Co-existence of TMN and CORBA for service management

There are many driving forces which have compelled telecommunication operators and vendors to seek new solutions in telecommunications management. Increased competition has led to an increased focus on how traditional operators can do their business better through the use of integrated service and network management systems. Moreover, there is a need to integrate legacy applications and new applications, all of which could be written in different languages, perhaps running on different platforms, and almost certainly distributed over a network. CORBA has been recognised as a key technology solution. Based on the case studies performed for the ACTS project PROSPECT, this paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of TMN (Telecommunications Management Network) and CORBA regarding network and service management, and proposes a phased approach for TMN-CORBA co-existence in the telecommunications management arena based on the Management Systems Framework of the Network Management Forum. Moreover, it presents some initial ideas concerning required basic management functionality that serve as a background for the CORBA/TMN gateway functionality to be implemented within the PROSPECT trial network.