
Key Dates
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2012
Notification Date: June 13, 2012
TM Forum Action Week Baltimore: July 16-20, 2012
Open Call for Additional Participants: Ends August 17, 2012
Management World 2012: December 4-6, 2012
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should my company participate in a Catalyst project?
Participating in a Catalyst project is one of the best ways to benefit from your TM Forum membership. Benefits include:
Virtual R&D:
- Learn how your solution works with others in the industry in a hands-on environment
- Collaborate on best practices
Rapid and Cost Effective Results:
- Catalyst projects take place over a set amount of time, so results are typically guaranteed in less than 6 months
- End users (service providers, MSO, defense agencies, enterprise IT departments) get the results they want without the constraints of an RFP process and huge investments in their labs
- End users gain invaluable knowledge as to where they should make key investments
Develop working relationships:
- End users (service providers, MSO, defense agencies, enterprise IT departments) gain exposure to a variety of vendors and can directly influence product development
- Vendors get real requirements first hand from end users
- Formal business relationships and partnerships frequently develop due to trust built up over the project lifecycle
Marketing Exposure:
- Substantial exposure at Management World via dedicated presentation times, show guide, signage
- Marketing opportunities pre- and post-event (web, News Central, press interviews, press releases, etc.)
What type of Catalyst projects are you looking for this cycle?
Catalysts that demonstrate in the areas mentioned above will receive the highest priority in the selection process. These particular Catalysts align with TM Forum’s
Strategic Plan and are assigned a dedicated TM Forum mentor to provide guidance on the areas of Frameworx to be developed or demonstrated.
In return for the commitment of participating in a Catalyst that aligns with the TM Forum Strategic Plan, participants will receive an extensive array of benefits that will position their company as a true thought leader in the communications industry. Learn more about these benefits by clicking here.
Other Catalyst projects are encouraged and welcome to participate at
Management World Americas 2012. However, only those Catalyst projects that align with TM Forum's Strategic Plan receieve the extra level of support and marketing benefits.
What is the time commitment if selected?
Catalysts are a short term commitment – generally less than 6 months. Many project participants join teams again and again, as they see value every time they participate.
Teams from all accepted proposals should plan on attending
TM Forum Action Week in
Madrid January 23-27, 2012 to begin work on demo scenarios, agree on roles and responsibilities and meet with TM Forum’s Catalyst Program Management, Logistics and Marketing staff who will provide you with additional information and guidance.
Finally, all teams should plan to attend
Management World Americas 2012 to present in front of 1200 delegates from around the world.
What are the requirements and cost to participate?
Helpful Links and Resources: