IPSphere

IPsphere has successful showing at MW Orlando

Paul McCullin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:45:27 GMT

I just wanted to give the team a post review of the events pertaining to IPsphere during the TM Forum's Management World 2009 (Orlando), week of Dec 7, 2009.

IPsphere maintained a kiosk booth during the event, where we had a slide deck continuoulsy running, and during 2 scheduled event times (plus anytime that a member stopped by the booth), Paul McCullin presented to on the caqpabilities of IPsphere, what has been accomplished and where we are going.

We received a lot of exposure once again, and most of the members that stopped by to recieve information on IPshere, did so as a result of them hearing about IPsphere in other ways. The booth was visted by many representatives, here is a list of companies that stopped by: NTT COMWARE Corp, SAS Institute, etiya, Square Hoop (participated in DIG Catalyst), OSS Evolution, INOSS inc, Cricket, T Systems, etisalat, THALES, Mobile Entertainment Forum, Qwest, InfoVista, IBM, HP.

I will be sending a thank you note out to the individuals along with our community location.

There was one interesting catalyst that had many similiarities to the work that has been ongoing with the IPsphere field trials/catalyst. The Catalyst, was the Service Model Catlayst (Getting Telecom to Cloud 9). In this project, the goal is to reduce the time to launch new converged products provided from both the CSP and the cloud. Particpants: BT, Qwest, comptel, Network Cadence, Progress Software.

Additionally, we assisted the Defense Interest Group (DIG) with their catalyst, and were mentioned in all of their theater and booth presentations, and identified on their signage as a participant.

IPsphere was once again well recieved at this event, as evident by the list of companies that stopped by to learn more, and want to continue to learn more about IPsphere.

I was proud to represent the IPsphere team and talk about all of the hard work that is going on within in the team and where we are going.

Please let me know if you would like any additional information regarding this event?

Sincerely,

Paul McCullin

Getting IPsphere into the Cloud Computing Realm

Paul McCullin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:05:09 GMT

I recently asked a gentleman whose opinion I greatly respect, for his thoughts on a question that I have been asking myself. The question was “Would IPsphere moving to Cloud Computing, be of interest to you?” The answer was very direct and on point, and it stated:

“In a funny way, the answer to your question is almost too easy. IPsphere could be incredibly relevant, but it needs to move from networking to computation.

The cloud is currently dominated by non-carriers: amazon, microsoft, vmware, ibm, google, and others like salesforce.com. Biggest issue on the table right now is vendor lock-in. One gets out of the vendor lock-in worry by going to standards.

The carriers can enter the cloud market by embracing standardization and pushing the "no lock-in" message. Amazon is the closest to that message, but none of the others will embrace it.

Sadly, the carriers seem to be falling into the ibm/oracle trap. These are the guys they've turned to for the bulk of their IT needs, yet they are perceived to part of the vendor lock-in problem by the outside community.

So, if you want to get the party really started, propose standardizing the Amazon product catalog into IPsphere as well as the Amazon service activation API's. Once they that infrastructure in place, the carriers use that platform for other carrier-specific product offerings.”

So that brought me to a new question, which is: “How can this best be accomplished?” I suggest that we move forward with the recommendation made, in which we explore the standardization of the Amazon product catalog and service activation API and bring them into the IPsphere fold.

Any thoughts on, and assistance to look into this effort are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Paul McCullin

TM Forum (IPsphere and DIG) recognized in Government Computer News

Paul McCullin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:07:52 GMT

There is an excellent write up in the Government Computer News (link below), entitled: Net centricity's missing links include 'static' GIG, lack of info-sharing standards.

This article highlights the work that is being done by the TM Forum's, IPsphere and DIG programs and how that work is instrumental with regards to network operations in the Defense communities.

