cVidya Networks, a leader of Telecom Data Integrity and Revenue Assurance Systems, has announced its leadership role in The Telemanagement Forum’s (TMF) Revenue Assurance (RA) Catalyst Project for the second year in a row. This is one of several such projects in which TMF member organizations collaborate to advance the framework of next generation OSS (NGOSS). cVidya’s repeated selection as team leader in this project came as a result of its position as a developer of the most advanced and effective revenue assurance solutions in the telecommunications industry. This year’s RA Catalyst is sponsored by China Unicom and led by cVidya Networks with collaboration with other companies;. cVidya Networks will also be participating in the TMF’s Catalyst Project titled “IPTV Impact on Fulfillment, Assurance, and Billing (FAB)”. The IPTV project is sponsored and led by Swisscom.

The TMF RA Catalyst is a collaborative case study focusing on causes of revenue leakage prevalent in the communications market, and the potential for RA tools as a solution. The 2006 study represents the second phase of the project and is primarily distinguished from that of last year in its use of the Revenue Assurance Modeling team’s recommendations for the Shared Information and Data (SID) models. This development fits into the larger theme of the project, which is to study the effectiveness of a common framework for revenue assurance processes in the context of an industry-wide accepted standard, such as the NGOSS. Drawing on the experience gained in pioneering their own proprietary RA solutions, cVidya has let the team in focusing on SID and enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) elements to further ensure data synchronization across an operator’s disparate systems, prevent revenue leakage, and enhance efficiency throughout the market.

“With diminishing margins and increased competition in the telecommunications industry, network operators are required to attain maximum efficiency if they are to remain in the market. Revenue Assurance tools have therefore become increasingly essential, and I consider our advances in the Catalyst Project to be a step forward for the field of RA as a whole,” remarked Dr. Gadi Solotorevsky, Chief Scientist of cVidya Networks and team leader of the TMF RA Catalyst. “cVidya has found our leadership of this team to be a very rewarding experience for the company.”

With respect to the IPTV Catalyst Project, Swisscom is launching its new IPTV services and its basic offerings portfolio will be enriched with advanced services that will likely pose implementation challenges to its existing OSS/BSS system. The IPTV Catalyst Project sets out to explore the benefits of the NGOSS framework and will ultimately demonstrate how Swisscom’s current environment can be leveraged with NGOSS design principles. The findings from the project will then become an input for the validation and enhancement process of existing NGOSS models.

cVidya Networks’ role in the IPTV Catalyst project exemplifies the role of RA in the industry. As a network operator expands its business relationships with various content providers to offer consumers new services such as IPTV, the operator will often need to keep a close watch on incoming and outgoing service revenue flow in order to maintain profitability, and to function between distinct BSS applications to reconcile disparate islands of data. cVidya Networks’ MoneyMap® software fulfills the task of reconciling these sources of information, enabling network operators to improve billing, lower costs, and better evaluate opportunities for growth.

“The demand for IPTV and the challenges of integrating it into existing infrastructure increasingly affect the communications market as a whole. Achievements of this project will surely be significant throughout the entire industry,” commented Alon Aginsky, CEO, cVidya Networks. “The Catalyst Projects represent the cutting edge of innovation in telecommunications, and we are proud to offer our experience in revenue assurance as a part of the team.”

Outcomes and demonstrations from the RA Catalyst as well as the IPTV Catalyst will be presented at The TeleManagement Forum’s TeleManagement World conference in Nice, May 15-18. Executives from cVidya Networks will be available for meetings as part of the executive meeting service conducted by the TeleManagement Forum. In addition, cVidya will be exhibiting at booth #83 in the exhibit hall.

About cVidya Networks
cVidya Networks is a global leader of Telecom Data Integrity and Revenue Assurance Systems. cVidya provides comprehensive and innovative Revenue Assurance product based solutions, that assist fixed, mobile, and triple-play communication service providers (CSPs) to continuously improve their bottom line results. cVidya’s innovative and generic product, MoneyMap®, provides a unified platform for implementing Data Integrity, Risk Management and Process aware Revenue Assurance solutions within legacy and new network architectures. cVidya’s solution and exceptional professional services has a proven track record of rapid ROI at major operators, among which are Cable & Wireless, Telecom Italia and Bezeq. cVidya has offices in Europe, APAC and Israel. For more information visit http://www.cvidya.com

About the TeleManagement Forum
For more than 16 years, the TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) has provided leadership, strategic guidance and practical solutions to improve the management and operation of information and communications services. Through its “Lean Operator” initiative and flagship New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) program for developing, procuring and deploying operational and business support systems, the TM Forum creates collaboratively developed, industry standard solutions. These solutions, delivered through a set of guidelines and specifications, define the direction and specific roadmap to achieve business efficiency and operational flexibility – the hallmarks of the Lean Operator. The TM Forum has 500 members in 60 countries, including incumbent and new-entrant service providers, equipment suppliers, software solution suppliers and systems integrators. For further information regarding the TM Forum, related programs and TeleManagement World, please visit www.tmforum.org.

About the TM Forum’s Catalyst Program
The TM Forum is an industry association that has provided leadership, strategic guidance and practical solutions to improve the management and operation of information and communications networks and services. The TM Forum’s Catalyst program furthers the organization’s mission by serving as a living lab enabling service providers, system integrators, and hardware/software vendors around the world to work together to solve common, critical industry challenges. The program provides an opportunity for multi-company, multi-national teams to work together in a collaborative environment with emerging technologies and capabilities to solve some of the most pressing operational and interoperability issues using TM Forum’s New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) concepts and principles. The TM Forum has evolved the Catalyst program into a three-stage developmental design: proof-of concept, interoperability testing and Catalyst-developed products. Catalyst-developed products are commercially available solutions that can either be single or multi-vendor demonstrations. The projects typically demonstrate off-the-shelf solutions that address critical service provider OSS/BSS issues in the information and communications industry.