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Figure 3Consultative approach to meeting needs.The service network is fundamentallyabout developing a controllable productionenvironment for the operator—for creating,launching, managing and charging for servicesbeyond voice. It is in this domain thatthe operator addresses content, manages servicesdevelopment and launches services.Prepaid billing, roaming and customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) are just afew of the aspects that pertain to the servicenetwork.Consultancy front-endBy following a step-by-step approach,Ericsson provides a consultative front-end atthe beginning of each customer project toassess the operator's current business andtechnical environments. Typically, consultantswill analyze the operator's legacy environment,identifying components thatcan be retained and reused in the service networksolution. This assessment provides aninventory of what the operator has in termsof legacy systems, and what can be reused inrelation to functions, systems, products andsoftware.The consultancy stage first focuses onbusiness requirements. From these it devisesa complete technical solution. The consultantslook at the operator's entire businessmodel and business chain and the implicationsthat these might have on thechoice of technology and implementation.Eticsson can draw on a broad portfoliofrom its services business, which is designedto understand the operator's businessprocesses and systems (Figure 3). This portfolioincludes advisory services, such as businessopportunity analysis, strategic planning,and cost analysis, whereby the operatorobtains an overall picture of the opportunitiesand risks involved. Other servicesare designed to look at the operator's marketingoperations, including sales strategyand revenue forecasting.A holistic view of the operator environmentis essential, since every aspect of thebusiness must be considered openly. Definingthe service network from every anglemeans viewing it as a business-critical system.This perspective also enables solutiondesigners to create and deploy new servicesquickly, safely, and in a controlled and sttuctutedway.Ericsson's consultants also have a key rolein advising an operatot on which services itshould launch. This advice is based on analysisof the operator's target market segmentsand on what end-users are willing to pay for.Any services that the opetatot requests havea direct impact on how the solution is to bedesigned and how much the opetator cancharge.To support this role, Ericsson carries outcontinuous market research through itsworld-class Enterprise and ConsumerLab,which looks into what services and functionalityconsumers want in their handsets,how much they are willing to pay, and soon.Service networkframeworkEricsson's systems integration experts usethe service network framework (SNF) for designingsolutions.' This reference architectureis a product-neutral framework that iscomposed of reusable designs and based onopen standards and protocols through whichcustomer requirements can be met in the solutiondesign. The SNF covers a set of architecturalpolicies and views that definehow the framework should be applied, andprovides insights into diffetent aspects ofthe architecture and supporting rules. It isEricsson Review No. 1, 2003