SOA Workshop Key Note: Providers Perspectives on SOA in Telecom

During the SOA Workshop , Dave Elmendorf (BT) provided a key note on "Providers Perspectives on SOA in Telecom". During the workshop Enrico Ronco from Telecom Italia was kind enough to volunteer to summarize the key messages from the presentations in the workshop. He presented the key highlights at the last session of the workshop.

Here are some of the take home messages from the key note presentation by Dave Elmendorf (BT) (as summarized by Enrico Ronco).

- As Network Operator shift to become Service Provider they need to do business within “the long tail”. Communication with communities becomes important.
- Network Operator will need to focus on common capabilities to support the shift from vertical applications. As such, agnostic access to networks, common set of “components for services”: (profile, messaging, call servers, media servers…)is a must.
- Convergence between telecom “platforms” and enterprise “applications”: Network competences now merged with IT competences
- Common set of standards now available to enable “web platforms”
- Software Development moving from proprietary monolithic telecom applications to standards-based layered J2EE applications
- Be pragmatic in building the application layer (IMS lesson): understand what people want to do with services and select standard network components as mature technology emerges
- Focus effort on building applications customers really want (e.g. sales force management)
- Work to deliver “service building blocks”
- No Killer app. / Yes “Killer attribute”: ability to change rapidly