NetCM

The problem it solves

NetCM targets the hardest problems in an operator's change-management process: consolidating and gaining visibility over a vast number of network elements and configuration parameters across multiple domains, technologies and vendors; identifying and fixing discrepancies in an ever-expanding parameter set; auto-discovering assets for tracking; and auditing and correcting parameters in bulk. The manual baseline is costly — identifying unconfigured boards by hand means running commands on each NodeB, pulling engineers away from higher-value optimisation work. Misalignment across OEM and domain boundaries, typically planned and operated manually, leads to incorrect configuration and degraded performance.

How it works

A repeatable pipeline built on a centralised database.

1. Extract, transform, load

   Configuration data from all connected network elements — vendor, domain and technology agnostic — is loaded from multiple sources into a single database.

2. Digital twin

   The consolidated configuration forms a digital twin of the live network, enabling complex analysis and correlation of REAL (live) versus PLAN (planned) data.

3. Visualise

   Full network topology view, bulk view and GIS view of the network.

4. Audit

   Automated audits highlight configuration discrepancies and inconsistencies, eliminating manual audit overhead across domains, vendors and technologies.

5. Implement

   Discrepancies are corrected through dynamic script generation. With open- and closed-loop generation, the resulting MML, XML, CSV and API calls can be implemented and the response from the NMS or network element relayed back and recorded.

6. Schedule

   Scripts can be scheduled for future or recurring execution, run ad-hoc, or folded into an existing change-management process.

Capabilities

• Bulk CM data parsed from network elements; vendor and technology agnostic; multi-domain across RAN, Transport, Core and Datacom.
• Golden Baseline parameter audit with priority-based policies — a stadium policy can override a city policy for the relevant cells.
• Closed-loop implementation: OSS script creation, automated corrections, scheduling and notification.
• Change-management control and full network change history management.
• New NE licence management and activation; planning and lifecycle management of resources and services.
• Network inventory and topology discovery; data federation models.
• Third-party integration via Open API (CSON, Remedy ticketing, Asset, DataHub) on an open automation framework.

Functional modules

Day-to-day tooling includes the Element Browser (parameter values per element), Search and Edit (bulk analysis and optimisation), a GIS module (sites, cells, neighbours and issues such as one-way neighbours or PCI clashes on a map), an Audit module (searchable history of all parameter changes), an Element Comparator, Virtual Groups, a Parameter Manager, and Policy / Policy Manager modules for golden-standard enforcement.

What makes it different

• Vendor, domain and technology agnostic on a single platform, with integrations cited across Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, ZTE, Cisco, Aviat, Oracle, Bluecat, SAP and Samsung.
• A digital twin of the live network enabling cross-domain analysis and correlation of live versus planned data.
• Open and closed-loop write-back: changes are made to the Plan network and used to update the Real network — direct changes on the live network are not permitted, adding a control layer.
• Correlation with performance: where NetPM is installed, configuration changes can be correlated with changes in network performance.

Architecture, deployment & scale

Deployable on-site, on virtual servers or in the cloud, on a microservices architecture. Typical architecture uses hardware redundancy (hot-swap/RAID), bonded network cards patched to separate switches, and two clusters — one for the database, one for the web server, with Heartbeat and Pacemaker monitoring so secondaries take over automatically. Collection is via MML, XML, CSV and NetConf over SSH/SFTP, integrating with planning tools, change-request and ticketing systems, optimisation systems and ERP, and exposing an Open API for online CM inventory and data-lake/mediation.

Use cases

• Change-management process automation for planning and optimisation.
• Open and closed-loop network write-back automation.
• Golden baseline parameter auditing and implementation.
• Network sharing / MOCN / MORAN automation and RAN sharing.
• Federation of network and planning inventory.
• Radio, core and transmission optimisation services.
• Lifecycle management for network devices, licence and feature state management.
• Network swap management — integration/decommissioning dashboards, RAN–Core alignment, external neighbour audits.
• Trial and cluster management with change history and bulk parameter changes.
• GIS use cases — deactivated cells, LAC boundary polygons, regional groupings.

IP address management

IPAM is delivered as a capability within NetCM rather than as a separate product, and that is the point: IP planning and parameter planning share one configuration source of truth instead of drifting apart in two systems. It discovers its own IP inventory directly from the network, holds IPv4 and IPv6 across eight domains under one allocation policy, and makes allocation a governed workflow with approval gates and a full audit trail. It is built on the FlexiPlan low-code framework, so rules and approvals are configured rather than coded. Virgin Media O2 uses the allocation engine in production today.

Full detail on the IP address management use-case page.

Proven in the field

• Unconfigured boards: at a Tier 1 operator running Huawei equipment, NetCM identified 519 WBBP and UBBP boards installed but never configured, roughly $1.35 million of equipment sitting unused, reusable to relieve channel-element congestion or defer new board spend.
• Deactivated cells: an audit at a Tier 1 operator (one vendor only) detected 353 cells incorrectly deactivated and 986 disabled, with over 3,900 deactivated in total and forgotten in the OSS.
• Golden parameters: at a Tier 1 operator, a list of ~300 parameters was compared against the live network, with individual parameters found up to ~53% out of policy.
• A Tier 1 European operator group runs one of the most extensive deployments — RAN, IMS Core, CS/PS Core, transmission, RAN sharing, 5G standalone core, IP core, XGS-PON and B2B — covering network discovery, bulk change management, baseline policy management, GIS neighbour and polygon management, planning-tool updates, vCore infrastructure management, CMDB updates and orchestration-layer integration.
• A Latin American operation of a Tier 1 North American operator group ran a proof of concept covering auto-discovery, multi-vendor golden-standard audits, network-swap dashboards, RAN–Core alignment, MOCN checks, open/closed-loop script generation and licence/feature management, with benefits assessed as reaching up to 30% of the operator's current CAPEX and OPEX.
• A Latin American operator runs an optimisation service on NetCM across a Huawei network, automating optimisation decisions against audited baselines.
• Additional engagements include integrated planning and configuration management with write-back automation at a large African operator group, network inventory and audit at another large African operator group, and a single-source-of-truth initiative at an Asia-Pacific operator.

Customers anonymised by region and tier. Equipment-value and out-of-policy figures as documented in deployment audits; the 30% CAPEX/OPEX figure is as reported from that proof of concept.

Modelled business case

Digitata Networks maintains an adaptable business-case model covering reduced churn, reduced operating expenditure and delayed investment. Run for a 2,000,000-subscriber, roughly 3,333-cell example network, it projects cumulative savings of $133,600 in year one rising to $668,000 by year five.

These are model outputs for an example network, not measured results from a specific deployment.