Content in GeoNet, The Esri Community | GIS and Geospatial Professional Community

The role of the physical network inventory in a software defined network world

phuls@esri.com — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 16:34:57 GMT

Let me start by stating that I’m a solutions engineer for Esri, a geographic information systems (GIS) software vendor. In our world, physical geography and location matter. Esri has offered physical network inventory (PNI) solutions to the communications industry for many years. Which makes sense, because GIS is all about managing the geographic location of assets and spatially analyzing location information, so it’s the perfect technology for PNI. But as communication networks evolve, what does that mean for GIS? As I began an existential crisis, I asked myself:

What happens to the PNI in a world where software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) takes over?
Are maps and location intelligence less important since network intelligence is less dependent on the physical hardware?
Does the physical network and location of switches or routers even matter anymore?
How will PNI solutions support NextGen network management in virtualized environments?
What role do location and GIS play in SDN?

Since I think spatially for a living, I figured I better get to work understanding the virtual world.

First off, what does SDN and NFV really mean? Well, it’s the evolution of networking where network functions like firewalls and web adapters (which have traditionally been hardcoded into hardware) get abstracted to a virtualized layer, called NFV services. These NFV services are controlled by one master traffic cop or controller, versus relying on the individual hardware itself.

This allows you to dynamically add and remove NFV services and optimize network traffic without the restrictions of how physical switches and routers have been deployed into the network. APIs allow all these interactions and optimizations to take place between the data or hardware tier, NFV services tier, the controller, and the network applications on top.

The value that SDN brings is an open architecture that offers

less hardware vendor lock-in
enables on-demand new products and services that are software configured instead of requiring hardware replacement
network traffic can be optimized automatically during peak demand

So again, in an SDN world where network intelligence is less hardware dependent, do traditional PNI solutions, which provide information on the hardware and its networking characteristics, offer any value to NextGen network management where networking is all virtualized? My answer would be yes, the PNI still matters, but not in its traditional use. The PNI can no longer be just a database in which you store as-builts. It needs to be integrated directly into NextGen network management systems to support new business processes and network analytics. Here are few examples of how the PNI can support NextGen network management.

Service Qualification

On-demand network services means on the fly service qualification is required. Where is the customer in the network and what services are available? The physical and logical network need to work closely together to answer that question. And from my experience, PNI and LNI systems and databases have historically been silo’d from each other, silo’d from other OSS/BSS, and even silo’d between different network technologies. One system to manage fiber, another to manage wireless, and another to manage coax and copper. To qualify services, independent of the physical network delivering the services, PNI systems need to support multiple network technologies and easily integrate with the LNI to help answer the question of where a customer is located, and what services are available at their location. Relying on a desktop engineer to respond to a service qualification request in a matter of days or even hours will not cut it, the PNI and LNI working together will need to answer that question in near real-time.

From Design to As-Built

With 5G comes more small cell deployments and fiber densification. This means far more network design and buildout projects are occurring and even more as-builts are piling up. In order to support the real-time service qualification above, the PNI needs to seamlessly integrate with engineering tools and the whole design process. That way, once new physical network is built and operational, the as-builts feed right into the PNI and become a part of the service qualification process. Only with an up to date PNI and LNI can you truly offer on-demand services that leverage near real-time service qualification.

Network Optimization

Network analytics is the secret sauce to SDN and NextGen network management. An SDN controller can orchestrate how traffic moves across the network and can dynamically allocate more or less bandwidth based on demand. Network analytics and AI/ML tools will allow for real-time analysis of network capacity and enable proactive network optimization. Yup, forget PNM, PNO is the new acronym on the block. But in order to optimize network traffic, you’ll need to understand where demand is, what access points customers are connecting to, and any physical network restrictions. These are all questions a GIS based PNI can answer. For example, to move virtual reality (VR) services closer to the edge and reduce latency concerns, you need to know where the edge is, and what hardware can store local video caches. If a natural disaster is going to affect a portion of the network, and you need to route network traffic around that area, you to know where that storm will impact the physical network. Again, the PNI can no longer just be a standalone database, and needs to be built on a highly scalable, services based, cloud native platform that allows for network analytics to be run on the physical network.

So there you have it, my thoughts on the roles the PNI will play in NextGen network management. It won’t be the PNI solutions of today, but an evolved, much more sophisticated GIS-based platform that integrates right into NextGen network management systems that leverage SDN. A platform that supports all network technologies, tightly couples PNI and LNI, provides network analytics, and is open. A platform like ArcGIS, with the new ArcGIS Utility Network Management framework.

To learn more about ArcGIS Utility Network Management, check out this blog.

And be sure to check out the up coming tech sessions at Esri’s Virtual User Conference.

