Optical network management is a cheeky proposition. What better way to sell some services, but to streamline the process and let ISPs have at it.

by ISP-Planet Staff [April 16, 2001]

Nortel Networks and Agilent Technologies have agreed to jointly develop and market a comprehensive system for simplifying optical network management.

The system, which will be designed to integrate physical fiber and logical network layers, leverages the strengths of Nortel's Preside network management technology and Agilent accessFIBER program. The high-tech duo said the program is designed to help service providers reduce operating costs, improve reliability, and simplify provisioning of bandwidth trading, among other feature. Of course, the streamlined optical network management offering is equally designed to encourage optic technology adoption in the networking marketplace.

Doug Roberts, Nortel Networks vice president, said the solution will be focused on the heart of some very real challenges for service providers operating an optical network, like total cost of ownership.

"By combining accessFIBER and Preside, we are expecting to create an open and powerful management system that will help enable service providers to reduce operating costs through improved fault management and more efficient use of network capacity," Roberts said.

False alarms
The new integrated network management system enables service providers to determine quickly when logical alarms are the result of physical fiber problems—and where those problems are located. This feature is expected to save time and money as opposed to current trouble shooting methods, which typically require sending service technicians to a network site and testing multiple fiber runs to find the error.

The Nortel-Agilent system will also allow service providers to "auto-discover" network elements and deployed fiber connections, further reducing costs by populating the accessFIBER inventory database with connection notices in just a few hours. Additionally, service providers will be able to view both in-service resources and those that are still being planned, simplifying the service provisioning process of optical network management.

The windup, the pitch
Tom White, Agilent senior vice president and general manager, said the synergy from pairing of two industry leaders would drive more effective management of next generation optical networks.

"Market dynamics are driving demand for innovative solutions that will help service providers accelerate time to revenues and reduce operational costs," White added.

Nortel's Roberts added that service providers will be positioned to provision new managed optical services more quickly.

"With improved information from both the physical and logical layers, including an accurate view of fiber capacity in the ground, they'll be able to plan capital expenditures more accurately," Roberts said.

A key component of Agilent's next generation OSS strategy, accessFIBER is a physical network management system combining physical optical network planning, documentation and surveillance capabilities into a single solution.

Nortel Networks Preside management portfolio is a flagship product of its Smart Optical Network Solution—an integrated, multi-layer software platform that enables dynamic delivery of new, revenue-generating optical services.

While the program is in development, no word on when the final product will be ready for the physical market, or the price tag that will accompany the technology.

— End