I was very impressed by the quality of the presentations given at the Subex User Conference. There was a lot of straight talk from Subex’s customers, identifying and explaining how their assurance teams were analysing data in ways that move beyond the traditional aims of revenue assurance and fraud management. In that vein, a top-notch panel discussed the potential of what is variously called asset management, or asset assurance. Put simply, the idea is to enhance and exploit data about network assets, in order to reduce costs and improve returns on investment. It was my privilege to moderate the panel, which included:
- James Lester, Finance Director of Telstra Global;
- Steve Cotton, Director of Business Assurance Programs for the TM Forum; and
- John Brooks, Leader of the TM Forum’s Asset Management Team, and Vice President responsible for Product Management at Subex.
As James pointed out, the value added by improved asset management is very significant, making it a must-do activity for any telco wanting to boost profitability. Even if your company has not previously considered the benefits of assuring the use network assets, I recommend you listen to our discussion, which the participants kindly agreed to share with talkRA. You can play the recording via your browser, or download the mp3 file from here.
Also, it is worth taking a look at the work being done by the TM Forum’s Asset Management community. They are in the process of writing guidelines for asset policies, and the tracking of assets.
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