The most widely deployed service assurance solution in telecom, according to Analysys Mason, is IBM’s Tivoli Netcool, which leveraged its depth last week to become the vendor of choice for EADS Defence & Security, which serves public safety, armed forces and civil security agencies worldwide.
Through an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement with IBM, EADS embed Tivoli Netcool software into its service management platform for multi-technology PMR (private mobile radio) solutions, which include TETRA, TETRAPOL and P25 radio networks, IP core, transmission equipments and application platforms.
Public safety officials rely on communication via private mobile radio and mobile devices. IBM's Tivoli Netcool software will manage the communications network by proactively monitoring and preventing network outages from occurring.
IBM said it is seeing a significant increase in the number of partners embedding IBM middleware into their own products to deliver higher value solutions. Much of IBM's growth strategy with its software business are OEM agreements, through which vendors are embedding IBM software inside of their own products to develop new solutions that meet their specific customer needs. IBM’s Tivoli Netcool has been selected by more than 1,000 service providers globally. It allows them to manage service quality and reduce operational costs. IBM software helps service providers address emerging opportunities in next-generation network transformation, fixed/mobile convergence, and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) deployment.
“We drive a lot of business through our partners and we’ve had a lot of success over the years with event management and that success has continued into next generation service management, or our Integrated Service Management,” said Scott Sobers, marketing program director at IBM Tivoli..
For two years in a row, IBM has ranked first in the telecommunications service assurance software market in Analysys Mason’s annual market share report. Analysys Mason expects service assurance spending to grow from $2.28 billion in 2008 to $2.94 billion in 2013. That’s a 5.3 percent compound annual growth rate, which Patrick Kelly, research director for Analysys Mason’s global telecoms software research stream, said is not setting the world on fire, but with the decrease forecasted for this year, it portends healthy growth. The report also said IBM is well positioned to take market share from weaker competitors as it leverages its position of strength in the managed service business.
IBM was the leader in Fault and Event Management for fixed, mobile and broadband networks with a 32-percent market share penetration, a 1 percent increase from the previous year. It also was first in the Performance Monitoring market with a 23-percent market share. The acquisition of Micromuse helped IBM go from a nonexistent market share to the leader in three years.
“Public safety-type networks were typically managed by an organization and we are seeing a transition to the management of quality of services. So partners embed Netcool into their operations to provide additional visibility into their network and in turn provide more control over their systems,” Sobers said.
The OEM strategy has helped IBM become a key building block for many devices and other software used today, including its use in Cisco Systems’ Assurance Management System and Nortel’s Common Management Platform. Revivio, a leading provider of data protection solutions, has embedded IBM’s Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files to better secure corporate data residing at remote office locations.
Sobers said IBM customers are getting more aggressive with analytics and preventative maintenance, using smart systems that capture data from myriad instrumented and interconnected processes, devices and objects and applying intelligence.
