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assetassurance
Optimizing Capex while Improving Service Efficiency
ROC® ASSET ASSURANCE
Discovery & re-engagement of stranded & unutilized assets
Network Intelligence across asset lifecycle
Manage & optimize capital expense
Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance represents several �rsts in the industry:
The �rst solution dedicated to complete, end-to-end management and optimization of network CapexThe �rst solution to employ complex process management and predictive analytics to network optimization and growth, across the entire lifecycle (not just project-speci�c planning)The �rst solution to look at current network performance and optimization as a gating factor for additional growth in expendituresThe �rst solution to provide comprehensive tools to Network Planning, Field Services, and Finance that support Capex need while also ensuring network optimizationThe �rst solution to utilize powerful network discovery intelligence as a tool to drive Capex planning (reliance on inventory has been proven to be highly inaccurate)
Operators have matured in Capex diligence processes as network growth and costs has signi�cantly outpaced network revenues. Thus, ROC Asset Assurance stands alone in the world today as an agnostic tool to give Network stakeholders tremendous power to drive decision, while giving Finance stakeholders robust analytics to drive Capex planning.
Mid Asset Lifecycle
Time-to-value tracking on all revenue-potential assetsAutomated modeling and monitoring of capacity threatsService impact predictions
Retirement Lifecycle
Re-homing/ re-cycling predictions based on rate of change modelingMaximization of free cash by accelerating re-sale processesEliminate power expense losses by tracking device removals
Asset Assurance has the potential to facilitate CFOs & CTOs of operators by helping them translate insights into actions, bridging the gap between the two o�ces. Business values that ROC Asset Assurance provides to the prime target audience are:
Subex’s Expertise in Asset Assurance Space
Subex has expertise in asset lifecycle analytics and network intelligence and has successfully illustrated the value of ROC Asset Assurance to help maximize the return on invested capital for its customers and help build competitive advantage.
For instance, a particular CSP stated an immediate need and ordered over 50 Million USD in network equipment for a growth project. Usually such procurement requests arrive with no visibility into available asset/capacity analysis, and therefore there are no means to gauge e�ective use of prior purchases. The stated equipments were received, but it was only after 6 months it was realized that the equipment was still found sitting in a warehouse, after questions on the whereabouts of the equipment were raised by the Board of Directors.
A Tier 1 North American Operator employing Subex found 100 Million USD in stranded assets (unknown to inventory) in the network, this number is still growing. Yet another customer found large number of assets, worth a huge amount, in the network that was carrying no services. Resource capacity was at critical levels in certain network nodes, where, surprisingly, capacity tra�c analysis was not revealing a problem. Recently, a Service Provider planned decommissions/retirement of certain network equipment, with a target of resale at 25% of original purchase price. Due to delays and disorganization in those processes, the equipment (when �nally made available, months later) only sold for 10% of original cost which resulted in millions of revenue opportunity lost.
Traditional solutions in the asset management space exist in silos intended to support speci�c stakeholder groups. But ROC Asset Assurance leverages network intelligence throughout the asset lifecycle to provide both Finance and Operations with the analytics they need to promote more e�cient use of capital. Network intelligence provides critical information to complete the asset picture, helping to answer questions as:
How much time elapsed from purchase of an asset until it was installed in the network?How much time elapsed from installation of the asset until it �rst carried revenue tra�c (i.e. became productive)Which assets are deployed in the network but unknown to ERP? Which assets that appear utilized in Inventory are actually unutilized as reported by the network?Are spares e�ciently distributed based on locations of deployed assets and counts as reportedby the network?
Overview of Asset Lifecycle
A complete solution of Asset Assurance would encompass the continual monitoring and management of lifecycles associated with the assets. Each section of the above asset lifecycle is instrumented with the following features for daily use by the operator: process triggers, insightful dashboards with cube analysis, KPIs and alerting to important conditions, prioritized case work items associated with network (asset re-positioning recommendations and supporting analysis, service re-grooming recommendations and supporting analysis, purchasing recommendations, supporting analysis and validated triggers) and visualized asset lifecycle statuses with associated reporting.
ROC Asset Assurance Business Bene�ts
In summary, an e�ective asset assurance program will provide operators complete con�dence that their network will grow to meet market demands while also guaranteeing optimal value for every dollar of capital budget spent. Bene�ts across the lifecycle can be summarized as:
Early Asset Lifecycle
Alignment between Network and FinanceComplete recapture of available assetsTotal optimization of assets and capacityElimination of over-purchasingSophisticated modeling for sparing management
CFOs and senior �nance stakeholders are typically confronted with continuously shrinking margins which have a subsequent impact on budgets. Today’s capex management lacks a joint venture between the �nance and network teams, working together on capital planning and budgeting processes. Finance departments typically rely on ERP and any other supply
chain/logistics/asset management applications to obtain metrics about the �ow and location of assets. However, these applications give only incomplete views of assets. With this view, the network is required to provide de�nitive information about the assets that are incorrectly updated manually.
A critical challenge in asset lifecycle management is that di�erent sources of information - such as ERP, �nancial reporting systems, inventories, billing and the network - often tell incomplete or con�icting stories. This frequently erodes con�dence in the systems from an operational and �nancial standpoint.
ROC Asset Assurance - The Capex Optimization Solution
In most operators today, attempts are being made to manage the above mentioned challenges. Network analytics applied at each stage of the asset lifecycle can result in signi�cant capital savings annually for the operator. The capex problem requires complete, holistic views into current assets as well as the consumption and placement of those assets. This problem also requires comprehensive analytics that are not only descriptive (show current states, trending etc.), but also predictive, to accurately predict asset exhaustion, procurement triggering, necessary asset warehouse levels, impacts of failure and growth rates on sparing levels, and retirement strategies.
Asset Assurance is a collection of network-centric processes that signi�cantly improve CAPEX, Free Cash Flow and EBITDA by providing �nancial and operational metrics to measure, predict and optimize the Return on Assets in the Network. Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance is a pioneering solution to manage telecommunications network assets across all dimensions of the asset life cycle and reduce network capex substantially.