Planning & Engineering Communication Networks with GIS
Network Operations & Maintenance of Communication Networks with GIS

Feel free to comment and let us know your thoughts on what role the PNI will play in SDN.

Thanks,

- Esri Telecom Team

telecominfo@esri.com

telug

Communications Network Foundation for ArcGIS Utility Network Management (Esri)

phuls@esri.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:24:02 GMT

The Esri team is hard at work scoping out requirements and developing the information model for the Communications Network Foundation on ArcGIS Utility Network Management. Use this thread to provide input on the requirements of the data model, capabilities of the Communications Network, ask questions about the network, access early versions of data models, and stay up to date on the latest news.

The Communications Network Foundation template models a utility network to behave like an telecom network. This template provides the foundational utility network service, which other utility network templates are built upon.

Network Foundations	Status	Last Updated	Getting Started	Learn More	System Requirements
Fiber	Early Preview (April 2020 Release Attached)	4/20/2020	Story Map	Story Map	ArcGIS Pro 2.5 (Standard or Advanced)
Coax	In Development	4/20/2020
Copper	In Development	4/20/2020
Wireless/Microwave	In Development	4/20/2020

Thanks,

- Esri Telecom Team

telecominfo@esri.com

telug

Join the Discussion Below!

#AtHomeGIS: Leverage Real-Time GIS

phuls@esri.com — Wed, 20 May 2020 19:00:04 GMT

From tracking weather, assets, vehicles and even phones and tablets the challenge is understanding all that real-time data and acting. Learn how Esri can help with our real-time solutions including Tracker and GeoEvent.

Collector for ArcGIS - Useful Links

geonet@esri.com — Mon, 18 May 2020 16:59:36 GMT

Collector for ArcGIS is a mobile data collection app that makes it easy to capture accurate data from the field and return it to the office. It works with web maps from the ArcGIS Platform, supports high precision data collection, and can work offline for disconnected workflows.

This blog is meant to be a live resource that will be updated to share the latest resources for working with Collector for ArcGIS. FYI: access the general help documentation here.

Last edited: June 25, 2020

Video Resources

Esri Live Training Seminar: Field Data Workflows with Collector for ArcGIS - 1 hour
Esri Collector: Aurora vs. Classic (by Anatum GeoMobile Solutions) - 9 mins
Collector for ArcGIS: Capture High-Accuracy Data - 3 mins
What's New in Collector for ArcGIS (Dev Summit 2020) - 1 hour
Collector for ArcGIS: High Accuracy Data Collection (Dev Summit 2020) - 1 hour
Collector for ArcGIS: An Introduction (UC 2019) - 1 hour
What's New in Collector for ArcGIS (Dev Summit 2019) - 1 hour
Collector for ArcGIS: High Accuracy Data Collection (Dev Summit 2019) - 30 mins
ArcGIS Apps: Taking Your Maps Offline (Dev Summit 2020) - 1 hour
ArcGIS Apps: Taking Your Maps Offline (Dev Summit 2019) - 1 hour
Taking ArcGIS into the Field - Collaborative Working (esri UK 2019 conference) - 40 mins
Mobile Device Management and ArcGIS Field Apps (Dev Summit 2020) - 1 hour

Collector for ArcGIS Tutorial Videos

Capturing Reliable Data in the Field - 1 hour
Disconnected Editing with Collector for ArcGIS and ArcGIS Enterprise (by esri Canada)
How to Record Orthometric Heights in Collector v18.1.0 (Aurora) with Your Eos Arrow GNSS Receiver (by Eos Positioning Systems) - 5 mins
RTK Laser Mapping Tutorials with Collector (by Eos Positioning Systems) - 5 mins
Achieve Vertical Accuracy with Trimble Receivers Using Esri’s Collector App (by Frontier Precision)
Setting up Collector for ArcGIS "Android v20.1.0" with Trimble Mobile Manager (by Seiler Geospatial)

How to Blogs

Related Blogs

Whitepapers

ArcGIS Secure Mobile Implementation Patterns whitepaper (mobile security and architecture)
Take your Web Maps Offline whitepaper

Planning for Emergencies During COVID-19

phuls@esri.com — Tue, 05 May 2020 22:34:26 GMT

I live in an area of the US likely to experience severe weather in the springtime. Most residents here have a plan of action in the event a tornado warning is issued for their area. We charge our devices and power banks, keep important documents in a waterproof container, and put fresh batteries in our flashlights. Many rely on public storm shelters or have a family member, friend, or neighbor nice enough to make room for us in their shelter. But the COVID-19 pandemic has changed what was once considered acceptable. Storm shelters were not built to allow occupants to stay six feet apart. The pandemic is forcing everyone to re-evaluate their plans and consider risks in a way we didn’t have to think about in previous storm seasons.

How do you plan for an emergency when you’re in the midst of a totally different emergency?

