Category: Insights

Categories
Media & Entertainment

Deliver uninterrupted, high-quality entertainment services

Build an effective monitoring framework to ensure high performance of microservices-based streaming services

The multi-fold increase in video content consumption and the different types of devices like mobiles, laptops, and smart TVs used to consume this content have made service providers move towards microservices. Most of the forward-thinking service providers have started adopting microservice-based architecture for the Video-on-Demand (VoD) services to handle the huge number of requests with minimum response time. Further, it enables scalability and continuous deployment of complex applications, thus providing uninterrupted entertainment services. Adoption of microservices-based applications helps to reap benefits such as:

  • Deliver video at scale to meet billions of customer requests each day
  • Handle the load spikes efficiently during special events (e.g. Premier League football games)
  • Ensure reliable delivery and availability of video content services
  • Implement auto-scaling algorithms to save cost by running at optimum capacity during silent hours


The adoption of microservices-based applications helps service providers to deliver entertainment services at scale, meeting billions of customer requests each day.

However, monitoring microservice-based applications is a highly complex task as a single application runs on multiple hosts in a very dynamic environment. It also needs to interact with several other systems that are dynamic. Implementing the right toolchain is critical for effective performance monitoring of microservice-based applications.

Categories
Operational Excellence

Optimizing RPA implementation with increased automation potential

A lot of players in the connectedness industry have started embracing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate different tasks across various systems and streamline their business processes. However, service providers are still finding it difficult to optimize one of the most important success factors of RPA implementation – the automation potential. Incidentally, the answer to this challenge lies in the initial steps of the implementation roadmap itself.

An ideal RPA implementation roadmap consists of seven steps, from Proof of Technology (PoT) to the actual go-live of RPA. The key to increasing the automation potential of any process lies in effectively performing the first 3 steps – Proof of Technology, Process Assessment, and Input Standardization. This insight elaborates on specific tools and techniques to excel in these steps and increase the automation potential by 25%.


One of the most important success factors of RPA implementation is increasing its automation potential.

Categories
Operational Excellence

Staying ahead of security threats

Leverage Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate security support processes for better management of security threats

Digital security threats have become prevalent and continue to disrupt every aspect of the digital world. Increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals exploit sophisticated technology, leaving organizations feeling helpless as their confidential information and critical assets fall victim to malicious attacks. To combat the threats, service providers need to focus more on threat detection and mitigation capabilities. Furthermore, they need to focus on the related metrics such as Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time to Mitigate (MTTM).

Typically, a small team of technical support executives is deployed to handle the customer-facing security incidents (e.g., in the broadband service offered to residential or enterprise customers). While this team of experts is capable of handling regular day-to-day activities, it will be extremely challenging for them if there is a sudden security threat, which creates a huge volume of tickets to resolve in a short span of time.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a great technology to handle numerous, repetitive, and mundane processes. Service providers leverage it to automate various processes like order-to-activate, assurance, fulfillment, and billing. However, using RPA to handle high volume and low-frequency security tickets is unconventional in the communications industry. This Insight discusses effective strategies for implementing RPA in the service providers’ ecosystem.


Security teams which typically tend to be smaller in size, are not equipped to handle the high volume of incidents when a major crash down occurs. Use RPA to handle high volume and low-frequency security tickets in the communications industry

Categories
IT Agility

Minimize the backup failures in data centers

According to different analysts, “5% to 25% of the backup jobs are failing across various tiers of data centers”. This impacts data centers heavily in revenue loss and SLA-based penalties. Further loss of essential data deteriorates customer experience. Hence, data centers must identify the root cause and reduce backup failures. The top reasons behind backup failures in data centers are the lack of storage space, database permission issues, and linear processing of high-volume backup jobs. Data centers should leverage a unique solution strategy to eliminate these problems and create successful backups.

Fig: Proven approaches to minimize the backup failure rate


Around 5-25% of the backup jobs are failing across various tiers of data centers

Categories
IT Agility

Simplify IT service management with consolidation

Leverage a unified ticketing system to enhance the ITSM consolidation program

Every service provider’s application landscape consists of multiple systems performing diverse functions. Managing standalone systems which are not interconnected involves enormous effort and cost. Also, service providers today are increasing acquisitions every year. In this post-merger environment, end-users struggle with distributed IT Service Management (ITSM) environment and unfamiliar technologies, which leads to a spike in demand for support. Some of the critical challenges faced in distributed ITSM environment are

  • Multiple processes for the same service management function
  • Complex third-party integrations
  • Lack of unified, integrated dashboard view from different systems

To overcome these challenges, process consolidation has become imperative. Businesses looking at ways to cut costs and enhance competitiveness are embracing various strategies to consolidate ITSM systems. This insight details the unified ticketing system and critical considerations for businesses to advance their ITSM consolidation program.

Fig. Key considerations to advance the ITSM consolidation strategy


With the growing trend of mergers and acquisitions across the Connectedness industry, the need for ITSM systems and process consolidation has become imperative.

Categories
IT Agility

Unified network inventory ecosystem

Consolidate fragmented inventories into a single source of truth, and optimize processes such as network planning and design, and service assurance

Network inventory is made up of assets (Physical, Virtual, and Logical elements), and locating the correct asset in the right place as quickly as possible is essential for delivering services to customers on time. In recent times, mergers and acquisitions have fuelled the growth of service providers in the connectedness industry. As a result, most organizations have multiple disjointed inventory systems, often performing similar tasks, with critical data scattered across different systems. This results in duplicate information, complicated data retrieval and analysis, and ultimately impairs inventory visibility.

Service providers are trying to build a unified inventory system to have an in-depth network view. Still, the complexity involved in developing and implementing such a consolidation strategy discourages service providers from attempting.

In this insight, Prodapt presents a unique network inventory consolidation strategy with critical levers to help service providers achieve a unified inventory ecosystem. The levers help to cleanse the data and study its relationship recursively. This reduces the analysis and development time during network consolidation. Service providers can analyze tons of data from various sources, formulate, and have a complete view of their network inventory.


To succeed in a highly competitive market, service providers must have a unified view of their network inventory, encompassing physical, virtual, logical, and services inventory.