Cap Gemini and HP announce delivery of management systems for IP-based networks
Companies Deliver First Joint Project to Swisscom
21 March 2000
Cap Gemini and Hewlett-Packard Company today announced the delivery of management solutions supporting IP-based, next-generation telecommunications services. Cap Gemini, one of the world’s largest systems integration and management consultancies, will provide overall systems integration services, while HP will deliver its solutions for systems support of IP-switching technologies for public networks using Cisco Systems hardware. Specifically, the HP solutions comprise the HP OVC/OEMF (OpenView Communications/OpenView Element Management Framework) solution for service assurance, and OpenView management software and computing technology for these implementations.The two companies also announced delivery of their first joint project to Swisscom, the largest telecommunications provider in Switzerland. The Swisscom installation manages all alarms for the IP Standard Services data networks serving enterprise customers. Service providers such as Swisscom need advanced management capabilities to provide their customers new IP-based services over packet-switched infrastructures. The HP software framework integrates with existing or legacy management systems, allowing IP-networks to communicate with older network systems already in place.
“Cap Gemini considers HP OVC/OEMF, HP’s carrier-class solution for fault management, as a leading solution for new-generation data networks,” said Alain Gerset, director of market development for Cap Gemini’s global telecommunications division. “The HP OVC/OEMF solution scales to handle small to large implementations, and is well suited to ensuring glitch-free operation of the literally hundreds of thousands of equipment items found in a typical data network.
“We recognize HP as one of the leading vendors of open and network-independent management solutions, and therefore embrace this opportunity to offer this technology to our global telecoms clients. Said Gerset. In this way, we offer seamless and consistent integration with the various software blocks playing a role in end-to-end business and operations management.”
Jürg Uehlinger, project manager for service management at Swisscom, said he chose the Cap Gemini and HP team and its supporting technology because of the high flexibility of the solution, its focus on service management, and the speed with which Cap Gemini was able to implement it. The HP solution, he said, permits Swisscom to differentiate itself from other service providers, by offering Service Level Agreements (SLA) incorporating proactive fault-management services.
“HP can address virtually every service-assurance need, bridging and integrating management needs for packet-switched data and circuit-switched voice networks,” said Eric Buatois, general manager of HP’s Communication Industry Business Unit. “HP is committed to support Cap Gemini in management projects for global service providers. Together with our dedicated IT and telecom application vendors, we can empower Cap Gemini with various pre-integrated solutions for real-time network viewing and management. This solution positions HP as a key player in the market for end-to-end service-management solutions, regardless of infrastructure.”
This vision, he said, supports HP’s e-services inititative, acclaimed by the IT industry as a leading vision for the evolution of the Internet economy.
The open design of the HP OVC/OEMF architecture allows seamless integration with existing service-provider systems managing network inventory, trouble ticketing and service provisioning. In addition to providing real-time network viewing of Network Operation Centers (NOCs), the solution proposed by HP and Cap Gemini allows real-time viewing of the status of services, (such as for a virtual private network using Internet protocols). In this way, data communications clients get more control over the virtual networks they lease from service providers. In essence, This benefit becomes a powerful differentiator for the service providers able to that offer this service to their enterprise customers.
The HP architecture is a key component of the Cap Gemini “OSS Solution Sets”, a pre-integrated, modular framework permitting low-risk, fast deployment of necessary systems to converge voice and data networks. The architectural model adapts to existing OSS applications and application components. These solutions bring reliable network-management tools to service providers launching IP-based services on public and private networks.
About HP
Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.
HP plans to spin off Agilent Technologies and distribute its shares to HP shareowners by mid-calendar year 2000. Agilent consists of HP’s test and measurement, semiconductor products, chemical analysis and healthcare solutions businesses, and has leading positions in multiple market segments.
HP has 85,400 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.
About Cap Gemini Group
The Cap Gemini Group is one of the global leaders in management consulting and IT services. Designing and delivering strategic change through ideas, people and technology, the Group provides management consultancy (Gemini Consulting) and systems design, integration and outsourcing (Cap Gemini’s I.T. services). With a workforce of 40,000 operating in Europe, the United States and the Far East and revenue of 4,3 billion euros in 1999, the Group is among the world’s largest information technology providers.
Cap Gemini can be reached at www.capgemini.com
The group’s dedicated telecommunications unit, Cap Gemini Telecom & Media, serves the business consulting and information technology needs of many of the world’s largest telecommunications and media companies.
For more information about Cap Gemini Telecom & Media, please visit the telecommunications pages on the Cap Gemini Group website, at http://www.capgemini.com or send an email to telecominfo@capgemini.fr