Introduction
Telecom operators across the globe have a major issue controlling their network capital expenditure (capex) since they are investing huge sums of capital on new network infrastructure for advanced telecom services like LTE / 4G, IPX, etc in order to meet the demand of subscribers and service the explosive growth in data and content tra�c.
According to a survey, telecoms operators indicated that they could be wasting up to 20% or USD 65* Billion/year in network capex. At the crux of the problem is the unfortunate reality that operators don’t have an accurate picture of what assets and inventory they already own, let alone how these assets are being used. About 5-15%* of assets deployed in the network is unknown or “stranded” and provides no revenue to operators. Financial stakeholders across the telecom industry are facing major challenges with respect to audit compliance and cleaning the budget books for procurement of new assets. On the other hand, the CTO and the operations team are concerned about the assets and their e�cient usage across the network.
Faced with decreasing EBIDTA and ever increasing pressure on margins, operators can no longer a�ord to keep on spending like they always have on capital assets and network projects with no questions asked. But operators are not managing their assets adeptly, and these challenges are something that senior management needs to address with some urgency in order to control their capital expenditure more e�ectively.
Business Problems - Why Telcos are not able to optimize their Capex? So, why operators are not able to manage their network investments? A recent survey done by a leading industry analyst shared some key insights into network asset management practices in the operators today. One of the main reasons is the Capex planning which is driven by technology and not business objectives. Budget for network asset purchase is pre-allocated without any intelligence or lessons from historical data. The network capital used for strategic investments and enterprise programs is getting most of the attention and on the contrary capex for replacement, maintenance and tactical projects is getting too little.
Another reason of capital mismanagement is inadequate visibility into assets results into lack of understanding asset dispositions (warehouse, spare, deployed, in-transit, lost, etc.), poor data integrity in source systems and failure to leverage intelligence directly from the network. Real need is often clouded by limited visibility of assets in the �eld and poor capacity planning. Gaps in accountability are another reason where the accountability for an asset’s contribution to the bottom line usually erodes after purchase.
Limited purchase controls and gates play critical roles as much of the network spend is on “auto-pilot” and is merely an attempt to stay ahead of the growth in tra�c. A repeatable, sustainable and highly e�ective program to reduce Capex also requires asset governance which is not implemented in most of the telecom companies today. What the operators lack, however, is a connected, continuous lifecycle process control that is based on the following features:
Views into stranded and unutilized assets for re-deploymentViews into network capacity that show node resource consumption and resulting performance impacts (Capacity in most operators today is based on tra�c statistics alone)Analytics that account for network rate of change and other factors, allowing accurate predictions into necessary warehouse/sparing stocking levelsAnalytics to harvest and retire assets quickly and e�ciently, to preserve the most value for resaleA “connected” lifecycle view that allows assets to been seen at every stage (logistics has a limited lifecycle view of what assets it is aware of, without gating or end-of-life management
*OVUM Report 2014
Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance represents several �rsts in the industry:
The �rst solution dedicated to complete, end-to-end management and optimization of network CapexThe �rst solution to employ complex process management and predictive analytics to network optimization and growth, across the entire lifecycle (not just project-speci�c planning)The �rst solution to look at current network performance and optimization as a gating factor for additional growth in expendituresThe �rst solution to provide comprehensive tools to Network Planning, Field Services, and Finance that support Capex need while also ensuring network optimizationThe �rst solution to utilize powerful network discovery intelligence as a tool to drive Capex planning (reliance on inventory has been proven to be highly inaccurate)
Operators have matured in Capex diligence processes as network growth and costs has signi�cantly outpaced network revenues. Thus, ROC Asset Assurance stands alone in the world today as an agnostic tool to give Network stakeholders tremendous power to drive decision, while giving Finance stakeholders robust analytics to drive Capex planning.
Mid Asset Lifecycle
Time-to-value tracking on all revenue-potential assetsAutomated modeling and monitoring of capacity threatsService impact predictions
Retirement Lifecycle
Re-homing/ re-cycling predictions based on rate of change modelingMaximization of free cash by accelerating re-sale processesEliminate power expense losses by tracking device removals
Asset Assurance has the potential to facilitate CFOs & CTOs of operators by helping them translate insights into actions, bridging the gap between the two o�ces. Business values that ROC Asset Assurance provides to the prime target audience are:
Subex’s Expertise in Asset Assurance Space
Subex has expertise in asset lifecycle analytics and network intelligence and has successfully illustrated the value of ROC Asset Assurance to help maximize the return on invested capital for its customers and help build competitive advantage.
For instance, a particular CSP stated an immediate need and ordered over 50 Million USD in network equipment for a growth project. Usually such procurement requests arrive with no visibility into available asset/capacity analysis, and therefore there are no means to gauge e�ective use of prior purchases. The stated equipments were received, but it was only after 6 months it was realized that the equipment was still found sitting in a warehouse, after questions on the whereabouts of the equipment were raised by the Board of Directors.
A Tier 1 North American Operator employing Subex found 100 Million USD in stranded assets (unknown to inventory) in the network, this number is still growing. Yet another customer found large number of assets, worth a huge amount, in the network that was carrying no services. Resource capacity was at critical levels in certain network nodes, where, surprisingly, capacity tra�c analysis was not revealing a problem. Recently, a Service Provider planned decommissions/retirement of certain network equipment, with a target of resale at 25% of original purchase price. Due to delays and disorganization in those processes, the equipment (when �nally made available, months later) only sold for 10% of original cost which resulted in millions of revenue opportunity lost.
Traditional solutions in the asset management space exist in silos intended to support speci�c stakeholder groups. But ROC Asset Assurance leverages network intelligence throughout the asset lifecycle to provide both Finance and Operations with the analytics they need to promote more e�cient use of capital. Network intelligence provides critical information to complete the asset picture, helping to answer questions as:
How much time elapsed from purchase of an asset until it was installed in the network?How much time elapsed from installation of the asset until it �rst carried revenue tra�c (i.e. became productive)Which assets are deployed in the network but unknown to ERP? Which assets that appear utilized in Inventory are actually unutilized as reported by the network?Are spares e�ciently distributed based on locations of deployed assets and counts as reportedby the network?
