R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management
For Telcos and service providers, order
management, service provisioning and
fulfillment is a critical activity. Customer
satisfaction and acquisition, as well as
operator success depend on a flexible and
efficient order and fulfillment process.
Many of today’s products incorporate
components from multiple suppliers and in
many instances, there are cross
dependencies that need to be
orchestrated.
Service Providers expect easy
configuration of business rules and
workflows, with the capability to automate
processes and incorporate manual
interventions where necessary (tasks,
SLAs, notifications). In this paper, we
show how the Infonova R6 is aligned to
service oriented architecture principles
and how Infonova Order Management
helps to manage delivery and activation of
services efficiently through the entire order
handling process. In addition, we
demonstrate how orchestration of cross
dependencies are realized via a powerful
workflow management and a sophisticated
rule engine and how end-to-end process
automation is achieved using a fully
integrated Task and Notification
Management.
Infonova Order Management Improve efficiencies and raise customer satisfaction with Infonova Order Management
Functional Overview | Infonova R6
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 2
INFONOVA’S NEXT GENERATION R6
Infonova's R6 is specifically designed to support cross-industry 2.0 and Telco 1.0 business
models: triple & quad play bundling, white labeling, rich wholesale products and innovative
partner models. At the same time, Infonova’s platform helps optimize existing business
models and allows flexible intercommunication between legacy and next generation systems.
The proven product family modules cover the enhanced 'Order-to-Cash' lifecycle: Platform
and Business Management, Product Management, Customer Management, Order
Management, Billing and Finance.
For internal as well as external integration, Infonova R6 is aligned to SOA principles and
contains a powerful combination of software components to deliver the sophisticated
functionality required for successful order management. By using this SOA integration
approach each of the Infonova modules has the ability to be used and integrated with existing
OSS/BSS platform environments separately by using the Infonova API suite.
THE INFONOVA SOA APPROACH
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) can be defined as a software design and implementation
methodology (i.e. architecture) of loosely coupled, coarse-grained, reusable artifacts (i.e.
services), which can be integrated in a wide variety of platform independent service
interfaces.
SOA plays an important role in the Infonova R6 platform. SOA optimization provides greater
flexibility, efficiency, and responsiveness for services used and provided by companies,
particularly, when OSS/BSS environments are heterogeneous, and business requirements
are dynamic.
Figure 1: SOA aligned Infonova API
The SOA-aligned Infonova API is implemented to enable more efficient interaction with
external systems, e.g., Customer Care, Ticket Systems and Network Layers. It provides a set
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 3
of interfaces that can be used to extend or to allow clients to integrate such functionality into
an existing IT environment. Examples of this include searching for fullfillment of customer's
orders and services over multiple systems, submitting tickets or triggering credit card
payments into external systems.
Business processes are essential to the SOA approach, therefore the model must also
integrate an additional standard for this aspect: the jBPM Process Definition Language (jPDL)
is used to implement the choreography and orchestration of services. Business Process
Management provides the foundation to respond faster to changing business requirements
and to react to events in real-time.
INFONOVA R6 ORDER MANAGEMENT
Infonova R6 Order Management handles the end-to-end process of a customer's request for
services. This includes customizing the offers, order entry, preparing the order for
provisioning, decomposing the order into order items and managing the service activation and
fulfillment process including all cross dependencies.
WORKFLOWS AND RULES FOR A COMPLEX SERVICE ORCHESTRATION
Order Management is workflow driven; this means workflows are the central element of this
component. Additionally, Infonova’s Rules Engine allows the definition of business rules that
can be applied on workflow steps.
An order encapsulates a customer's request for services. This applies to new customers as
well as existing ones, if they want to modify or terminate their services. Each order consists of
one or more order items that describe the selected service features.
