ODA Unboxed: BT boosts efficiency and simplifies procurement with ODA

A major player in the digital communications industry, BT focuses on innovation, delivering advanced solutions in areas such as 5G, fiber broadband, and network security, and providing broadband, mobile, TV and IT services.

Aligning its architecture to TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture has been a crucial element of delivering new services and BT was recently accredited with 'Running on ODA' status for both its Business and Consumer Lines of Business. We sat down with Colin Paterson, Telco Architecture Director at BT Digital Architecture, to learn more about the changes ODA has made to the business.

What is the market and service focus of your business line for which you have received Running on ODA status?

BT has been accredited Running on ODA status for both our Business and Consumer Lines of Business. Our target architecture will serve our entire B2B, B2C and B2B2X customer segments. Business includes Multinational, Corporates and Public Sector (CPS), Wholesale and Small and Medium business (SMB) Customers. Consumer faces our retail customers across our 3 brands; EE, BT, Plusnet.

Why was it important for you to align your architecture to ODA?

Aligning our architecture with ODA was crucial for several reasons. First, ODA helped establish a shared language that enabled better communication and collaboration between vendors, telcos, and partners. This common understanding helped us integrate vendor components and in-house solutions more efficiently.

It also allows us to be more agile, which is essential for developing, delivering, and scaling new products and services quickly. With ODA, we can better anticipate and respond to market changes, which keeps us competitive.

ODA also played a major role in improving customer service. By enabling zero-touch service, we streamlined our operations and significantly reduced the Total Cost of Ownership, moving away from the complexities of legacy architecture.

What tangible benefits did it bring to you and your customers?

The tangible benefits of aligning with ODA have been significant for both us and our customers. For starters, ODA has enabled us to create a common product and service model across all our commercial units, which simplifies our trading processes and eliminates duplication. This means we can bring new solutions to market much faster, giving our customers quicker access to the latest innovations.

In terms of market responsiveness, ODA allows us to rapidly onboard new products and partners. This helps us stay ahead of market trends and deliver timely updates and relevant offerings that meet customer needs.

One of the major operational benefits is the “plug and play” capability. ODA has streamlined procurement, as it’s now the default standard, making it easier and faster to integrate new components. If a vendor doesn’t meet our standards, we can seamlessly swap them out without disrupting our operations.

From a technical perspective, the use of standard reusable APIs across the architecture, including 27 TM Forum APIs, has drastically reduced our integration efforts.

What challenges did you face in adopting ODA as your reference architecture, and how did you tackle these?

One key issue we faced was the pace at which vendors were adopting ODA and the Open APIs, especially in terms of achieving Open API certification. To tackle this, we made it a requirement for any commercial engagement that the vendor must support ODA and Open APIs. This ensured alignment with our standards right from the start.

In some instances, we developed our own internal guidelines to help our Solution Architecture teams better navigate and utilize TM Forum’s digital assets. This provided clarity and consistency across our implementations.

How did your staff gain expertise with ODA and learn how to use it effectively?

BT has been deeply involved in TM Forum Catalyst activities, contributing to the development and maturation of ODA. This hands-on involvement gave our teams valuable practical experience.

To build broader expertise across the organization, we engaged TM Forum to run an extensive ODA training program. Through this initiative, we trained a large group of architects, designers, and engineers on ODA principles, offering both basic and practitioner-level training. This was a key component of our digital academy’s efforts to upskill our workforce.

Additionally, we’ve aligned our internal training programs, architecture principles, and solution guidelines with ODA, ensuring that our teams are not only familiar with the framework but also equipped to apply it effectively in their daily work.

Find out more about Running on ODA here.