ntl

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ntl

The design, development and support of a central IT platform to co-ordinate the flow of transaction data between ntl's broadcast, interactive, data interchange database, programme scheduling and billing applications, plus the support of the Interactive Cable System (ICS) provisioning platform and a range of other bespoke applications.

The Challenge

With nearly 50 years experience, ntl is one of the leading providers of broadcast service in the UK. It delivers ITV, Channel 4/S4C, Channel 5 and over 250 commercial radio stations to more than 22 million households in the UK, and uplinks over 100 of the best-known satellitechannels to the Sky platform.

Formed from the merger of six cable companies, each with its own customer management system, ntl needed a central application capable of aggregating information from all sources into one set of data that could be used to provideinteractive Digital Television (iDTV) services.

“The provisioning of services is the most important part of our business,” says Jeff Roberts, Acting Head of Engineering, ntl, “because if we can't switch people on, we don't have their business. So, we had to come up with a solution that met the needs of our business units. As Fujitsu was already providing support for our broadcast transaction systems, we asked them to come up with a solution that delivered the required functionality.”

The Solution

Working with ntl's IT architects, Fujitsu designed and built a central IT platform to co-ordinate the flow of transaction data between ntl's broadcast, interactive, data interchange database, programme scheduling and billing applications. The application, called the Multi Queue Data Interchange (MQDI) system, was deliveredat the end of 2001.

Jeff Roberts says, “Fujitsu came up with a solution that was ideal for ntl and the development and implementation of MQDI went very well. It's a very good piece of work that has improved the stability and capacity of our provisioning and its scalability is also limitless. It is not something that ntl would have been able to deliver.”

Kevin Burford, Interactive Engineering Manager, ntl, confirms, “The original Data Interchange system was a massive bottle-neck that caused loads of problems. MQDI is much more stable and efficient, which is one of the big pluses of working with Fujitsu.”

MQDI is now used to manage 630,000 set-top boxes, handling 20-25,000 transactions and provisioning services for around 1,000 customers a day. This includes activating a new customer, upgrading or downgrading subscriptions, disconnections, access to interactive services and Internet related services, such as a change of e-mail address.

Fujitsu also provides support for the MQDI system, as well as the Interactive Cable System (ICS) provisioning platform, which retrieves and processes the interactive transactions to give the set-top box access to iDTV, and a range of otherbespoke applications.

As part of the service, Fujitsu is responsible for the day-to-day support of the systems and resolution of all issues. Its application engineers are also available to help resolve any anomalies in the platform, as well as providing support for ntl's Quality Assurance laboratories in testing new products and services. Fujitsu also undertakes development work on new applications or system enhancements to ensure that they can be integrated into the architecture without affecting theother applications.

Having acquired the consumer operations of Cable and Wireless Communications plc in 1999, ntl has run the companies' systems separately, but is currently working to unify them. Jeff Roberts explains, “We now have a big project to create a single customer management system and Fujitsu isheavily involved in that side of things.”

Phil Pavitt, Chief Information Officer, ntl, comments, “As our infrastructure has been created by many companies coming together it's extremely complex. We can't work with IT partners who are put off by the size of the task, and Fujitsu has certainly embraced the bigger picture. I like the way Fujitsu has put in the extra effort to learn about us, and then used the learning to question us intelligently. Working with Fujitsu has led us in new and interesting directions, and inspired us to reassess some key areas. It's been a revelation.”

By choosing Fujitsu to develop and support its core provisioning systems for iDTV, ntl is benefiting from:

• A very reliable, scalable and secure platform, capable of managing large volumes of data
• An extremely high level of service availability of 99.9%, meeting or exceeding agreed SLAs
• Minimised business disruption with the proactive identification and resolution of any problems or issues by on site engineers
• Technical knowledge transfer about the design and management of the provisioning platform
• The flexibility to respond quickly to changing technical, business and customer requirements
• The ability to focus on core business activities, rather than the underlying technology and processes
• Cost efficiencies and economies of scale, resulting from Fujitsu's proven management methodologies and centralised IT resources
• Accurate budgeting for support services, with predictable costs over the period of the contract
• Access to Fujitsu's extensive management, technical, operational and commercial expertise.

The Implementation

Over the course of its relationship with ntl, Fujitsu has refined the scope and scale of its support operations in linewith the evolving needs of the business.

Kevin Burford explains, “At ntl we're interested in stopping faults from happening, rather than just reacting and getting services back-up quickly. This is why we always try and understand the main issue behind any problems, by investigating the logs, to prevent it happening again. This is now second nature to us and Fujitsu is very proactive in identifying causes and spotting problems before they occur. This commitment has improved the reliability of our platform, so there's not a lot of reactive work to do on it, and gained therespect of ntl's engineers.”

“The fact that Fujitsu's engineers work on site is also very helpful,” says Jeff Roberts. “Not only have they been here for years so everyone knows them, but they can also help out at the drop of a hat. They're just a part of the ntl team.”

The Expertise

With over 30 years experience of implementing, supporting and managing mission critical systems, Fujitsu can provide its customers with the technical and business expertise neededto optimise operational effectiveness.

Jeff Roberts comments, “A vendor needs to understand the needs of the customer's customer, but the majority of vendors will miss out that last customer. Fujitsu appreciates the difference - and the fact that one support call from a call centre is one too many. This understanding of our business stems from the fact that Fujitsu has been around from day one - when ntl first built its digital platform. A vendor coming inform the cold just wouldn't have that level of understanding.”

“Fujitsu was originally chosen to provide support for our Windows-based platform, because ntl didn't have the core skills set to run such a system,” says Kevin Burford. “Now it knows what we need, why it's needed and how it's needed. Fujitsu has the long-term interest of ntl at heart.”