AMDOCS OSS

RELEASE 8.1

Task Engine 8.1.0

Product Description
Document Information

Release: 8.1
Publication Date: 30 December 2009
Catalog Number:
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Created: 9/23/2008 12:49:00 PM
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Last Edited: 11/05/2010 10:53:39 AM
File Name: Task Engine 8.1.0 Product Description.docx
Template: Product.dot

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction to Amdocs Task Engine .............................................................................. 1

Key features and benefits .................................................................................................................... 2
Integrated product suite ....................................................................................................................... 3

2 Product Features .............................................................................................................. 5

3 User Interface Functions .................................................................................................. 7

Views .................................................................................................................................................... 7
WebReports ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Wizards ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Resource and Relations Browsers....................................................................................................... 8
Homepages .......................................................................................................................................... 9

4 Licensing Information..................................................................................................... 11

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1 Introduction to Amdocs Task Engine
New technologies and differentiated service options mean that service design
and network build spans multiple technologies and network domains, but often
the provisioning processes and business rules are on paper or in people’s heads.
This results in high levels of expensive rework, with issues having to be
resolved manually as they arise.

With customers demanding shorter lead times and personalized service

portfolios, manual provisioning processes fail to scale, resulting in increased
customer frustration and cancellations due to slow, inconsistent, and error-
prone service delivery.

Amdocs Task Engine provides design automation using Templates to manage

the detailed allocation of network resources to a service or network build. By
capturing resource dependencies and the order of resource assignments in a
process Template, repeatable, consistent designs and implementation of
business rules is ensured from one Project to the next.

In summary, Task Engine provides:

• Automated technical design of service orders and network capacity

requests
• Mapping of customer orders and planning requests to design Templates
• Bulk operations for automated network rollout, configuration and
reconfiguration
• Consistent application of technical and business rules

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Task Engine 8.1.0 Product Description

• Recording of all design actions as DesignRecords

Key features and benefits

Consistent, repeatable design
High volumes of rework and re-engineering are a direct consequence of
inconsistent designs and poor data quality. Good data quality requires the
inventory to be maintained as an integral part of the provisioning process, not
as an afterthought. Consistent design requires the repeatable execution of the
technical design steps and the implementation of an operator’s specific
business rules and technical steps for each step.

Task Engine uses Templates to capture the detailed technical design and
assignment Tasks required to fulfill a service order or network capacity
request. When a service or network request is received, Task Engine manages
the assignment of resources in the Amdocs Resource Manager inventory,
generating a DesignRecord for each configuration change. The way in which
resources are assigned is controlled by the automatic application of any
relevant rules and constraints. These are applied for each Task, ensuring that
the resulting design generates a consistent and correct set of DesignRecords for
each execution.

Each Task Engine Template stipulates the Task steps to be executed in order to
fulfill the request. Tasks can be manual or automated; request user input;
assigned to individuals, groups and departments; and sequenced to determine
the order of resource assignment. Typical Tasks would include the checking of
available capacity, port assignments, circuit design, cross-connect cabling and
customer equipment specification.

Scaling craft processes

Service design and network configuration is typically a manual, labor intensive
task requiring highly skilled individuals. Unfortunately, provisioning backlogs
are commonplace, caused by increasing volumes of services coupled with the
rollout of new network capacity. Scaling provisioning processes requires both
automation (to achieve volume) and also a reduction on the dependency of
skilled staff.

Task Engine ensures that service orders and network capacity requests are
implemented correctly and consistently each time. Automating the design is the
final step, providing not only consistent designs, but also the capability to
fulfill a high volume of provisioning requests without growing staff numbers.

Cross technology design

Task Engine can be used across any technology. This includes designs that
span a mix of technologies, for example, IP over ATM. Resource Manager

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 Chapter 1. Introduction to Amdocs Task Engine

inventory holds an integrated view of the network that encompasses all

technology layers. Task Engine assigns resources from the Resource Manager
model when designing new services and network builds.

Integrated product suite

Resource Manager integration
Task Engine Templates have full access to the Resource Manager inventory in
order to query for available resources, reserve resources, and perform complex
network changes.

Process integration
Task Engine is the principle fulfillment design tool within Amdocs OSS 8.1. Its
position in the fulfillment pipeline allows it to integrate with Amdocs Service
Fulfillment Adapter, Amdocs Service Catalog and Amdocs Order Management
Adapter to capture requests for services or network change. Once these
requests have been converted in to a network design by Task Engine, and
presented as DesignRecords, the process flow moves on to Amdocs Delivery
Engine for implementation.

Task Engine may also initiate Amdocs Route Finder to assist with common
circuit routing activities.

Figure 1 – Task Engine product positioning

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2 Product Features
Design Project Templates
Task Engine uses Templates to capture the list of steps required to fulfill each
design request. This is illustrated here by a typical example for extension of a
VPN – automating the design steps for
Service Details
Customer Location
the addition of a new site.
Service Bandwidth

Service
Identify Provider Edge Router In this example the service details and
Order Create Customer Edge Router location information are passed in the
Parameters
Create CE-PE Link service order. The Template defines the
Create Bearer steps necessary to design the service
Create SVC/PVC request – identifying the provider edge
Allocate CE Logical IP address (PE) and customer edge (CE) routes,
Allocate PE Logical IP address
and VRF Numbers
specifying the PE to CE connectivity,
Allocate CER Loopback Address
and allocating IP addresses.
Obtain PER Loopback Address
Any number of Templates can exist for
Create Site Topology
each Design Project, for example, to
Specify Connectivity Topology
support the provisioning of gold, silver
Specify VPN Topology
and bronze variants of a service. The
creation of a Task Engine Design Project
and association of the required Template
can be completed automatically through the Service Fulfillment Adapter
(SFA), Order Management Adapter (OMA), through Service Catalog order
decomposition, or manually using the Task Engine Project Wizard.

