The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM): Introduction, Purpose and Benefits
The Telecommunication industry operates in a dynamic market where the key to success is adaptability with agility. In the traditional scenario, Telecom Service providers delivered end-to-end services to their customers. They used to control almost the entire value chain. However in the present liberalized marketplace, they now have to face challenges like stiffer competition, higher customer expectations, falling market share and growing price pressures. To respond to these challenges, Service providers have to go beyond self contained boundaries. They have to broaden their business relationship with suppliers, partners and customers and work out outsourcing arrangements. Even though the Service providers worldwide encounter different regulatory environments and have different strategies to stay relevant in the industry, they have similar needs, challenges, risks and struggles to remain profitable in the face of unprecedented churns in the market.
The increased complexities of competing in a deregulated environment led to identification of a clear need for the Telecom industry to define and understand its business processes in order to tackle the growing market pressures. The industry needed a standardized process view for suppliers and partners so that they can build enterprise systems that combine third party and in-house developments. To realize these needs, a framework or a model was required that focused on the business processes used, the linkages between processes, the identification of interfaces, and the use of Customer, Service, Resource, Supplier/Partner and other information by multiple processes.
Since the 1980s and ‘90s, Telecom companies used few models to express the system and functional requirements. Models like Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) and Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security Management (FCAPS) were the most popular. However these models were very network-centric. The need of the hour was a process driven and a customer centric framework. To address this need, Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) was developed by TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum), an international consortium of communications service providers and their suppliers.
The eTOM Business Process Framework serves as a model for categorizing all the business activities performed by the service provider. Each area of business activity is defined in form of process components which can be broken into different levels of detail. These process components can then be positioned within a model to show organizational, functional and other relationships. They can also be linked to process flows facilitating end-end modelling. The eTOM can be used as a blueprint for categorizing and standardizing the activities performed by the service provider.
Bjerke, Juel M. "Week 2 Lecture Notes - Achieving Business Process Excellence and Process Re-engineering." MFGO 601 - The Globally Integrated Manufacturing Company. 2 Nov. 2011.
Business processes perspective is an opportunity for the company to set goals to improve areas of their business which may be not as strong as other areas, such as increasing efficiency on the manufacturing line. It could also be setting goals to launch new products or services quicker than when planned. As stated above, the business processes could progress from the learning and growth perspective (Savkin,
Highly competitive environment and need of innovation, the companies are facing high pressures to innovate and improve the business process. As IT budgets are limited, process owners and IT departments need to decide how to divide their spending on efficiency and flexibility enhancing IT capabilities to optimally support the execution of business processes. The limited IT budgets put pressure on IT process owners to find the perfect mix to achieve the efficiency and flexibility to support smooth execution of business processes (Heckmann, 2015). IT departments need to find the right balance to use IT budget and decision making ability and play their role in maximizing the organization’s revenue.
Any business or business process has had to face a certain level of re-engineering or reconstruction in order to fit into the managerial revolution of the 1990s and the move into the 21st cent...
The events that led to the changes Global Communications are making came about with the shift in technology and the competition within the telecommunications industry. With companies able to compete globally, there is too much competition within the industry from other telecommunications companies as well as cable companies who can offer all the same services. With increased companies offering a wide range of services, Global is forced to cut costs in order to compete effectively and increase profitability. To this end, Global Communications senior management has come up with an approach to outsource some of their call centers to India and Ireland and expand new services to small business and consumer customers. Global also joined with a satellite provider to offer video services and a satellite version of broadband. This will mean job cuts and a reduction in salary for employees who remain and are relocated. The plan was accepted quickly and now management is under the gun to communicate the changes effectively to the employees without risking a morale problem that could affect productivity. Also, since the employees belong to a trade union and the union was not involved in the process of negotiating these changes, Global has to consider the legal and public relation implications of not fulfilling their contractual obligation to the trade union.
