Business Support Network (also known as business support system) As an important part of the information construction of telecom operations, it is an increasingly important role in the market operations and internal management of enterprises. How to quickly and effectively build adaptable service customers, the new generation of business support management networks that adapt to marketing is the topic and efforts of the industry.
In North America, the old operators MCI and AT & T have been invested in huge human financial resources to carry out the integration of operational support systems to adapt to their business development and operational management needs, and their complexity can be seen. In China, including Netcom North 10 provinces and telecom southern 21 provinces face the same problem: how to build a new generation of business support networks that adapt to market competition and future development on the basis of existing support systems?
For operation companies that have multiple online support systems, the construction of a new generation of business support nets is not just a planning and implementation of future development; more important to protect existing investment and system interests. How to implement the business continuous in the system integration, how to ensure the smoothing of the data in the system migration process, and how to take care of the usage habits and technological accumulation of system operators.
Hebei Communication combines the construction experience of multi-year business support system, combined with system status, business development forecast, and draws on the international advanced operational support management experience, and puts forward and practice a new generation of business support net construction road.
Background: Development Drive Reform
At the beginning of the new generation of business support nets, Hebei Communications province users accumulated about 8 million. The business that has been opened includes: local business, data business, information service business, wireless city talk business, etc. The main business support system includes 97 systems, local network billing account systems, etc. 97 The system was first built in 1996, in 1999, in accordance with the requirements of the original China Telecom's "97 Supplemental Specification", it is 2.0, which is the version of Datang Software. The billing system is completed in 1999. Hebei's business support system is in the same level in the industry, and once the first place in the original China Telecom 97 project is the first place, the construction of the business support system has also received affirmation and praise from the group leaders.
With the continuous development of the business and the in-depth of the support system, the 97 system of Hebei communications has also made a lot of improvements and improvements, basically adapt to business support. But in 2002, the internal and external environment of enterprises had already changed, and the system and architecture of the support system construction before this have also been greatly challenged. On the other hand, foreign operational support management theory NGOSS and ETOM have gradually matured through many years of verification and catalysis, and can provide directional guidance and theoretical basis for the construction and transformation of Hebei Communication Business Support Network. Therefore, at the end of 2002, Hebei Communication invests nearly 100 million, cooperated with Datang Telecom, implementing the 97-third phase renovation project, and began a new generation of business support net construction.
Idea: Three-way integration
The goals and ideas of the new generation of business support nets are concentrated in the following aspects:
1. Construct the overall framework of the business support system
The construction of the previous business system is based on local needs separately plan separately, which causes the interconnection between systems, making many key business data among multiple systems, difficult to achieve data sharing, forming so-called Information of information. The goal of the construction of Hebei Communication Business Support Network is to implement the overall plan, implement the basic framework of the business support network, and synchronize the core function and workflow management system of the new generation of business support network, and improve the system. And laid the foundation with sustainable improvements.
2, clarify the positioning of the system, positioning the business support system for the market for customers
Specifically reflected in:
Strengthen related content related to customer management, marketing management and product management in the past 97.
Build a multi-channel customer service platform, including the Call Center customer service platform, online business service platform, agent customer service platform, etc.
Establish a business management platform and analysis platform for large customers.
Strengthen support for rapid deployment of business rapid deployment and marketing strategies.
Establish a comprehensive business management system to achieve "one clear", "one-stop", "a single clear". 3. Plan advanced software technology architecture, enhanced system efficiency, flexibility, and scalability
Overview: Support Network function
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of new generation business support network
The functional structure of the new generation of business support nets is shown in the figure, including customer service, large customer management / partner management, business provision, service quality management, billing, accounting management, settlement, resource management, product management, customer Data management, workflow management, management and analysis of 12 large function groups. These functional groups are distributed in customer contact, business implementation, and resource supports three levels in terms of viewing angle facing customers.
The construction of a new generation of business support systems in Hebei Communications is planned for planning goals, unified planning, and implementing construction. In the 97-third phase transformation, the main function module in accordance with the new architecture, including customer service, large customer management / partner management, business providing, product management, customer data management, workflow management, etc. Successfully built the foundation platform for the new generation of business support nets.
Hebei Communication's 97 third-phase renovation pilot project has a Tangshan local network with 1.5 million users. It has been running smoothly six months. Figure 2 is a functional module that is planned and running in accordance with the new generation of business support networks and has been run.
Figure 2: Function modules planning and online operation according to the new generation of business support network
Good results: first display
Although the transformation of Hebei Communication 97 Phase III is only the first stage of the planning and construction of a new generation of business support network, it has been achieved. First, the overall positioning and core platform of the business support network is planned to plan the overall positioning and core platform of the business support network, which has laid the foundation for the sustained construction of the business support network, and also provides practical experience in the overall information strategy of the enterprise. Second, the new generation of business support network is based on the principles for customers, and the system provides a wealth of customer contact channels and customer service methods. They have been recognized and affirmed by customers, establish a good service image in Hebei communications. Third, the new generation of business support network has strengthened the support of new business development of marketing and new products. Under the support of the system, Hebei Communication quickly launched "communication passport", "family connection", "Happy Points", etc. A series of new business has won good social and economic benefits. Fourth, the new generation of business support network is based on the advanced technical architecture and open protocol services, so that its business strategy can be flexibly deployed, and the function module can be seamlessly expanded, thus shortening the market response.
Thinking: What to do in the future
What is the meaning of the business support network, where is the border? There is no unified understanding of the industry. The Telecommunication Management Forum (TMF) is also only illustrative and is not defined. However, with the gradual deepening of the construction of business support nets, the concept of facing customers will be further deepened. Product management, customer management, marketing management will be the core of the business support network to get more attention. The implementation process of business, including resources, and the opening of the business will gradually become the content of the background system. Its development trend will be as shown in the horizontal exploded portion of the ETOM operation portion.
Figure 3: ETOM operation section in Level1 level decomposition
On the other hand, with the gradual development of the business support network, the concept of the system will gradually fade, and more practical is the functional component series and its carrying platform. The planning and construction of the business support network will first realize the public part of the bearer platform, public service components, system management components, workflow management components, and the work made by the later system construction has different context to consider the content of the Ice Island Times. A system is simple to say that its substance is to deploy a series of configurable related business components on a bearer platform. Of course, the premise of achieving this idea is to need a unified planning architecture, unifying the core business entity, unifying the information model, unified definition coding rules.
Another trend in the development of business support networks is with the development of software engineering theory and many new development platforms, the emergence of middleware products, making business support networks will have more intelligent features. These intelligent features can largely ensure the adaptation of the business support network in the case of business tariff changes, marketing strategy, and business process changes, that is, through configuration strategy to deal with business without changing program modules. Changes and management changes. At the same time, the future business support network also fuses the mechanism of expert system and has become an information system with learning ability. The business support network is a customer-oriented support system, the most important characteristics of its development and evolution will also be surrounded and deepened how to strengthen customer care, and there are two obvious trends in this regard. First, the means of customer service will be more flexible and diverse, and the customer self-service will have more support and become mainstream service modes. Second, personalized services will get more attention and interpretation; in the business support net, the previous customer archive will be built into customer knowledge base, detailed record and analyze customer information and related behavior (including Consumer behavior, business selection behavior, consultation, complaint, suggestion, inquiry, etc.), providing different customer service interfaces (such as personalized bills) for different customers, providing different customers with differentiated marketing strategies, which will become a business support network The inevitable trend of development.
