Network
Node
Connection
Three topics will be discussed in perception with Siebel
product Model of the N/w products. Siebel CRM is taken due to its massive
popularity and OOTB configuration it support for any kind Telecom
products.
I guess to SFDC, MS CRM, SAP will struggle for some years
(at least till 2020), to get some way near to Siebel order management features
especially for the
telecom.
The approach from Siebel is proven and can be taken for
any solution design
considerations.
Introduction
to N/W product:
Understanding a network product is important before
modelling the product in Siebel. As a next step, it is important to understand
the business (Selling, Quote Management, Order and Cross/Up
Selling).
Network product is used by big corporates to establish
their IT network needs to the outside world or for inter-location based
connectivity.
Typical example that is coming to me is a simple P2P
connection. MPLS, VPN, Ethernet, Frame Relay etc. Some of them are dedicated and
others are shared. A significant decision criteria to choose the network types
is based on Speed and type of usage you
have.
Most of the tier-1 service provider in your country
provides Network products; some of them are global players intercontinental
service providers like BT, AT&T
etc.
In a typical network product, two location are linked via
a connection to form a
network.
Pic:There are 2 nodes connected (A google search will
take you to NODEJS! so please be specific on your search queries) through 1
connection to form a
network.
Model
consideration:
- N/w
product holds the Nodes and
N/Ws
Parent and Root product will be of type Network which
should contain a connection product with certain attributes like speed, SLA
parameters, OSS provisioning parameters etc. The Node comes mostly at same level
as connection, but it is up on the solutions complexity you needed for the
implementation.
Node is contains the details of device, premise details,
LM etc. Once again depending on the business you have to model on CRM
application. However, Siebel or any product model from any CRM is capable of
accommodating these changes without much effort. If a certain product vendor
says a lot of customization required to adopt to these simple product
models/attributes, check your RFP floated for CRM
application.
- Node
based validation should be done
(Constraints)
To make the product offer in Siebel to work properly you
may require to define constraints in Product Administration level to set up the
rules. The rules will validate during order process on the e-Configurator
level.
Details is once again depending on the customer
requirements.
- N/W
based
constraints
Same as above; No explicit explanations required for
this.
Examples
of the Constraints is
below:
- Standalone
node is not possible, Two Nodes are
mandatory
- Network
without connection is not
possible
- Connection
can't be shared with other
nodes
Quote,
Order and Asset:
Welcome!, to new approach for most of the people called
Project Asset cache feature Siebel provides. I came across this topic in my
early days of Siebel Order
Management.
However, I experience this during Network product
configuration scenarios. Let me explain simple as possible as I
could.
Suppose a scenario that a customer is already have an
Asset (Installed Product) , then Order and Quote validation will take the
existing products in Order or Quote into consideration and validate with the
existing Assets.
e.g: Product P2, has a constraint that it should have
only 5 instances for any customer at any point of time. This is implemented
using a constraint in
Siebel.
Currently customer A, has already purchased 2 instances
of P2, and Ordering 4 P2 products, in this case the order will fail due to the
exceeding the constraint defined on the
product.
In a normal Order validation, the rules will configure
from Orderß àAsset.
However, in N/w product, it can be configured
from
Quote ßà Orderß àAsset
(This line I need to further research, will get back to you
later)
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