Recker, J., & Mendling, J. (February 01, 2016). The State of the Art of Business Process Management Research as Published in
VoIP helps develop your CRM (customer relationship management) strategy and enlarge client loyalty, enhance operating competence and boost sales in addition to noticeable savings from eliminating long-distance tolls. Call center systems will reach 30% of total VoIP revenues, which is projected to be $1.4 billion. The merging of PSTN voice and data replaces the telephone switch with IP based software, which simplifies infrastructure and reduces cost. An IP call center is both economical and easy to install. Companies with multiple call centers have these advantages are amplified. Rise in Internet use required companies to furnish call centers with ways to reply to the various ways customers call in to the center. Challenges for companies include providing a reliable yet familiar forum for customers not matter what means of communication they may use. One solution is media blending software that merges Internet capabilities like wireless, e-mail, chat and video with the voice of sales and service representatives. A developed Voice over IP based CRM perform functions like how contacts are queued and routed, identify and segment customers based on value to business, integrate front and back office systems for consistent view, synchronizing key information, customer history, and business workflow. When selecting a vendor look at their track record, find out if they have necessary experience and knowledge for your requirements.
Customers are those who benefit from the business process whether directly or indirectly. The second part of the work system is Product & Services which are the outputs of the business process. Thirdly there is the Business Process itself and that is a set of steps performed to provide a good or service for the customers. Fourthly comes the Participants whom are the people involved in performing the business process. This is followed by Information and that is any type of data that is inputted or outputted into/out of the business process. Another part of the work system is the Technology and that is anything dedicated to the business process. Then Context follow which is anything (internal/external) that shapes the business process such as laws and regulations. Finally is Infrastructure which is anything (technology, informati...
Telecommunication is the fastest way businesses are conducted all over the world. Employees would be lost without the aide of their computers, fax machines, and cellular phones. These machines not only make the work load process smoother and faster, but it also gets results quicker. In order for a corporation to strive and have a long existence, there are several key points that need to be taken into consideration. These important elements will be discussed later in this paper. Most importantly, the businesses of today need to be knowledgeable of their workforce, and must ensure their employees to be content and satisfied as well.
Telecom provides the services to residential, small and medium sized enterprise(SME), corporate and also to wholesale customers.
handle excessive volume of telecommunication services. Projected framework along with its components is discussed in detail.
The globalization of the economy, and the associated heightened competition, lead to higher demands on efficiency, quality, flexibility and the innovative capacity of businesses. Consequently, the demands on the primary business process continuously heightened. Complex cases could be calculated, for example the influence of certain investments on the cost of sales of a product. The senior management of businesses quickly learned to weigh the relevant options for each innovation process. Due to the quick developments in the primary processes, it was inevitable that the secondary (supporting) processes had to develop as well. For facility organizations this meant focussing on a more economically responsible way of managing the facility services (Kooyman, W., 2007).
The most important value of BPM is transparency over the business. Transparency means obtaining a deep understanding of how the organization works which enables us to manage the complexity of organization effectively [11]. Business process models enables the process practitioners to achieve this by documenting: control flow (i.e., what we need to do and when), artefacts (i.e., what we need to work on either physical or electronic), and resources (i.e., who does the work either humans
In past few years, companies and industries of various sizes have become aware that they need to improve business processes such as product development, order fulfilment, planning, distribution, and customer service. So everybody is now focusing on doing process improvement or redesigning.
The integration of a variety of information systems into business operations is necessary for growth in the dynamic business environment. These information systems can be minimized and fixed into mobile devices such as smartphones. The use of smartphones can play an important role in supporting business processes and operations, developing strategies for competitive advantage and decision making. These smartphones allow employees to be linked to the office, its data and resources, without being in the office. The use of smartphones for business processes can make the business more efficient and effective. They make it easier for co-workers to communicate among themselves and facilitates better communication between the business and its employees, customers, suppliers and even other businesses, and makes it possible in real-time. For CPS Energy and Lloyd’s Construction, although they were doing well, they realised that they could do much better. They needed to find new ways to further cut costs and maximize profitability. They both decided that the best way to do that was through the introduction of smartphones in their business operation.