It is essential that we maintain this level of effort, and continue to strive to be the industry leader in these areas.

http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/09/28/DOD-network-centric-operations-information-networks.aspx?s=gcndaily_240909&Page=1

Now is a perfect time to join the IPsphere team, and assist us in moving this forward. For further information related to IPsphere please contact Paul McCullin, pmccullin@tmforum.org

TM Forum/IPsphere 2010 Major Upcoming Events

Paul McCullin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:35:40 GMT

Dear IPsphere team members,

This is to remind you that we have 2 upcoming major events that IPsphere will be participating in, they are:

Team Action Week in Lisbon, scheduled for 25 - 29 Jan. I will be starting to work on the draft agenda for this, but wanted to make sure that the team was making arrangements for to get approvals to attend this event. We will be heavy into the Phase 3 Field Trials and the work following our Release 2 efforts. It is imperative that we get as many team members to this event, so that we can lay the ground work for the new year. We need to start thinking of topics for the weeks agenda, which the initial draft is due in Oct.

Management World Nice, scheduled for 16th - 20th of May. This is where we will be showcasing/demonstrating the work that has been ongoing with the Phase 3 Field Trials, where we will be validating the Release 2 work. We will need team members to attend this event and work the IPsphere Catalyst booth. This is a great opportunity to get visibility within the industry, and keep the IPsphere Program growing. Now that we will be showcasing the R2 work with the Phase 3 Field Trials, at this event, is would be good for us to have a good representation of team members at this event.

If you could begin to work on getting your clearance/approval for travel to be able to attend these events, and confirm with me, that would help in the scheduling and success of these events and moving IPsphere forward. Also, if I have missed anyone on the address list that you feel should be receiving this, please forward it on to them.

Please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions. See you all at these great events!!!!

Richard Bayliss receives the TM Forum's 'Outstanding Contributor Award' at TAW in Baltimore

Paul McCullin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:11:33 GMT

Mr. Richard Bayliss (Juniper Networks) of the IPsphere Program Team, was awarded the TM Forum's 'Outstanding Contributor Award' during TAW in Baltimore. Mr. Bayliss is the technical team lead for the IPsphere Field Trial projects. He was instrumental in the leading the Phase 1 and 2 Field Trials, and then successfully demonstrating the results at the TM Forum's Management World, in Orlando (08) and Nice (09). His efforts ave brought great credit upon himself, the IPsphere Program, and the TM Forum as a whole.

The citation reads as follows:

for outstanding performance and lasting contribution on

Providing technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and personable approach as project lead during the transition of IPsphere into the TM Forum. Leading the IPsphere Field Trial to successful demonstrations as Catalysts during the Orlando 08 (Phase 1) and Nice 09 (Phase 2) TM Forum Management World events. These showcases of the IPsphere framework have greatly helped to demonstrate the benefits of IPsphere, garner new interest and participation in the program, and raise the profile of IPsphere within the TM Forum.

Welcome to all of the new members of the IPsphere Team

Paul McCullin — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:44:03 GMT

To all of the new members that have joined the IPsphere Team, as a direct result of the TM Forum's Management World Event in Nice, I would like to welcome you to our team. This is a very exciting time, as you may have witnessed from the presentations that the IPsphere team had made during this event. The IPsphere Team is always looking for members to actively participate and assist in making the IPsphere Program a success.

We are currently broken down into 3 groups/Committees (Technical, Service Provider and Business Committees), and we also have a Steering Committee, comprised of the Chairs for each of the mentioned committees, plus some at large members from the Service Provider group. The main contacts for the IPsphere are:

Todd Shimizu - IPsphere Program Chairperson (tshimizu@juniper.net)

Percy Lee - Service Provider Committee Chaiperson (percy.lee@telus.com)

Tanja de Groot - Technical Committee Chairperson (Tanja.De_Groot@alcatel-lucent.com)

Lee Himbault - Business Committee Chairperson (Lee.Himbeault@telus.com)

I encourage you to reach out to these team members and see where you maybe able to assist with ongoing endeavors.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in contacting Paul McCullin (pmccullin@tmforum.org) , who is the TM Forum's Project Manager for the IPsphere program.

Again, welcome to the IPsphere team and we look forward to working with you!!!!!!!