Overview of Asset Lifecycle
A complete solution of Asset Assurance would encompass the continual monitoring and management of lifecycles associated with the assets. Each section of the above asset lifecycle is instrumented with the following features for daily use by the operator: process triggers, insightful dashboards with cube analysis, KPIs and alerting to important conditions, prioritized case work items associated with network (asset re-positioning recommendations and supporting analysis, service re-grooming recommendations and supporting analysis, purchasing recommendations, supporting analysis and validated triggers) and visualized asset lifecycle statuses with associated reporting.
ROC Asset Assurance Business Bene�ts
In summary, an e�ective asset assurance program will provide operators complete con�dence that their network will grow to meet market demands while also guaranteeing optimal value for every dollar of capital budget spent. Bene�ts across the lifecycle can be summarized as:
Early Asset Lifecycle
Alignment between Network and FinanceComplete recapture of available assetsTotal optimization of assets and capacityElimination of over-purchasingSophisticated modeling for sparing management
Fig 3: ROC Asset Assurance – Bridging the Alignment Gap
ForecastPlan Budget
Purchase Receive Deploy Operate RedeployRetire
ERP Optimization and Focus Technical OSS Focus
Bridging the Businessassetassurance
Lack
of a
sset
trac
eabi
lity
resu
lting
in su
b-op
timal
plan
ning
and
ope
ratio
ns
Challenge in audit and regulatory compliance
Potential CAPEX loss & lack
of revenue realization
Fig 2: Potential Business Impacts
CFOs and senior �nance stakeholders are typically confronted with continuously shrinking margins which have a subsequent impact on budgets. Today’s capex management lacks a joint venture between the �nance and network teams, working together on capital planning and budgeting processes. Finance departments typically rely on ERP and any other supply
chain/logistics/asset management applications to obtain metrics about the �ow and location of assets. However, these applications give only incomplete views of assets. With this view, the network is required to provide de�nitive information about the assets that are incorrectly updated manually.
A critical challenge in asset lifecycle management is that di�erent sources of information - such as ERP, �nancial reporting systems, inventories, billing and the network - often tell incomplete or con�icting stories. This frequently erodes con�dence in the systems from an operational and �nancial standpoint.
ROC Asset Assurance - The Capex Optimization Solution
In most operators today, attempts are being made to manage the above mentioned challenges. Network analytics applied at each stage of the asset lifecycle can result in signi�cant capital savings annually for the operator. The capex problem requires complete, holistic views into current assets as well as the consumption and placement of those assets. This problem also requires comprehensive analytics that are not only descriptive (show current states, trending etc.), but also predictive, to accurately predict asset exhaustion, procurement triggering, necessary asset warehouse levels, impacts of failure and growth rates on sparing levels, and retirement strategies.
Asset Assurance is a collection of network-centric processes that signi�cantly improve CAPEX, Free Cash Flow and EBITDA by providing �nancial and operational metrics to measure, predict and optimize the Return on Assets in the Network. Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance is a pioneering solution to manage telecommunications network assets across all dimensions of the asset life cycle and reduce network capex substantially.
Fig1: Finance and Network Operations have di�erent views of assets
ForecastPlan Budget
Purchase Receive Deploy Operate RedeployRetire
ERP Optimization and Focus Technical OSS Focus
Finance VisibilityReliance on ERP (Supply chain and GL focus)
Network Operations Visiblity Reliance on Technical OSS (Delivery and Service Assurance focus)
Alignment Gap
Introduction
Telecom operators across the globe have a major issue controlling their network capital expenditure (capex) since they are investing huge sums of capital on new network infrastructure for advanced telecom services like LTE / 4G, IPX, etc in order to meet the demand of subscribers and service the explosive growth in data and content tra�c.
According to a survey, telecoms operators indicated that they could be wasting up to 20% or USD 65* Billion/year in network capex. At the crux of the problem is the unfortunate reality that operators don’t have an accurate picture of what assets and inventory they already own, let alone how these assets are being used. About 5-15%* of assets deployed in the network is unknown or “stranded” and provides no revenue to operators. Financial stakeholders across the telecom industry are facing major challenges with respect to audit compliance and cleaning the budget books for procurement of new assets. On the other hand, the CTO and the operations team are concerned about the assets and their e�cient usage across the network.
Faced with decreasing EBIDTA and ever increasing pressure on margins, operators can no longer a�ord to keep on spending like they always have on capital assets and network projects with no questions asked. But operators are not managing their assets adeptly, and these challenges are something that senior management needs to address with some urgency in order to control their capital expenditure more e�ectively.
Business Problems - Why Telcos are not able to optimize their Capex? So, why operators are not able to manage their network investments? A recent survey done by a leading industry analyst shared some key insights into network asset management practices in the operators today. One of the main reasons is the Capex planning which is driven by technology and not business objectives. Budget for network asset purchase is pre-allocated without any intelligence or lessons from historical data. The network capital used for strategic investments and enterprise programs is getting most of the attention and on the contrary capex for replacement, maintenance and tactical projects is getting too little.
Another reason of capital mismanagement is inadequate visibility into assets results into lack of understanding asset dispositions (warehouse, spare, deployed, in-transit, lost, etc.), poor data integrity in source systems and failure to leverage intelligence directly from the network. Real need is often clouded by limited visibility of assets in the �eld and poor capacity planning. Gaps in accountability are another reason where the accountability for an asset’s contribution to the bottom line usually erodes after purchase.