The order entry process is workflow-controlled and calls functionality provided by other
functional areas like Customer/Account Management, Product Catalogue/Product
Configuration and Resource Provisioning. Pre-order checks can be implemented and include
address check, credit check, fraud check and service availability. Order entry triggers
processes in various other areas and controls handover and status of the end-to-end process.
All calls to 3rd
-party interfaces are done via the component Service & Resource Provisioning
(SRP).
Additionally, Workflow Management has a request/response mechanism for easy interfacing
with asynchronous external interfaces. This includes SLA violation tasks and scheduled
execution of service calls.
ORDER HANDLING AND SERVICE & RESOURCE PROVISIONING
After an order is placed and stored, Order Handling is triggered to initiate the provisioning
process that is workflow controlled. Order Handling uses Service & Resource Provisioning to
relay requests to internal OSS stacks and element managers or to external service providers,
for example,
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 4
address checks
service availability/quality checks
payment checks or credit checks
provisioning requests
Order Handling selects the right workflow based on the order type, creates a workflow
instance, and starts the provisioning process (one sub-workflow for every service):
General order
workflow,
order checks
Sub-workflow
Provision
PSTN Service
Sub-workflow
Provision
Mobile Service
Sub-workflow
Provision
Internet Service
Order workflow
continues,
activate accounts
Trigger
Processe.g.:
Place order
Barring Churn in/out
Terminate Port in/out
Figure 2: Order Workflow Overview
WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT
The Workflow Management component is based on jBPM and provides a framework for
defining and executing any kind of long-spanned business or internal processes, such as the
order process, change of service features, the addition of new operators, and task and
notification management.
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 5
Infonova BSS
Workflow Engine
EJB JCA JMS WebServiceESB
Figure 3: Infonova's Workflow Engine
Workflow Management features versioning of process definitions, hierarchical process
structures, concurrent parallel execution paths, manual intervention tasks, asynchronous
continuations/wait states, a request/response mechanism for easy interfacing with
asynchronous external interfaces, service level agreement handling, and scheduled
execution.
WORKFLOW INTEGRATION
Business Process Management (Infonova R6 BPM) enables the creation of business
processes that coordinate the activities of people, applications and services. With its modular
architecture, the workflow combines easy development of workflow applications with a flexible
and scalable process engine. Since Infonova BPM is packaged as a simple Java library, it is
able to run on an Application Server, JBoss4.x, for highly scalable enterprise applications. By
providing a flexible and robust framework for coordinating, and monitoring business
processes, Infonova R6 BPM makes changing complex business processes dramatically
easier - significantly enhancing business agility.
Because business processes are essential to the Service-oriented Architecture (SOA)
approach, the Infonova R6 BPM model integrates the jBPM Process Definition Language
(jPDL). jPDL specifies a XML schema and a mechanism for packaging all process-definition-
related files into a process archive.
The integration of jPDL enables the use of 3rd-party process modelers (e.g., Eclipse
integrated process designer) to engineer business process steps. The following figure shows
both views of an example workflow, graphic on the left and XML on the right:
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 6
Figure 4: A Basic Workflow in Graphic and XML View
VERSIONING OF PROCESS DEFINITIONS
Typically process definitions require regular updates to respond to the changing needs of the
service provider. Most systems can be triggered up by this requirement. To avoid this
problem, Infonova R6 BPM provides a process versioning mechanism. This allows multiple
process definitions of the same name to coexist in the platform. A process instance can be
started in the latest version of a process definition, and it will continue executing within that
definition for its entire lifetime. When a newer version is deployed, newly created process
instances start in the newer version, while older process instances continue executing in the
older process definitions.
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 7
WORKFLOW RUNTIME INTERFACE
The Workflow Runtime Interface is used to interact with running process instances in the
jBPM Workflow Engine. All Infonova components are able to use this interface to control
running processes. Infonova's WebAC uses this interface for administrating the process
definitions and for providing necessary information to Task Management.
