Cable/Multi-Service Operators

IT and the Cable “Business”

Craig Bachmann — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:23:55 GMT

Alignment of IT and “the business” is a challenge in any industry. A new case study from ComHem http://www.tmforum.org/CaseStudies/EnablingITtoplay/47127/article.html presents a very interesting approach. ComHem is the largest cable operator in Sweden and has achieved significant growth while operating in the demanding private equity environment in Europe.

This case study outlines the innovations that the ComHem IT team has brought to the table. For example, “ In parallel to TM Forum’s Frameworx, the adoption of LEAN [a process improvement discipline originally applied to manufacturing] throughout the organization has made a tremendous difference to our ability to deliver change. In software development, the adoption of LEAN has led us to implement an organization providing a continuous flow of change, improving the way we work continuously, and constantly reducing waste.”

I encourage everyone faced with the challenges of aligning IT and “the business” to read, comment, and contact ComHem with questions regarding their approach. We thank ComHem for sharing their experience with our TM Forum community.

Quick Starts for Cable

Craig Bachmann — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:33:44 GMT

The “velocity” of New Services is astounding in the Cable Industry – “gateways”, “tablets”, technology and consumer trends, and the speed at which content is created, distributed, and consumed is accelerating at an unimaginable pace.

In response, the Cable Initiative has focused on work that can help our Cable members plan, launch, and manage new services.

The Frameworx for Cable team developed new Quick Start Pack material for member’s consideration in less than two months to assist Cable Operators in their planning and launch of TV Everywhere type of new services. The challenge in launching these types of services is that they require the coordination and interface of many departments and technologies in a high velocity environment. The Cable New Services Quick Start Pack is a template to help manage that high velocity and complex environment.

Collaboration can move at a velocity that the New Services demand. Another working group that met the Quick Start challenge is the Cable Business Intelligence working group. Working under the assumption that measurement is critical to understand success in a New Services environment, the Cable BI team developed 50 KPI’s across 7 business functions that will accessible in a Quick Start Guide format.

We are beginning our next “Quick” projects – please share your ideas for what can help you most in this high velocity environment! These projects are ongoing and you are welcome to join the teams and help shape the deliverables.

Tablets and the Impact on Cable Operations

Craig Bachmann — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:56:02 GMT

In attending the Cable Show in Chicago, it was near impossible to miss the tablet revolution. Demo after demo presented tablets as much more than a “third party consumer device”. Very quickly tablets are becoming an integrated part of the customer experience for a sector of Cable subscribers – it is part app platform, part program guide, part viewing screen, part remote, part… well this will continue to expand as the tablet is a natural extension of the Cable value proposition.

As the customer experience becomes more entwined with the tablet, there is a new set of requirements for integration into the Cable OSS/BSS environment. Cable as an industry is going to continue to be very innovative with the tablet, but what is the proper governance and approach to ensure that all of this innovation is grounded in Operations?

We look forward to Team Action Week in Baltimore on July 18^th when Time Warner Cable and other MSO/Cable Operators discuss Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Management and other operational impacts in “New Service Delivery for Cable MSOs: Transformation Using Frameworx as the Foundation”.

Please bring your tablet, issues, ideas, and collaborate with the Cable Initiative!

Monthly Workgroup Call Reminder

Paul Ousterhout — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:36:49 GMT

The Cable Initiative Business Intelligence workgroup has its June monthly call tomorrow, June 22nd, at 10 AM Eastern time. Call details are available at tmforum.org, then click on initiatives, cable initiative, Business intelligence workgroup, and look for 'upcoming events' at the top of the page.

Or just navigate to this page: http://www.tmforum.org/community/groups/cable_initiative/wiki/cable-business-intelligence.aspx

Join us on the call and welcome our newest workgroup members, UPC and Com Hem!

Cable Business Intelligence and Cable Transformation

Craig Bachmann — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:12:59 GMT

With the announcement for an approved charter for our Cable Business Intelligence team, we continue to put together a set of deliverables that create a "Cable View" for our Initiative. While it may seem today that Cable Service Providers and other Communications providers may differ in only the "last mile", the legacy operational environments are different. In Paris of this year, Data and Business Intelligence was rated one of the most important areas that will support Cable Transformation. We are "jazzed" that Cable Transformation will be enabled by this innovative team.

I spoke at the Cable Stream of IP&TV World last week in London (a sunny spring day!) and the the feedback is that IP Transformation issues are clearly going to impact Business Process, OSS/BSS, and beyond for Cable Operators. This transformation provides a unique opportunity for innovation - perhaps an IP Back Office is way forward. In our working groups for IPDR, Business Process, and our new OSS/BSS Architecture, I hear ideas for "best practices" and standards designs for past, present, and future.

