TIME turns to automation in bid to boost service delivery

• Adopts IBM AI-powered automation software 
• Benefits include cost reductions, streamlining operations

TIME dotCom Bhd (TIME) has turned to IBM and its partner Persistent to automate and modernise its network operations.

In a statement, it said the company will deploy IBM Cloud Pak for network automation, which is built on Red Hat OpenShift.

The company said its goal is to make its network operations more efficient and flexible across a variety of environments and increase the speed of delivery for new services.

TIME’s customers are increasingly using new technologies that require ultra-low latency network performance, the company said.

In view of this, the group said it was looking for a technology solution that would allow it to maximise network speed while complying with network standards to provide flexible access to its ecosystem of services.

“Network automation will allow us to deploy services with less manual effort to maintain our operations at scale.

"Automated lifecycle management enables us to deliver agility to our customers who can then reap the benefits of flexibility in network planning, implementation and operations,” said Ang Thing Jiun, TIME’s chief technology officer.

IBM Cloud Pak for network automation is a management software for communications service providers, which the company claimed will help deliver on the promise of network functions virtualisation.

This includes zero-touch operations, reduced costs, and rapid delivery of innovative services to customers, IBM said.

While TIME explores the opportunities backed by a future-ready network, the move brings important business and technological benefits, including significant cost reductions and the ability to streamline complex operational processes that were previously done manually.

Among the features available to TIME now include end-to-end, automated service lifecycle management and self-subscription and activation services for customers, the company said.

Also included are  dynamic chaining of services aimed at helping to individual customer needs, and closed-loop operations for resiliency, it added.

“By upgrading the network infrastructure and deploying IBM cloud pak for network automation, TIME can accelerate the delivery of innovative services to its customers,” said Catherine Lian, managing director of IBM Malaysia. 

Mark Kelemen, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Persistent said, “Zero-touch network automation requires standardisation and digitisation of operational processes, the right software to manage and orchestrate it, and more importantly, a vision and the courage to take the leap.”

In 2018, TIME claimed to have launched its horizontal network functions virtualization infrastructure, a first in Malaysia.

As part of its growth strategy, the company is reinventing its infrastructure based on open telco cloud technology to gain more flexible deployment options and drive innovation to meet the needs of its enterprise customers.