The TM Forum today announced the launch of Frameworx, an integrated business architecture blueprint for service providers in the communications and digital services markets. Frameworx will enable service providers to significantly reduce their operational costs and improve business agility by providing an industry agreed approach for rationalizing their operational IT, processes, and systems.

Frameworx expands and integrates the Forum’s existing NGOSS standard Business Process (eTOM), Information (SID), and Application (TAM) Frameworks into a full enterprise IT and process architecture that also embraces major IT industry standards such as ITIL and TOGAF. The addition of the new Integration Framework to the suite provides a service oriented integration approach with standardized interfaces and support tools. Another major step forward with Frameworx is the introduction of product certification, certified training, a certified TM Forum partner program, and extensive implementation support that will help service providers implement practical solutions based on Frameworx.

“Frameworx comes at a critical time for the market,” said Keith Willetts, Chairman and CEO, TM Forum. “With significant pressure on operating costs, service providers need an enterprise architecture that enables them to move much more quickly; to rapidly integrate new technologies and third party services; to deliver consistent services across the world; and most of all, to significantly cut operating costs. Frameworx provides the blueprint for that agile enterprise—out of the box.”

TM Forum Frameworx gives service providers and their suppliers an independent, industry-supported and standardized platform to guide new procurements and migrate their existing myriad of incompatible and fragmented processes and systems, which today often deliver poor business efficiency and delay the introduction of new services.

Albert Hitchcock, Group CIO at Vodafone, said “In today’s market we need to offer consistent services to our customers across the world, moving ever faster and delivering more to our customers at ever lower costs. A common, industry supported reference architecture, tailored to meet the particular needs of service providers is very important to us and we welcome this move by the TM Forum.”

Phil Dance, Managing Director at BT echoed these sentiments: “We encourage common industry approaches that help us build a vibrant market delivering innovative software at realistic prices. We welcome Frameworx, the TM Forum’s move to a SOE-based approach, as it future-proofs investments as the market changes. We especially welcome the ability to build systems and processes tailored to our specific business needs using a common set of standard building blocks.”

Frameworx, scheduled for full release in June 2010, is the result of a multi-year TM Forum effort and the substantial contributions of its members. A preview of Frameworx is available now at http://www.tmforum.org/frameworx and includes these new features as well as early versions of the Integration Framework:
• Telecom and IT integration, incorporating ITIL processes
• “Getting Started Guides” to enable new users to grasp quickly the information and tools available and to understand the steps needed to apply Frameworks into their environment
• Managers’ Guide overviews of Frameworx and key benefits

Frameworx is the result of extensive collaboration by the Forum’s 700-strong corporate membership through TM Forum’s collaborative R&D programs. The architecture—built for the industry, by the industry—will consist of:
• Information Framework version 9
• Business Process Framework version 8
• Application Framework version 4
• Integration Framework version 2
• A platform architecture approach to facilitate collaboration and management of value chain and outsourcing partners
• Frameworx Roadmap release 1, showing the release strategy and content for the next 12 months

In addition Frameworx will be supported by software tooling for rapid implementation; identified Business Services developed from business, information, and application framework mappings; plus certified product, training, and support services.

Key Facts
• Frameworx is an end-to-end reference enterprise architecture designed specifically for providers of digital services and based on common software standards such as Service Oriented Architecture techniques, ITIL, and TOGAF.
• Service Oriented approaches encourage business agility and re-use, essential in today’s market where service providers need to rapidly deliver new services and increase revenues in the face of changing value chains and technologies.
• Frameworx uses standard, reusable, generic blocks—Platforms and Business Services—that can be assembled in unique ways to gain the advantages of standardization while still allowing customization where necessary.
• Frameworx is aligned with standard Enterprise Architecture Frameworks populating the Business, Information, and Application layers with the existing NGOSS Business Process, Information, and Application frameworks.
• Frameworx comprises an integrated set of frameworks defining common business processes, information, and applications. Each component framework may be used individually to solve particular problems or as an integrated Service Oriented Enterprise implementation.
• Frameworx allows you to realize ITIL compliant implementations through the Business Process Framework (eTOM) which is now fully mapped to ITIL.
• Frameworx is battle hardened—its core frameworks are mature and are in use by Service Providers throughout the world. TM Forum members have published more than 150 case studies on implementation of Framework components.
• Each component Framework includes a Managers’ Guide that provides a high level view of the Framework and its benefits and a web-based “Get Started” kit.
• Through Frameworx’ reusable, standard, and consistent end-to-end process flows, solutions, and interfaces, Service Providers, Systems Integrators, and Vendors can reduce integration time and product costs.
• By procuring Frameworx-certified compliant commercial products, development time is reduced and project predictability increased.

Resources
• Learn more about Frameworx at http://www.tmforum.org/frameworx

• Participate in the Frameworx on-line communities

• Find vendor solutions that have been certified by the Certified Compliance Testing Program

• Press and analysts desiring a briefing to learn more about Frameworx should contact Geoff Devlin

• Subscribe to TM Forum’s press release RSS feed and newsletters

About TM Forum
Enabling the Digital Services Revolution
With more than 700 corporate members in 195 countries, TM Forum is the world’s leading industry association focused on enabling best-in-class IT for service providers in the communications, media and cloud service markets. The Forum provides business-critical industry standards and expertise to enable the creation, delivery and monetization of digital services.

TM Forum brings together the world’s largest communications, technology and media companies, providing an innovative, industry-leading approach to collaborative R&D, along with wide range of support services including benchmarking, training and certification. The Forum produces the renowned international Management World conference series, as well as thought-leading industry research and publications.