Frameworx Application: Tactical Planning

Category: (2) TAM Application Type

Application Identifier: 7.1.3

Maturity Level: 4

Overview

Tactical Planning predominately supports the Operations Support and Readiness area of the Business Process Framework.

Functionality

Tactical Planning is responsible for the detailed design of resource against the existing networked resource at all technology layers, ensuring that the designed resource is actually deployed and for accurately recording the resultant inventory. At the physical layer, this will involve deploying devices and connections between devices. Further Application Map applications are also required in order to test the resource on installation and to project manages the supply chain in order to deploy the planned resource.

At higher technology layers, Tactical Planning is responsible for detailed logical network design and implementation at the technology layers using input from Strategic Planning. It is also responsible for traffic engineering the capacity of the logical network, taking input from Performance Management. The output of Tactical Planning at the higher technology layers is often to network provisioning systems, which are used to implement the required logical connections into the bearer network.

Data Center and server farms are planned and deployed and capacity managed using the same Tactical Planning functions as used for resource.

Tactical planning is responsible for purchasing network equipment, usually through purchasing control systems and into the Enterprise Resource Management systems of suppliers. This is ideally achieved through Business-to-business (B2B) portals, both for operational efficiency and data integrity. Supply Chain Management controls this interaction. Standards such as from RosettaNet Telecommunications Industry Council are being developed to support electronic purchasing of telecoms equipment. RosettaNet are partnered with the TMF for this purpose.

A major role for Tactical Planning is to implement Strategic Plans, deploying specific devices and device connections at and between strategic locations. Tactical Planning also supports reactive planning, which involves the deployment of network capacity in response to immediate demands. It includes the following planning activities.

• Implementing Strategic plans at All Technology Layers- Implementing strategic plans at all technology layers. This is the major internal planning role and is reactive to Strategic Planning
• Support Network Rearrangement- Network rearrangement to support planned engineering works. This is an additional, significant internal planning role.
• Remedial Relocation of Network Capacity in Response to Unpredicted Demand-  Tactical enhancement or relocation of network capacity in response to unpredicted shortfalls / over-capacity. This is a necessary internal planning function, but could be regarded as a cost of failure of Strategic Planning.
• Detailed Design and Implementation of Interconnect with Other Operators-  Detailed design and implementation of interconnect with other operators
• Reactive Planning for Fulfillment- Planning reactive to Fulfillment to  deploy capacity required for individual services to customers, building access network on demand as required.
• Reactive Planning for Fault Mgmt.- Planning reactive to Fault Management  inorder to support network repair
• Reactive Planning for Performance Management - Planning reactive to Performance Management in order to traffic engineer the higher technology layers

These functions are primarily supported in inventory based capacity management systems where decisions are made and device specific designs are captured against an inventory of the existing, deployed and utilized network. Such systems are typically large scale as they are operated by planners across the entire geography of the network and ideally by planners responsible for all network and IT technologies, so a single, common inventory of the network is created.

Tactical Planning requires an accurate inventory of the network as a whole and detailed device modeling. It results in a master reference inventory of the planned networked resource against the inventory of deployed networked resource.

However, it is entirely expected that such systems may be federated along lines such as geography, technology and network vendor. This will ease the inventory management problem and enable the conflict-free, long-term transactions required by planning applications. Federation in this way must also support interworking and dependencies between the resulting management domains.

Supported Business Services

(2) TAM Application Type Tactical Planning

Appears on these diagrams:

• 7.1 Resource Lifecycle Management

Frameworx Processes (Automated TAM to eTOM)

• Enable Resource Performance Management
• Enable Resource Provisioning

Frameworx Domains (Horizontal)

• Resource Domain

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