The Buzz About AIOps

What’s the buzz around AIOps? According to Gartner, “AIOps is the application of machine learning (ML) and data science to IT operations problems.”

Though the terms AI and ML conjure images of almost magical capabilities, devoid of connection to the domain in which it’s applied, actually the reality is far different. Successful AIOps implementations generally involve strong engagement of the practitioners, with domain expertise, working with the technology / technologists in a tightly linked, iterative manner.

Though the implementation can be more mundane than the buzz might imply, it is, indeed, massively transformative! It matters because it’s a key lever to drive competitive advantage. And competitive advantage is hugely important in the telecom arena where providers are burdened with a legacy of silos and technical debt, as they try to transform 

How Does AIOps for IT Help Telcos Stay Competitive?

It’s all about the connections! Connecting data across silos, connecting the business to the data and the tech, and connecting practitioners to the leaders and strategists.

Modern telecommunications enterprises are burdened in today’s complex IT environment. Many Telcos are working within siloed organizations that struggle to realize the benefits presented by digitization and the explosion of data across their ecosystems. Silos in the background include disparate systems across BSS/OSS environments, and networks, as well as organizational silos — the residual effects of M&A activity, and a legacy corporate ethos of segmentation. These organizations need a flexible, holistic approach for monitoring networks, support systems, and the services they support...and this need becomes all the more critical as software and networks meld in virtualized environments. Just to make things more interesting (challenging), providers are also grappling with an exploding demand for new complex services requiring near real-time support and intelligence.

So how does one get started? Well...start small, and grow incrementally!

Rather than trying to boil the ocean, better to start small and build incrementally. The key is to focus on connecting the dots in a flexible fashion with an incremental progression — best achieved with tools that are dynamic and flexible and intuitive enough to engage the business directly. Belong, an Australian Telecom company, followed this path in applying AIOps to transform their approach to Network and Service Operations. At Belong, the practitioners in Operations were in the driver’s seat, using their knowledge of the networks, services, workflows, and customer needs to inform and drive their approach to AIOps implementation. Belong was able to break down silos, integrate systems and data, and drive faster insights and action.  The net result was a dramatic improvement in operational efficiency, service reliability, and — most importantly — dramatically improved customer experience.

For those at the senior leadership level who are seeking to evolve their IT and Network infrastructure for what comes next, it is important to tap into the practitioner’s knowledge and passion, to understand the current challenges and modalities, and to drive towards a better way. This, ultimately, is the most important gap to close — as with all transformation, the challenge lies as much in the organization as the technological realm. Though technology enables, organizations achieve. 

Splunk and Accenture have partnered and developed a solution guide “Next Generation Intelligent Telcos,” highlighting how organizations can drive innovation and digital transformation with integrated AIOps architectures. In this guide are highlighted use cases showing positive business outcomes for AIOps applications within a Telco environment. This is also highlighted in a recent Accenture and Splunk joint webinar along with Belong who shared examples of how they have utilized these practices to improve their IT operations overall. Evolving changes in customer needs and interactions are altering the foundation on how Telcos sell and support their products and services across various ecosystems. Using AIOps to build a strong foundation to support these ecosystems is essential in ongoing success for Telecom provider’s competitive stance in the marketplace. How does your organization use AIOps to gain insights to support your customer’s needs?