Over the next few weeks we will be running a series of posts highlighting our key partners in the network automation and management space and providing some insights into why we have chosen these companies and platforms and more importantly what the benefits to our joint customers are.
To begin, a network inventory platform is an essential element of the telecoms operators toolset today, acting as the single source of truth and the foundation stone for an automation strategy for any network operator, small or large. “If you don’t know what’s in the network then you can’t automate it” is one of the most commonly used phases when discussing the start of a network automation strategy with customers.
At Iricent we partner and work closely with Merkator who provide key enablers for network automation, i.e. geospatial software and network inventory management solutions.
Merkator’s Marlin Digital Twin
Marlin Digital Twin (MarlinDT) is Merkator’s flagship product that creates a digital twin for network infrastructure. It integrates GIS, physical inventory, logical inventory and geospatial asset management in one platform. MarlinDT goes beyond basic inventory management to provide a logical inventory tool that supports all aspects of the network lifecycle from design through deployment and into operations. Similarly the MarlinDT solution can be deployed in a multi-vendor environment and supports standard integration with a wide range of leading BSS and OSS platforms.
Communications Service Providers, smart grid operators, smart cities, water authorities, gas utilities and state agencies are the main users of Merkator’s Marlin DT. They rely on Marlin DT to plan, design and operate their network infrastructure. MarlinDT uses Digital Twin technology to create realistic digital representations of physical and virtual network assets along with associated processes to optimise network operations and enhance service delivery.
MarlinDT – a modular approach to generating a network Digital Twin:
- Operational inventory – MarlinDT provides a next-generation inventory solution that probes the network to discover, document, build and continuously update a unified, accurate, comprehensive end-2-end multi-layered, multi-vendor representation of network assets and services across different domains and technologies. It allows for a consistent depiction of the physical, logical, virtual and service layers of the network.
- Geospatial network inventory – a MarlinDT solution powered by Esri ArcGIS that enables planning, designing, building, operation and support of network infrastructure. It offers powerful views of physical network inventory such as outside and inside plant.
- Workflow automation – MarlinDT enables automation of workflows to increase productivity and operational accuracy. It has a flexible and configurable data model that can handle any network infrastructure and architecture to support complex workflows such as automation and orchestration.
- Operational Functions supported include network planning, design, root-cause analysis, single point of failure, capacity management, service fulfilment and assurance,
- Scalable solution – MarlinDT can manage millions of network objects without impacting performance and is easily integrated with NMS, OSS,BSS and ERP systems.
For an example of how Iricent and Merkator have partnered to deliver Merkator’s Marlin DT to Enet – Ireland’s leading open access service provider – please visit Enet Partners with Iricent and Merkator to Launch MarlinDT: Network Inventory Digital Twin
If you would like more information or to learn how Iricent and Merkator can support your organisation’s network automation and digital transformation needs please contact us below