Limited purchase controls and gates play critical roles as much of the network spend is on “auto-pilot” and is merely an attempt to stay ahead of the growth in tra�c. A repeatable, sustainable and highly e�ective program to reduce Capex also requires asset governance which is not implemented in most of the telecom companies today. What the operators lack, however, is a connected, continuous lifecycle process control that is based on the following features:
Views into stranded and unutilized assets for re-deploymentViews into network capacity that show node resource consumption and resulting performance impacts (Capacity in most operators today is based on tra�c statistics alone)Analytics that account for network rate of change and other factors, allowing accurate predictions into necessary warehouse/sparing stocking levelsAnalytics to harvest and retire assets quickly and e�ciently, to preserve the most value for resaleA “connected” lifecycle view that allows assets to been seen at every stage (logistics has a limited lifecycle view of what assets it is aware of, without gating or end-of-life management
Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance represents several �rsts in the industry:
The �rst solution dedicated to complete, end-to-end management and optimization of network CapexThe �rst solution to employ complex process management and predictive analytics to network optimization and growth, across the entire lifecycle (not just project-speci�c planning)The �rst solution to look at current network performance and optimization as a gating factor for additional growth in expendituresThe �rst solution to provide comprehensive tools to Network Planning, Field Services, and Finance that support Capex need while also ensuring network optimizationThe �rst solution to utilize powerful network discovery intelligence as a tool to drive Capex planning (reliance on inventory has been proven to be highly inaccurate)
Operators have matured in Capex diligence processes as network growth and costs has signi�cantly outpaced network revenues. Thus, ROC Asset Assurance stands alone in the world today as an agnostic tool to give Network stakeholders tremendous power to drive decision, while giving Finance stakeholders robust analytics to drive Capex planning.
Mid Asset Lifecycle
Time-to-value tracking on all revenue-potential assetsAutomated modeling and monitoring of capacity threatsService impact predictions
Retirement Lifecycle
Re-homing/ re-cycling predictions based on rate of change modelingMaximization of free cash by accelerating re-sale processesEliminate power expense losses by tracking device removals
Asset Assurance has the potential to facilitate CFOs & CTOs of operators by helping them translate insights into actions, bridging the gap between the two o�ces. Business values that ROC Asset Assurance provides to the prime target audience are:
Subex’s Expertise in Asset Assurance Space
Subex has expertise in asset lifecycle analytics and network intelligence and has successfully illustrated the value of ROC Asset Assurance to help maximize the return on invested capital for its customers and help build competitive advantage.
For instance, a particular CSP stated an immediate need and ordered over 50 Million USD in network equipment for a growth project. Usually such procurement requests arrive with no visibility into available asset/capacity analysis, and therefore there are no means to gauge e�ective use of prior purchases. The stated equipments were received, but it was only after 6 months it was realized that the equipment was still found sitting in a warehouse, after questions on the whereabouts of the equipment were raised by the Board of Directors.
A Tier 1 North American Operator employing Subex found 100 Million USD in stranded assets (unknown to inventory) in the network, this number is still growing. Yet another customer found large number of assets, worth a huge amount, in the network that was carrying no services. Resource capacity was at critical levels in certain network nodes, where, surprisingly, capacity tra�c analysis was not revealing a problem. Recently, a Service Provider planned decommissions/retirement of certain network equipment, with a target of resale at 25% of original purchase price. Due to delays and disorganization in those processes, the equipment (when �nally made available, months later) only sold for 10% of original cost which resulted in millions of revenue opportunity lost.
Traditional solutions in the asset management space exist in silos intended to support speci�c stakeholder groups. But ROC Asset Assurance leverages network intelligence throughout the asset lifecycle to provide both Finance and Operations with the analytics they need to promote more e�cient use of capital. Network intelligence provides critical information to complete the asset picture, helping to answer questions as:
How much time elapsed from purchase of an asset until it was installed in the network?How much time elapsed from installation of the asset until it �rst carried revenue tra�c (i.e. became productive)Which assets are deployed in the network but unknown to ERP? Which assets that appear utilized in Inventory are actually unutilized as reported by the network?Are spares e�ciently distributed based on locations of deployed assets and counts as reportedby the network?
Overview of Asset Lifecycle
A complete solution of Asset Assurance would encompass the continual monitoring and management of lifecycles associated with the assets. Each section of the above asset lifecycle is instrumented with the following features for daily use by the operator: process triggers, insightful dashboards with cube analysis, KPIs and alerting to important conditions, prioritized case work items associated with network (asset re-positioning recommendations and supporting analysis, service re-grooming recommendations and supporting analysis, purchasing recommendations, supporting analysis and validated triggers) and visualized asset lifecycle statuses with associated reporting.
ROC Asset Assurance Business Bene�ts
In summary, an e�ective asset assurance program will provide operators complete con�dence that their network will grow to meet market demands while also guaranteeing optimal value for every dollar of capital budget spent. Bene�ts across the lifecycle can be summarized as:
Early Asset Lifecycle
Alignment between Network and FinanceComplete recapture of available assetsTotal optimization of assets and capacityElimination of over-purchasingSophisticated modeling for sparing management
Fig 4: Asset Lifecycle
Major Obstacle:Asset Identi�cation
Indent forItem
Material Receivedin WarehousePO Creation Moved out of
Warehouse
Repair
Deployed inNetwork
Stranded andUnderutilized
Re-grooming
Re-deploy
Retire
ToWarehouse
ToWarehouse
CFOs and senior �nance stakeholders are typically confronted with continuously shrinking margins which have a subsequent impact on budgets. Today’s capex management lacks a joint venture between the �nance and network teams, working together on capital planning and budgeting processes. Finance departments typically rely on ERP and any other supply
chain/logistics/asset management applications to obtain metrics about the �ow and location of assets. However, these applications give only incomplete views of assets. With this view, the network is required to provide de�nitive information about the assets that are incorrectly updated manually.
A critical challenge in asset lifecycle management is that di�erent sources of information - such as ERP, �nancial reporting systems, inventories, billing and the network - often tell incomplete or con�icting stories. This frequently erodes con�dence in the systems from an operational and �nancial standpoint.
ROC Asset Assurance - The Capex Optimization Solution
In most operators today, attempts are being made to manage the above mentioned challenges. Network analytics applied at each stage of the asset lifecycle can result in signi�cant capital savings annually for the operator. The capex problem requires complete, holistic views into current assets as well as the consumption and placement of those assets. This problem also requires comprehensive analytics that are not only descriptive (show current states, trending etc.), but also predictive, to accurately predict asset exhaustion, procurement triggering, necessary asset warehouse levels, impacts of failure and growth rates on sparing levels, and retirement strategies.
Asset Assurance is a collection of network-centric processes that signi�cantly improve CAPEX, Free Cash Flow and EBITDA by providing �nancial and operational metrics to measure, predict and optimize the Return on Assets in the Network. Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance is a pioneering solution to manage telecommunications network assets across all dimensions of the asset life cycle and reduce network capex substantially.
