Implementing Physical Inventory for Telecommunications Operational Support Systems.

Transcription

1 Implementing Physical Inventory for Telecommunications Operational Support Systems. Tony Tonkin Telstra Corporation Limited Manish Arora Infotech Enterprise Limited

2 Introduction Contents Scope History of Physical Inventory Physical Inventory Roadmap Approach Architecture Users Challenges Upgrade phases Lessons learnt Questions 2 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

3 Introduction Telstra embarked on a significant Transformation program in November 2005, selecting out of box packages to replace and consolidate existing applications. Smallworld Physical Network Inventory was selected in Operational Support Systems to manage the Physical network components. Each Package was to be implemented in a standard environment with minimal customisation. Enterprise licensing and secure access was provided to allow all appropriately authorised areas of the company to use the software. 3 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

4 Scope Of Physical Inventory Project At the start of our program it was determined that the first release of Physical Inventory should have the following scope: Upgrade the existing implementation of Smallworld PNI v3.1 to the latest version, 4.1 Build new infrastructure to improve performance and provide a standardized high availability platform Create a foundation application for future releases to model all physical inventory Increase user capacity and simplify access methods to support internal and external customers Remove existing customizations where possible to reduce on-going support costs and simplify the upgrade path for future product enhancements 4 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

5 History Of Physical Inventory In Telstra The initial physical inventory system we began with in 1993 recorded external customer network and was designed to replace paper based network drawings. The first system was heavily customised to replicate existing business processes. A manual data capture and cleansing was undertaken to initially load the information in the system. The early physical inventory systems had the following characteristics: Different technology types were recorded in separate systems Duplication of data and little integration between technologies Did not easily support changing work practices which modified the underlying business process External and internal plant in different systems Little integration between physical and logical inventory 5 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

6 Physical Inventory Roadmap In order to reach our desired end state where all physical inventory is recorded in the one system, we devised a roadmap consisting of the following projects: Upgrade of existing platform and infrastructure Internal plant release to provide an end to end view of physical network Mobiles networks to be fully modeled Integration to Logical inventory system Provide enterprise wide web access 6 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

7 Approach In order to successfully implement the Physical Inventory components we used the following approach: Understand the requirements of each release Select an experienced team with a proven delivery record Engage the end users in the project Have all stakeholders review and agree to scope at the end of the requirements phase Minimising outage timeframes for business users Providing ongoing availability of critical interfaces during implementation (Service Qualification) Reducing the risk of failure through repeated trials Providing failure contingency through an agreed back-out option Supporting batch interface expectations during the outage window through mediation 7 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

8 Business Integration Data Preparation Planning for Business As Usual during transition Stakeholder Management Engage Subject Matter Experts in UAT management Engage Subject Matter Experts in defect management After Before Migration to TPNI User community Sociability management Stakeholder Management Manage backlog while transitioning to Business As Usual During Meet Business As Usual needs Implement training plan Engage Subject Matter Experts in User Acceptance and Production Verification Testing

9 Architecture Telstra Physical Network Inventory (TPNI) System Administrator the Data Centre Dashboard Web Client EDN RNA/R- SINE Firewall HTTP Web Server (IIS) Network Inventory Gateway NIG Application Server NIG SSP Smallworld Network Inventory Physical Network Inventory Outside Plant Design Manager Spatial Object Manager Interfaces NDSD HERITAGE GDFIS HERITAGE PCF PCF FME VMDS Metadata OSP Landbase CONNECT Workforce Management HERITAGE Dashboard MQ EAA HERITAGE EDN RNA/R- SINE Firewall Oracle Insync NPAMS LEGACY the Data Centre OSP Designer/Constructor OSP Network Enquiry System Admnistrator PNI Citrix Client Citrix Presentation Server Presentation Server Enterprise Network Repository Interfaces VPI Infrastructure Planning STRATEGIC Data Store Data Collector Oracle License Server Oracle ADBoR HERITAGE DWG PCF Updated CAD Drawings / Network Designs / Redline Mark-ups EDN Interface connectivity ACCC Data Collector OSP Designer/Constructor OSP Network Inquiry GDD Web Client Internet CAD Drawings PCF export Firewall DWG PCF Network designs GDD HERITAGE Account-01 Active Directory Authentication HERITAGE SiteMinder Web SSO and Authentication HERITAGE DME HERITAGE CADLINK LEGACY TPNI Architecture Overview Version August 2007 End State System & Interface Tactical System & Interface 9 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

10 User Distribution There is a large and diverse user base for Physical Inventory data in Telstra, with the main groups outlined below: Data Centre operators, consisting of 200 PNI users, performing data quality and direct entry to the database We have in excess of 6000 desktop clients who access information via a web interface with view, print and export capability There are approximately 500 Network Engineers who create network designs for field construction, again using the web client Physical Inventory information is sent to 3000 Field Users using a mix of connected and offline web application which can operate in both a connected and disconnected mode. Field staff use the data to assist with construction, install and fault rectification 10 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

