DTW24-Ignite: Vodafone, Accenture and Oracle lay out the business case for standardizing software

During a packed Global Architecture Forum (GAF) session at DTW24-Ignite, Willie Stegmann, Vodafone Group’s CIO, Corporate IT services, brought two of the company’s long-time partners – Accenture and Oracle – to the stage to discuss some of the difficult lessons learned on the road to transformation and why standardization – not only of architecture but also software – is required.

Stegmann started by acknowledging the common challenges communications service providers (CSPs) face in trying to transform complex, monolithic back-office environments. “It’s costly, it is difficult and often contends with other priorities as well,” he said.

Vodafone is a pioneer of the Open Digital Architecture (ODA), which Stegmann pointed to in emphasizing the need for a different approach to transformation, especially given the increasing demand for AI integration.

“How do you enable this architecture to serve the needs of the organization – the very dynamic, very intense needs around AI – which is certainly a new challenge?” Stegmann asked.

At DTW on Tuesday, TM Forum unveiled significant advances in ODA development that will make it much easier for telcos to work with software vendors and hyperscalers to automatically test and deploy software. One new feature is conformance testing to validate ODA components, which are the software building blocks of a cloud-native service provider’s IT and network systems. The other is improvement of the ODA reference Canvas – an execution environment where components can be deployed. Both will be generally available from January 2025.

Embracing these standards is critical for CSPs to decrease costs, increase agility and improve customer experience, according to Gaetano Biancardi, Managing Director, CMT Industry Consulting at Accenture. Accenture is a founding member of the TM Forum Innovation Hub, where the ODA Canvas and other software is being developed.

“In the past we have been running large transformations, BSS and OSS in multiple markets with multiple operators doing the same thing in different ways,” Biancardi explained. “Repeatability is core to driving down the cost… This has been the objective of the ODA components and Canvas.

“We are not just looking to a nice architectural framework, super clear that people can adopt across the industry,” Biancardi added. “Our goal is to standardize software.”

Changing procurement

ODA allows vendors to test themselves against a “golden specification”, said Andrew De La Torre, Group Vice President of Technology at Oracle, which simplifies the procurement process and ensures predictability and repeatability. Testing can covers many different attributes such as core and supporting functions and interactions with Canvas services.

“It takes out a whole heap of overhead not to have to specify all these requirements in very granular detail,” De La Torre explained. “It’s already done through the compliance framework, so being able to rely on that to give you those results makes that whole procurement process a lot simpler.”

Biancardi agreed, noting that 15 years ago it was customary for Accenture to write lengthy, detailed RFP documents for its CSP clients, which became solutions only after years of design and validation.

“I don't see this as doable any longer,” Biancardi said. “I see more of a shift towards partnership with the operators, with the product vendors and the system integrator taking co-responsibility…removing all the paperwork and moving to POCs, proof of value.”

Proxy components

Stegmann stressed the need to approach IT transformation incrementally and reuse existing assets. "We can't afford to go greenfield, and we don't have the luxury of time," he said.

To facilitate incremental transformation, Oracle has introduced the concept of proxy components, which act as a kind of “ODA wrapper” for legacy systems to facilitate a smoother transition to standards-based architectures.

“They sit around the legacy components, and they make them look to all intents and purposes like an ODA component,” De La Torre explained. “That allows you to move very rapidly to an ODA-compliant architecture with the new things you’re implementing but without having to…worry about loading all of your legacy components into that transformation program.”

Stegmann said Vodafone is considering using the proxy component approach in its One BSS initiative, which aims to take a proven implementation and expand it to multiple markets and use cases.

“We may well…approach that in that way as well to de-risk our journey,” Stegmann said.