And Cable Business Intelligence is a critical part of the go forward roadmap as "common terms", KPI's, mappings, and tools will enable data to support the transformation.

Congratulations to the Cable Business Intelligence Team for the approval of the charter!

Paris and Cable OSS/BSS Transformation

Craig Bachmann — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:22:41 GMT

The discussion of Cable's OSS/BSS Transformation continued in a blustery Paris last week and so far this week, the feedback has been great. The UPC presentation was a real life example of how planning and execution addressed UPC's diverse operating challenge. The MSO roundtable responded to the transformation survey by discussing the variety of dimensions that must be addressed in this undertaking. With transformation plans as long as 3 years and as short as 3 weeks, scope and opportunity alignment are critical.

One observer commented that the pace of change is so incredible that without a framework approach it is high risk and possibly career suicide. Mapping changes in network technology, software, business models, and customer preferences maybe spinning heads in the Cable Community, but the velocity of change is only likely to move faster as Cable moves towards an IP ecosystem.

Please join us as we work together on standards, best practices, and tools that enable transformation success

Monthly Cable Business Intelligence Conference Call

Paul Ousterhout — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:46:52 GMT

Our first monthly call of 2011 was very successful, with participation from Cox, Charter, and Brighthouse. We continue to refine our approach and draft our charter for 2011 with the goal of creating compelling value that drives more & more participation from MSOs across the globe.

Given all the focus on Customer Experience, our current plan is to map out the performance indicators related to that critical executive initiative. This is going to be an end-to-end delivery, starting with construction continuing all the way through the customer lifecycle. And we're going to use the Goal Alignment Strategy (GAS) scaffold we've been talking about the last couple of months to manage the data collection process.

Mid to long term goals include:

ensure consistent measurement and optimization techniques within individual MSOs
provide opportunity for consistent measurement for comparisons within cable industry
provide opportunity for KPI comparisons cable to competitor

Join us on our February call, or reply to this blog to get involved!

Team Action Week Paris, 2011: Business Intelligence

Paul Ousterhout — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:58:29 GMT

We have posted a working document in the project workspace, under documents. This document outlines some of the points we will be discussing, including:

What are the high level components of Business Intelligence?
How do we map BI into eTOM and SID?
Should we focus on the technical aspects of BI, the business impacting aspects of BI, or both?
What is our charter for accomplishments in 2011?

Look in the team action week Paris directory for the draft, which poses lots of questions for the team to consider, discuss, debate, and hopefully come to consensus. Whether you're joining us in Paris or not - please take a few moments to read this over and consider the questions therein.

Are these topics compelling? Have you already solved some or all of them? Are there more important things to be considering?

We have briefly reviewed this document on our December monthly BI Conference call (next call on January 26), and the attendees of that call seemed genuinely interested in the direction we've chosen.

Join us in Paris, join us for the monthly conference calls, or preferably both: we look forward to your participation.

Additional meetings in Paris

Paul Ousterhout — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:56:35 GMT

For anyone arriving in Paris for Team Action Week on or before Tuesday, would you like to have one or more meetings on Tuesday in preparation for our formal meetings in the Cable Initiative on Wednesday? I'd like to take full advantage of our opportunities for discussion about your needs and interests regarding the Business Intelligence workgroup. I can be reached at pousterhout@BATMANNAnalytics.com. Thanks!

Cable in 2011 - Transformation and New Services Support

Craig Bachmann — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:06:21 GMT

In closing out 2010, it appears that Transformation for the Cable Industry was an objective with a goal line that seemed very far at times. With New Services in Mobility, Cloud, In-Home Network, B2B, Advertising, and Business Class growing, operational challenges are multiplying at a very fast rate. While "boiling the ocean" may lure some - others looked at solid returns on specific issues. We heard about some of these at Orlando and the response was great.

The Cable industry continued to train in all things Frameworx, pushed the rollout of IPDR, and found ways to leverage best practices and standards to drive incredible returns.

2011 looks to be more of the same - can the industry transform the legacy environment at the the pace required for next gen consumers, improve customer experience for high value customers, and continue to standardize and measure the impact of operational transformation?

We look forward to working with the world's MSO's, CableLabs, suppliers, and consulting thought leaders in supporting both transformation efforts and innovations that enable new services.

Our initiative is designed to be responsive to the needs of the cable industry - please let us know what are YOUR needs and we will respond.

All the best in the New Year!