Introduction
Telecom operators across the globe have a major issue controlling their network capital expenditure (capex) since they are investing huge sums of capital on new network infrastructure for advanced telecom services like LTE / 4G, IPX, etc in order to meet the demand of subscribers and service the explosive growth in data and content tra�c.
According to a survey, telecoms operators indicated that they could be wasting up to 20% or USD 65* Billion/year in network capex. At the crux of the problem is the unfortunate reality that operators don’t have an accurate picture of what assets and inventory they already own, let alone how these assets are being used. About 5-15%* of assets deployed in the network is unknown or “stranded” and provides no revenue to operators. Financial stakeholders across the telecom industry are facing major challenges with respect to audit compliance and cleaning the budget books for procurement of new assets. On the other hand, the CTO and the operations team are concerned about the assets and their e�cient usage across the network.
Faced with decreasing EBIDTA and ever increasing pressure on margins, operators can no longer a�ord to keep on spending like they always have on capital assets and network projects with no questions asked. But operators are not managing their assets adeptly, and these challenges are something that senior management needs to address with some urgency in order to control their capital expenditure more e�ectively.
Business Problems - Why Telcos are not able to optimize their Capex? So, why operators are not able to manage their network investments? A recent survey done by a leading industry analyst shared some key insights into network asset management practices in the operators today. One of the main reasons is the Capex planning which is driven by technology and not business objectives. Budget for network asset purchase is pre-allocated without any intelligence or lessons from historical data. The network capital used for strategic investments and enterprise programs is getting most of the attention and on the contrary capex for replacement, maintenance and tactical projects is getting too little.
Another reason of capital mismanagement is inadequate visibility into assets results into lack of understanding asset dispositions (warehouse, spare, deployed, in-transit, lost, etc.), poor data integrity in source systems and failure to leverage intelligence directly from the network. Real need is often clouded by limited visibility of assets in the �eld and poor capacity planning. Gaps in accountability are another reason where the accountability for an asset’s contribution to the bottom line usually erodes after purchase.
Limited purchase controls and gates play critical roles as much of the network spend is on “auto-pilot” and is merely an attempt to stay ahead of the growth in tra�c. A repeatable, sustainable and highly e�ective program to reduce Capex also requires asset governance which is not implemented in most of the telecom companies today. What the operators lack, however, is a connected, continuous lifecycle process control that is based on the following features:
Views into stranded and unutilized assets for re-deploymentViews into network capacity that show node resource consumption and resulting performance impacts (Capacity in most operators today is based on tra�c statistics alone)Analytics that account for network rate of change and other factors, allowing accurate predictions into necessary warehouse/sparing stocking levelsAnalytics to harvest and retire assets quickly and e�ciently, to preserve the most value for resaleA “connected” lifecycle view that allows assets to been seen at every stage (logistics has a limited lifecycle view of what assets it is aware of, without gating or end-of-life management
Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance represents several �rsts in the industry:
The �rst solution dedicated to complete, end-to-end management and optimization of network CapexThe �rst solution to employ complex process management and predictive analytics to network optimization and growth, across the entire lifecycle (not just project-speci�c planning)The �rst solution to look at current network performance and optimization as a gating factor for additional growth in expendituresThe �rst solution to provide comprehensive tools to Network Planning, Field Services, and Finance that support Capex need while also ensuring network optimizationThe �rst solution to utilize powerful network discovery intelligence as a tool to drive Capex planning (reliance on inventory has been proven to be highly inaccurate)
Operators have matured in Capex diligence processes as network growth and costs has signi�cantly outpaced network revenues. Thus, ROC Asset Assurance stands alone in the world today as an agnostic tool to give Network stakeholders tremendous power to drive decision, while giving Finance stakeholders robust analytics to drive Capex planning.
Mid Asset Lifecycle
Time-to-value tracking on all revenue-potential assetsAutomated modeling and monitoring of capacity threatsService impact predictions
Retirement Lifecycle
Re-homing/ re-cycling predictions based on rate of change modelingMaximization of free cash by accelerating re-sale processesEliminate power expense losses by tracking device removals
Asset Assurance has the potential to facilitate CFOs & CTOs of operators by helping them translate insights into actions, bridging the gap between the two o�ces. Business values that ROC Asset Assurance provides to the prime target audience are:
Subex’s Expertise in Asset Assurance Space
Subex has expertise in asset lifecycle analytics and network intelligence and has successfully illustrated the value of ROC Asset Assurance to help maximize the return on invested capital for its customers and help build competitive advantage.
For instance, a particular CSP stated an immediate need and ordered over 50 Million USD in network equipment for a growth project. Usually such procurement requests arrive with no visibility into available asset/capacity analysis, and therefore there are no means to gauge e�ective use of prior purchases. The stated equipments were received, but it was only after 6 months it was realized that the equipment was still found sitting in a warehouse, after questions on the whereabouts of the equipment were raised by the Board of Directors.
A Tier 1 North American Operator employing Subex found 100 Million USD in stranded assets (unknown to inventory) in the network, this number is still growing. Yet another customer found large number of assets, worth a huge amount, in the network that was carrying no services. Resource capacity was at critical levels in certain network nodes, where, surprisingly, capacity tra�c analysis was not revealing a problem. Recently, a Service Provider planned decommissions/retirement of certain network equipment, with a target of resale at 25% of original purchase price. Due to delays and disorganization in those processes, the equipment (when �nally made available, months later) only sold for 10% of original cost which resulted in millions of revenue opportunity lost.
Signi�cant capital savings Continual monitoring and management of assets lifecycle To-date tracking of capital spend vs. budget Tracking of predicted budget based on network analytics
For a CFO
Provide a holistic view of the network planning and growth Exposure to better business and operational support systems Help them understand how to manage all enterprise assets so they can adapt quickly to demand Actionable intelligence in near real-time for all the network assets in the inventory, on �elds etc
For a CTO
Traditional solutions in the asset management space exist in silos intended to support speci�c stakeholder groups. But ROC Asset Assurance leverages network intelligence throughout the asset lifecycle to provide both Finance and Operations with the analytics they need to promote more e�cient use of capital. Network intelligence provides critical information to complete the asset picture, helping to answer questions as:
How much time elapsed from purchase of an asset until it was installed in the network?How much time elapsed from installation of the asset until it �rst carried revenue tra�c (i.e. became productive)Which assets are deployed in the network but unknown to ERP? Which assets that appear utilized in Inventory are actually unutilized as reported by the network?Are spares e�ciently distributed based on locations of deployed assets and counts as reportedby the network?
