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Contact:Adam Cargill
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The Open Group and TeleManagement Forum Partner to Extend the Scope of Service Level Agreements Offered by Telcos and Service ProvidersInitiative Aims to Give Customers Assurance That Their Mission Critical Applications Get PrioritySan Francisco, CA - April 9, 2002 - The Open Group and TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) have launched an initiative that will expand the scope of the guidelines developed for TM Forum members to make Service Level Agreements more comprehensive. The TM Forum has invited The Open Group to produce Volume 4 of its SLA Management Handbook, which will account for Quality of Service (QoS) levels driven by the operational needs of customers in the enterprise. The SLA Management Handbook has been in great demand with TM Forum members and captured the interest of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Fast becoming the premier reference guide on Service Level Agreements in the industry, it addresses the nature of SLAs and Quality of Service management and organization. The current SLA Management Handbook addresses the delivery of Quality of Service primarily within the telecommunications company's or service provider's domain, up to the Service Access Point, the demarcation point between the enterprise and the service provider. This new joint initiative will investigate and define the SLA parameters within the enterprise, up to the Service Access Point. To develop the new guidelines, the two organizations will focus on customer perceptions and requirements, and on the mechanics of delivering QoS assurances, in Service Level Agreements. The Open Group's Quality of Service Task Force will bring an end-user (or enterprise) perspective to QoS treatment based on application profiles, so that Service Level Agreements can reflect the priority an enterprise gives to certain operations. That is, a company could receive assurances in a Service Level Agreement that its mission-critical functions that rely on the network are given service priority over less critical traffic. "We believe this collaboration will both strengthen our SLA work as well as enable more people to benefit from it," said Jim Warner, President and CEO of the TM Forum. "The current SLA Management Handbook covers much of the value chain but lacks the end customer perspective - an area where The Open Group has considerable expertise. The Open Group will be able to present a complete view of application-specific performance from one end of the supply chain to the other. Our proven track record of working with The Open Group gives me confidence this will become a major win for the industry as a whole." "We are delighted to be in a partnership with the TeleManagement Forum that puts our complementary skills to work to provide the guidelines that will make business priorities a driver in Service Level Agreements," said Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group. "The Forum met the telecommunications industry's demand for technical expertise and structure in its superior handbook, thereby laying the foundation for the comprehensive guide this joint effort will produce. We are pleased to once again join forces with the Forum to realize a well-defined goal." In January, The Open Group and the TM Forum announced another working alliance to maximize the synergy between the organizations and minimize work redundancy. The Executive Coordination Council (ECC) also includes The Object Management Group (OMG™), and e- and Telecommunications Information Services (ETIS). "This new initiative is an excellent opportunity for large customers, application providers, and system integrators to get involved in specifying their operational and software interface requirements for guaranteed service and performance levels," said Jean Hammond, Chair of The Open Group's Quality of Service Task Force. "In order to eventually guarantee QoS across all domains, it is essential that major constituencies-customers, application providers, system integrators, system and network vendors, services providers and consortia-work together to get it right. This initiative represents a great step in that direction, we are proud to be a leader with the TM Forum in driving it." About TeleManagement ForumTeleManagement Forum is a non-profit, global organization providing industry leadership by driving the development of New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS). TM Forum members collaboratively produce pragmatic solutions using off the shelf, plug and play technologies that streamline key business processes for the management of communications and information services. As an industry association, the TM Forum also sponsors a broad range of education and information services to its members and the industry at large. Currently, the TM Forum has more than 385 members from 36 countries including all types of service providers, equipment manufacturers, software suppliers, and systems integrators. For more information visit: http://ww.tmforum.org. About The Open GroupThe Open Group, a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, is committed to delivering greater business efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information technology to lower the time, cost and risks associated with integrating new technology across the enterprise. The Open Group's mission is to offer all organizations concerned with open information infrastructures a forum where they can share knowledge, integrate open initiatives, and certify approved products and processes in a manner in which they continue to trust our impartiality. More information on our organization can be found at http://www.opengroup.org About The Open Group's Quality of Service Task ForceThe Quality of Service Task Force is focused on furthering a standard approach to the propagation of customer-to-vendor and vendor-to-vendor QoS requirements and measurements. The Task Force approach is "End-to-End" (From the Enterprise, through Wide Area Networks, to Remote Services), emphasizing end-to-end beyond the networks, so assurances for Quality of Service can extend across all domains. The Task Force, through multiple liaisons with external organizations, as well as with The Open Group's other Forums is engaged in activities for mapping QoS parameters in: application and resources in the enterprise, real-time applications and embedded systems, wired and wireless networks. A major objective of the QoS Task Force is evolving the Service Level Agreement, not only as a means to specify requirements and measurements for end-to-end service levels, but also as a means to drive resource and application management in order to dynamically adjust service level provisions in accordance with Service Level Agreements. More information on the QoS Task Force can be found at http://www.opengroup.org/qos |
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