„Best-of-bread“ approach (лучшие системы разных поставщиков) offers the best functional depth for a single area or a group of related application categories. It relies on multiple speciality or niche vendors that each supply specialized application within each core area. Often offered by smaller independent vendors, these applications typically offer depth of functionality across a specific area. For instance, one vendor may provide a system for support department, while another produces software only for order entry. These vendors are usually highly attuned to the special needs of the specific department or function for which they design their products. Because each core area will contain individual systems designed, by different vendors, no two applications will automatically share data.
One of the most recent deployments of best-of-breed approach among telecom operators is the implementation of NetCracker v7.0 in a number of telecom companies like TELUS, UPC Broadband, France Telecom, Swisscom, and TRE-FOR. Looking Glass Networks has also selected NetCracker’s Solutions (particularly the NetCracker Network Inventory and Provisioning Systems) as a part of its OSS.
„Best-of-suite“ approach (лучшие системы одного вендора) refers to applications offered by the large enterprise providers as part of an integrated suite. These applications are sometimes not as rich in functionality as the best-of-breed options, but they are viable contenders on the strength of integration with the enterprise footprint. Thus, a best-of-suite approach seeks to consolidate all systems by core functions and each area shares data within itself, but data are not automatically shared among the areas.
An example of this approach is a Switzerland’s Sunrise Communications that expanded its use of Amdocs OSS for end-to-end service fulfillment to support data and voice services. Along with Amdocs HERMES SoftLab delivers best-of-suite solutions for the telecom industry, in particular to Vodafone Ireland, Mobitel Slovenia, BH Telekom BiH, MOBI’S Telekom Srspke, Huchitson 3G Austria, and others.
Making the decision between a best-of-bread versus best-of-suite approach to enterprise software can be a challenging proposition. A number of factors – such as economic analysis, including internal rate of return, net present value, return on investment, total cost of ownership, and so forth – should be considered before commiting investment and resources to moving the project forward. However, an independent research (carried out by Telecom Advisory Services) finds that a best-of-suite can offer cost and business benefits over a best-of-breed approach. The study confirmed cost savings in TCO (which is becoming a pressing matter for providers due to new competitive dynamics in the communications market), acquisition and implementation, operation and in the costs associated with maintaining the service provider’s IT archtecture.
Most organizations will find that no single application strategy is best for every enterprise. While the best-of-suite solution often delivers the highest ROI when all factors are considered, best-of-breed applications will continue to be preferable when a feature- and functionality-rich solution is called for.

С этим вопросом сидела весь день, но он оказался не самым сложным, скорее даже интересным. Забавно было читать мнения директором зарубежных и отечественных компаний, насколько у нас у всех разное мироощущение.

Вопрос 2: Please explain the difference between the two terms: “service provisioning” and “service activation”. Please provide a couple of examples of service provisioning and service activation systems.

Service provisioning supports the entire fulfillment process including:

-          the initial order to order decomposition,

-          resource assignment.

Whereas, service activation emplies:

-          service record decomposition,

-          service instance design,

-          service turn-on,

-          upstream notification.

Service provisioning provides complex service provisioning as well as comprehensive service order orchestraion and escalation management. Functions include service dependency management, service order lifecycle management, as well as error handling. Service activation provides for service design decomposition and produces correct sets of commands to activate, de-activate, or test the physical and logival components that comprise the service.

Examples: NetCracker Service Provisioning and Activation, Amdocs Billing and Service Provisioning Software, KPSA (Kabira Provisioning & Services Activation).

Самый трудный для меня вопрос, если честно, так и не поняла его до конца. С определением помогал Миша, за что ему отдельно - спасибо.

Вопрос 3: Please name 3 NetCracker competitive solutions/products as well as 3 complementary ones.

The complementary ones:

-          all NetCracker’s products and services integrated to NEC are complementary

      They include:  

    *  Order Management

    * Service Inventory

    * Service Provisioning & Activation

    * Customer Impact Analysis

    * Telecom Cost Management

    * Resource Inventory

    * Discovery & Reconciliation

    * Design & Planning

    * Asset Management

    * Outside Plant

-          NetCracker Order Management which is intergated into Service Provisioning Systems

-          NetCracker Industry Solutions (IS)

NetCracker’s products are competitive to Oracle’s and Amdocs’ ones. For example,

-          Service Provisioning & Activation (Amdocs: Billing and Service Provisioning Software)

-          NetCracker Order Management (Oracle: MetaSolv)

-          NetCracker’s Wireline Industry Solutions (Amdocs: Wireline Telecom Solutions)

The OSI model (The Open Systems Interconnection model) is an abstract description for layered communications and computer network protocol design. It divides network architecture into seven layers which, from top to bottom, are the Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link, and Physical Layers. It is therefore often referred to as the OSI Seven Layer model

-          The three top layers in the OSI model—the Application Layer, the Presentation Layer and the most Session Layer—are not distinguished separately in the TCP/IP model where it is just the Application Layer. While some pure OSI protocol applications also combined them, there is no requirement that a TCP/IP protocol stack needs to impose monolithic architecture above the Transport Layer.

-          Its end-to-end Transport Layer includes the graceful close function of the OSI Session Layer as well as the OSI Transport Layer.

-          The Internet Layer is a subset of the OSI Network Layer, while the Network Access Layer includes the OSI Data Link and Physical Layers, as well as parts of OSI's Network Layer.

The presumably strict consumer/producer layering of OSI as it is usually described does not present contradictions in TCP/IP, as it is permissible that protocol usage does not follow the hierarchy implied in a layered model. Such examples exist in some routing protocols (e.g., OSPF), or in the description of tunneling protocols, which provide a Link Layer for an Application, although the tunnel host protocol may well be a Transport or even an Application Layer protocol in its own right.

The main differences between the two models are as follows:

-          TCP/IP Protocols are considered to be standards around which the internet has developed.  The OSI model however is a „generic, protocol independent standard“.

-          TCP/IP combines the Presentation and Session layers of OSI into its Application layer.

-          TCP/IP combines the OSI Data Link and Physical Layers into the Network Access layer.

-          TCP/IP appears to be a simplier model and this is mainly due to the fact that it has fewer layers.

-          TCP/IP is considered to be a more credible model because TCP/IP protocols are the standards around which the internet was developed therefore it mainly gains creditability due to this reason. 

-          The OSI model consists of 7 architectural layers whereas the TCP/IP only has 4 layers.

The main similarities between the two models include the following:

-          Both TCP/IP and OSI models share similar architecture. This can be illustrated by the fact that both of them are constructed with layers.

-          The models share a common Application layer. However in practice this layer includes different services depending upon each model.

-          Both models have comparable Transport and Network layers. Whatever functions are performed between the presentation and network layer of the OSI model similar functions are performed at the Transport layer of the TCP/IP model.

-          Both models assume that packets are switched. Basically this means that individual packets may take differing paths in order to reach the same destination.