Overview of Asset Lifecycle
A complete solution of Asset Assurance would encompass the continual monitoring and management of lifecycles associated with the assets. Each section of the above asset lifecycle is instrumented with the following features for daily use by the operator: process triggers, insightful dashboards with cube analysis, KPIs and alerting to important conditions, prioritized case work items associated with network (asset re-positioning recommendations and supporting analysis, service re-grooming recommendations and supporting analysis, purchasing recommendations, supporting analysis and validated triggers) and visualized asset lifecycle statuses with associated reporting.
ROC Asset Assurance Business Bene�ts
In summary, an e�ective asset assurance program will provide operators complete con�dence that their network will grow to meet market demands while also guaranteeing optimal value for every dollar of capital budget spent. Bene�ts across the lifecycle can be summarized as:
Early Asset Lifecycle
Alignment between Network and FinanceComplete recapture of available assetsTotal optimization of assets and capacityElimination of over-purchasingSophisticated modeling for sparing management
CFOs and senior �nance stakeholders are typically confronted with continuously shrinking margins which have a subsequent impact on budgets. Today’s capex management lacks a joint venture between the �nance and network teams, working together on capital planning and budgeting processes. Finance departments typically rely on ERP and any other supply
chain/logistics/asset management applications to obtain metrics about the �ow and location of assets. However, these applications give only incomplete views of assets. With this view, the network is required to provide de�nitive information about the assets that are incorrectly updated manually.
A critical challenge in asset lifecycle management is that di�erent sources of information - such as ERP, �nancial reporting systems, inventories, billing and the network - often tell incomplete or con�icting stories. This frequently erodes con�dence in the systems from an operational and �nancial standpoint.
ROC Asset Assurance - The Capex Optimization Solution
In most operators today, attempts are being made to manage the above mentioned challenges. Network analytics applied at each stage of the asset lifecycle can result in signi�cant capital savings annually for the operator. The capex problem requires complete, holistic views into current assets as well as the consumption and placement of those assets. This problem also requires comprehensive analytics that are not only descriptive (show current states, trending etc.), but also predictive, to accurately predict asset exhaustion, procurement triggering, necessary asset warehouse levels, impacts of failure and growth rates on sparing levels, and retirement strategies.
Asset Assurance is a collection of network-centric processes that signi�cantly improve CAPEX, Free Cash Flow and EBITDA by providing �nancial and operational metrics to measure, predict and optimize the Return on Assets in the Network. Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance is a pioneering solution to manage telecommunications network assets across all dimensions of the asset life cycle and reduce network capex substantially.
Introduction
Telecom operators across the globe have a major issue controlling their network capital expenditure (capex) since they are investing huge sums of capital on new network infrastructure for advanced telecom services like LTE / 4G, IPX, etc in order to meet the demand of subscribers and service the explosive growth in data and content tra�c.
According to a survey, telecoms operators indicated that they could be wasting up to 20% or USD 65* Billion/year in network capex. At the crux of the problem is the unfortunate reality that operators don’t have an accurate picture of what assets and inventory they already own, let alone how these assets are being used. About 5-15%* of assets deployed in the network is unknown or “stranded” and provides no revenue to operators. Financial stakeholders across the telecom industry are facing major challenges with respect to audit compliance and cleaning the budget books for procurement of new assets. On the other hand, the CTO and the operations team are concerned about the assets and their e�cient usage across the network.
Faced with decreasing EBIDTA and ever increasing pressure on margins, operators can no longer a�ord to keep on spending like they always have on capital assets and network projects with no questions asked. But operators are not managing their assets adeptly, and these challenges are something that senior management needs to address with some urgency in order to control their capital expenditure more e�ectively.
Business Problems - Why Telcos are not able to optimize their Capex? So, why operators are not able to manage their network investments? A recent survey done by a leading industry analyst shared some key insights into network asset management practices in the operators today. One of the main reasons is the Capex planning which is driven by technology and not business objectives. Budget for network asset purchase is pre-allocated without any intelligence or lessons from historical data. The network capital used for strategic investments and enterprise programs is getting most of the attention and on the contrary capex for replacement, maintenance and tactical projects is getting too little.
Another reason of capital mismanagement is inadequate visibility into assets results into lack of understanding asset dispositions (warehouse, spare, deployed, in-transit, lost, etc.), poor data integrity in source systems and failure to leverage intelligence directly from the network. Real need is often clouded by limited visibility of assets in the �eld and poor capacity planning. Gaps in accountability are another reason where the accountability for an asset’s contribution to the bottom line usually erodes after purchase.
Limited purchase controls and gates play critical roles as much of the network spend is on “auto-pilot” and is merely an attempt to stay ahead of the growth in tra�c. A repeatable, sustainable and highly e�ective program to reduce Capex also requires asset governance which is not implemented in most of the telecom companies today. What the operators lack, however, is a connected, continuous lifecycle process control that is based on the following features:
Views into stranded and unutilized assets for re-deploymentViews into network capacity that show node resource consumption and resulting performance impacts (Capacity in most operators today is based on tra�c statistics alone)Analytics that account for network rate of change and other factors, allowing accurate predictions into necessary warehouse/sparing stocking levelsAnalytics to harvest and retire assets quickly and e�ciently, to preserve the most value for resaleA “connected” lifecycle view that allows assets to been seen at every stage (logistics has a limited lifecycle view of what assets it is aware of, without gating or end-of-life management
Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance represents several �rsts in the industry:
The �rst solution dedicated to complete, end-to-end management and optimization of network CapexThe �rst solution to employ complex process management and predictive analytics to network optimization and growth, across the entire lifecycle (not just project-speci�c planning)The �rst solution to look at current network performance and optimization as a gating factor for additional growth in expendituresThe �rst solution to provide comprehensive tools to Network Planning, Field Services, and Finance that support Capex need while also ensuring network optimizationThe �rst solution to utilize powerful network discovery intelligence as a tool to drive Capex planning (reliance on inventory has been proven to be highly inaccurate)
Operators have matured in Capex diligence processes as network growth and costs has signi�cantly outpaced network revenues. Thus, ROC Asset Assurance stands alone in the world today as an agnostic tool to give Network stakeholders tremendous power to drive decision, while giving Finance stakeholders robust analytics to drive Capex planning.