Infonova BSS
Workflow Engine
EJB JCA JMS WebServiceESB
Figure 5: Infonova's Workflow Interfaces
Interaction can be established through four different kinds of communication levels:
Interaction Description
Local Call
For synchronous local calls when the Infonova BPM runs on the
same instance as the caller.
EJB, Web Service
Enterprise Java Beans and Web Services for synchronous remote
calls when the Infonova BPM runs on a remote instance.
JMS, ESB
Java Messaging Service and Enterprise Service Bus for
asynchronous remote calls when the Infonova BPM runs on a
remote instance.
JCA
Java Connector Architecture for data storage within files, databases
or other storage media.
INFONOVA R6 WORKFLOW ENGINE
Infonova R6 BPM interacts with various external systems as well as internal modules and the
customer/operator interface. The main tasks of Infonova R6 BPM include the definition of time
periods such as SLA response times, triggering of manual tasks, and management of
asynchronous requests. The current status of process tasks and task instances, and context
variables are maintained in the core database.
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 8
RULE MANAGEMENT
Workflows comprise a series of nodes "action" or decission points, in which the workflow uses
expressions to determin the next delegate node. Each node it evaluates has a rule set that
dictates which action has to be taken - this can be done via a Rules Engine.
Infonova's Rules Engine complements the Workflow Engine by providing business-user
focused systems for the creation, management, deployment, collaboration and analysis of
rules. The combination of the Rules Engine and the Workflow Engine delivers a proven
"Business Rules Approach" methodology.
There are many ways to take advantage of the capabilites of a Rules Engine within a
workflow, for example, by
Delegating some decisions in the workflow to rules to determine which path is to be
taken
Letting the rules change or update business objects
Providing interceptor points (e.g., at the start and end of each workflow step) for rule
execution
Using rules to raise tasks when certain configurable conditions are met
As already mentioned, the Infonova R6 BPM can execute processes described in jPDL. It
supports the following processes and features:
Atomic core operations with rollback functionality
Functionality to facilitate and monitor in-order and on-time execution and delivery of
process steps
Unlimited number of process steps
Enabling of dependencies between process steps
Support for parallel event chains
Assignment of process and step owners
Process definition templates and profiles
Status information like
o Progress indicator
o Blocking points
o Warnings
o Errors
o Ongoing / final status
o Work order number / date / owner
o Task step date / owner
o Delay
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 9
o Task step
The Rules Engine can be applied to any system that uses rules in any form to produce an
outcome, for example, form validation systems and dynamic expression engines.
Infonova BSS
Workflow Engine
EJB JCA JMS WebServiceESB
Rule Engine
Figure 6: Rule Engine
Business rules can be configured to control parts of ticket distribution flows, who receives
notifications, how the service fullfillment will be triggered, when and for which services the
barring can be done, service throttling and similar processes. In combination with a workflow
engine any kind of long spanned business rule in an integrated system can be configured
during run time.
DECLARATIVE PROGRAMMING
Rules Engines define "What to do" not "How to do it". The key advantage of this is that rules
can make it easy to express solutions to difficult problems and consequently have those
solutions verified (rules are much easier to read then code).
Rules Engines are capable of solving complicated problems, plus providing an explanation of
how the solution was found and why each decision was made.
LOGIC AND DATA SEPARATION
Data is in the domain objects, logic in the rules - this breaks the object-oriented coupling of
data and logic, which can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the point of
view. The upshot of the separation of data and logic is that the logic is easier to maintain,
when changes have to be applied, since it is all laid out in rules. This is especially true for
cross-domain or multi-domain logic. Instead of the logic being spread across many domain
objects or controllers, it can all be organized in one or more very distinct rule files.
CENTRALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
By using rules an executable knowledge base is established. This means there is a single
point of truth for business policies (for example); ideally, rules are readable so they can also
serve as documentation.
TOOL INTEGRATION
Tools like Eclipse (and in future, Web-based UIs) provide ways to edit and manage rules and
get immediate feedback, validation and content assistance. Auditing and debugging tools are
also available.
