Microsoft Showcases Its Strengths in Service Delivery Through Industry Collaboration at Management World 2008

NICE, France — May 20, 2008 — This week at TM Forum Management World 2008, Microsoft Corp. will demonstrate continued innovation and the strength of its partner model in delivering exciting new services to consumers and businesses. In its exhibit presence and through participation in the Management World conference program, Microsoft will underscore its vision for Telco 2.0, highlighting its portfolio of screens, services and service delivery capabilities that make the converged lifestyle a reality. In addition, Microsoft is showcasing the results of its collaboration with a wide range of industry leaders, including Accenture, Amdocs, AT&T, China Unicom Ltd., Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. and Telefónica SA, as a key player in four TM Forum Catalyst Projects.

“Service delivery is fundamental to Microsoft’s vision of Telco 2.0, where operators will be able to provide any type of content across any network to any screen,” said Michael O’Hara, general manager of the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “By combining Microsoft’s expertise in software and services with the assets of telecom industry leaders, we believe we can help service providers deliver an unmatched portfolio of offerings to their consumer and business customers. Here, the Catalyst Projects exemplify how the industry as a whole is taking a more open, collaborative approach to service delivery, and sharing expertise will enable real innovation.”

“Microsoft is a very active and valued member of the TM Forum,” said Martin Creaner, president and chief technical officer of TM Forum. “Our goal is to look critically at how to deliver and manage new services profitably using best practices, and Microsoft’s support is key to our efforts. This is the first year a non-telecoms company has been able to sponsor a Catalyst Project, underlining Microsoft’s unique role in this industry.”

The TM Forum Catalyst Projects bring together operators and vendors to help solve business problems faced by operators through implementation of existing, proven technologies. Along with other participants, Microsoft will be demonstrating the following initiatives:

  • Building Marketplaces with Managed Services Syndication is a project co-sponsored by Microsoft and Telefónica that aims to create a marketplace for the next generation of services based on Web 2.0 principles. This Catalyst Project demonstrates a consistent, flexible and cost-effective way to mass-commercialize new products and services, driving accelerated use and adoption. The demonstration combines Microsoft’s Live Meeting service with Telefónica Mobile’s own Agenda meeting organizer service and Web portal and video streaming services provided by Accenture. The entire scenario is provisioned by Tribold and NetCracker technologies with service assurance from CA and Iptivia Inc. Uniquely, this project is being used as a reference for the TM Forum’s Service Delivery Framework standardization process.

  • “Our cooperation with Microsoft on the Catalyst Project is based on our strong mutual desire to deliver the best in services,” said Sagrario Aleman Perez, technological expert on systems evolution and new channels at Telefónica. “There’s a whole universe of services that should be made readily available to customers, and Microsoft’s involvement in the Catalyst Project will accelerate the speed at which these can be delivered to market.”

  • Content Encounter (Phase II) showcases the latest technologies and emerging best practices for content owners and aggregators to work with communication service providers to distribute content. Amdocs, BT, Call Genie Inc., China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, eBIZ.mobility Ltd., Subex Ltd. and Telcordia Technologies Inc. are the new commercial participants joining the Phase I participants, which include Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, BEA, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., IBM Corp., Microsoft, Motorola Inc. and Westwood One Inc.

  • Seamless OSS/BSS for IMS Services (Phase II) provides seven typical IMS services over fixed and mobile IMS terminals, and delivers end-to-end convergent billing with an online charging system and an offline billing system. China Unicom is sponsoring the project with support from Amdocs, Microsoft and ZTE Corp.

“OSS and BSS are often the ignored areas of IMS research, which is why this particular project is so important to us,” said Zhijiang Zhang, general manager of technology at China Unicom. “Microsoft’s involvement in Phase II of this project will provide a more feasible and integrated reference model of an ‘OSS/BSS for IMS’ solution.”

  • One-Stop Fixed Mobile Convergence Service is helping Chunghwa Telecom to deliver fixed-mobile converged services, demonstrating next-generation network technologies integrated with current OSS/BSS architectures and laying the groundwork for the development of new-generation OSS/BSS architectures. The goal is to deliver ubiquitous services over any device. Participants include Amdocs, Microsoft, Nokia Siemens Networks Taiwan, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd. and TELUS Corp.

“This project promises to accelerate Chunghwa Telecom’s new service offerings to customers,” said Lu Shyue-Ching, president of Chunghwa Telecom. “It will also allow us to reduce service delivery costs, provide a one-stop-shop for FMC services and be a world-leading telecom carrier, opening up new and emerging markets.”

In addition to its involvement in the Catalyst Projects, Microsoft is taking an active role in the education program at the Management World conference with speakers taking part in the following sessions on Wednesday, May 21:

  • Module: Collaborative Business Partnership Models
    Session Title: Successfully Monetizing the Service Ecosystem: Service Provider Initiatives to Avoid the Dumb Pipe Syndrome
    Speaker: Michel Burger, services architect, Server and Tools, Microsoft
    Time and Location: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. CEST in Clio conference room

  • Module: Advertising & Monetizing TeleMedia Services 1
    Session Title: Creating Win-Win Business Models for All Players
    Speaker: Roger Pitton, program director, TV Business, Microsoft
    Time and Location: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. CEST in Thalie conference room

  • Module: Using SDF/SDP for Rapid Service Deployment
    Session Title: SDF and the Lego World of Business: Creating New Value for Customers by Composing and Managing Islands of Services from Collaborative Providers
    Speaker: Eric Troup, platform strategy advisor, Communications Sector, Microsoft
    Time and Location: 2–3:30 p.m. CEST in Hermes conference room

  • Module: Using SDF/SDP for Rapid Service Deployment
    Session Title: Leveraging Service Delivery Frameworks for Services Syndication
    Speaker: Michel Burger, services architect, Server and Tools, Microsoft
    Time and Location: 4–5:30 p.m. CEST in Hermes conference room

  • Module: Advertising & Monetizing TeleMedia Services 2
    Session Title: The New Monetization Paradigm: Content Advertising and Markets of One
    Speaker: Jon Curnow, emerging media manager, Microsoft Advertiser and Publishing Solutions
    Time and Location: 4–5:30 p.m. CEST in Thalie conference room

Microsoft at Management World

More information will be available at the Microsoft booth in Hall 2, booth No. 92.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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