Mid Asset Lifecycle
Time-to-value tracking on all revenue-potential assetsAutomated modeling and monitoring of capacity threatsService impact predictions
Retirement Lifecycle
Re-homing/ re-cycling predictions based on rate of change modelingMaximization of free cash by accelerating re-sale processesEliminate power expense losses by tracking device removals
Asset Assurance has the potential to facilitate CFOs & CTOs of operators by helping them translate insights into actions, bridging the gap between the two o�ces. Business values that ROC Asset Assurance provides to the prime target audience are:
Subex’s Expertise in Asset Assurance Space
Subex has expertise in asset lifecycle analytics and network intelligence and has successfully illustrated the value of ROC Asset Assurance to help maximize the return on invested capital for its customers and help build competitive advantage.
For instance, a particular CSP stated an immediate need and ordered over 50 Million USD in network equipment for a growth project. Usually such procurement requests arrive with no visibility into available asset/capacity analysis, and therefore there are no means to gauge e�ective use of prior purchases. The stated equipments were received, but it was only after 6 months it was realized that the equipment was still found sitting in a warehouse, after questions on the whereabouts of the equipment were raised by the Board of Directors.
A Tier 1 North American Operator employing Subex found 100 Million USD in stranded assets (unknown to inventory) in the network, this number is still growing. Yet another customer found large number of assets, worth a huge amount, in the network that was carrying no services. Resource capacity was at critical levels in certain network nodes, where, surprisingly, capacity tra�c analysis was not revealing a problem. Recently, a Service Provider planned decommissions/retirement of certain network equipment, with a target of resale at 25% of original purchase price. Due to delays and disorganization in those processes, the equipment (when �nally made available, months later) only sold for 10% of original cost which resulted in millions of revenue opportunity lost.
Traditional solutions in the asset management space exist in silos intended to support speci�c stakeholder groups. But ROC Asset Assurance leverages network intelligence throughout the asset lifecycle to provide both Finance and Operations with the analytics they need to promote more e�cient use of capital. Network intelligence provides critical information to complete the asset picture, helping to answer questions as:
How much time elapsed from purchase of an asset until it was installed in the network?How much time elapsed from installation of the asset until it �rst carried revenue tra�c (i.e. became productive)Which assets are deployed in the network but unknown to ERP? Which assets that appear utilized in Inventory are actually unutilized as reported by the network?Are spares e�ciently distributed based on locations of deployed assets and counts as reportedby the network?
Overview of Asset Lifecycle
A complete solution of Asset Assurance would encompass the continual monitoring and management of lifecycles associated with the assets. Each section of the above asset lifecycle is instrumented with the following features for daily use by the operator: process triggers, insightful dashboards with cube analysis, KPIs and alerting to important conditions, prioritized case work items associated with network (asset re-positioning recommendations and supporting analysis, service re-grooming recommendations and supporting analysis, purchasing recommendations, supporting analysis and validated triggers) and visualized asset lifecycle statuses with associated reporting.
ROC Asset Assurance Business Bene�ts
In summary, an e�ective asset assurance program will provide operators complete con�dence that their network will grow to meet market demands while also guaranteeing optimal value for every dollar of capital budget spent. Bene�ts across the lifecycle can be summarized as:
Early Asset Lifecycle
Alignment between Network and FinanceComplete recapture of available assetsTotal optimization of assets and capacityElimination of over-purchasingSophisticated modeling for sparing management
CFOs and senior �nance stakeholders are typically confronted with continuously shrinking margins which have a subsequent impact on budgets. Today’s capex management lacks a joint venture between the �nance and network teams, working together on capital planning and budgeting processes. Finance departments typically rely on ERP and any other supply
chain/logistics/asset management applications to obtain metrics about the �ow and location of assets. However, these applications give only incomplete views of assets. With this view, the network is required to provide de�nitive information about the assets that are incorrectly updated manually.
A critical challenge in asset lifecycle management is that di�erent sources of information - such as ERP, �nancial reporting systems, inventories, billing and the network - often tell incomplete or con�icting stories. This frequently erodes con�dence in the systems from an operational and �nancial standpoint.
ROC Asset Assurance - The Capex Optimization Solution
In most operators today, attempts are being made to manage the above mentioned challenges. Network analytics applied at each stage of the asset lifecycle can result in signi�cant capital savings annually for the operator. The capex problem requires complete, holistic views into current assets as well as the consumption and placement of those assets. This problem also requires comprehensive analytics that are not only descriptive (show current states, trending etc.), but also predictive, to accurately predict asset exhaustion, procurement triggering, necessary asset warehouse levels, impacts of failure and growth rates on sparing levels, and retirement strategies.
Asset Assurance is a collection of network-centric processes that signi�cantly improve CAPEX, Free Cash Flow and EBITDA by providing �nancial and operational metrics to measure, predict and optimize the Return on Assets in the Network. Subex’s ROC Asset Assurance is a pioneering solution to manage telecommunications network assets across all dimensions of the asset life cycle and reduce network capex substantially.
Introduction
Telecom operators across the globe have a major issue controlling their network capital expenditure (capex) since they are investing huge sums of capital on new network infrastructure for advanced telecom services like LTE / 4G, IPX, etc in order to meet the demand of subscribers and service the explosive growth in data and content tra�c.
