White Paper Summary

Anticipating Opportunity in the Triple-Play Market

Issues, Possibilities and the Importance of Standards-based Technology

Summary:

The telecommunications and cable television markets, spurred by the commercial viability of new distribution technologies, are undergoing rapid, dramatic change — which in turn is driving an overhaul of the methods and means used to manage an ever-expanding infrastructure. For the first time in nearly a decade, core systems are being replaced. This scenario is reminiscent of the enterprise software revolution of the 1990s, when monolithic business systems were traded in for standards-based, best-of-breed applications. In both environments, standards-based technology is essential to ensure the smooth operation of disparate "point" systems, and the flexibility to replace software functionality on a component basis as necessary.

Although consumer preferences for the delivery of new triple-play services such as video on demand are still forming, all service providers are grappling with the inevitable need to manage digital rights. Content providers and triple-play service providers are aggressively pursuing the revenue possibilities that VOD holds, but they do not want looser control on content access to result in irrevocable revenue erosion. DRM and content protection technologies are therefore extremely important in any video on demand initiative.

Of equal importance to the success of any VOD venture is optimal performance of the complete delivery system — the key to high levels of customer satisfaction. Network asset management represents the next generation of software used to manage the large, growing and ever-more complex networks that will carry triple-play services. As opposed to the tactical, reactive orientation of traditional network management products, network asset management offers both a high-level, strategic view of network resources and an extremely granular view into the smallest components of network inventory. Network asset management solutions allow users to compare the desired state of the network versus its as-built state, and provide the tools to proactively manage change.