MobileAware has completed a service delivery platform (SDP) benchmarking study, otherwise a proof-of concept project for large mobile operators, with BEA Systems and Intel.
The study, which provides operators with more accurate information on reliability, performance and scalability, outlines the requirements of a typical deployment and assists in amalgamating system components to build a comprehensive SDP environment at low cost.
Results from the benchmark, which was completed by a team of 12 people in a timescale of three months, have established the viability, price and performance of an Intel, BEA andMobileAware-based multi-channel SDP and provides basic sizing and scaling predictions dependant upon requirements of the subscriber base.
According to Brian Kinane, executive vice-president of the Irish mobile firm, operators are battling financial pressures to reduce expenses while at the same time develop new revenue sources.
“As subscriber penetration reaches saturation, new and innovative mobile services are being delivered to maximise average revenue per user (ARPU) and retain existing customers. An agile and flexible service delivery model, with faster time to market and the ability to integrate with internal and third-party components is necessary to deliver these new mobile services more efficiently.”
Objectives of the benchmarking study included firstly developing a methodology for measuring the performance of SDPs using a set of typical user cases and user interaction patterns. After a representative model of an SDP solution was built, it was then demonstrated how operators could rapidly package value-added services to provide multi-channel access to information, applications and rich media.
Sizing and scaling models dependent upon requirements of the subscriber base and traffic volumes were then developed and tested to produce an outcome that would allow operators to gauge price-per-performance accurately and size their SDP budgets accordingly. Tests were run varying from 500,000 to 30 million subscribers.
“The primary driver for this benchmarking study was to assist operators in establishing the cost per subscriber for a particular SDP implementation,” Kinane explained. “With this information it is possible to define coherent, rational return on investment calculations that feed ARPU predictions. Together with BEA and Intel, we have demonstrated a valid model that delivers revenue growth and predictable costs that meets practical deployment needs.”
By John Kennedy