According to a survey, telecoms operators indicated that they could be wasting up to 20% or USD 65* Billion/year in network capex. At the crux of the problem is the unfortunate reality that operators don’t have an accurate picture of what assets and inventory they already own, let alone how these assets are being used. About 5-15%* of assets deployed in the network is unknown or “stranded” and provides no revenue to operators. Financial stakeholders across the telecom industry are facing major challenges with respect to audit compliance and cleaning the budget books for procurement of new assets. On the other hand, the CTO and the operations team are concerned about the assets and their e�cient usage across the network.
Faced with decreasing EBIDTA and ever increasing pressure on margins, operators can no longer a�ord to keep on spending like they always have on capital assets and network projects with no questions asked. But operators are not managing their assets adeptly, and these challenges are something that senior management needs to address with some urgency in order to control their capital expenditure more e�ectively.
Business Problems - Why Telcos are not able to optimize their Capex? So, why operators are not able to manage their network investments? A recent survey done by a leading industry analyst shared some key insights into network asset management practices in the operators today. One of the main reasons is the Capex planning which is driven by technology and not business objectives. Budget for network asset purchase is pre-allocated without any intelligence or lessons from historical data. The network capital used for strategic investments and enterprise programs is getting most of the attention and on the contrary capex for replacement, maintenance and tactical projects is getting too little.
Another reason of capital mismanagement is inadequate visibility into assets results into lack of understanding asset dispositions (warehouse, spare, deployed, in-transit, lost, etc.), poor data integrity in source systems and failure to leverage intelligence directly from the network. Real need is often clouded by limited visibility of assets in the �eld and poor capacity planning. Gaps in accountability are another reason where the accountability for an asset’s contribution to the bottom line usually erodes after purchase.
Limited purchase controls and gates play critical roles as much of the network spend is on “auto-pilot” and is merely an attempt to stay ahead of the growth in tra�c. A repeatable, sustainable and highly e�ective program to reduce Capex also requires asset governance which is not implemented in most of the telecom companies today. What the operators lack, however, is a connected, continuous lifecycle process control that is based on the following features:
Views into stranded and unutilized assets for re-deploymentViews into network capacity that show node resource consumption and resulting performance impacts (Capacity in most operators today is based on tra�c statistics alone)Analytics that account for network rate of change and other factors, allowing accurate predictions into necessary warehouse/sparing stocking levelsAnalytics to harvest and retire assets quickly and e�ciently, to preserve the most value for resaleA “connected” lifecycle view that allows assets to been seen at every stage (logistics has a limited lifecycle view of what assets it is aware of, without gating or end-of-life management
Lack good understanding of past investment impact on revenues
40%
CapEx Planning driven by technology, not business objectives
64%
New Projects do not benefit from lessons learnt
32%
Finance and network asset are misaligned27%
OperatorsSurveyed
29VP71%
Managers24%
CEO5%
1 in 3 operators do not measure returns on capex investment
Adding new capacity is top investment priority
Better visibility into Disposition of Assets & Ongoing/On demand FAR data integrity
Accurate asset depreciation and write-off, free cash flow generation
Smooth audit and regulatory compliance for active discoverable
Optimal utilization of CAPEXand OPEX spent on Network assets
assetassurance
Subex’s pioneering solution helps reduce CAPEX burden for operators
CapexBurden
Investment increase in Capex
$354*Billion
Drop in EBITDA57%*
*as per Industry average PwC Study 2014
Benefits
CAPEX savings
$27Million
2011
$34Million
2012
$43Million
2013
$104*
Million
2014
Increasing ROI
Reduce cost overruns
Improve large time taken per order
Ensure better synchronization
Challenges
* as
on
Dec
201
4 N
A O
pera
tor
Tier
1
700%
ROI* more than
Case Study at Tier 1 North American Operator
ERP/FAR misaligned with inventory
65%
Inadequate asset tracking source
45%
Asset information is inadequate
27%
Don’t have visibility in asset deployment
77%
TM Forum Network AssetManagement Survey 2014
About Subex
www.subex.com
Subex Limited is a leading global provider of Business and Operations Support Systems (B/OSS) that empowers communications service providers (CSPs) to achieve competitive advantage through Business and Capex Optimisation - thereby enabling them to improve their operational e�ciency to deliver enhanced service experiences to subscribers.
The company pioneered the concept of a Revenue Operations Center (ROC®) – a centralized approach that sustains pro�table growth and �nancial health through coordinated operational control. Subex's product portfolio powers the ROC and its best-in-class solutions such as revenue assurance, fraud management, asset assurance, capacity management, data integrity management, credit risk management, cost management, route optimization and partner settlement. Subex also o�ers a scalable Managed Services program with 30 + customers.
Subex has been awarded the Global Market Share Leader in Financial Assurance 2012 by Frost & Sullivan and has been the winner of Pipeline Innovation Award 2013 in Business Intelligence & Analytics; Capacity Magazine Best Product/ Service 2013. Subex has continued to innovate with customers and have been jointly awarded the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award 2014 along with Telstra Global; in 2012 with Idea Cellular for Managed Services and in 2011 with Swisscom for Fraud Management.
Subex's customers include 29 of top 50 operators* and 33 of the world’s 50 biggest# telecommunications service providers worldwide. The company has more than 300 installations across 70 countries.
*Total Telecom Top 500 Telecom Brands, 2013#Forbes’ Global 2000 list, 2014
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Regional o�ces: Dubai | Ipswich
Subex (Asia Paci�c) Pte. Limited 175A, Bencoolen Street,#08-03 Burlington Square,Singapore 189650
Phone: +65 6338 1218Fax: +65 6338 1216
Subex (UK) Ltd 1st Floor, Rama17 St Ann’s Road,Harrow, Middlesex,HA1 1JU
Phone: +44 0207 8265300Fax: +44 0207 8265352
Subex Inc. 12101 Airport Way,Suite 390 Broom�eld, Colorado 80021USA
Phone: +1 303 301 6200Fax: +1 303 301 6201
Subex Limited RMZ Ecoworld, Devarabisanahalli,Outer Ring Road, Bangalore - 560037India
Phone: +91 80 6659 8700Fax: +91 80 6696 3333
Awarded Best GlobalProduct/Services
Awarded in the BigData & Analytics category
Global Telecoms BusinessInnovation Award, 2014
Received Global MarketShare Leaderin Financial
Assurance Award 2012
* for RA & FM
