NGOSS Lifecycle and Methodology

The NGOSS lifecycle methodology aims to provide the industry with a common framework on ‘How to use and deploy NGOSS within an organization’. It provides for the identification and description of a business problem and for expressing the specification that will be used to direct the development and deployment of practical solutions that:

• Conform to the NGOSS style of problem solving
• Make use of NGOSS elements contributed from NGOSS projects
• Use the eTOM, the SID, and the NGOSS technology-neutral architecture

NGOSS consists of a framework of principles and procedures that can be used to guide the development of distributed computing solutions through the creation and re-use of artifacts retained in the knowledge base. The concept of the knowledge base is central to the methodology because it provides a way to “link” work efforts and activities as the progressive views of the system solution are developed.

www.tmforum.org

Each view serves a specific community within the enterprise. The delivered artifacts vary accordingly. The delivery lifecycle process ensures the use of common language elements. Artifacts can be referenced between the views and traceability ensures the adequate realization of business needs.

To take on the challenge of changing and enhancing existing business operations and functionality the scope of work can be decomposed into the following:

• Analyze the business (business drivers, business requirements, business and operational processes, future mode of operations)
  
  
• Identify the system requirements (choice of COTS applications, information model)
  
  
• Solution implementation (data models, development techniques)
  
  
• Deployment (industrial strength applications, replication, performance)

---

Yes, that sound great - but ...

• How will this help me to define and deliver my OSS project?
• What are the supplementing tools and techniques?
• How do these tools interact with each other?
  
• How do I practically appy the tools of NGOSS?

There is no single straight answer to these (and many more) questions (yet). NGOSS is an evolving programme that uses so called catalyst projects to find out what works and what doesn't in the "real world".

I figured using a blog might be the right platform to keep my own working experience with NGOSS in a kind of diary. That way I won't loose my notes (as I usually do with my paper scripts) and share miseries and mysteries with you.