11 Challenges The following challenges were encountered as part of establishing the project Considerable negotiations were required with stakeholders from the business and IT technology departments in order to achieve project acceptance. Delimiting the project scope. Selecting the most appropriate products, vendors, and system integrators. Establishing manageable deliverables and work products. 11 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

12 Teams/ Roles & Responsibility Telstra Team Program Manager Physical Inventory Lead Project Manager Physical Inventory Architect Lead Solution Analyst Lead Business Analyst Business Analyst x3 Test Manager User Acceptance Testers x12 Business Deployment Manager System Integrator Team Inventory Program Director Inventory Domain Delivery Manager Project Manager Security and Architect Lead Application Architect Senior Technical Architect Solutions Architect Technical Architect Test Manager Application Testers x 6 Infotech Team Program Manager Technical Project Manager Principal Consultant Smallworld Developers x13 Test Manager Application Testers x 6 Quality Assurance Administrator System Administrator 12 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

13 Project Methodology HLD RACI Tailoring Matrix Business Requirement System/ Component Requirements Physical Integration & Extension Document Solution Architect Documents Upgrade Strategy DB Upgrade Detail Design Project schedule Build Phase Project Comms & Mgmt Plan Design Documents Master Test Plan Development Guidelines Configuration Mgmt Plan Unit Test Sys Test SIT Detail Test Plan for all Test Phases Test Cases for all Test Phases Defect Action Plans for all Test Phases Test Summary Report for all Test Phases UAT/BAT DB Upgrade DB Upgrade DB Upgrade PVT Deployment Deployment Plan Training Plan 13 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

14 Development Upgrade Phase High Level Design Build Dev Env Preparation of Dev Env. Checklist Current GIS System Upgrade Extract Analyze Module Analyze Patches D A T A B A S E Upgrade Interfaces Unit Test Update Dev Env Code Review Upgrade Core Components Unit Test Prepare Release Notes U P G R A D E Code Update Provide Demo to Power Users Code Release for Sys Test 14 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

15 Test Phase Requirement Definition Document Test Strategy Test Plan Upgrade Strategy Master Test Plan Detail Test Plan (Sys Test) Detail Test Plan (SIT) Detail Test Plan (UAT) Detail Test Plan (Database) Develop Test Cases (Sys Test) Develop Test Cases (SIT) Develop Test Cases (UAT) Develop Test Cases (Database) Test Readiness Review Test Case Execution Defect Council Code Updates and Releases Test Summary Report Defect Action Plan 15 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

16 Database cut over 3. Prepare New Production Servers Legacy Production Servers Production Servers 1. Prepare Legacy Production Database 2. Prepare Legacy Production Environment 4. Copy Databases 5. Upgrade Legacy Database 6. Upgrade Oracle Database 7. Test Legacy Upgrade 8. Test Oracle Upgrade 9. Release Upgrade into Production 16 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

17 Lessons Learnt Telstra has learnt the following lessons during the implementation of the first stage of our program: Take the time to understand any capabilities of the product you have selected, and how it fits your requirements. Concentrate on the natural strengths. Validate claims of software functionality Select the right team with a proven record of delivery Define a scope early on that is agreed by all parties. Manage and control change, especially late in the development cycle Use configuration not customisation Communicate early and often with your stakeholder areas, including users. Expectation management is critical to the acceptance of any new system Need to be prepared to change some business procedures in order to meet the challenges of using out of the box software Involve the end users in the project deployment, scope, and testing Focus on delivery and business enablement. 17 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

18 Lessons Learnt Infotech has learnt the following lessons during the project implementation. Establish clear lines of communications. Ensure dependencies are tightly managed between infrastructure and software rollout. Include automated regression testing and plan it at the outset of the project. Ensure technical documentation are refreshed as part of the upgrade project. Define a clear strategy for managing existing defects. Have a clear understanding of the expected benefits i.e. Performance optimisation, retire unused applications, remove customisations & maximise OOB functionality. Configuration, release & environment management must be included and adequate resource assigned. Clearly define all entry and exit criteria for each phase (development, testing, deployment). 18 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

19 Best Practices Ten at Ten Meeting Its purpose is for each member of the team to give a concise account of the previous day s events/ issues and proposed resolutions. Design Forum Establish a weekly forum to table all design & development related issues. This allows active participation across the domain, architect, and development groups. Testing Forum A forum to allow interaction amongst testers and developers, to define solutions for test cases, test scenarios, and to remedy defects. Demo to Users Throughout the development and testing lifecycle there is significant value in exposing the system to key power users, this allows early intervention of system inadequacies. Defect Council Establish a governance council to assign and prioritize defects, and manage the remedy of both product and customization defects. 19 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

20 Telstra Benefits Realisations Major Improvements Better Performance Higher Availability More user friendly GUI Interface Platform established for future enhancements/ new technologies. Work in Progress Remove more customisations Tailor work flow to use an out of the box solution 20 Telstra Physical Network Inventory

21 Questions? Telstra Physical Network Inventory