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• Conventional vs. Automated Lab
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Service Providers

Technology change for telcos and cable companies deploying new network services or infrastructure has never been faster or more complex. Product requirements ranging from the expansion of wireless services to deployment of innovative IPTV or VoIP services is increasing the pressure on telecommunications service providers to deliver customer offerings more quickly, more profitably -- and across more platforms.

But with opportunity comes risk. Failure to get the latest service into market or network equipment reliably installed on time-and within quality specifications-can mean millions in lost revenue. And improperly tested service and equipment once deployed can result in the loss of thousands of dissatisfied subscribers when problems occur.

Traditional testing methods force tradeoffs among a host of unattractive challenges: providing inadequate test coverage using static test beds, long test cycles due to manual setup and configuration of test topologies, or significant capital expenditures due to replication of equipment, test beds, and even entire labs. A converged network environment demands a change from conventional testing methods.

For example, one large North American service provider often required 6 or more days to setup a test that only took 6 hours. Moreover, the tests they created were not reusable, forcing them to start each test from scratch in most cases. By adding lab automation solutions, their goal is to dramatically change the time ratio between setup and actual testing by reducing setup time by as much as 70%.

In another case, a major provider had a significant capital investment in lab equipment that was severely underutilized. Despite the large equipment pool, costly regression test cycles for equipment vendor software releases took far too long and often resulted in bugs in the live environment. In moving to a test automation process, the service provider aims to increase equipment utilization by four-fold, reduce the time for test regression by 80% and increase overall test coverage by a factor of 3X.