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 10
TRACEABILITY
Rules Engines effectively provide traceability by logging the decisions and why they were
made.
UNDERSTANDABLE RULES
By creating object models and domain-specific languages (optional) that model the problem
domain, rules can be defined so they resemble natural language. This also means the rules
and logic can be understood by (possibly nontechnical) domain experts. However, all other
functionality is still in the code, as usual.
TASK AND NOTIFICATION MANAGEMENT
Task Management provides functionality for two task types, automatic and manual. Automatic
tasks are created by the system, when, for example, an error occurs and actions from a CSR,
technical support person or other operative are required. It is fully integrated with the rule and
workflow engine and allows any kind of error and complaint management used for fullfillment
and assurance.
Infonova BSS
Workflow Engine
EJB JCA JMS WebServiceESB
Rule EngineTask Management
Figure 7: Task Management
If a task is raised by a workflow step in the Order Management process, for example, the task
is assigned to a CSR. After the task has been resolved, the workflow is automatically or
manually triggered to continue with the next step.
Notifications are triggered automatically, for example, by a workflow step, or sent manually by
a CSR. The notification methods can be specified for each actor and include mail, phone, e-
mail or text message (SMS).
Any kind of escalation path can be defined within the workflow, rule and task management to define:
SLA time
Number of retries and duration
Rules
Task definition and assignment
Task severity
Escalation
R6 Functional Overview | Infonova R6 Order Management 11
EXAMPLE OF INFONOVA R6 ORDER MANAGEMENT
The following flowchart depicts a typical Order Management workflow within the Infonova R6
system. The different subworkflows are orchestrated after the order has been placed and are
triggered to decompose the order into services and several workflow steps to communicate to
any kind of network layer for service provisioning and activation.
Figure 8: Example - A Typical Order Workflow in Infonova
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The above example shows how a very complex workflow is organized by the Infonova R6
system to achieve the goal of full automation and zero-touch provisioning (or -upgrading, -
repairing, etc.). The start of the process can be triggered automatically (mobile number port in
request, service outage alert) or manually (place order), and then dozens of internal and
external systems are visited in a workflow spanning more than a hundred nodes in multiple
concurrent or alternative paths. In real-live scenarios at our customers the nodes in this
workflow are visited often in excess of 700 times, using the built in rules engine to configure
dependencies and actions at decision points. Steps requesting manual steps are minimized to
where target systems are not implemented or where they are required for business or legal
reasons (approve discount, sign T&C). Together with automated retry mechanisms (in case of
network or interface outages) and escalation paths, our clients are able to optimize their
processes to run without manual intervention for almost 100% of their product offering.
EXEMPLARY METRICS
In a typical carrier deployment of Infonova R6, workflows like in the above example are
typically executed in an environment that exhibits the following specs:
New Orders placed: 65000
Workflow steps executed: ~ 6 Million
Average workflow transitions per customer
order:
~ 100
R6 is ideal to cater for short, very effective turnaround times in service and billing activation
with complex workflows and multiple, parallel resolution paths. It easily scales up to millions of
workflow steps and thousands of manuals tasks triggered and controlled through the system
each month.
INFONOVA
Infonova, founded in 1989, specializes in providing technology and business-oriented solutions and services to telecommunications, media, utility and convergent industries.
Infonova’s BSS solutions have been implemented for incumbent, attacker and cable operators supporting triple & quadruple play service portfolios.
Encapsulating decades of knowledge, Infonova’s latest BSS product, R6 is a fully J2EE platform that supports real multi-tenant concept-to-cash operations for fully convergent and complex multi-industry 2.0 business models while also supporting Telco 1.0 simultaneously. R6 also delivers transformation scenarios and Pre- & Post-paid Convergence at a fraction the cost and time of traditional integration scenarios.
For more information please visit www.infonova.com