Pathway to intelligent operations for the 5G era simplified by TM Forum’s Open Digital Framework

• 72% of new business opportunities created by 5G require a change in service providers’ operating models, according to TM Forum research.

• Goal of the Open Digital Framework is to allow members to transform business agility, accelerating concept-to-cash cycles from 18 months to 18 days.

• TM Forum members are collaborating to build the Open Digital Framework to guide the way toward intelligent operations for the 5G era — building on the success of its established Open APIs, Open Digital Architecture and the Frameworx suite of standards.

Digital Transformation World, Nice, France, and Parsippany, NJ—May 14, 2019 — TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, today unveiled the Open Digital Framework to provide the blueprint for service providers to deliver intelligent operations fit for the 5G era. Built by the collaboration of TM Forum’s 850+ global member companies, the Open Digital Framework is an interactive, continuously evolving collection of tools, knowledge and standards that service providers need to survive and thrive in next decade.

Without intelligent business operations and modern, flexible IT capabilities, service providers will miss over 70% of growth opportunities attached to 5G, according to TM Forum research. To maximize the opportunity, the Open Digital Framework builds on the success of TM Forum’s Open APIs and Open Digital Architecture to offer an end-to-end migration path from legacy systems to modular, cloud-native IT components.

Thierry Souche, Orange Chief Information Officer said, “Seizing the growth opportunities of the next decade requires a different clock speed for operations and IT. The investments TM Forum members are making in the Open Digital Framework will ensure that service providers’ design and architecture choices of today support the business and operating models of tomorrow. The Open Digital Framework will dramatically cut the costs of integration, allowing us to focus our investments in technologies that can truly transform experience for our customers.”

“It’s time to take the industry out of autopilot and start playing to win for the next decade,” said Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum. “Remaining competitive, seizing the growth opportunities, and delivering the societal impact we expect from 5G demands a step-change in business agility, operating costs and digital experience for customers – both B2C and B2B. This demands radical action to transform traditional operating models and the technologies that underpin them. Open Digital Framework builds on the significant impact we’ve seen from early adopters of Open APIs and Open Digital Architecture, addressing the challenges of transformation end-to-end.”

The Open Digital Framework is developed by the industry, for the industry, and includes tools and standards such as: Open Digital Architecture (ODA), Open APIs, data and AI standards, reference implementations, practical guidance and foundational libraries for business processes. To support digital transformation using these tools and methods, TM Forum provides expert-led education and development services, advisory services, maturity assessments, benchmarking and an Open Digital Lab, as well as an online member community.

“To run 5G efficiently and take advantage of the benefits, communication service providers need to reinvent their operations and modernize their infrastructure. TM Forum’s collaborative environment allows members to work within the collective expertise of the industry to explore future technological trends and their impacts on our businesses as they prepare for 5G,” said Craig Farrell, Chief Technology Officer, Global Telecom Industry, IBM. “Developing the Open Digital Framework has brought together many companies large and small for a singular gain – to find a common approach to transform their operations to meet the demands of a digital world.”