Information Framework (Frameworx)
The Information Framework (formally Shared Information/Data Model or SID) is a unified reference data model providing a single set of terms for business objects in telecommunications. The objective is to enable people in different departments, companies or geographical locations to use the same terms to describe the same real world objects, practices and relationships. It is part of Frameworx.
The Information Framework, as the Frameworx information model, provides an information/data reference model and a common information/data vocabulary from a business as well as a systems perspective. The Information Framework uses Unified Modeling Language to formalize the expression of the needs of a particular stakeholder viewpoint.
The Information Framework provides the common language for communicating the concerns of the four major groups of constituents (stakeholders) represented by the Frameworx Viewpoints - Business, System, Implementation and Deployment, as defined in the Frameworx Lifecycle. Used in combination with the Business Process Framework (eTOM) business process and activity descriptions and the Telecom Application Map the Information Framework make it possible to bridge between the business and Information Technology groups within an organization by providing definitions that are understandable by the business, but are also rigorous enough to be used for software development.
The Information Framework model takes inspiration from a wide variety of industry sources, but its principal origins are the Alliance Common Information Architecture (ACIA) created by a team led by Bill Brook from AT&T and BT Group and the Directory Enabled Networks - next generation (DEN-ng) model created by John Strassner.
When initially released in 2000, the Information Framework model covered the business (BSS) arena well, and also the device management field well, but was insufficient in its ability to represent logical networks and capacity. These deficiencies are being addressed through revision of the model to include concepts such as topologies, but the history has resulted in poor utilisation of the model in certain telecom fields, notably inventory management.
Structure
The Information Framework defines several domains. Each domain contains a collections of Business Entities (termed Aggregated Business Entity (ABE)).
- Market/Sales
- Competitor, Market Segment, Market Strategy Plan, Marketing Campaign, Sales Channel
- Product
- Product, Product Offering, Product Specification, Product Usage, Strategic Product Portfolio Plan
- Customer
- Applied Customer Billing Rate, Customer, Customer Bill, Customer Interaction, Customer Order, Customer Problem, Customer Service Level Agreement, Customer Statistic
- Service
- QoS Service, Service Bundle, Service Business, Service Level Specification, Service Maintenance, Service Management, Service Order, Service Package, Service Role, Service Specification, Service Specification Role, Service Usage
- Resource
- Resource, Resource Management, Resource Order, Resource Role Specification, Resource Specification, Resource Usage, Value Network Role Entities
- Supplier/Partner
- Supplier/Partner, S/P Interaction, S/P Order, S/P Bill, S/P Payment, S/P Plan, S/P Product, S/P SLA
- Common Business
- Agreement, Base Types, Business Interaction, Location, Party, Policy, Project, Root Business Entities, Time, Trouble Ticket, Usage
- Enterprise
- Enterprise Risk, Process, Process Definition