The increasing demand for agility and innovation in delivering next-generation connectivity and services is challenging for Communication Service Providers (CSPs). Many CSPs are still reliant on legacy Business Support Systems (BSS) and Operational Support Systems (OSS), which significantly hinder progress. To stay competitive and keep customers and partners satisfied, CSPs need to fundamentally change their approach to enterprise architecture, a goal promised by the Open Digital Architecture (ODA).
Developed by TM Forum, the ODA aims to streamline and modernise the telecoms industry by offering an industry-wide set of open standards. This initiative seeks to replace traditional BSS/OSS solutions, simplifying the integration between software components and making relationships between operators, vendors, and partners more manageable. The ODA’s standardised architecture blueprint serves all participants in the telecom ecosystem, enhancing operational efficiency and fostering opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
The ODA represents the culmination of over 20 years of work by TM Forum. It began with the creation of common standards and frameworks to optimise operations between different systems, laying the groundwork for Open APIs that improved integration and modernised legacy systems. Now, the industry is moving towards a fully plug-and-play ecosystem using components and a framework as described by the ODA.
The ODA’s foundation includes the Business Process Framework (eTOM), which provides a comprehensive blueprint for telecommunications process architecture, the Functional Framework that categorises software applications, and the Information Framework (SID) that standardises data representation and management across different systems.
Open APIs are a crucial part of the ODA, consisting of over 100 standardised RESTful interfaces that facilitate communication between various software systems. These APIs use a shared data model for flexibility and technological neutrality, supporting modular, scalable solutions that enable easy connectivity between legacy systems and new digital services. The recently launched Gen5 Open APIs simplify development, enable automation through intent-based requests, and support modern event-driven architectures.
ODA components are individual, standardised building blocks of software that can be deployed independently. These components are integrated through Open APIs, creating a plug-and-play ecosystem. The components are grouped into five main functional blocks: Party Management, Core Commerce Management, Production, Intelligence Management, and Engagement Management. Additionally, the ODA includes a set of generic ODA Canvas Operators.
The practical implementation of the ODA is realised through the Canvas, an open-source, technology-agnostic, cloud-native management solution based on Kubernetes. It runs on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform and provides a development-and-test suite for building, deploying, and verifying ODA components.
The certification process for ODA components was announced at the TM Forum event DTW24 – Ignite in June. This process allows vendors to certify their ODA component solutions by running TM Forum’s Conformance Test Kit (CTK), which validates the required standards within a compliant ODA Canvas. The CTKs will be available for download from the TM Forum website starting January 2025.
Though the ODA is still in its early stages, with many components under specification and various tools and APIs still in beta, it offers a common language, standardised infrastructure, and automated operations with strong governance. This positions the ODA as a potential solution for the complex and evolving BSS/OSS landscape, aiding the telecommunications industry in achieving much-needed agility.
Cerillion, a TM Forum member since 2007, has fully embraced TM Forum initiatives. The company has adopted common language standards for over a decade and invested heavily in research and development to implement Open APIs into its product suite. As a platinum-level member with 25 certified Open APIs, Cerillion has begun ODA adoption, signing the ODA Manifesto in 2021 and aligning its modules with the official component blueprint.
The ODA promises to revolutionise the telecom industry by providing a simplified, standardised framework that enables CSPs to meet the growing demands for agility and innovation in delivering next-generation services.
Cerillion plc (LON:CER) is a leading provider of billing, charging and customer management systems with more than 20 years’ experience delivering its solutions across a broad range of industries including the telecommunications, finance, utilities and transportation sectors.
