The Electronic Bonding Option

Reston-based firm BizTelOne Inc works with the vision to be the leading

provider of operational support systems interconnection services to the

communications industry by streamlining the two-way automated interconnection

between trading partners. They aim to significantly reduce operating expenses

and capital investments, while increasing revenue and collapsing time-to-market

for their customers.

Scenario



One of the largest US-based investors in the high-growth global

Telecommunications market asked BizTelOne Inc to develop a system that provides

the foundation for an automated interconnection clearinghouse for the

Telecommunications industry. The system was expected to handle complex processes

and business rules, support trading between multiple partners and reduce

operational expenses associated with building, operating and maintaining a

gateway.

To build this pay-as-you-use clearinghouse, BizTelOne Inc decided to partner

with an IT solutions provider who would, provide complete Product Lifecycle

solutions from business requirements understanding to post implementation

support, quickly scale-up/scale-down project teams as per project requirements

and provide a cost effective solution.

Costs–A concern



The traditional mode of functioning between trading partners was through

gateway software, which was being provided by different vendors. It involved

huge capital investment and ongoing maintenance costs. The fact that one

competitive local exchange carrier did business with many incumbent local

exchange carriers necessitated many gateway applications since each ILEC has

different set of rules for different geographic locations. It was painfully

imperative for CLECs to change their business logic every time ILECs changed

rules.

Solution



The Infinite team arrived at framework specifications and using Infinite’s

signature ‘Hub and Spoke’ model, designed a B2B Exchange that provides a

messaging exchange between ILECs and CLECs. This electronic exchange is unique

because it is built to support either CLEC or ILEC functionalities or both. The

core function of the system enables the seamless and secure exchange of

pre-order inquiries, access service requests and local service requests. The

system provides requests validation and tracking, OSS integration,

datawarehousing and business intelligence front-ends.

Benefits



The finished product is a Web-enabled/XML-based clearinghouse that enables

service providers and their trading partners to electronically exchange ordering

and provisioning transactions. The clearinghouse provides a two-way, automated

interconnection, significantly reducing operating expenses and capital

investments, while increasing revenue and collapsing time-to-market. The product

provides trading partners a scalable and cost effective electronic bonding

alternative to the point-to-point gateway solutions. It easily accommodates the

addition of new trading partner relationships and transaction types and provides

the service providers with tools to do business with their trading partners

efficiently and effectively. The product also provides a solution for emerging

trading requirements such as CLEC to CLEC interconnection and new services such

as, wireless number portability.

The product uses multi-tier architecture on J2EE framework with WebLogic 6.1

as application server and Oracle8i as database. Red Hat Linux 7.2 is used as the

OS due to its advantages and cost consideration. ILOG rules engine was used for

validating rules. The product has some very complex modules, but armed with a

detailed SRS and good design the team finished the project within the given

timeframe. With reviews and tight control over requirement, deployment was on

time.

Defined Delivery



The project was executed in 10 Months time with an average team size of 40

engineers. Teams of engineers were also stationed at the client site to help

them train users and prepare user manuals. Infinite also provides second level

support and post deployment enhancement/ bug fixes as required. With the product

up and running, rules for all the ILECs are being managed at a single point.

Capital investment from CLEC is eliminated, as they now pay only for

transactions and not for idle time. CLECs conduct business with any ILEC and at

any location as all business rules and logic are managed by the Infinite system.

Team DQ



Inputs for this case study were provided by the company