ATIO telecoms division offers global leading edge IP service performance test and management solutions. Our world is changing, and convergence is a reality. Telecoms companies offer entertainment, entertainment companies offer broadband and broadband companies offer telephony. At the heart of this is the IP data revolution, delivering combined services to consumers and businesses using packet-based protocols. Whether it is broadband, IPTV, VoIP, music, VPN or any other data service, operators are finding the competitive landscape more complex and challenging than ever before. Consumers have more choices and lower barriers to exit, making the challenges of customer loyalty difficult to say the least.

ATIO's IP Service Assurance services strive to provide customers with the ability to provide greater operational awareness into the quality, availability and efficacy of new IP services. This need is driven by an understanding that the latency associated with IP traffic can cause issues with quality (not to mention compatibility) with many legacy operational support services. With the rapid changes taking place in the emerging markets telecommunications regulatory environment, combined with the global economic situation, there is significant emphasis in businesses to ensure that they are differentiated on excellent products and services.

This is much more prevalent in the telecoms environment where network performance and fault management will become the platform on which all providers are measured.  With a clear vision in mind to add significant value in the IP Service Assurance Space, ATIO has embarked on a journey that will result in a stronger networking environment throughout Africa.  This is an ideal opportunity to enable carriers with tools that can significantly add value to every business that utilises any form of telecommunications.

A move to an experienced based economy results in complex business models that require a modern approach to Customer Experience Testing, as illustrated in the following diagram:

In the South African market the competitive situation is only intensifying due to:

• Increasing number of players in a traditionally monopolized environment (especially with the new VANS licensing)
• Deregulation and new technology providing different access options for consumers (WiMAX, Fibre, broadband, HSDPA, 3G to name a few)
• Downward pricing pressure (with an increased consumer awareness on reliability and service quality)
• Build up to world events (2010) and related expectations
• Opening up of bandwidth (large fiber rollouts, undersea cables, wireless technology deployments etc)

"While IPTV has its own special requirements, operators have a strong desire to test all the services on their network, not just one soloed offering, the biggest trend is toward convergence" said Frost & Sullivan analyst Yashkova.

"With service convergence and fixed/mobile convergence taking place among service providers, the trend among testing vendors is to offer converged, triple-play testing. Testing all three services -- IP voice, data and video -- in a single box, that's what service providers are looking for."

"Network transformations will have a major impact on spending in the service assurance market," claims Patrick Kelly, Research Director at researchandmarkets.com. "The market for next-generation service assurance software will be driven by network upgrades and the service applications that use this technology. Upgrades in the core, aggregation and access networks will lay the foundation for voice, video and data services, generating demand for solutions to measure quality and isolate problems in complex multi-domain networks. Demand for probe, fault and performance software will follow technology upgrades in the short term, followed by demand for solutions that support IP services."

ATIO has recognised the need to assist in accelerating Africa's Telecoms to align with first world standards. This positions ATIO as an independent and specialist service provider of world class IP Service Assurance services.

According to Figure 2 below, it was apparent in 2007 that the next-generation service delivery platform was inevitable, and as a result, there will be a high benefit associated to IP Service Assurance, network testing, pre-deployment and post-deployment testing.

Gartner justifies the position of IP service assurance on the Hype Cycle TM as a reflection of the hype caused by concern for customer-perceived quality of new services. Although the primary business impact areas will be carriers (who will heavily invest in IP service assurance solutions as they migrate to all-IP networks), the benefits extend to all consumers. The effect of IP service assurance will be in ensuring that new IP services are differentiated among providers in terms of perceived customer experience.

In order to deliver this type of high-end assurance, ATIO has formed partnership(s) with world leader(s) in IP Service    Assurance - Ixia. The matrix below illustrates ATIO's capability and indicates the type of services available to customers. However, a thorough needs analysis for IP Service Assurance is required for each business because of the nature of the service.

ATIO's IP Service Assurance capabilities: 

• High speed ethernet testing
• Security testing
• Routing and testing
• Test automation
• Service provider deployments