Telecom companies are in the same predicament, but the stakes have never been higher. Communication services are more important than ever, with vast numbers of people working and learning from home. It’s also clear that severe weather events won’t stop simply because we are busy dealing with a pandemic. Whether you are preparing for tornados, hurricanes, floods, or wildfires, COVID-19 is changing the landscape. What was once considered reasonable may not necessarily be the best plan to keep customers, employees, or contractors safe anymore.

What’s important is that your business is weighing those risks and making a plan for what you’ll do to prepare before an event, how you’ll respond during the event, and how you’ll safely restore the network and customers after the event. Yogi Berra may have said it best: “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Fortunately for us, as GIS professionals, we know that GIS is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to design and carry out these plans.

Before a typical storm season, telecom companies organized maps and dashboards to help them best prepare for a storm event. Perhaps they mapped historical hurricane or tornado tracks and compared them to their own service territories and network locations to identify locations with a higher probability of damage. At Esri, we’ve worked with HR departments to map employee home locations so that when storm paths became available, they instantly knew how the storm might affect employees and their families. Telecoms stage equipment and field technicians strategically so that once the event is over, recovery can begin more quickly.

While these ideas are all still valuable, COVID-19 adds levels of complexity. Telecoms must also now consider the health of their own employees or outside contractors. Local and state rules will vary from place to place, and they must take that into consideration. Adding maps of COVID-19 infections and testing centers must be considered. Entering a customer’s home to restore service is no longer a risk many are willing to take, both for the safety of the customer and the employee. We’ve heard of telecom companies curating a map of company-owned facilities available for restroom breaks and making that available to their field technicians.

Once the event is over, telecom companies want to assess the damage so they can begin prioritizing work for restoration. Systems that rely on paper forms or multiple calls between the field technician and dispatch will unnecessarily delay the critical nature of that work. Also, companies that relied on technicians working in teams or groups will have to re-assess risks. Some companies are using employee personal vehicles so that staff can maintain social distance while traveling to work locations. Companies are also staggering work start times so that the number of employees congregating at specific locations can be minimized. Technologies such as AVL (automatic vehicle location) work wonderfully to keep employees safe when the employee is in the vehicle but aren’t as helpful when staff are outside their trucks or using their own car. Many telecom organizations are looking to mobile apps (such as Tracker for ArcGIS) to ensure social distancing during work hours is maintained. It can also be a creative way to reimburse mileage for use of those personal vehicles.

Throughout this blog post, I mentioned many maps and data sources, as well as suggestions on how to use them to make data-driven decisions. Here are a few links:

COVID-19 data for use in your own internal business applications & dashboards: https://coronavirus-resources.esri.com/#get-data
Disaster Response datasets and layers for use within your own internal business applications & dashboards:
https://disasterresponse.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html
Esri Business Continuity solution:
https://solutions.arcgis.com/shared/help/coronavirus-business-continuity/
Tracker for ArcGIS:
https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/tracker-for-arcgis/overview

What’s your organization’s plan for Emergency Inception (an emergency within an emergency)? Share your ideas in the comments or reach out to us at telecominfo@esri.com if you’d like some help.

ArcGIS Field Operations Dev Summit 2020 Technical Session Videos

geonet@esri.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:34:28 GMT

Field Operations in ArcGIS are enabled by the following apps: Workforce for ArcGIS, Navigator for ArcGIS, Collector for ArcGIS, Survey123 for ArcGIS, ArcGIS QuickCapture, Explorer for ArcGIS and Tracker for ArcGIS. These apps enable you to bring your maps into the field, so fieldworkers and office staff use the same authoritative data to reduce errors, boost productivity, and save money. Their Dev Summit 2020 technical workshop videos are now available online, view them by clicking the blog link below:

ArcGIS Field Operations Dev Summit 2020 Technical Session Videos

Enjoy and stay safe,

Collector for ArcGIS (iOS) update

geonet@esri.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 17:41:36 GMT

Today we updated Collector for ArcGIS on the iOS platform. This new release introduces some nice new features and a host of UX updates and bug fixes. Please read our official blog announcement from the ArcGIS Blog site for details.

What's New In Collector (April 2020)

Communications Network Foundation Early Preview April 2020

phuls@esri.com — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:55:42 GMT

A highlight of capabilities in the April 2020 early preview release of the Communications Network Foundation for ArcGIS Utility Network Management.

Stay up to date and provide feedback here:Communications Network Foundation for ArcGIS Utility Network Management (Esri)

#AtHomeGIS: Creating a touchless mobile data collection workflow

phuls@esri.com — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 20:12:29 GMT

Join Zachary Aguayo and Jessica Altamira as they dive into the world of touchless mobile data collection utilizing the ArcGIS Platform. Together, we’ll explore ways to automate data collection by voice and enable smart notifications to the business units that need to know first! In just 30 minutes, we will teach you how to stand up a QuickCapture project, enable voice command data collection, and generate workforce tasks with just a few words! So grab a bag a chips and let’s ArcGIS!

