TM Forum brings together digital service leaders including Accenture, Amdocs, Apigee, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Orange, Telefonica O2 and more to deliver a suite of lightweight, end-to-end digital services management APIs, tested and proven by 150-plus developers at Forum’s first Hackathon 

Digital Disruption 2013, San Jose, CA, – Oct. 29, 2013: The increasingly complex, multi-partner, digital services value chain raises new challenges for service providers in terms of ensuring time-to-market, seamless management, cost-effectiveness and revenue sharing. To meet these challenges, in just four months TM Forum brought together some of the world’s largest service providers and suppliers, including Accenture, Amdocs, AsiaInfo Linkage, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Infonova, Orange and Telefonica O2 to create and launch a unique online environment. Called the API Zone, it contains a suite of REST-based APIs developed for end-to-end digital services management. TM Forum announced the API Zone at its next-generation Americas event, Digital Disruption 2013 in San Jose, Calif., from Oct. 28-31.

The API Zone

Part of TM Forum’s Open Digital Program, the API Zone is the first comprehensive effort to understand and meet the needs of all digital services stakeholders including consumers, developers, providers and operators. TM Forum and its members defined and developed the APIs in a three month cycle using agile development techniques.

The API Zone features four APIs: Catalog Management, Trouble Ticketing, Product Ordering and Simple Management. The purpose of these APIs is to create easy sharing of management information and expose management functions such as submitting orders or creating trouble tickets between partners.

The API Zone contains API specifications and use cases as well as links to a TM Forum Apigee Console for learning about the APIs. The API Zone also includes a Github repository for access to source code and sample applications for both client side/app and service provider/management systems implementations.

“Today, services are commonly delivered by several partner providers, all of whom need selection, orchestration, management and ultimately payment. Partnerships can be struck and dissolved in seconds, so real-time processing, accurate and secure information flow and agility are more important than ever,” said Laurent Leboucher, vice president APIs and digital ecosystems, Orange. “An online environment for digital services management APIs puts developers in the digital services driver seat by giving them the tools they need to connect to the biggest players in the digital ecosystem.”

Ten Unique Apps Prove out APIs at TM Forum’s Hackathon

All of the APIs in TM Forum’s API Zone were the focus of the Digital Disruption Hackathon, held Oct. 19-20, in San Francisco, Calif., to allow developers to experience the benefits of using management APIs to simplify the addition of management capabilities to an application. Approximately 150 developers proved out the APIs, creating over 25 unique apps in 36 hours. The Hackathon winners were:

• Overall winner of Innovation and Best Use of TM Forum APIs: The Trading Post

  Using Product Catalog and Trouble Ticketing APIs, this app allowed users to do real-time, peer-to-peer trading of physical and virtual goods with no money changing hands. The team comprised: Erich Healy, Ryan Leckey and Taylor Stackpole

• Winner of the Best Use of the Trouble Ticketing API: Private Company Information (PC 411)

  Using Catalog Management, Trouble Ticketing and Product Ordering APIs, this app was a BYOD solution for inexpensive and simple operational support systems (OSS). This team comprised Rashi King Abranbon and Rauhmel Fox

• Winner of the Best Use of the Product Offering API: DailyMotion-Orange Mashup

  This app used the Product Offering API to integrate a digital service provider (DailyMotion) with a communication service provider (Orange) to create an entertainment-focused app. The team comprised Vincent Boulaye, Olivier Etienne, Akshay Jain, Subash Mandanapu, Laurent Souchet and Julien Terrier

• Winner of best Use of the Product Catalog API: Office Box

  Using the Product Catalog API, this app allows users to order everything they need to set up a new office in one stop, including furniture, communication services, computers and more. The team comprised Stepan Gershuni, Bharadwaj Parthasarathy and Imran Ahmed Sheikh

“TM Forum saw the potential to create an API ecosystem where healthcare, home security, energy, banking, automotive and communications providers can collaborate to enhance all aspects of our lives with services anywhere, anytime,” said Nik Willetts, chief strategy officer, TM Forum. “At our first-ever hackathon, we proved that all of the APIs in our API Zone can simplify the addition of management capabilities for an app, which means that developers can focus on the money-making functions of building an app rather than on the management to support it—ultimately speeding the creation and delivery of digital services.”

Digital Disruption 2013 attendees can experience the API Zone in the TM Forum Zone at Digital Disruption, where some of the Hackathon winners are showcasing their work and several of TM Forum’s live demonstration Catalyst projects feature the APIs, including The ABCs of Multi-Party Digital Services and eHealth – Curing the Complexity Catalysts.

In addition, TM Forum participated as a technical partner in the Novartis mHealth Challenge, Oct. 25-27, in San Francisco, where the Forum’s APIs were used by developers to build mobile apps that help caregivers monitor loved ones with chronic illnesses.

Located in the heart of the high-tech center of North America, Digital Disruption 2013 is the next generation of TM Forum’s highly successful Management World event series, which brings together key players and innovators in the digital ecosystem.

About TM Forum

TM Forum is a global trade association trusted by the world’s largest enterprises, service providers and suppliers to help them continuously transform to succeed in the digital economy. We help our members reduce costs and risks, improve business agility and grow their business through a wealth of knowledge, tools, standards, training and practical advice.

We bring together more than 85,000 professionals from 900+ member companies to share experiences, collaborate and rapidly solve critical business challenges including IT transformation, business process optimization, big data analytics, cloud management, customer experience management and cyber security. Our three strategic programs—Agile Business and IT, Customer Engagement and Open Digital —enable us to provide a platform for overcoming the barriers to an open digital world. For more information about TM Forum, visit www.tmforum.org

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