MEF and TM Forum are aligning their efforts on open standard APIs to automate inter-provider services for digital transformation.
Specifically, MEF’s inter-provider LSO Sonata APIs will be aligned with TM Forum's APIs so as to prevent a forking of the standards.
MEF LSO Sonata APIs enable automation of MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet services, with additional work underway to automate connectivity services such as IP broadband, IP MPLS, Dedicated Internet Access, and 5G that underpin SD-WAN and SASE services at the network edge.
The two groups said their collaboration will help service providers accelerate their transition from operating within limited ecosystems/islands to being integral players in a worldwide federation of networks supporting on-demand digital services across multiple providers.
TM Forum and MEF have specifically aligned on the following:
- TM Forum is developing Domain Context Specialization Guidelines that enable MEF LSO Sonata APIs to conform to TM Forum Open API standards.
- TM Forum API tooling is now being used by MEF to build the set of LSO Sonata APIs.
- LSO Sonata API product payloads work in alignment with TM Forum API standards using a polymorphic approach.
- The organizations have established a framework for ongoing collaboration.
“API alignment between MEF and TM Forum paves the way for members of both standards bodies to federate with the confidence and will accelerate service delivery across multiple providers.” said Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF. “Automation of inter-provider services – with currently available and planned LSO APIs – ultimately opens up opportunities to offer enterprise customers on-demand/ dynamic connectivity with coveted global reach.”
“CSPs are clear that B2B services will be critical to the success of 5G. This requires CSPs to offer enterprises access to complex solutions to business challenges. CSPs cannot do this on their own, so building out ecosystems of partners to meet the myriad needs of enterprises is essential,” said George Glass, Chief Technology Officer, TM Forum. “Open APIs are an important part of integrating partner capabilities and enabling CSPs to establish, operate and monetize platform-based business models. Both MEF and TM Forum recognized that bringing our APIs into alignment was for the good of the industry.”
http://www.mef.net/Press-Releases/MEF-and-TM-Forum-Collaborate-on-Open-APIs-for-Service-Automation
MEF's LSO Inter-Provider Automation takes another step forward
Eight leading service providers are on track to be production-ready in 2Q 2020 for deploying MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata APIs to automate the ordering of MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet Access E-Line services:
- AT&T
- Infonas
- Bestel
- PCCW Global
- Sparkle
- Colt Technology Services
- Telefónica International Wholesale Services
- HGC Global Communications
Five already have implemented LSO Sonata APIs in production environments and three expect to be ready for deployment before the end of Q2 2020. In addition, Bloomberg is the first multinational enterprise to take this step.The goal of LSO Sonata APIs is to help service providers to transition from operating as independent islands to participating in a global federation of automated networks that will support dynamic inter-provider services with frictionless commerce.