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Task Engine 8.1.0 Product Description

Configurable design Tasks

Task Engine Templates are built from a range of generic Task Types. Each
Task has a type (automatic, resource identification, attribute input for example)
and specific validation that can be performed on initiation and completion of
the Task. Using the generic Task Types as building blocks, Templates can be
developed for any type of service order or network design.

Input The definition of Template structure can be defined in

Automatic metadata, providing the capability to rapidly capture
the technical process steps. This approach can also be
Conditional
particularly useful for rapid prototyping.
Group
Tasks can then be automated by associating execution
Identify Resource
functions for the Task. The extent of automation can
Modify Resource be as simple as offering default selections to the user,
through to the complete build of new network
equipment and resources.

Automatic generation of DesignRecords

The output of each completed Task is one or more DesignRecords. Each
DesignRecord provides a technical description of the resources that have been
allocated. For example, a DesignRecord will capture the design of a new
planned circuit route. Typically, the information includes the circuit name,
circuit type, A-End node/port, Z-End node/port, bandwidth, underlying circuit
routing information, design date and provision status. DesignRecords are fully
configurable – the standard information can be augmented, either from the
Resource Manager inventory, or by calling out to external systems.

Support for zero-touch operation

A Task Engine design process can be partially or fully automated. With a fully
automated Task Engine Template, a service or network design can take
seconds to complete. Allied with Task Engine’s API which enables full ‘zero
touch’ operation, Task Engine can be deployed at the core of a fully automated
flow-through service provisioning architecture.

Assignment of Tasks to individual users and groups

Straightforward service orders and network capacity requests may involve
different individuals and departments. Task Engine provides the capability to
assign Tasks to specific individuals, groups and departments, and to coordinate
the execution and completion of the Design Project across different parts of the
organization.

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3 User Interface Functions
Task Engine is fully integrated into the Amdocs OSS client and consistent with
other Amdocs OSS products. For example, wizards guide the user through the
design steps, and WebReports provide graphical and interactive summaries of
Task Engine’s Design Projects, and Task Engine components appear as
extensions of the standard Browser capability.

Views
Task Engine does not introduce any additional Views.

WebReports
The Task Engine WebReports provide information on Design Projects at the
Project, Task and user level. As for all WebReports, filtering options are
provided, as well as context sensitive navigation to other tools and further
analysis of the object and related context in the network.

Project Summary WebReport

The Project Summary WebReport presents the status of any Task Engine
Project and gives the user a view of the Project and all its associated
DesignRecords and affected resources.

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Task Engine 8.1.0 Product Description

Project Task WebReport

The Project Task WebReport displays a list of all Tasks related to a selected
Task Engine Project. Tasks and their associated attributes are listed in the order
that the design occurs.

Owner Task WebReport

The Owner Task WebReport displays a list of all Tasks by Project for a
particular Task Engine user. The Tasks are listed in order of priority, indicating
the planned and actual finish dates. The report is filterable by Task Engine user
and due date.

Wizards
Task Engine Wizards support the processing of Design Templates, undoing
Tasks within a Template, undoing a complete Design Project, and configuring
the user privileges.

Design Project Wizard

The Design Project Wizard is an extension of the standard Resource Manager
Project Wizard and is used to create a new Project and to associate a Task
Engine process Template. This results in the automatic generation of the Task
list for the required service or network build.

Process Task Wizard

The Process Task Wizard executes a Design Project. The behavior of the
wizard is driven by the process Template – Projects can be fully automated
(requiring no user intervention), partially automated (requiring some user input
or resource selection), or can be entirely manual.

Undo Task Wizard

The Undo Task Wizard allows a user to select and undo completed or partially
completed Tasks within a Task Engine Project.

Owner Wizard
The Owner Wizard enables configuration of Task ownership within Templates.

Resource and Relations Browsers

The Projects tab in the Inventory Browser lists all Projects by project types.
Project icons are color coded to represents provision status. Drilling into a
Project entry exposes the Project Tasks. Different Task Types determine how
resources are allocated, or how a decision relating to the design process is
made.

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 Chapter 3. User Interface Functions

Homepages
All Task Engine objects have a dynamically generated HomePage allowing
access to configuration information on the object, and links to other related
objects. Every HomePage has standard attributes for naming, audit trail and
status management purposes.

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4 Licensing Information
Product name Amdocs Task Engine
Product Code IN8-SV-0250-00
Product pre-requisites IN8-SV-0100-00 Amdocs Resource Manager
Platform pre-requisites Amdocs OSS 8.1 Platform Requirements
API Customization Kit Description Document
Licensing The product is licensed on a deployed instance basis
with a base price plus a service capability
increment.
Delivery list • Right to use license
• Software
• Documentation
• Installation notes and release notes

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Document Release Information
Edited Doc
Release Editor Comments Sent to Site Approved By
Date Version
7.5 S. Lee 30/09/2009 N/A 1.0
8.0 P. Eksteen 18/12/2009 Updated for 8.0 N/A 1.1
8.1 P. Eksteen 05/11/2010 Updated for 8.1 N/A 1.2

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