Are Your Business Processes A Business Constraint?

phuls@esri.com — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 13:46:29 GMT

How is your Telecom managing business continuity for network operations and maintenance?

The telecom industry is renowned for being fast paced. This speed of change is being fueled by the rapid enhancements in technology. This technology capability is underpinning an organization’s ability to achieve digital transformation. But has technology outpaced legacy business processes and our ability to adapt to this change?

Almost every organization’s ability to adapt to change and maintain business continuity is being challenged in ways we never thought possible. This time last week, if we were describing the challenges that a modern Telecom was facing, we would have been talking about things like 5G, or one of the other enabling technologies to achieve some level of digital transformation. But today, like many industries, Telecoms are adjusting to the impacts of Covid-19 and looking for solutions that keep their employees connected, manage disparate data, and optimize their remote network operations and maintenance. Overnight, the way we do business has changed, and it is forcing many to rapidly pivot to support this sudden shift in operating models.

Telecoms need a connected digital operating model. It is this sudden shift in operating models that quickly brings to light constraints or roadblocks in legacy processes that are not digital. Any legacy process of workflow that is not digital or connected breaks the flow of information. It adds significant delays to updating systems. It limits decision making. Telecoms deal with very large datasets at a much higher velocity. It is more important than ever to enable and support a complete digital operating model. A digital operating model is more than just digitization. It creates a connected and optimized digital relationship between people, processes and technology.

Everything that happens in Telecom happens somewhere. Telecoms are relying on location technology to Integrate OSS/BSS information systems, gain Real Time Situation awareness and Optimize Resources and Network Operations.

OSS/BSS Integration

Telecoms have many critical information systems that are often not related or natively integrated. To create a digital operating model, Telecoms need to connect and integrate between their Operations Support System(OSS) and Business Support System(BSS). Esri provides advanced capabilities for maintaining network operations and the business around which that network is built. Integration with location brings together key data sets from Customer Relationship Management, Billing and Sales systems. With all the location information within telecommunications, a geospatial platform can integrate OSS and BSS with a common set of maps and geospatial tools. It is through this integration that users can create a single operational view and gain insight across the organization.

Real-time Situational Awareness

A common requirement in a modern Telecom is access to timely information to make more informed business decision. Latency caused through legacy processes or paper solutions have restricted Telecoms to modernize their operating model. ArcGIS allows users to configure real-time network operation views through web-based dashboards, analyze network capacity using location analytics, and provide restoration times to your customers through outage viewer maps. Information is integrated and shared across the organization as it is captured, eliminating back log and creating new business opportunities.

Resource & Network Optimization

As Telecoms adapt to new digital operating models, they will endeavor to look for innovative ways to optimize their resources and better understand how their network is operating. Industry experts have long said that optimization can only be achieved once you have all the information available. This means breaking down organizational silos while creating connected systems and information transparency. ArcGIS provides the platform to create a digital operating model to improve business processes. To reduce costs, you need to improve the utilization of your network assets and people. With location technology users can maximize network resources with tools like network suitability analysis for new wireless or fixed line service planning. To save time and costs users can also optimize field technicians with mobile apps showing network, service territories, job details and customer details.

Esri’s ArcGIS can help telecom organizations and communication service providers (CSPs) optimize their digital operating model using location intelligence and GIS technology. ArcGIS solutions provides a platform for digitizing workflows and processes using the most advanced location technology on the market. Telecoms can take advantage of an advanced digital network model, geospatial visualization and analytics, and multiple mobile apps that leverage an open and interoperable complete GIS.

Through the power of location technologies, Telecoms are able to navigate quickly beyond legacy processes to achieve digital transformation.

To Find out more visit GIS for Telecommunications I Network Operations & Maintenance

Content in GeoNet, The Esri Community | GIS and Geospatial Professional Community

The role of the physical network inventory in a software defined network world

Service Qualification

From Design to As-Built

Network Optimization

Communications Network Foundation for ArcGIS Utility Network Management (Esri)

Join the Discussion Below!

#AtHomeGIS: Leverage Real-Time GIS

Collector for ArcGIS - Useful Links

Mobile Device Management and ArcGIS Field Apps (Dev Summit 2020) - 1 hour

Planning for Emergencies During COVID-19

ArcGIS Field Operations Dev Summit 2020 Technical Session Videos

Collector for ArcGIS (iOS) update

Communications Network Foundation Early Preview April 2020

#AtHomeGIS: Creating a touchless mobile data collection workflow

Are Your Business Processes A Business Constraint?